Chapter 2. I’ve Decided to Quit
At Yoo-a’s firm declaration, he let out a low curse.
Yoon Yoo-a—irritating for refusing to meet his gaze.
Yoon Yoo-a—brazen for saying she’d leave on her own terms.
Yoon Yoo-a—stubborn for refusing to back down until she got what she wanted.
Every time he murmured her name under his breath, a thirst clawed at him.
Lee Jun licked his dry lips.
Like ignoring hunger until you just had to eat, brushing off her demands for a divorce had its limits.
“A cracked cup won’t hold water. It’ll break eventually.”
That, she said, was what their relationship had become. Yoo-a fiddled with her fingers on her lap as she spoke.
When he asked if she had complaints, her response was sharp.
“Do you really not know? Or are you just pretending not to?”
Jun’s aunt had begun dismissing servants one by one from the main house. Cleaning, stocking the pantry, preparing meals—everything fell on Yoo-a, the daughter-in-law.
He knew what his aunt was doing—deliberately not hiring help.
She never approved of Yoo-a, the chauffeur’s daughter. Always the underdog, Yoo-a tried to endure it.
Until the aunt began driving a wedge between her and Jun, crossing the line too many times.
“That’s why we moved out. No one can touch you now.”
Waste of money.
That was all Yoo-a said when he told her about getting a new place. She hated that he tried to fix everything with money.
Jun had sneered, turned his back on her.
“See? You did know. You knew all of it.”
When Jun, too busy to care about housework, replied bluntly, Yoo-a raised her voice.
Her voice cracked with emotion, and her eyes turned red.
“That’s not an excuse, Kang Lee Jun.”
“…”
“You could have known. Don’t say you didn’t.”
Her tear-streaked face was heartbreaking. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, then lifted her chin and spoke clearly.
“Being with you means I have to pretend. Pretend to be graceful and elegant. Even when Se-jin has a fever and is in pain, I have to go out to some grand party and smile like nothing’s wrong. I have to ask how people I don’t care about are doing, and I have to smile politely when they mock me. I don’t want to live like that anymore.”
“Yoon Yoo-a.”
“I’m tired of it…”
“What?”
“I don’t want to be your wife anymore. I just want to live as Se-jin’s mom.”
The wife of TaeGyeom Group’s heir.
The madam of Grip Company’s Executive Director.
Yoo-a didn’t want to be a Cinderella, the chauffeur’s daughter turned chaebol wife.
Jun’s face turned pale.
He’d thought she was just venting. That this would be easily resolved.
But the weight of what she carried ran far deeper than he expected. He rubbed his sharp jawline with long fingers.
He was at a loss.
Yoo-a had always backed down after a certain point. But this time she was serious, and it unsettled him.
He bit his lip.
How was he supposed to stop a woman who no longer wanted what he offered?
Jun, who always thought he had the answers, delayed with silence.
When Yoo-a asked for a divorce, he usually denied it reflexively. But this time, the words didn’t come.
Thinking he was faltering, Yoo-a pushed hard.
“I don’t need alimony. If you want a non-disclosure agreement, I’ll sign it. I won’t bring any trouble to TaeGyeom Group or Grip Company. I’ll live quietly.”
“You really…”
“Please… just do this.”
Yoo-a had never asked Jun for anything before.
The way she looked up at him, almost pleading, made his blood boil. She was so thin, so fragile.
“You always make me out to be the villain.”
“Lee Jun…”
If she’d asked for anything else, he would’ve given it to her.
“A divorce? Fine. If that’s all you want, I’ll give it to you. I suppose you’ve earned that much, playing wife in body if not in heart.”
“Then—!”
Yoo-a’s eyes curved into hopeful crescents, a smile spreading across her face—and it stabbed at Jun’s chest like a thorn.
She looked like she could finally breathe now that she was leaving him. That faint smile made him sick.
Leaning back against the wall, Jun spoke coldly.
“But leave Se-jin behind.”
Yoo-a’s face drained of color.
Her whole reason for leaving was to raise Se-jin far from the grip of TaeGyeom Group—to raise him happily, humanely.
Jun’s low blow made her laugh bitterly. Her hands trembled.
“He’s more precious than life to me… Se-jin is my life. When I couldn’t breathe in that house, he was my oxygen. He was the only reason I woke up the next day. He’s… everything.”
The only one in that house who was truly on her side. How could he do this?
Jun chuckled bitterly at the sharpness in her voice—something rare from the normally passive Yoo-a.
“Oxygen, your reason to wake up, your everything, your ally.”
He tried to listen patiently, but his limits were tested.
No matter how long he waited, she never once mentioned him—Kang Lee Jun—as a reason to stay.
“Damn it.”
Just a physical relationship.
Her words echoed in his mind. He twisted his lips bitterly.
So this is what “feeling like shit” really means.
This time, Jun was the one pressing for answers.
“So what was I to you? Just someone to sleep with when you needed it? Or…”
“…”
“Your personal toy for the night?”
Crude words, enough to make anyone blush.
Yoo-a lowered her head, her ears flushing red.
Even now, he wasn’t being serious. She hated that.
And she hated even more that he knew how much Se-jin meant to her—and was using that as leverage.
“Don’t act like a child, Lee Jun. You can remarry easily. Find someone with a similar background, not the chauffeur’s daughter. I’ll step aside.”
His aunt used visiting Jun’s father as an excuse to treat the house like her own. She hated Yoo-a—who clearly didn’t measure up in her eyes.
Honestly, Yoo-a suspected the aunt came just to pick a fight with her.
When Yoo-a took a teacup upstairs—because the aunt would only drink ginger honey tea brewed for half a day—she overheard the woman on the phone.
“It’s time to get Lee Jun remarried. Back then, we couldn’t stop the wedding because it was good PR for the group. But now? They’ve been married long enough. Remember Jae-hee? The daughter of the Hanseo Daily CEO? She was always meant for Lee Jun, even when they were kids.”
Yang Jae-hee.
The aunt acted like things were already in motion.
“She studied abroad. Elegant, refined, great eye for art. Not like the girl in our house now. Honestly, Lee Jun belongs with someone like her. You know, people should stay in their lane. And of course, new is better than old.”
Had Jun agreed to this?
When you’re truly shocked, you laugh instead of cry.
Yoo-a gave a hollow laugh, walked back downstairs, and hugged Se-jin—dressed uncomfortably, sitting up straight at the piano.
Seeing her scared, frozen three-year-old… it made her decision to divorce seem inevitable. No, it made it obvious.
“I should thank you for thinking of my future.”
Jun shot her a sharp look as if asking whether he should be grateful for her concern.
His sarcastic tone didn’t faze her. She didn’t even realize how much it annoyed him.
“So in your mind, I’m already the ex-husband? Is that it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Is this house part of the alimony package? For your fresh start?”
She never expected Jun to move into the eco-friendly house she’d built.
She designed it for Se-jin—using hinoki cypress and loess for air quality and humidity control, to help him breathe better.
She thought he’d stay at the main house and commute. But he followed her silently.
And since he still technically owned the house, she couldn’t exactly kick him out.
“Then… thank you.”
This house was nothing like the sleek, modern Italian-style home he’d designed back at the main estate.
There was nothing here he’d want.
“This place is best for Se-jin. Private land, nothing nearby, great air quality. It’s safe. He can breathe here.”
“Ha!”
When Jun scoffed and asked if she’d always been this shameless, Yoo-a didn’t flinch.
“So what if it’s alimony? Se-jin will be happy if you visit on weekends. A mother will do anything for her child.”
Even his mockery couldn’t wound her anymore.
Jun bit his lip.
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
“…Are you asking if there’s another man?”
