Chapter : 31
Juhye’s expression did not change, but her clenched fist remained tightly tensed.
Why had Seo Woo-hyun, who was now on worse terms than strangers with Daehyun, suddenly come looking for her?
“Ever since the issue with Woonam Construction, it’s been really hard to even see my younger brother’s face. He’s even hired people to block me.”
“……”
“But recently, maybe he’s been too busy to spare the energy for me, because the number of people keeping tabs on me has decreased.”
Woo-hyun’s muttered words carried a pointed implication.
If he meant recently, could it be because manpower had been reassigned to keep an eye on her instead?
As if confirming that Juhye’s uneasy deduction was correct, he clapped his hands lightly.
“When I looked into it, turns out he planted quite a lot of people around the Jinju Arboretum. Are things between you and your husband not going well these days?”
His sloppy tone was thick with mockery.
It was obvious he was trying to provoke her, and reacting to every jab would only put her at a disadvantage.
“Seo Woo-hyun, what exactly did you come here to say?”
Maintaining her cold gaze, Juhye shot back quietly.
“Just get to the point. I don’t have time for this either.”
“You’re quite impatient. Once you hear what I have to say, you’ll probably want to grab me and beg me to tell you more…”
Woo-hyun drawled out the end of his sentence, a chilly sneer on his lips.
Rather than stalling for time, he simply seemed to be enjoying the situation.
Juhye was wondering whether she should just leave, dismissing this as nonsense, when—
“How much do you know about Song Eun-jae?”
A name that should never have surfaced spilled from the man’s mouth.
Her eyes wavered slightly as confusion swept over her.
Like a hawk spotting its prey, Woo-hyun caught that fleeting reaction and grinned.
Then, suddenly, he pulled out a document envelope tucked under his arm and fluttered it in his hand.
“You know the name, at least, right?”
“Yes. She’s an employee at our arboretum.”
Since Woo-hyun’s intentions were unclear, there was no reason to give him exactly the answer he wanted.
Juhye carefully controlled her expression, pretending to know nothing, and replied calmly.
Woo-hyun snorted softly and pulled several photos from the envelope.
He strode forward, and the photos he held out filled Juhye’s entire field of vision.
They showed the backs of Daehyun and Eun-jae walking side by side.
When on earth was this photo taken…?
Others might not recognize them since their faces weren’t visible, but Juhye had no choice but to know.
“The woman in this photo is Song Eun-jae. That woman who works at your arboretum.”
At Woo-hyun’s confident explanation, Juhye felt something was off and frowned slightly.
It seemed Woo-hyun had assumed that Juhye still didn’t know Eun-jae’s true identity.
“She’s currently seeing your husband. Seo Daehyun, that is.”
As expected, he was asking about something she already knew.
“By ‘seeing,’ do you mean an affair?”
“You catch on quickly. Makes it easier to move on to the next step.”
Woo-hyun slid the photos back into the envelope and shook it lightly.
“I won’t release these photos publicly, so I’d like a fair price in return.”
“A price?”
“Money. Cash.”
“Money…”
The absurdity of the proposal left her momentarily speechless.
To think he was offering such explosive information and asking for nothing more than… money.
“Well, with just these photos, it doesn’t really look like proof of an affair.”
Juhye already knew about the existence of the mistress, so it wasn’t shocking.
Even if these photos were turned into an article, public interest would flare briefly and then die down.
Photos of two people simply walking close together were easy enough to explain away.
“What if I can prove they’re having an affair?”
Thinking she didn’t believe him, Woo-hyun brought up something else.
“And how would you prove that?”
At her skeptical question, Woo-hyun pulled out his phone.
“I have evidence that Seo Daehyun’s marriage was very much intentional. Not because he loved you, but…”
He showed her an audio file saved on his phone and immediately pressed play.
Checking the date of the recording, it was from the year of the Jinju Construction commemorative party.
“He married you to use you, from the very beginning.”
The moment Woo-hyun finished speaking, Daehyun’s voice flowed from the phone.
Juhye stood there, her face drained of color, listening to that voice.
—If I can make Woonam Construction collapse, I’m willing to do anything right now.
—Anything?
—Even marrying a woman I don’t love…
A woman I don’t love.
Those clearly spoken words felt like they tore her heart apart piece by piece.
It was a conversation that proved Daehyun had attended the party with her as his target from the start.
She wanted to hear more, but Woo-hyun stopped the recording and smiled cheerfully.
His expression, as he looked at Juhye’s frozen face, was filled with satisfaction.
“Seo Daehyun liked another woman from the beginning, and you were nothing more than a tool he tricked and used.”
His tone and gaze were so confident that there was no need to even suspect the recording had been manipulated.
Instinctively, Juhye knew this recording was real.
“So think carefully. It’d be wise to take my hand. No need to get stabbed in the back later.”
If this recording were to be made public, she wouldn’t be able to escape the public spotlight either.
At Juhye’s silent reaction, Woo-hyun tossed his business card onto the floor.
“The deadline is early next month. Prepare twenty billion won.”
With roughly a month’s grace period, the conversation ended.
Woo-hyun withdrew without resistance. As he passed by her, the strong scent of his cologne lingered heavily.
Juhye held her breath for a moment, only exhaling once he had completely disappeared into the elevator.
“Haah…”
The tension that had gripped her body finally eased.
She picked up Woo-hyun’s business card from the floor and went inside.
As soon as she opened the front door, the living room flooded with bright afternoon sunlight came into view.
“He won’t release the photos immediately… but the recording—that’s a problem.”
It wouldn’t just damage Seo Daehyun’s reputation.
It would harm not only the two people involved in the marriage, but also the reputation of the Jinju Group.
Pressing a hand to her throbbing head, Juhye staggered toward the sofa.
Now that things had come to this, she needed to use every means possible to defend against his attack.
“First…”
She sent a message to Manager Park, asking him to investigate two things.
First, information on Seo Woo-hyun. Second, Daehyun’s activities before he became the major shareholder of Jinju Construction.
If Seo Woo-hyun has been tailing Daehyun ever since he was released from prison, then it means Daehyun’s relationship with Song Eun-jae lasted longer than I thought. Then it might really be true that they were connected even before he married me…
Juhye had always believed that because she liked Daehyun first, she accepted the conditions he proposed and that was how the marriage came about.
But Woo-hyun’s claim directly contradicted that belief.
It meant Daehyun had deliberately attended that party so that Juhye would confess to him.
And that was something he couldn’t have done without being absolutely certain that she would confess.
“How could he be so sure?”
She briefly wondered whether she had encountered him somewhere before that party, but no memories surfaced.
If her memory was correct, she had only seen him at university, and then at Inwangsan.
Confident that her memory was right, another possibility suddenly emerged.
No… no way. That can’t be.
It was a possibility she had never once doubted before.
The possibility that, like her, Seo Daehyun also remembered her.
The moment that doubt reached her, a wave of dizziness washed over her.
I only need an excuse.
Without even such an excuse… I’m not in a position to meet you lightly, Ms. Juhye.
The conversation she had shared with Daehyun at that party began to take on an entirely different meaning.
I have neither the intention nor the leisure to waste time on a trivial romance. I have a responsibility to carry on the family business, and an ambition to rise to a higher position.
Yet after marriage, Daehyun had not taken over the family business he claimed to feel such responsibility for.
Instead, he destroyed it with his own hands and absorbed it into Jinju Construction.
Had he planned from the very beginning to bring Woonam Construction down, approaching her with the intention of using her as a tool?
Without a single ounce of love for me, driven solely by ambition and desire for success…
It felt as though one of the foundations that had been holding Juhye upright collapsed entirely.
A mire formed from profound despair.
