Chapter 15: An Out-of-Context Truth

The deep green foliage was overlaid with colorful hues.

Even the clouds turned red, as if the sun had tilted its head.

“I told you, you cannot go in.”

“Do you know who I am? Let go of me this instant.”

It was then that a sharp voice barged in.

Yoosun, who was still looking out the window, waved her hand while tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Director Song. I heard you found her? Our Seohee!”

‘Our Seohee?’

Yoosun let out a dry laugh.

“So I hear.”

“And regrettably, she is alive.”

At Yoosun’s emotionless words, Heeyoung, who had walked in, roughly swept her hair back.

“So you hear?”

Heeyoung caught the end of Yoosun’s words and placed her hands on her hips.

“You said you would handle it properly!”

She shrieked at the top of her lungs.

As she threw her bag down, unable to contain her agitation, Yoosun narrowed her eyes in displeasure.

‘How dare she act so insolently.’

Yoosun spoke slowly.

“That is why you should have trusted me.”

“Wasn’t it you who ruined things by hiring someone else because you couldn’t trust me?” Yoosun said in a chillingly cold voice.

Jin Heeyoung had been the problem from the very beginning.

Unable to wait when told to, she had gone ahead and married Jin Seohee off to Yoon Leehyun in a heartbeat.

“How could I trust you, Director Song?”

Heeyoung retorted, refusing to back down even as she shrank back slightly in fear.

She thought everyone was blind to how Yoosun had dragged her feet because she didn’t want to marry her son to Seohee.

Had she been daydreaming back then, Yoosun would have swallowed J International whole with that elegant face of hers.

At the time, what Jin Heeyoung demanded was a marriage between Yoon Jihoon and Jin Seohee, along with full support from Gayun Group, while what Song Yoosun desired was a complete merger between Gayun Group and J International.

Though they called it a merger, it was no different from taking it for free.

“If you don’t trust me, why did you crawl back here, Interim CEO Jin Heeyoung?”

Yoosun put emphasis on the word ‘interim’ as she rolled the golf ball like a walnut.

At that, Heeyoung sprang up and shouted.

“Do you know how hard it was for me to find that out! Yoon Leehyun has found Jin Seohee, so what are you going to do now?!”

She had half-given up after five years of prompting them to get a divorce only for them to ignore her, so this was an unexpected windfall.

Heeyoung had rejoiced at the fact that they were legally strangers.

If only Seohee died, all of the company’s shares would belong to her.

To think they were back together.

If Jin Seohee gifted the shares to Yoon Leehyun while maintaining a common-law marriage, or if the two of them registered their marriage, it would be over.

If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to get the company even if Jin Seohee died.

All of Heeyoung’s plans would go awry.

That wasn’t all.

Recalling her last meeting with Seohee, Heeyoung clenched her fists in anxiety.

Seohee, who had reacted calmly even when she quit the violin and came back to Korea, and even when she was urged to marry Leehyun, had looked at her with such a frigid gaze for the first time.

‘She acted as if she would throw my Dohyung into prison this very second.’

Heeyoung stroked her thighs anxiously.

“Seohee’s aunt.”

Yoosun rubbed her temples and grimaced.

As if genuinely annoyed, she leaned forward.

Then, she called Heeyoung once more.

“Madame Jin.”

Every time those red lips moved slowly, Heeyoung flinched.

Yoosun gripped the armrests of the sofa where Heeyoung was sitting with both hands and looked down at her.

“Keep your son on a tight leash and wait.”

“And stop acting so arrogant here.”

As Heeyoung subtly avoided her gaze, Yoosun firmly grabbed her chin.

“Because I can’t stand to see Yoon Leehyun take that company you covet, either.”

“So shut your mouth and wait quietly.”

Having finished speaking, Yoosun roughly let go of Heeyoung’s chin.

“Secretary Ahn.”

Yoosun called the female secretary waiting outside her office.

It was a command for her to get out.

“Let go. I’ll walk out on my own feet.”

Brushing off Secretary Ahn, who was grabbing her arm, Heeyoung glared at Yoosun, who had already turned her back.

***

Having barely eaten a few slices of peach, Seohee fell asleep quickly.

She hadn’t been able to eat anything for lunch, and walked through the garden attached to the VIP floor while watching the dimming sunset.

In the distance, an advertisement for a Gayun Electronics product caught her eye.

“Gayun…….”

It was a word she couldn’t not know.

Because it was a company that anyone in South Korea had heard of.

As soon as she returned to her room, nausea struck.

Turning pale at the persistent urge to vomit that refused to settle, she finally managed to lie down only after stacking two pillows.

As she thought of words like Gayun Group and Yoon Leehyun, her eyes gradually closed.

Ugh.

When she sat up from a sudden fit of dry-retching, her surroundings were pitch black.

“Madam.”

Aram hurriedly supported her, looking startled.

Since she had eaten nothing, there was nothing to bring up.

At most, just gastric acid.

While holding onto the sink to rinse her mouth, her stomach churned again with another dry-retch.

‘It’s so hard.’

‘If only someone would press a stop button. Please, let me escape this hellish pain.’

Her hands gripping the sink trembled violently.

“Hoo.”

As she stumbled to open the door while leaning against the wall, Aram stepped forward.

“……Aram.”

Her legs gave out.

If Aram hadn’t quickly supported her, she would have collapsed onto the floor.

“Madam.”

“Please give me some lemon candy.”

The candies Leehyun had prepared were diverse.

From the famous lemon candy known to be effective for morning sickness to brilliant five-colored rainbow candies.

“Do you need anything else?”

She shook her head again.

What she needed right now wasn’t food or objects, but Leehyun.

“Is Leehyun still not here?”

“I received a report that the Representative’s schedule is fully packed with external commitments today, so he will be arriving late.”

Aram glanced at her wristwatch.

The clock already pointed to 11 o’clock.

“His last video conference should be ending soon, would you like me to contact him?”

“No, it’s fine.”

In truth, it wasn’t fine.

She desperately craved his touch, his warmth, and even his scent.

But she couldn’t keep calling a busy man when she was of no help to him, so she turned on the TV, pressing her hot, stinging eyes with one hand.

Gayun Group. Gayun’s new crown prince. Gayun Group succession. Gayun Electronics.

Major keywords flashed by.

“Aram.”

As she blankly turned her gaze, Aram approached her side.

“That man…….”

‘What should I ask?’

‘What kind of work does he do? Or what kind of person is he?’

Since no suitable question came to mind, she shut her mouth.

She had thought he was an extraordinary person ever since he brought along an entourage of bodyguards and secretaries, but to think he was someone constantly mentioned in the news day after day.

Her hand, flipping through the channels, stopped at a bold headline: Oh Seokhun’s Friday Night, Gayun Group.

[Good evening, viewers. I am Oh Seokhun of HBN Friday Night. Today, we have prepared an in-depth exploration of the Gayun Group, which has recently been drawing intense attention from both political and business circles. We have invited Executive Vice President Cha Ilyoung of Gayun Group to join us.]

[Hello, I am Cha Ilyoung, the newly appointed Executive Vice President of Gayun Group.]

A relatively young-looking man sat in front of Oh Seokhun.

[Executive Vice President Cha Ilyoung, you received a lot of attention this year as the youngest Vice President. How did you feel about it?]

[Haha, it’s a heavy responsibility, of course.]

As Oh Seokhun threw out a light remark, Cha Ilyoung replied with ease.

[Executive Vice President Cha Ilyoung, you are also famous for being scouted from MGL. So, are you satisfied with the working environment at Gayun?]

Oh Seokhun said with a laugh.

After a few casual questions were exchanged, Oh Seokhun adjusted his posture.

Looking straight ahead at the prompter, he smiled and stared at Cha Ilyoung.

[You mentioned that you would reveal the inner workings of Gayun in detail. Haha. This makes a chill run down my spine for no reason. I understand that corporate secrets are strictly confidential.]

[Hahaha, it’s hard to disclose corporate secrets, after all. I could get arrested for violating the National Security Act.]

Cha Ilyoung laughed like a good-natured man.

Oh Seokhun then nodded and shifted the topic.

[We hear that Representative Yoon Leehyun still maintains his position as the head of YH Investment Group. Ah, actually, keeping the representative position is not the main point. Rather, isn’t it noteworthy that he holds absolutely no official position under the Gayun Group umbrella?]

Oh Seokhun said, as if it were a truly peculiar matter.

[Indeed. It was quite a concerning matter for the executives and shareholders alike.]

Cha Ilyoung replied, as if he had been waiting for this.

[Of course it would be.]

Oh Seokhun wore an expression of deep understanding.

[To give you the conclusion first, Representative Yoon Leehyun is scheduled to be appointed as the President of Gayun Electronics soon.]

It was practically an appointment made with a future promotion to Vice Chairman or Chairman in mind.

“President…….”

Unlike the man who stayed by her side, the one she saw through the TV seemed to stand above the unreachable clouds.

An existence she could neither step up to reach nor extend her hand to grasp.

Suddenly, her stomach burned.

Was it because of the lemon candy?

Seohee hugged her knees and curled her body up small.

‘To think I was married to such an incredible person.’

“……I can’t believe it.”

Seohee, ultimately burying her face in her knees, murmured quietly.

The conversation on the TV continued.

[Speaking of which, isn’t it highly interesting that Representative Yoon Leehyun married Ms. Jin Seohee of J International? There was a lot of talk about whether it was a love marriage or an arranged marriage…….]

“J International’s Jin Seohee?”

‘Me?’

When she lifted her head and blinked, Aram’s gaze locked onto her.

“Aram, do you happen to know anything about J International?”

At the simple question, Aram’s expression stiffened.

“Well…….”

While Aram hesitated over how to explain, the word ‘arranged’ lingered in Seohee’s mind.

An arranged marriage—did it refer to being bound in marriage for the mutual benefit of two families?

‘So, Leehyun married me for the succession of the Gayun Group?’

Her brown eyes swirled with confusion.

Her pale cheeks grew as cold as ice.

‘No. That can’t be. What lay in those pitch-black pupils was an unmistakable longing.’

‘Was it not for me…… but a longing for J International?’

Her brown eyes trembled.

[There were endless rumors about whether J International would merge with Gayun or not. Indeed, the stock market moved quite turbulently because of it. Due to the massive owner risk of being accused of industrial espionage, J International’s sale—]

[I apologize for cutting you off, but I came here to speak about the Gayun Group.]

Cha Ilyoung cut Oh Seokhun off with a somewhat rigid expression.

Oh Seokhun’s reply of “Ah, of course, Vice President,” brushed past her ears.

“It seems J International desperately needed Representative Yoon Leehyun’s help. But I didn’t.”

Seohee quickly slapped her hand over her mouth at the words that had suddenly slipped out.

“Ma……dam.”

Aram called out to Seohee in embarrassment.

“What on earth did I just say…….”

‘Whose thoughts are these? What is this?’

A sharp beep sounded in her ears, bringing on a high-pitched tinnitus.

Her brown eyes swirled with anxiety and confusion.

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