CH 44

“Tell me!” Muyeol spat out coldly when Yiyoung didn’t reply immediately. Startled, Yiyoung looked at him with wide eyes. He had never talked to her like this before; it was too surprising. He hadn’t been like this when he was a student.

‘Nevermind.’ She shook her head. It was pointless to compare him to his younger self. A lot of time had passed. If they were actually going to get married, all she needed to do now was worry about the present and future. Yiyoung took a deep breath. “No, I haven’t made such promises to anyone else. There’s no other person who helped me like you did. But I want you to know this, I never imagined you would ask me for something like this. So tell me why you want to marry me.”

Muyeol didn’t beat around the bush. “My grandmother will give me her shares once I get married.”

Yiyoung gaped at him in disbelief, but Muyeol continued, “I need the shares, So that Mr. Cha won’t be able to control me. To this day, he’s been threatening to kick me out. It causes me a lot of stress.”

“Mr. Cha would be…” Yiyoung tried to guess.

“Yes, my father. But our relationship is nothing like what you would imagine a father and son to be like. We’re more like a master and slave. And now I’m going to declare my freedom. I’m not going to be his slave. I don’t want to constantly worry about being kicked out.”

Yiyoung bit her lips. She hadn’t expected the reason to be something like this.

Muyeol continued as he poured himself another glass of wine, “Mr. Cha thinks of me as a tool. You remember Jaeho, right? He’s being treated the same way, too. Mr. Cha repeatedly banishes him abroad and then calls him back. It’s all so he can control him easily. Fortunately, I have my grandmother to back me up, so he couldn’t do the same to me. Anyway, it’s troublesome. So I’m planning to become the CEO of the S group at next year’s stockholders’ meeting. You know what a holding company is, right?” 

“Sort of.” 

“If I become the CEO, Mr. Cha won’t be able to control me. But to do that, I need my grandmother’s shares. It’s the only way I can survive.”

Yiyoung silently looked at him, the steak long forgotten as she tried to take in this awful story. She already knew Muyeol didn’t have a good relationship with Jaeho, but she never expected his relationship with his father to be this sour. But one detail still stuck out to her. Why did he want to become the CEO so desperately? “Do you love your job that much? Or are you just attached to the company?”

It was an unexpected question. 

‘Do I like working? Am I in love with work?’ Muyeol thought. 

“No, but it’s the only way I can take revenge and soothe my anger.” 

He almost regretted telling her that. He knew there were not a lot of people who would understand him; they would just brush him off, stating that Mr. Cha was his father nonetheless, and he’d inherited all his wealth from him. So Muyeol found himself blurting out more than what he wanted to say. “Every year on my birthday, he would get a paternity test done. He insisted that my mom cheated on him just so he could intimidate me. He was the one living like a dog in heat, yet I was the one being painted as a psycho.”

But if they were going to get married, she had to know his family history. Madam Kang and Mr. Cha might try to attack her, so it was best to be prepared.

“I have never experienced this thing called ‘family’. Madam Kang divorced Mr. Cha when I was young and soon married another guy, so I never got the chance to live normally.” Muyeol continued to talk about his family, and Yiyoung finally realized how he had hardened his heart into stone. 

It was horrifying to hear him tell the story with no emotion whatsoever. He called his own mother ‘Madam’, and referred to his father as if he was a stranger. He really wasn’t loved by his family…

“I’m not planning on being your husband forever. It’s just going to be until February next year, until the stockholders’ meeting. Once I become the CEO, I’ll let you go. I’ll grant any wish of yours, and even give you a hefty alimony.”

“And what if you don’t become the CEO?”

Muyeol’s expression turned ice cold. “I will. As long as I get the shares. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“So just one year, then.”

“Yes. One year.”

“When will the wedding ceremony happen?”

“We’ll skip the ceremony and just sign on the marriage certificate. What’s important is this document. I’m not interested in showing off our marriage,” Muyeol explained, “Also, if someone you don’t know reaches out to you, just ignore them. The only person I trust is my grandmother, and she won’t have any reason to call you.”

“I’m scared just thinking about it…”

“Don’t worry. I will take care of everything.”

“So the reason you chose me is because I’m the easiest person you can ask?” Unbeknownst to her, a scowl took over her face.