Chapter 23
“It’s not like we’re close enough to laugh comfortably like that.”
Sorim tried to answer calmly and logically, but Taeha reacted emotionally, unlike his usual self.
“So what, you’re comfortable with that old chef?”
“……The chef isn’t that old. And we understand each other at work.”
“Understand each other.”
Taeha tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
He didn’t like any of this.
He had bought her with money, but those people were connected through “cooking.”
It felt like they shared a world he could not easily enter.
And for some unreasonable reason, he felt like Sorim might leave for that world.
If he wanted to keep her fully under his control, he needed stronger chains.
So no one else would dare want her.
He had to firmly and loudly attach the name “Song Taeha” in front of the name “Yoon Sorim.”
“There will be an article tomorrow.”
Sorim asked quietly as he turned the wheel.
“What article?”
“A marriage announcement.”
Sorim’s eyes went wide.
“So suddenly? I’m not ready yet…”
“There’s no reason to delay. Both families already agreed, and we’re living together. What’s the problem?”
His tone was firm.
The real reason was that he hated seeing other men around her, but he didn’t bother to say that.
“Get ready. By tomorrow morning, the entire country will know your name.”
“…Do whatever you want. My opinion never really mattered anyway.”
Sorim turned her gaze to the window, looking resigned.
From the start, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse.
He was in power, and she wasn’t.
Still, she couldn’t stop feeling bitter.
The hot sense of achievement and freedom she had felt at the restaurant just moments ago felt trapped again behind cold bars with just one sentence from Taeha.
“I’m still allowed to go to the restaurant, right?”
Sorim asked after a long silence.
“Even if the marriage is announced, I want to stay Yoon Sorim, the chef.”
While waiting at a red light, Taeha looked at her for a moment.
Her eyes shook slightly, but the determination inside them was firm.
“I can’t promise that.”
“What?”
Sorim stared at him, shocked, but Taeha continued calmly, keeping eye contact.
“You’re the daughter-in-law of Yoonsan Group, not someone locked in a kitchen cooking.”
“Wait—that’s not what we agreed on!”
“You can cook somewhere else. But it would be better to slowly leave the restaurant you’re at now.”
“Song Taeha.”
“I can’t accept my woman looking cheap.”
After saying that, Taeha turned his head forward firmly.
The car drove through the darkness toward the penthouse.
Just as Taeha said, everything would change tomorrow.
The youngest cook in the kitchen, Yoon Sorim, would disappear.
In her place, a chaebol-family Cinderella named Yoon Sorim would be born.
Sorim bit her lip as she looked at her reflection in the window.
The next morning.
Just as Taeha warned, the world was completely turned upside down.
When Sorim came down to the first floor with messy hair, Taeha was already sitting at the table, perfectly dressed, scrolling through a tablet.
In front of him was a cup of strong espresso and a screen filled with flashy headlines.
[Exclusive] Yoonsan Group Vice President Song Taeha announces surprise marriage! Bride is an ordinary chef?
[A chaebol heir and a chef—A movie-like love story]
[Mystery bride Yoon Sorim—Turns out she’s a French dining chef?]
The main page of every portal site was filled with articles about Taeha and Sorim.
The articles exaggerated things—saying Sorim was half French and specialized in French cuisine.
It was obvious Taeha had arranged it.
Instead of her poor background, he gave her a more impressive title: “half-French chef,” shaping public opinion in her favor.
Sorim sat across from him, reading the articles on her phone, and felt dizzy.
“…What is all this?”
“Not bad, right? The comments are pretty positive. These days, people prefer a ‘capable professional woman’ over a typical Cinderella story.”
Taeha spoke calmly as he sipped his coffee.
He looked like a businessman reviewing the results of a successful marketing plan.
“It’s too much. You didn’t need to dress it up like this.”
“It’s not dressing it up. It’s called branding.”
Taeha turned off the tablet and looked straight at her.
“If you want to stand beside me, you have to accept this much. I can’t present damaged goods to the world.”
Again, she was treated like an object.
Her throat tightened with hurt, but Sorim bit her lower lip and swallowed it down.
…Right. This is what our relationship really is.
Just then, Sorim’s phone on the table started vibrating.
It was an unknown number.
She instinctively looked at Taeha. He nodded toward the phone.
“Answer it.”
“…I don’t recognize the number.”
“Answer. Put it on speaker.”
Knowing she couldn’t avoid it, Sorim pressed the call button.
A sharp, screaming soprano voice burst out.
—Hey! Yoon Sorim! Is it true you’re in the news?! What the hell is all this?!
Her aunt Seonga’s shrill voice echoed through the quiet penthouse.
Sorim pressed a hand to her forehead.
She had blocked her aunt’s number long ago. She must have borrowed someone else’s phone.
“…Yes. It’s true.”
—You sneaky bitch! There’s a limit to repaying kindness with betrayal! You ruined our family and now you’re living well by yourself?! Are you even human?!
Seonga screamed in rage.
—Because of you, your uncle’s company is about to go bankrupt! That Song Taeha cut off all our money! Contracts were canceled, and now we’re about to get assets seized! And you’re announcing a wedding?! You must be so damn happy!
Sorim’s eyes widened.
Bankruptcy?
She looked at Taeha in shock, but he calmly set down his coffee cup.
—Call your so-called husband right now and fix this! If not, I’ll call all the reporters and expose what kind of woman you really are!
Threats and curses poured out.
She had heard this abuse her whole life, but today it felt especially exhausting.
As Sorim tightly shut her eyes, Taeha took the phone from her hand.
“Mother-in-law, you sound very energetic this morning.”
At Taeha’s cold, low voice, the line went silent.
—Oh, um… Son-in-law Song? Why are you…?
“I believe I warned you. If you touched my woman, you’d pay the price.”
There was no emotion in his voice.
He spoke purely in cold, business-like terms, tightening the noose around Seonga.
—But still! We’re family by marriage! How could you go this far! There must be some misunderstanding. Our Minseo is immature, so—
“Is being immature an excuse for causing trouble and using violence at someone else’s workplace?”
—Th-that is—
“I clearly told you that Yoonsan Group’s legal team would move.”
Taeha smiled faintly, lifting only one corner of his mouth.
“Please tell your husband—no, CEO Park Sang-sik—that this withdrawal of funds is only the beginning. Since you’re still calling my wife to threaten her instead of apologizing, I’m in a bad mood.”
—S-Son-in-law! Wait, just listen to me—
“If you contact Sorim even one more time, you won’t be worrying about your company. You’ll be worrying about your own safety.”
Click.
Taeha ended the call without hesitation and blocked the number.
A cold silence followed.
Sorim stared at him blankly.
Her aunt’s family had oppressed her like a huge mountain her entire life.
But this man destroyed that mountain with just one finger.
It felt empty… and satisfying.
And at the same time, terrifying.
What she could never escape no matter how hard she struggled—
this man removed effortlessly.
The difference in power made the gap between them painfully clear.
