Chapter 5: The Devil’s Contract

“You’re here?”

At the sight of Seo Jeonghyeok sitting with his long legs crossed, nonchalantly swirling a wine glass, a hollow breath escaped her.

From his office to Building J, then from Building J to Hotel H—for a man who had snubbed her by changing the location twice, he looked shamelessly composed.

Suppressing her rising irritation, she sat down across from him.

He extended a long arm and filled the glass in front of her with a deep crimson liquid.

He was a man who wore the word ‘glamour’ like a second skin.

Everything about him—the high-end suit that was clearly bespoke, the shirt, the watch, the luxury shoes, and even the thick ring resting extravagantly on his long finger—fell into place as props that highlighted his absurdly handsome face.

He looked like a pure-blooded aristocratic gladiator.

Arrogant, luxurious, and cruel.

“I assume your meeting ended well?”

“Thanks to you.”

“That’s a relief.”

At her pointed, sarcastic remark, the corners of his mouth quirked up.

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to be rude. Let’s consider this dinner as my way of making it up to you.”

His dark eyes curved slyly.

This was the hotel’s main restaurant, a place that would normally be bustling with guests.

She had never imagined it could be this empty.

“Have you eaten?”

“I heard you were introduced to me by Director Yang Jaesuk of JK Group.”

Hyeonseo cut straight to the point, determined not to be dragged along by this snake-like man’s pace.

He laughed as if he had expected nothing less.

“You must have very deep trust in Director Yang. You rejected my offer without even hearing the amount, yet you contacted me again the moment she said a word.”

“It is deep. The Director and I have exchanged many things.”

“I’m envious of that trust.”

“I asked to see you because I have a question.”

The man took a sip of wine, his eyes glinting with a mocking curiosity.

“Five billion won. Are you serious?”

“Why? Is it not enough?”

“No. It’s too much. I don’t understand it. Honestly, I don’t believe it.”

“Do I really look like the type of person who would pull a scam?”

“I’m asking if you truly think I am worth five billion. You aren’t the type to do business that doesn’t turn a profit.”

“It seems our Lawyer Cha tends to undervalue herself. For someone who looks like an Ice Princess on the outside.”

Irritated by the word ‘princess,’ she reflexively furrowed her brow.

“I appreciate you valuing me so highly, but—”

“There’s no need to be grateful. As you know, I don’t do business where I lose money.”

The man’s gaze turned chillingly sharp in an instant.

What exactly was his scheme?

“Wasn’t it because you decided it was better to use a proxy rather than having Goldstone swing the sword directly? I understand that’s why you chose Cheongsong as your first partner in Korea. You didn’t want to face the backlash of ‘foreign capital destroying Korean companies’ head-on.”

“That was part of it.”

“If that’s the case, and if you liked the way I handled the work, wouldn’t it be more rational to just designate me and continue working with Cheongsong?”

“So you want to hear the specific reason?”

“Yes. I want to know.”

Setting down his wine glass, he tilted his head leisurely.

Once again, a dangerous, predatory gaze locked onto hers.

It took her breath away.

“First. We don’t really care about our image. Who doesn’t know that Goldstone specializes in ‘take the money and run’? Why bother acting hypocritical with money earned by stabbing people in the back? We’re not running for office to win the public’s heart.”

His eyes, fixed intently on her, were terrifyingly cold.

She was finally reminded of exactly what kind of person this man was.

A vicious merchant who would sell his soul for a profit.

A person so unscrupulous he would sell his own parents if the math didn’t add up.

The notoriety of Goldstone’s Ryan Seo hadn’t been built overnight.

“Second. We don’t plan on just hitting one or two targets in Korea and leaving. We’ve started this board with a long-term plan of at least ten or twenty years. If that’s the case, the budget we’d spend on a law firm to handle our legal affairs wouldn’t be something we could ignore.”

“So you’re saying you’re buying me with that money.”

“Ah. Now we’re finally speaking the same language.”

This… crazy bstrd.

She barely swallowed the curse rising in her throat.

The eyes observing her grew even more blatant.

“You look like you’re holding back a curse right now.”

“I can’t exactly say… that I’m not.”

A smirk leaked from his widened lips.

Eventually, he let out a chuckle, and the fact that he was so breathtakingly handsome made him even more detestable.

“Ah. Why would anyone break off a marriage with such a charming woman?”

“Pardon?”

What did he just say?

Hyeonseo’s eyes widened as she doubted her ears.

“What did you just say?”

“Oh, dear. My apologies. I happened to hear it by chance.”

With an expression that didn’t look sorry at all, his voice trailed off.

“Hear what?”

“That you broke off the engagement.”

Surely not.

“With Jo Inho.”

She let out a hollow, stunned laugh.

She wondered what kind of guy Jo Inho really was.

Was he really pathetic enough to go around blabbering about his love life to a purely professional business rival?

“Where did you hear that?”

“I was with him until just a moment ago. With Mr. Jo Inho.”

That meant his meeting partner earlier had been Jo Inho.

She felt like hurling wine at the face that was now tilting slightly toward her with a fading grin.

A mix of embarrassment, shame, resentment, and a sense of pathetic smallness surged within her like a wave.

Why did she have to show her absolute rock bottom to this stranger?

She was in a state of chaos.

“Anyway, I’m sorry to hear it. Although, it’s not exactly a bad thing for me.”

What did he mean?

“If you had gone through with the marriage to Jo Inho, you wouldn’t have accepted my offer.”

“I haven’t accepted your offer yet, Director.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t accept it even though you chased me all the way here in a frenzy?”

He snorted in mockery.

“Why don’t you stop playing hard to get? You’re going to sign anyway, so let’s stop wasting each other’s energy. You need money enough to consider marrying a man you don’t even like, don’t you?”

Just how much did this man know?

His arrogant gaze, which seemed to have already dissected everything about her, left her speechless.

It felt as though her entire interior had been laid bare.

He was constantly digging up and exposing the greed and instincts seething inside her.

She unconsciously clenched her fingers.

She felt as if she were standing completely naked before him.

“Now that you’ve heard everything I have to say, it’s time to decide.”

He raised his arm and gave a casual finger snap.

A secretary standing in the distance approached and handed over a document envelope.

“Read it and sign.”

Perhaps he was a devil.

A devil who constantly tempted her to sell her soul, promising to give her everything she desired.

“The moment you sign that, Lawyer Cha Hyeonseo, you become a member of Goldstone. You have an obligation to do whatever I tell you, and refusing an order is grounds for dismissal. Also, keep in mind that the five billion won deposited immediately into your account, along with your entire annual salary including bonuses, can be subject to a right of indemnity in the case of professional negligence.”

Since he had gained an obedient s*ave with plenty of weaknesses for five billion won, it was a contract where he stood to lose nothing.

With hesitation, she swallowed hard as she looked down at the documents she had pulled out.

“I think three days was plenty of time to think. If you don’t sign now, I’ll take it as a rejection.”

The man’s expression as he delivered the ultimatum while sitting crookedly was arrogant.

He was sneering, asking if someone like her could really afford to refuse this.

“Do it. Sign.”

He pressed her.

The air around them grew taut.

The anxiety made it hard to breathe.

She felt pathetic and small.

She couldn’t bring herself to kneel before him, but she couldn’t walk out either.

Her leash was already tied in his hand.

He was right. She couldn’t deny it.

As he said, she had never had a choice from the very beginning.

Once her objective assessment of the situation was over, her throat felt parched.

She gulped down the wine in front of her.

She felt as though she couldn’t open her mouth if she stayed sober.

As the alcohol went down, a hot flush instantly rose to her face.

“The pen.”

When she finally spoke after a long silence, he smiled leisurely and pulled a fountain pen from his inner suit pocket.

As if possessed, she took the pen from his hand.

She consoled herself with the thought that there were far more reasons to take it than to refuse.

“A wise choice, just as I expected.”

As she finished signing, he extended his hand toward her once more.

“Let’s work well together from now on.”

She stood up immediately, ignoring him.

She didn’t want to hold that large hand, knowing exactly how hot it would feel.

The word ‘together,’ grouping her as his kind, suddenly felt nauseating.

She walked out of the hotel quickly.

As if she were running away.

Heat rose from the shame. No, perhaps it was the alcohol she had just downed finally kicking in.

The cold autumn night air brushed against her cheeks like a slap.

She walked and walked in no particular direction.

She didn’t want to think about anything.

She didn’t want to dwell on the shame, the smallness, or the misery.

How long had she been walking?

Suddenly, she stopped and looked up at the sound of people murmuring.

Hyeonseo looked up instinctively.

It was the comet.

In the pitch-black night sky, the fragmented pieces of the comet were scattering in all directions, each dragging a long tail.

The objects that had returned after five thousand years were perishing like that. Without a trace.

At the same time, her phone vibrated.

An alert showed a ridiculous number—five billion won—had been deposited.

The monstrous burden that had tormented her for so long vanished in an instant.

Without a trace.

“Ha…”

A hollow sigh broke from her lips.

An unknown fear was beginning to creep in.