Chapter 13
He turned the steering wheel and smoothly rounded the corner, merging onto the main road.
“Everyone wears a mask in front of me. Acting classy, pretending they don’t want anything, pretending they care about me. It’s a disgusting play.”
A cold, mocking smile appeared on his lips.
“But you were a little different, Yoon Sorim.”
“……”
“You refused money, called me crazy right to my face, and even after watching the people you call family sell you, you stupidly talked about going back.”
“……”
“There’s nothing more comfortable than a relationship where you’ve seen each other at rock bottom. I saw your lowest point, and you saw how broken my character is. Haven’t we already seen everything?”
It was twisted logic.
But it was twisted logic she couldn’t easily argue against.
Song Tae-ha was the only outsider who had seen her at her most miserable.
“We’re here.”
Before she realized it, the car had entered a luxury villa complex in Hannam-dong.
After passing high walls and security guards, the car stopped in a private parking space deep inside the underground garage.
When the engine turned off, Tae-ha got out first.
He walked around to the passenger side and opened the door wide.
“Get out.”
He held out his hand with an elegant, escort-like gesture, but his eyes carried an order.
Sorim ignored his hand and stepped out on her own. It was the last bit of pride she had.
Tae-ha didn’t laugh at her choice.
“Follow me.”
He walked ahead without caring at all about being rejected.
Inside the private elevator, thick silence filled the small space.
The numbers climbed quickly and stopped at the top—the penthouse floor.
Ding.
When the doors opened, an unbelievable sight spread out before Sorim.
She expected a hallway, but the moment the doors opened, it was already a home.
An entrance space far too large to be called an entryway, and beyond it, a living room with full glass walls.
The night view of Seoul stretched far below, overwhelming and unreal.
Cold marble floors. Modern furniture without decoration.
It felt less like a home and more like a gallery or a model house.
There was no warmth, no sign of life—just like its owner, Song Tae-ha.
“Come in.”
Tae-ha casually took off his shoes and walked inside.
Sorim hesitated at the entrance.
The space was so clean that she felt embarrassed taking off her worn sneakers.
“What are you doing? Is there something interesting there?”
Tae-ha tossed his jacket onto the sofa and looked back.
He roughly loosened his tie and undid a few buttons of his shirt.
As his neat appearance fell apart, a raw, dangerous pressure came off him.
Keeping a wary eye on him, Sorim awkwardly stepped inside.
“Sit.”
He pointed his chin toward the sofa.
She didn’t like how she was moving like a robot at his command, but she had nothing else she could do.
With a displeased expression, Sorim sat only on the edge of the leather sofa.
Tae-ha went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Glass clinked, and he came back with a bottle of water and a glass.
“Drink. Calm down.”
He set the glass down on the table with a loud thud.
Instead of picking it up, Sorim stared at him.
“…Now tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“What you’re planning to do with me from now on.”
“You’re impatient.”
Tae-ha sat on the opposite sofa, crossed his legs, and took a slow drink of water.
“It’s simple. You’ll live here and play the role of my wife.”
“…Are you saying we’re actually getting married?”
“There will be some formal steps. But no ceremony. Just register the marriage and release a press statement.”
“What about our families? What will you tell them?”
“Don’t worry. Your uncle already lost his mind after seeing my background. Give him a position or some subcontract work, and he’ll shut up on his own.”
His tone sounded like a merchant negotiating prices.
Sorim let out a hollow laugh.
“…I must be expensive. You’re even talking about contracts.”
“I am expensive,” he replied.
“I chose you myself. Why would you be cheap?”
Tae-ha leaned forward and met her eyes.
“Yoon Sorim. You really don’t know your own value. Those eyes. That stubbornness.”
Behind her colored lenses, her hidden blue eyes trembled slightly.
“Anyway, the conditions are the same as before. Two-year contract. During that time, you’ll maintain your dignity as the wife of Yoonsan Group’s second son. Attend public events, show your face at family gatherings.”
“…Is that all?”
“Oh, and one more important thing.”
His eyes sparkled playfully—but dangerously.
“Now that you’re in this house, don’t think about leaving whenever you want. No going out without my permission.”
“That’s imprisonment—!”
Sorim jumped up, but Tae-ha raised a hand to stop her.
“Just for a while. Until your family gives up.”
“……”
“If you wander around outside right now, do you think that vicious cousin of yours would stay quiet?”
He wasn’t wrong.
Minseo, who had been obsessed with him, was more than capable of that.
Still, it felt unfair and suffocating.
Why did she have to hide?
“What about work? I’m still going to the restaurant. Don’t interfere with that.”
Sorim said firmly.
Cooking was her only pride and dream.
If that was taken away too, she would truly become nothing but his doll.
Tae-ha looked surprised.
“You want to keep doing that? I’ll give you more money than you could ever use.”
“I’m not doing it for money. It’s my work. My dream.”
“A dream…”
Tae-ha snorted as if it were nonsense.
But when she didn’t back down, he shrugged.
“Fine. Do whatever you want. But I’ll assign a driver to take you back and forth. No side trips.”
“…Alright.”
This was the most she could get in this situation.
“Your room is on the second floor. Everything you need is there.”
He pointed upstairs.
“I stocked clothes and cosmetics roughly. If you don’t like them, tell them to buy new ones.”
Sorim clicked her tongue inwardly at how thoroughly he had prepared.
He had planned everything before ever coming to get her.
“You must be tired. Go rest. Things will get busy starting tomorrow.”
With that, Tae-ha stood up as if his business was finished.
Sorim stared up at him blankly.
Did he truly plan to take her as his wife?
Or had he simply brought home a new toy?
“…Hey.”
Tae-ha stopped as he turned to leave.
“What.”
“Are you really… sure you won’t regret this?”
He tilted his head, clearly not understanding.
“Regret what?”
“Bringing someone like me here. Don’t throw me away halfway through. If you do, I won’t stay quiet either.”
At her weak threat, Tae-ha slowly stepped closer.
Because of his height, a shadow fell over her.
A dark shadow, like the future she couldn’t predict at all.
“…!”
Suddenly, he reached out and tucked her messy hair behind her ear.
When his cold fingertips brushed her ear, Sorim flinched.
“Yoon Sorim.”
He called her name softly.
“I don’t treat my possessions carelessly.”
“Especially things I paid a high price for.”
His gaze pierced through the colored lenses, as if staring directly at her hidden eyes.
“And I really hate seeing what belongs to me thrown into the trash.”
“……”
“So behave yourself.”
“Don’t let anyone treat you like something cheap.”
It was a warning—
and a strange declaration of ownership.
