Chapter 2

News of Chae-rin reached Tae-seok’s ears shortly after he returned to Korea from a tour of overseas branches.

“Look who it is! When did you get back?”

Someone gave Tae-seok a friendly tap on the back as he attended the Night of Business Leaders event.

It was Gi-ju, an old classmate.

They had once been on friendly terms, but they had grown distant after Tae-seok left to study abroad. Since then, they had lost touch entirely.

Still, Tae-seok had no particular reason to pretend he didn’t know him, so he nodded and exchanged a few casual words with him.

That was when Gi-ju suddenly brought up a name.

“By the way, have you heard about Chae-rin?”

Only a handful of people knew that Chae-rin and Tae-seok had once been lovers. Gi-ju was one of them.

It had already been eight years since the two had broken up.

The memories of their once-fiery love had faded with time. Tae-seok had thought he had forgotten everything about her, but the moment he heard her name, a sharp ache pierced his chest.

Still, he wasn’t foolish enough to let his emotions show.

Tae-seok gave an indifferent nod. Seeing his reaction, Gi-ju let out a hollow laugh.

“Well, it has been years since you two broke up. But damn, man. Someone you used to date has ended up in a vegetative state. You could at least pretend to feel sorry for her.”

Clicking his tongue, Gi-ju walked away.

“In a vegetative state?”

Tae-seok murmured as he watched Gi-ju’s retreating back.

He had naturally assumed he would hear that she was doing well or that she was getting married.

The unexpected news made his eyes waver violently.

Just then, a group of people approached him.

“Kang Tae-seok, are you back in Korea for good?”

One of them asked in a brazen, swaggering tone.

It was Oh Gye-young, the man Chae-rin had chosen as her fiancé instead of Tae-seok.

The moment Tae-seok saw him, his gaze turned icy.

“Probably.”

“Make sure the old man doesn’t change his mind. Blood ties are your weakness, after all.”

One of the men in the group snickered at Gye-young’s so-called advice.

Tae-seok’s gaze settled coldly on Gye-young.

If it was true that Chae-rin was in a vegetative state, Gye-young should have been devastated as well.

Yet there wasn’t the slightest trace of sorrow on his face.

Tae-seok indifferently withdrew his gaze and turned away.

“Oh Gye-young, you should be careful, too. Everyone in the industry knows how fickle Chairman Oh can be.”

Tae-seok had already started walking away when he suddenly stopped and added the remark.

“Ah, that bastard son of a bitch!”

Despite Gye-young’s curse, Tae-seok didn’t so much as blink. He simply walked out of the event hall.

“Shall I take you to the office, sir?”

Secretary Yeo, who had been waiting outside the venue, approached and asked.

“No. Take me to Hanyoung Hospital.”

He couldn’t believe the news until he saw Chae-rin’s condition with his own eyes.

When Tae-seok arrived at the hospital, Chae-rin looked exactly as Gi-ju had described.

She lay motionless, connected to life-support equipment, unable to utter a single word. The only sound filling the room was the steady beeping of the machines.

The suspicion he had harbored after seeing Gye-young’s composed expression vanished in an instant.

A quiet, disbelieving breath escaped through Tae-seok’s lips.

He and Chae-rin were no longer anything to each other, and yet, inexplicably, his emotions churned inside him.

Tae-seok quietly sat down in the chair beside her bed.

A chilly breeze drifted in through the half-open window.

“Yoo Chae-rin, this is troublesome. If you were going to leave me, you should’ve lived well enough to show me what I was missing.”

Tae-seok’s low murmur sounded hollow in the silent room.

“Director, it’s time to go.”

Secretary Yeo’s voice came from outside the hospital room.

Tae-seok let out a quiet sigh and began to rise from his seat.

That was when a strange sensation swept over him.

He bent toward Chae-rin and noticed her eyelids trembling faintly.

His heart began to beat faster.

Tae-seok bent his knees and leaned closer, but her eyelids were now firmly shut, as though nothing had happened.

Was it just a reflex?

He let out a bitter laugh and was about to stand when it happened again.

Chae-rin’s eyelids slowly opened, then gradually closed.

Tae-seok’s heart lurched.

He hurriedly pressed the call button and shouted in alarm.

“Ms. Yoo Chae-rin is moving!”

The medical staff rushed into the room, and the ward suddenly erupted into commotion.

“Secretary Yeo, stay here and find out everything you can about Ms. Yoo Chae-rin’s condition. Report back to me.”

After watching the medical team for a moment, Tae-seok gave Secretary Yeo his instructions and promptly left the hospital room.

Considering that Chae-rin had been lying in bed for several months, her recovery was astonishingly rapid.

At first, she could move only her eyes. Before long, however, she was able to swallow food and speak.

“This is a miracle. There’s no way to explain this with modern medicine. The patient’s remarkable determination must be responsible for her recovery.”

Dr. Kim, who had been in the United States attending a medical conference, hurried back to Korea as soon as he heard the news of Chae-rin’s recovery.

After examining her, he spoke with undisguised amazement.

At his words, Chae-rin gave a peculiar smile.

Remarkable determination, huh?

If that was the case, then she owed it all to Se-ra.

Thanks to Se-ra’s visits and relentless taunts, Chae-rin had wanted desperately to live.

“Unni, I’m here.”

When Chae-rin returned to her hospital room, she found Se-ra visiting her.

“How are you feeling?”

Se-ra took Chae-rin’s arm with an affectionate gesture. The coldness of her fingertips against Chae-rin’s skin sent a shiver of revulsion through her.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

Nevertheless, Chae-rin kept her emotions thoroughly concealed and offered Se-ra a sweet smile.

“Unni, I’ve started working as the head of the PR team at Myungin Furniture. So I probably won’t be able to visit you as often anymore.”

At Se-ra’s words, the veins on the back of Chae-rin’s hand bulged as she gripped the handles of her wheelchair.

The anger she had been suppressing began to rise.

This was the company she had devoted herself to building with all her strength.

The position of PR team leader carried considerable responsibility and influence both inside and outside the company.

Se-ra had neither the ability nor the qualifications to hold such a position.

But the head of Myungin Furniture was no longer Chae-rin. It was now Han Oh-jun.

After securing Chae-rin’s voting rights, he had used an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting and a board meeting to remove her from her position and seize the presidency in one swift move.

“Unni, you don’t need to worry about the company anymore. You should just focus on your treatment now.”

Se-ra lightly patted Chae-rin’s arm as she continued speaking.

To anyone listening, her words might have sounded like kind, thoughtful encouragement.

But Chae-rin knew exactly what Se-ra really meant.

Stop worrying about it. It’s not your company anymore. Just stay in the hospital and focus on your treatment.

Seeing right through her, Chae-rin scoffed inwardly.

Just then, the hospital room door opened, and a man walked in.

It was Gye-young, Chae-rin’s fiancé.

Se-ra got to her feet and greeted him before Chae-rin could say anything.

“Oh! Oppa, you’re here?”

The look Se-ra gave Gye-young was unmistakably suggestive. Even her voice had taken on a naturally coquettish lilt.

“It’s been a while.”

Conscious of Chae-rin’s presence, Gye-young responded stiffly to Se-ra.

But the strange glances passing between them were plain for Chae-rin to see.

How could she not know?

Even while she had been unable to open her eyes, they had come to visit her several times and engaged in passionate sex right beside her bed.

“How are your legs?”

Gye-young approached Chae-rin and asked with apparent concern, putting on the act of a loving fiancé.

“They’re still the same.”

Chae-rin gestured toward her body in the wheelchair.

Her upper body had regained its strength, but she still had no strength in her lower limbs.

After regaining consciousness, her body had recovered rapidly, but at some point, her progress had stalled.

In fact, the more treatment she received, the heavier and more unresponsive her body seemed to become.

“Rehabilitation will help. Don’t worry too much.”

Gye-young gently stroked Chae-rin’s head.

But beneath his kind exterior, his eyes traveled over her limp legs as he thought bitterly to himself.

Why couldn’t you just die?

The thought of spending his entire life with a cripple was horrifying.

But now that Chae-rin had regained consciousness, he had to marry her if he wanted to inherit his grandfather’s shares.

Chae-rin’s grandfather, Chairman Yoo of Myungin Furniture, and Chairman Oh of Jinseong Construction had been close friends. They had promised to unite their grandchildren through marriage, and the chosen couple was none other than Chae-rin and Gye-young.

“We’re still going ahead with the wedding as planned, so just focus on recovering as quickly as possible.”

Gye-young continued speaking gently, concealing his true thoughts.

“Your encouragement gives me strength, Gye-young. Thank you.”

Chae-rin smiled back at him.

To anyone watching, they looked like a loving couple, gazing at each other with nothing but affection.

Seeing them together, Se-ra’s lips twisted. Jealousy consumed her, turning her eyes vicious.

Noticing her reaction, Chae-rin deliberately reached out and took Gye-young’s hand.

The mere contact of their bare skin made her feel sick. But if it meant provoking Se-ra even further, she was willing to endure it.

“Unni must be tired. We should get going.”

Just as Chae-rin had intended, Se-ra lost her composure and spoke to Gye-young.

Her voice was tinged with jealousy and impatience.

“Oppa, didn’t you say you had an important meeting today?”

She was trying to pull Gye-young away from Chae-rin. But her words only brought a quiet smile to Chae-rin’s lips.

“If you have an important meeting, you should go.”

“Right. Since you say so, unni…”

Se-ra eagerly began to agree, but Chae-rin cut her off.

“But Se-ra, you seem to know Gye-young’s meeting schedule quite well. Didn’t you two say it had been a while since you last saw each other?”

At those words, Gye-young’s expression stiffened abruptly.

His eyes wavered violently, and his embarrassment was unmistakable.

“Ah, well, even if we don’t meet in person… we share our schedules.”

Listening to Gye-young’s excuse, Chae-rin turned to Se-ra with a sweet smile.

“I see. So business partners share their meeting schedules, too?”

“Y-yeah, of course. I work for Myungin Furniture now, so naturally we share schedules related to the construction business.”

Se-ra stumbled over her words, fumbling for an explanation that made little sense. Chae-rin regarded her with contempt.

Even if Myungin Furniture was a large company, there was no reason for an ordinary team leader in its PR department to share schedules with an executive vice president of a major construction company.

“All right, you two can go. I’m going to get some rest.”

At Chae-rin’s words, Se-ra and Gye-young hurriedly left the hospital room.

Alone in the room, Chae-rin’s smiling expression slowly began to crack.

Just wait. I’ll take everything away from you.