CH 1

Divorce was easy.

“According to mutual agreement, case number #2020 announces the divorce verdict.”

As soon as the judge uttered the words of divorce, I tightly closed my eyes. The divorce that had been making my life difficult ended in just a few minutes. After five years of marriage, there wasn’t even a shred of meaning left. All my efforts for the past five years were reduced to a single piece of paper.

“It’s finally over now….”

I raised my eyelids that had been tightly shut. I saw a man staring at me. He had been my husband for the past five years, but now he was someone else.

Seo Ji-han.

When I clenched my fist, my nails dug deep into my flesh. I had nothing left after a long and grueling fight with him.

I lost all my family. My only support system had been shattered, leaving me a penniless beggar. And it was all because of that man who had been my husband.

“Why don’t you entrust the in-law group to me? I am your husband, after all.”

“Rely on me, Yoon Yeo-jin. Let me help you.”

Even though it might have been a strategic marriage, I trusted him. But that man who betrayed my trust whispered love to my closest junior for five years.

“Let’s get divorced. If you step back now, I’ll give you my share of Ho Jin.”

“What’s the use? You can’t even protect W Group with your abilities. You know that, so you entrusted it to me.”

“Why are you so stubborn? It’s your fault for trusting me. This is as far as I can go.”

He had been forcing me to get a divorce, using his insignificant share as an excuse. He even told me to be grateful that I could get that much, even though I had lost the entire in-law group.

“I really trusted you.”

The betrayal of the two people I trusted the most. Introducing Cha Seo-rin to my husband was not supposed to end my marriage like this. If I hadn’t done that, my marriage wouldn’t have ended so miserably.

“No, it’s useless to regret now….”

I was walking out of the suffocating courtroom with quick steps. As I reached the intersection in front of the courthouse, someone grabbed my wrist tightly. It was Ji-han, who seemed to be panting as if he had been chasing me.

“Wait, let’s talk.”

“What’s there to talk about? We’ve already said everything in front of the judge.”

He had been pushing for the divorce aggressively. He looked at me with a frown, as I stood there facing my ex-husband.

“Yoon Yeo-jin.”

He called my name in a low voice, and that’s when I stood facing my ex-husband.

“Oppa.”

I slowly turned around, hearing a harsh woman’s voice from behind. As I expected, it was Cha Seo-rin.

“Waited for a long time outside.”

She glanced at me before clinging to his chest. Ji-han seemed like he was about to say something to me, but when he saw her, he shut his mouth.

“Where are you going?”

“I wanted to greet him when he came out.”

With a very affectionate reply, Seo-rin glanced at me quickly. Her behavior towards him provoked me, and I swallowed a bitter laugh.

“Cha Seo-rin, you’re not even human.”

As I couldn’t bear looking at them anymore, I turned away.

“Unni.”

I turned to the voice calling me with an awkward title.

“We’re going to get married soon. We decided to start with the marriage registration. I’m going to have a baby.”

“Stop it. What’s the point of talking about it?”

Ji-han grabbed Seo-rin’s collar and raised his head. At the sight, Seo-rin’s voice echoed in my ear, telling me about her pregnancy.

“I’m pregnant. It’s the baby of your husband, Unni.”

She was the one who confidently claimed to have my husband’s child. The memories that haunted me like a nightmare came flooding back, causing my lips to tremble uncontrollably.

“Thank you, Unni.”

“What?”

I was speechless with gratitude.

“Thanks to you, I was able to meet oppa. I’ll live my life being truly thankful to you, unni.”

At that moment, Ji-han, who had been holding onto Seo-rin, let go and approached me.

“Take care of yourself. See you when I sort out the paperwork.”

How shameless he was to tell me to take care of myself. It was you, of all people.

“I hope you can’t live well.”

Please, I hope your married life becomes unhappy. Like me.

I left my last words and turned away. I tried my best to walk away as if everything was normal.

As I got further away from Ji-han, memories of our past together became more and more vivid. In the large house, all I could do was wait for that man.

He was a cruelly indifferent husband, but he was my last family. I was desperate to keep that marriage, but the price of that faith was the betrayal of the two people I cherished the most.

In front of the crosswalk, I stopped walking as tears poured out uncontrollably.

People were crossing the street according to the green light, but I couldn’t move.

“Sob….”

Resentment, hatred, and betrayal flooded out as much as the deep trust had. At that moment, everything became blurred with tears.

A car appeared in the distance, rushing towards me without braking.

“Is it coming towards me…?”

As the car got closer, I remembered a man Jihan would call when he needed something done without getting his hands dirty.

“That person is…!”

As soon as I saw the large mole next to his sharp eyes, I remembered him pa*sing by me once. He was the man Ji-han would call when he needed something done without getting his hands dirty.

“Ah!”

Someone screamed, as if they were being torn apart in my place.

As I felt pain rushing through my body like a wave, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, the one I once promised forever to.

“Is this…are you trying to kill me…?”

Why…I gave you everything you wanted, so why…

And as if accepting what he had done, Ji-han looked at me with his face contorted.

“Someone got hit by a car!”

The sound of an ambulance rushing from far away seemed to be getting closer.

As I lost strength in my limbs and consciousness slowly drifted away, I extended my arm towards Ji-han, who seemed to be acknowledging what he had done, and he closed his eyes.

***

With a jerk, her eyelids fluttered open. Emerging from the foggy darkness, she felt a strange sensation at her fingertips.

“Am I alive…?”

She had been lifted into the air in a split second with a loud crashing sound. While drifting away in consciousness, she sensed impending death, but when she opened her eyes, she saw a smooth marble floor and a pure white rug. The sound of a camera shutter clicked in the distance.

“Bride, I’ll take a shot of you facing forward this time. Hold the bouquet in the middle.”

The rapid clicking of the shutter gradually ceased. In front of her, a photographer stared at her as she looked at him strangely, not taking any action.

“Bride?”