Chapter : 17
“Let go!”
Ju-hye squeezed her eyes shut and yanked her hand free.
At that moment, her wedding ring scraped violently across Dae-hyun’s lips.
Even with her eyes closed, the sensation of tearing flesh felt chillingly vivid.
“Ah…!”
Startled, she looked up—and Dae-hyun was staring back at her with a similar expression.
A trace of red shimmered on his lower lip, torn by the ring.
‘I told you to let go….’
Ju-hye frowned as she looked up at his lip, where a drop of blood was beginning to form.
Even though she was the one who caused the injury, the fact that he was hurt bothered her deeply. It made her upset and anxious.
She was the kind of person who would ache as if it were her own injury just from seeing someone get a paper cut.
And this was an injury on the body of someone she loved—how could it possibly feel insignificant?
No matter how much she resented him in this moment…
“Thank you… for the meal.”
“……”
“But you don’t have to do things like this anymore. I’ve always eaten well and slept well even without you.”
Ju-hye fired the words at him without giving Dae-hyun a chance to respond.
Even so, her gaze remained fixed on his lips.
Perhaps aware of it, Dae-hyun stared at her blankly.
The hand that had been wandering aimlessly in the air slowly reached toward her again.
“Stop.”
Ju-hye quickly pulled her shoulder back, avoiding his touch.
At her rejection, Dae-hyun’s face crumpled like paper.
As if he hadn’t expected to be rejected this completely, his eyes darkened with shock.
“Don’t expect that taking care of me this late in the game will overturn our divorce.”
Ju-hye hurriedly ended the conversation and left her seat.
She could feel Dae-hyun’s gaze lingering on her, but she deliberately turned her back coldly and walked away.
Only after entering the bathroom and locking the door did the strength finally drain from her body.
“Ha…”
Her back slid down the cold tiled wall, her body sinking to the floor.
Ju-hye sat there hugging her knees.
Her husband’s unexpected actions had made her heart flutter—then remembering his mistress had plunged her into misery….
‘This is a mess.’
The reality that she couldn’t even cry freely for fear of sounds carrying outside was utterly exhausting.
* * *
The weather was nice.
The forecast had clearly predicted a passing shower, but there wasn’t even a hint of rain.
“Madam, where would you like to go?”
Ju-hye stared up at the vivid blue sky until her eyes ached, then slowly turned her head.
Secretary Kim, who had arrived ahead of her, stood in front of the car.
“Please take me to the arboretum.”
After stating her destination, Ju-hye got into the car and immediately checked her phone.
She had hoped for a message from the lawyer about setting a concrete consultation schedule, but coincidentally, there was still no reply.
‘I want to start the separation as soon as possible.’
According to Ju-young, the lawyer was quite famous, which meant there were likely many clients already waiting.
That was bad news for Ju-hye, who wanted to proceed with the divorce quickly.
Especially since what happened last night had only strengthened her desire to live apart.
‘If we keep living together like this… my heart—my resolve—might weaken.’
She wanted to end everything before she found herself wanting to forgive Dae-hyun and start over.
She couldn’t keep blaming her pounding heart forever and swallowing her anger over such contradictory feelings.
“We’ve arrived, Madam.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Vice Chairman Jin Soo-kyung is waiting in the annex office. I’ll guide you.”
As Secretary Kim opened the car door, he gestured to the right.
The vast arboretum had a separate annex building on the right, reserved for important meetings and gatherings.
Ju-hye carefully stepped onto the finely carved stone path and headed toward the annex.
[Ju-hye, I’ll be visiting the arboretum around 2 p.m., so let’s meet then.]
It was a message from Soo-kyung, sent on the day Chairman Jin was hospitalized, when there hadn’t been time to meet at the hospital.
Her second older brother, Soo-kyung, was blunt and cold compared to Soo-ha, but he was gentle when it came to his youngest sister.
“Ju-hye.”
As proof of that, the moment the door opened, her brother’s face appeared with a quiet smile.
Secretary Kim, who had followed Ju-hye into the meeting room, froze in surprise.
Since joining Jinju Group, it was probably the first time he’d ever seen Jin Soo-kyung smile.
“Secretary Kim, please step out for a moment.”
As expected, right after greeting Ju-hye, Soo-kyung returned to his cold, expressionless face and gave the order.
Secretary Kim bowed and left into the hallway.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face.”
Once the door closed and they were alone, Soo-kyung spoke.
Ju-hye sighed and pulled out a chair to sit down. Soo-kyung, who had been seated first, removed the hand supporting his chin.
Though he wore a suit despite the slightly warm weather, his presence made him seem cold all the same.
“We didn’t get to meet at the hospital.”
“That day, you must’ve been really startled because of Father.”
“I was… but it was a relief that Soo-ha was there. I was completely out of it.”
Fortunately, Chairman Jin had recovered quickly, and Soo-ha, as president, had taken responsibility in his absence.
Soo-kyung had also been doing his best to support his older brother.
He was so busy that even now, his phone vibrated repeatedly.
“Oppa, aren’t you going to answer your phone?”
“It’s fine. I’ll contact them later.”
Despite being so busy, he had carved out time to see his sister.
Still, it didn’t seem like this visit was just to comfort her.
“There’s an executive meeting this afternoon. I can’t stay long.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
Ju-hye studied her brother’s face with a slightly tense expression.
“You said you had something to discuss about the arboretum’s operation…”
Soo-ha always accepted her opinions without question, but Soo-kyung carefully weighed profit and loss before making judgments.
Even when the decision to open the arboretum had been made, he had opposed it, laying out quite strict conditions.
In that sense, he resembled their father more than Soo-ha did.
“I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, Ju-hye.”
With the commemorative ceremony just around the corner, there had to be a reason he came all the way to the arboretum.
Soo-kyung tapped the edge of the table lightly with his fingers.
“I know you’ve put a lot of effort into running the arboretum. But since last year, the ongoing losses have weighed heavily on Father.”
Since its opening, the Jinju Arboretum had consistently operated at a deficit.
There hadn’t been major issues right after completion, but as it was the first year of operation, there were many shortcomings.
Especially since Ju-hye had stubbornly insisted on not relying on family support, she had gone through many trial-and-error phases.
“You know better than anyone that it’s hard for anything to turn a profit from the start.”
“I know.”
“Besides, it’s not even a Jinju affiliate—it’s practically something I started on my own. I just want you to expect gradual results.”
Though Soo-kyung hadn’t said he would take the arboretum away from her, Ju-hye grew increasingly anxious.
Perhaps it was because she had grown up watching their father ruthlessly shut down businesses that had lost potential—even if run by family.
“It’s difficult right now, but even next year it could quickly turn profitable—”
“But, Ju-hye.”
She didn’t want to sound like she was making pathetic excuses, but she surely did.
At Soo-kyung’s firm interruption, her eyes wavered.
“The fact that we’re operating an arboretum is already an interesting story for reporters.”
“……”
“On one side, they’ll say we’re the people leading the charge in destroying national land, and on the other, we’re pretending to fulfill some moral obligation by running an arboretum.”
A cold sneer lingered on Soo-kyung’s lips. He even shook his head, as if the thought alone gave him a headache.
“We took significant losses wrapping up the Dongjak District redevelopment project. For the time being, it’s best to avoid giving the media anything to latch onto.”
“That kind of thing—”
“We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. I know—you’re someone I trust.”
An uncomfortable silence fell.
Ju-hye stared down at the table, remaining firmly silent.
She understood exactly what her brother was worried about, which made it impossible to answer lightly.
Promising to definitely turn a profit, or vowing never to cause trouble for Jinju Construction—even those words felt difficult.
“I’m sorry for bringing this up right before the ceremony and making things uncomfortable. But honestly, there’s no better time to quit than now.”
“Oppa.”
“I’m not saying you have to quit immediately. I’m just asking you to think about it. Don’t overanalyze it.”
Ju-hye nodded heavily.
It was a topic she had somewhat expected from the moment she heard he was visiting.
Avoiding it now wouldn’t mean avoiding it forever—but still, her strength drained away.
“And… there’s one more thing I want to ask.”
After lightly patting the back of Ju-hye’s hand, Soo-kyung asked an unexpected question.
“How has CEO Seo been lately?”
