RWMFL 01

Prologue

At the tail end of winter, when the bitter cold had yet to loosen its grip, Chaerin slowly came to a stop in front of the wedding hall.

Displayed prominently on the electronic sign outside the entrance were the names of the day’s newlyweds.

[Groom: Oh Gyeyoung. Bride: Han Sera.]

The woman who should have been standing in Sera’s place was Chaerin herself.

The venue, the date, and every last detail of the wedding preparations remained exactly as they had been.

Only one thing had changed.

The bride’s name.

It now belonged to her cousin, Han Sera.

Through a gap in the doors, Chaerin caught a glimpse of the wedding hall.

There stood Sera, beaming brightly as she linked arms with Gyeyoung.

Sera had not only had an affair with Gyeyoung but had also gone so far as to make the world believe Chaerin was dead, all so she could steal the place that should have been hers.

As Chaerin watched them, a chill colder than the winter frost settled over her face.

A short while later, the officiant finished the ceremony, and the grand recessional music began to play.

As though she had been waiting for that very moment, Chaerin flung the doors wide open.

In an instant, every eye in the hall turned toward her.

One step at a time, Chaerin walked down the aisle.

With each step, the sharp click of her stiletto heels echoed against the marble floor.

“H-How did you even get here…?”

The moment Sera saw her, the strength drained from her fingers, and the bouquet slipped from her grasp, hitting the floor with a soft thud.

Gyeyoung’s face turned pale as well.

“Isn’t that Yoo Chaerin, the CEO of Myungin Furniture?”

“I heard she was dead. Looks like she’s alive and well.”

The wedding hall erupted into a commotion as whispers spread among the guests.

“It’s only natural that the bride’s older cousin would come to see her wedding, isn’t it?”

Stopping right in front of Sera, Chaerin slowly opened her mouth.

At her words, Sera’s eyes trembled violently.

“Congratulations on your wedding.”

Chaerin added with a sweet smile.

Chapter 01

“ATPL is an extremely rare brain disease that attacks the white matter of the brain.”

Dr. Kim, who had been staring at the monitor with a grave expression, finally spoke in a heavy voice.

At the unfamiliar name of the disease, Chae-rin’s face stiffened.

After the death of Chairman Yoo, the company’s founder, Chae-rin had taken over as the CEO of Myeongin Furniture. She had expanded the business by establishing an interior design division.

She had decided that simply selling furniture was no longer enough to keep up with the changing times.

A home interior launch show was just around the corner, and a series of television appearances had already been scheduled for afterward.

It was at such a crucial moment that she had suddenly begun experiencing unusual symptoms accompanied by dizziness.

“Ma’am, I’ll make an appointment at the hospital. Please get yourself examined.”

Secretary Moon cautiously urged Chae-rin to see a doctor.

“It’s nothing. I’m just sleep-deprived.”

“Your launch show is coming up soon. We can’t afford any rumors or scandals at a time like this.”

Only then did Chae-rin finally visit the hospital, having initially dismissed her symptoms as fatigue.

But a brain disease?

Just as the weight of the diagnosis made her heart sink, Dr. Kim continued his explanation.

“The disease will progress gradually.”

At those words, Chae-rin’s stiff expression relaxed, returning to normal.

“That’s a relief. Then we can start treatment slowly, too.”

Just as she was about to stand up, thinking it couldn’t be anything too serious, Dr. Kim stopped her.

“You have approximately six months left. It will begin with a loss of balance, followed by the loss of motor function, difficulty swallowing, and difficulty breathing. Eventually, you will fall into a coma.”

It was an unexpected death sentence.

For a moment, silence descended as though everything had come to a standstill.

“What’s causing it?”

Chae-rin was the first to break the silence.

“The medical community believes neurotoxic substances may be responsible, but the exact cause has yet to be identified. For now, I recommend that you be admitted to the hospital so we can conduct more detailed tests while…”

Dr. Kim continued speaking at length, but none of his words reached Chae-rin.

His voice merely echoed faintly in her ears, distant and indistinct.

“With aggressive treatment, we may be able to delay the progression a little longer.”

Only after leaving the consultation room did a hollow laugh finally escape between Chae-rin’s lips.

It felt as though the road ahead of her, which had once seemed to stretch straight toward success, had suddenly transformed into an endless precipice.

She began treatment, but it didn’t take long for Dr. Kim’s predictions to become reality.

Chae-rin suddenly lost consciousness in the middle of an executive meeting.

“Chae-rin, what on earth happened?”

The moment Chae-rin collapsed, her uncle by marriage, Han Oh-jun, came rushing over.

“Don’t worry about anything. Just focus on your treatment. In the meantime, I’ll take good care of the company.”

What he placed in front of Chae-rin was a proxy authorization form granting him her voting rights. He was also a member of Myeongin Furniture’s board of directors, so under the circumstances, it seemed like a reasonable decision to make.

[The shareholder hereby delegates all rights and powers as a shareholder, including the right to attend general meetings of shareholders and exercise voting rights in accordance with the law.]

Chae-rin’s hand trembled as she signed the authorization form.

But she had no other choice.

The home interior launch, into which an enormous amount of capital had been invested, was just around the corner.

“Please make sure the launch is a success, Uncle.”

“Of course. Just trust me.”

Holding the proxy authorization form in his hand, Han Oh-jun smiled kindly before quickly leaving the hospital room.

In just three months, Chae-rin had become completely helpless, lying motionless in her hospital bed.

Even the company employees who had occasionally visited her gradually stopped coming altogether.

There was only one person who still came to see her: her younger cousin, Se-ra.

Se-ra had always looked up to Chae-rin as if she were her own older sister, and Chae-rin had cherished her just as dearly.

“Unni, I’m here.”

Today, Se-ra seemed unusually lighthearted.

As usual, she arranged flowers in the vase beside the bed and spoke.

“You know what? They say you’re basically in a vegetative state now. I just spoke with Dr. Kim.”

Her voice sounded unusually cheerful as she uttered the words vegetative state.

What? Why am I in a vegetative state?

Chae-rin tried to respond, but not a single sound escaped her lips.

She could no longer remember exactly when it had started, but she had been trapped in a state where she could neither move nor speak for quite some time.

Only her consciousness remained clear.

Each day was a living nightmare.

At some point, even the medical staff had stopped speaking to her.

Still, she had endured, believing that they must be doing something to help her.

But a vegetative state?

“You’ll probably die soon, won’t you, Unni?”

Se-ra’s voice struck her ears with startling clarity.

No! I’m still alive! I can hear every word you’re saying!

It was a silent scream.

“I wish you’d died already. But I suppose this isn’t so bad, either. It feels pretty good to look down at you lying there so helplessly.”

Se-ra, who had been arranging the flowers, looked down at Chae-rin and sneered.

Shock washed over Chae-rin, but what came next was even more devastating.

“I’m going to marry Gye-young oppa. But you know what? He never really liked you that much, either.”

Gye-young, the grandson of Chairman Oh of Jinseong Construction, had been Chae-rin’s arranged marriage partner as part of an agreement between their families.

Their relationship had never been a blazing, passionate romance, but Chae-rin had believed there was a quiet, comfortable affection between them.

Gye-young had always waited patiently for her, no matter how busy she was, and had supported her without reservation. Because of that, Chae-rin had often imagined a stable, peaceful future with him.

If she hadn’t collapsed, they would have been getting married at the end of that year.

“I slept with Gye-young oppa. Every single day while you’ve been lying here. You have no idea how passionate he is in bed, do you?”

Se-ra sat down beside Chae-rin and added insult to injury.

That’s impossible. Stop lying!

Trapped inside a body that couldn’t even blink, Chae-rin screamed in anguish.

But not a single sound escaped her.

Se-ra stared at Chae-rin’s motionless body before suddenly leaning toward her.

Then she whispered into her ear.

“You should’ve just handed the CEO position at Myeongin Furniture over to my dad from the beginning. If you had, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

After finishing, Se-ra affectionately brushed Chae-rin’s hair back.

“You didn’t know Secretary Moon was on Dad’s side, either, did you? Well, if you’d known, you wouldn’t be lying here now.”

At Se-ra’s words, Chae-rin felt as though her blood were boiling backward through her veins.

She had thought the illness was an unfortunate stroke of fate that had struck at the worst possible time.

But all of it had been Han Oh-jun’s scheme?

She had believed Secretary Moon’s frantic insistence that she get examined, even when her symptoms seemed minor, was proof of his loyalty to her.

And even that had been part of the plan?

How could you? How could all of you do this to me? How could you do this to me?

Now that she knew the truth, Chae-rin trembled with rage.

But all of it remained trapped inside her mind.

Her body refused to move.

She was suffering from locked-in syndrome, imprisoned completely within her own body.

Several months later.

A chilly breeze blew through the air, and the leaves had dressed themselves in brilliant shades of red and yellow.

Inside the hospital room where Chae-rin lay, everything was quiet, unlike the world outside.

Apart from the medical staff’s obligatory rounds once a day, no one ever came to visit.

The caregiver was sitting on the sofa, yawning so widely that her mouth stretched open, when it happened.

The hospital room door opened, and someone stepped inside.

A tall man, well over 180 centimeters.

His features were handsome and delicate, as though drawn with a fine brush, but his sharp, intense eyes radiated an intimidating presence.

“Who are you? You’re not supposed to come in here.”

The caregiver startled and stammered in a hesitant voice.

“What is Ms. Yoo Chae-rin’s condition?”

The man directed his gaze toward the caregiver and asked.

“Well, as you can see, nothing’s changed. She’s practically as good as dead.”

Unable to meet his cold gaze, the caregiver answered hesitantly.

He hadn’t even said anything threatening to her, yet, for some reason, her mouth felt unbearably dry.

“I’ll stay here. Why don’t you step outside for a while and get some fresh air?”

The man handed her two fifty-thousand-won bills.

“You must be tired. Get yourself something to eat, too.”

It was a suspiciously generous offer.

Nevertheless, the caregiver accepted the money without hesitation and left the room.

Once she was gone, silence settled over the hospital room.

The man slowly surveyed his surroundings.

A patient bed, a folding bed for a guardian, a small television and refrigerator, and an old, dark-green sofa.

It was a cramped, single-occupancy hospital room—not a VIP room or even a private deluxe suite.

It was hardly an exaggeration to say that Chae-rin had been abandoned.

And at the center of it all lay Chae-rin, motionless and tethered to life-support equipment.

The man approached her slowly.

“Yoo Chae-rin. It’s been a long time.”

His voice was terribly low, rough enough to sound as though it were scraping against the ground.

The man who had entered the hospital room was Kang Tae-seok, executive director of Mugang Construction.