Chapter : 57
It was Daehyun’s car, so she couldn’t have been mistaken.
Juhye rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and glanced out the window again.
Then, suddenly realizing something, she spun around like lightning.
“Daehyun is here… right now…!”
The moment her father woke up, her older brothers had called her; Daehyun’s car was parked in the lot.
There was no doubt—they must have gone to inform Chairman Jin about the divorce and push it forward.
They must have summoned Daehyun directly to Chairman Jin to have him formally approve it.
“Juhye, wait!”
Suha, realizing what she had figured out, hurriedly blocked her path.
Juyoung, unaware of the situation, hesitated in place.
At that moment, Kangil, who had been observing the scene, quickly grabbed Suha’s arm.
He had read some signal in the brief eye contact with Juhye.
“Ugh, you!”
Suha shouted in surprise at the sudden force blocking her.
“I’m sorry, brother!”
Kangil awkwardly apologized while struggling to free Suha’s hand.
Seizing that brief opening, Juhye shot out of his grasp like an arrow.
“Juhye!”
“Sis, I’ll explain later!”
She even pushed past Juyoung, who tried to stop her, and ran all the way to the end of the corridor.
She was heading toward the special ward prepared for VIPs.
She had a feeling Daehyun would be in the room where Chairman Jin was resting.
‘Why didn’t I think of this earlier?’
If the divorce procedures were underway, either Suha or Sukyung would have had to bring Daehyun directly to Chairman Jin.
Chairman Jin would want to personally reclaim the authority he had given Daehyun before the marriage.
Moreover, Chairman Jin’s power would be necessary to prevent potential issues after the divorce was finalized.
“Haa… haa…”
Her phone kept ringing as she rushed into the elevator.
She ended up turning it off entirely and caught a passing nurse in the hallway.
Luckily, the nurse recognized her and quickly guided her to the room.
Walking in the right direction, Juhye suddenly stopped.
“…….”
Her reflection in the hospital room window looked dazed, as if she were a lost soul.
Juhye straightened her disheveled clothes as best as she could and stared at the door.
The door the nurse had guided her to was right in front of her. Trembling, she reached for the handle.
“…So, you’re proceeding with a consensual divorce?”
But as soon as she heard the voice slipping out from the door crack, her body froze.
Chairman Jin had woken up, and his soft voice floated out.
There was no doubt—the other person was her husband.
“So that’s why the kids were quiet while I was resting.”
“…….”
“Did you think I might collapse from shock?”
Chairman Jin chuckled heartily. To an outsider, it might seem like he was in good spirits, but Juhye knew her father well.
He often laughed before expressing anger, as a way to control himself before scolding or losing temper.
“Juhye worried, and so did I.”
Juhye’s eyes snapped open at the familiar voice. Sure enough, Seo Daehyun was in the room.
Her fingers trembling, barely reaching the doorknob, she listened as Chairman Jin continued:
“Juhye is a good girl, so that’s natural. But you…”
“Of course…”
“Did you worry about how to explain this?”
Daehyun’s voice was tinged with exhaustion.
He had just accepted the divorce, letting go of all responsibilities and authority.
Being summoned here in the midst of that would naturally be unpleasant.
On top of dealing with Suha and Sukyung, he now had to face Chairman Jin as well. Surely, he had thought of everything on the way to the hospital.
“You’re not thinking of asking me to stop the divorce, are you?”
“Not at all.”
“Good. You should have some conscience.”
Beneath Chairman Jin’s voice lay a deep contempt, the same feeling that had been palpable beyond the contracts Suha and Sukyung had forced on Daehyun.
It was a clue to how they had treated him after his marriage to Juhye.
“This marriage went against the entire family. Had it not been for Juhye’s will, it wouldn’t even have been discussed.”
Even Juhye shivered at her father’s cold words.
Daehyun, however, stood silently, taking in the barrage like an arrow striking him.
“You must remember that you joined Jinju Group thanks to Juhye’s virtue.”
“I do.”
“If you’ve benefited, you should repay it. That’s the human thing to do, the proper order… How have you done?”
Daehyun’s only response was a quiet exhale.
Through the crack in the door, Juhye saw his shoulders stiffen.
As always, he didn’t even defend himself—he silently endured, familiar with suppressing himself.
The man who had risen to the top of Jinju Construction, now receiving intense hostility from his wife’s family as if being strangled…
“I told you to grow Jinju Construction, build a good home with my daughter, and live happily. Was that too difficult?”
“No.”
“Then why did you fail?”
The word “fail” stabbed sharply at Juhye’s heart.
She had once thought this marriage a failure—when she misunderstood him having a mistress, and when she thought he would forget her.
But now that she knew the truth, she didn’t want to label it a failure.
It was simply a process of not fully knowing each other and being honest with each other.
“And what about the arboretum?”
Chairman Jin brought up the arboretum with a dry, uncomfortable voice, as if clearing his throat.
He could never have imagined his daughter was eavesdropping outside.
“Was it you who pushed him to continue a business that couldn’t deliver results?”
A business that couldn’t deliver results…
Her heart felt as if it had stopped at the cold, harsh judgment.
It was also the dream her late mother had wished for, the venture Juhye had dreamed of all her life.
Just because it wasn’t profitable short-term didn’t mean it could be abandoned.
“Suha said you kept funding it, so it wasn’t difficult to operate… is that true?”
“It is.”
“Then why? You could have focused entirely on Jinju Construction—why?”
“It was all my fault. But…”
Daehyun paused, carefully choosing his words.
Juhye held her breath, waiting for him to continue.
After a short silence, Daehyun spoke with a detached voice, defending Juhye.
“Father, the arboretum was something Juhye always wanted.”
Her chest tightened as Daehyun immediately sided with her.
She clenched the doorknob in a surge of emotion.
“She probably dreamed of it her whole life. She told me when we first met that she wanted the arboretum.”
Daehyun had known about her dream.
From the first time they met in college, he remembered clearly her passing mention of it.
Now she understood why he had been secretly supporting her all along.
“You can’t grant every wish just because someone wants it. You should have persuaded her properly.”
“When managing the arboretum, I saw how happy Juhye looked… I know that well. How could I stop her?”
“Someone who knows Juhye’s heart well… received divorce papers?”
Daehyun lowered his head silently at Chairman Jin’s sarcasm.
Now Juhye could feel the weight of his self-loathing through that silence.
The contempt and scolding continued, flowing relentlessly at the man standing without reply.
Through their conversation, Juhye painfully realized one truth:
Not only Suha and Sukyung, but even Chairman Jin had completely rejected Daehyun.
They had treated him like a slave, bound by a single contract…
Juhye, realizing this, swung the door open violently.
Clang!
Beyond the wide-open door, Chairman Jin blinked in surprise at her sudden appearance.
The sound of her heels made him flinch.
As the sound stopped, Daehyun turned his head, freezing like stone.
“…Father.”
Juhye took a deep breath and whispered in an angry tone—one he had never heard from his daughter before.
“Apologize.”
Her straightforward demand struck directly into Chairman Jin’s ear.
