Chapter 6 …
On the surface, it was a gathering to celebrate Haegang’s victory. There were some familiar faces, but also many she was seeing for the first time.
Sehee quietly searched for an empty seat, her hands tightly clenched. As she pulled out a chair, the scraping sound echoed against the floor. Only then did the murmuring conversations resume, like whispers rippling through the crowd.
“Just be careful. If anything goes wrong, Prosecutor Kang’s daughter might be the one sold off in her place.”
A woman, sneaking a glance toward Sehee, suddenly stopped talking. Though they didn’t mention specifics, it was clear that everyone present had, in one way or another, been involved in the damage Haegang had suffered.
Apparently, they considered Sehee too insignificant to matter. Even when they were caught gossiping, they didn’t look particularly startled.
“As if that could happen. Yoo Hyung-jin and I are on different levels.”
A middle-aged man who had first greeted Sehee—Prosecutor Kang—straightened his belt as he stood up. His face seemed familiar, but she couldn’t quite remember where she had seen him before.
“Well, becoming in-laws with Haegang wouldn’t be so bad either.”
As his heavy body shifted, the sharp scent of perfume mixed with alcohol wafted toward her.
“Getting married in the middle of all this, huh.”
A man smacked his lips crudely as he ran his eyes up and down Sehee.
At his feet, a woman wearing only a thin hanbok skirt trembled as she crawled away along the floor.
“Wasn’t she the eldest daughter?”
No doubt, back when her father was alive and well, he would have kept someone like that wagging obediently at his feet.
“Looking at her now, I can kind of see the resemblance.”
His gaze made her skin crawl, but she forced herself to endure it.
“She’s not bad. I heard Prosecutor Yoo’s daughter was supposed to be a beauty, but the second one doesn’t quite live up to the hype.”
It was a comparison she had heard many times before—until she started wearing glasses to hide the scar under her eye.
When her parents saw her wounds, they didn’t say anything. They simply treated them in silence.
Self-conscious of the scar hidden beneath her makeup, Sehee glanced once more toward the tightly closed door.
She had no idea how she was supposed to carry herself in this place.
Should she act like Cha Ido’s wife? Or play the role of Prosecutor Yoo Hyung-jin’s daughter?
Cha Ido hadn’t given her any clear instructions.
All she could do was wait for him to appear and explain. To say that he had forgiven her father and intended to help her. That he would overlook the past, just once, for old time’s sake.
If that happened, the people in this room wouldn’t look at her the way they did now.
She held on to that vague, beautiful expectation.
Cha Ido would protect her—because she resembled the old lover he had never been able to forget.
He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have saved her in the first place.
“I won’t always be by your side, you know.”
She remembered the warmth of the hand that had once guided hers with a spoon. That warmth had been real, at least in that moment.
And yet, her mouth was dry with unease.
“Not bad at all.”
A woman with heavy makeup sitting across from her crossed her legs and scoffed.
“Cha Ido’s intentions are obvious.”
“……”
“Why do you think he brought her all the way here? And in that condition?”
The woman’s mocking gaze swept over Sehee’s appearance. Then she explained, in one short sentence, exactly what Cha Ido wanted from her.
“She’s a trophy.”
Sehee’s eyes, fixed on the door, froze.
“He wants everyone to see it clearly—what happens to Yoo Hyung-jin’s family when they dare to run away.”
“……”
“It’s brilliant, really. He doesn’t even have to waste his breath explaining anything. Just having her at his side is enough to make people tremble. Who’d want to end up like that?”
The woman didn’t even bother lowering her voice as she stared at Sehee. She giggled, exchanging subtle looks with the people around her.
“Honestly, if someone else had picked the wrong side this time, who knows which family’s precious daughter would be sitting there right now?”
Trophy.
The word made Sehee’s heart drop.
“They call it a marriage, but it’s really just a legal way to keep her under his control.”
The reason Cha Ido spared her, even after mercilessly annihilating her family.
The reason he was willing to go through with a marriage he didn’t even care about.
The puzzle pieces that had never fit suddenly clicked into place.
She wasn’t a stand-in for his lost lover. She had been a trophy from the very beginning—a medal to display before the public.
To Cha Ido, Yoo Sehee was nothing more than a badge of victory, something to feed his vanity and pride.
“You really think Cha Ido saved you out of kindness?”
Seeing the confusion on Sehee’s face, the woman’s thickly painted lips curled into a sneer.
“How naive. Cha Ido was there from the start. He waited just long enough for you to have no choice but to cling to him. Who do you think leaked the location of that villa in the first place?”
The villa had been so well hidden that it should’ve been nearly impossible to find. The fact that it had been exposed so easily was astonishing.
“Look at you now. Why do you think he sent you here alone? So we could all have a good look.”
She recalled how she had dressed herself up earlier, eager to have dinner with him—willing to play the role of the old lover as much as he wanted.
Without even knowing her true purpose.
Cha Ido hadn’t needed to use force.
She had crawled into his grasp on her own, desperate to survive. She hadn’t even tried to run. She had obediently followed his every word.
She hadn’t realized it had all been arranged in advance.
Why was she even shocked? It wasn’t like she didn’t know how ruthless he could be…
Had she really believed Cha Ido would take her as his real wife?
“I see it a little differently.”
Prosecutor Kang, who had been listening nearby, gave a sly grin.
“If he hasn’t shown up by now, maybe Director Cha has a gift prepared for us.”
“……”
“All nicely wrapped, too.”
Leaning closer, his hot index finger traced along the thin strap on Sehee’s shoulder.
“You said she’s a trophy. Trophies are meant to be shared.”
He then placed a small porcelain shot glass in front of her.
“Of course, Director Cha will take the first pick.”
Sehee’s thoughts tangled into a chaotic mess. What disturbed her most was that—despite everything—she was still waiting for Cha Ido to arrive.
“Do you know how much work I put into cleaning up this mess? This alone isn’t enough, but if things go well…”
Just then, the door opened quietly, letting in a strange new light. Even without turning her head, she could feel the sudden change in atmosphere.
“Ah, Director Cha!”
The man who had been leaning toward Sehee immediately stood and backed away. Cha Ido took his place beside her in an instant.
His sudden presence reclaimed the space as if it had always belonged to him. Sehee swallowed her shaky breath.
“I was delayed by some negotiations.”
Cha Ido loosened his neatly knotted tie as he spoke. The room, which had quieted the moment he entered, now watched him with visible deference. Everyone straightened up and adjusted their postures.
Wherever he sat automatically became the head seat.
A woman on his left tried to cling to him, pouring his drink the way she had done for Prosecutor Kang earlier, but Cha Ido didn’t even glance at her. He clearly wasn’t interested in indulgence.
“As you all know, the Hancheon Solar Resort project has been temporarily suspended. As for Prosecutor Yoo Hyung-jin, let’s drop the matter entirely. Haegang will cover all the investment losses.”
A brief murmur swept through the room. Prosecutor Kang, who had moved to the opposite side of the table, chuckled as if he had expected it.
“That’s easier said than done. The media’s already all over it…”
Lounging back in his chair with his legs spread wide, he glanced at Sehee, stroking the stubbled chin of his jaw.
“Yoo dug into too many places. Restarting the solar project is going to be tough.”
Even someone as overbearing as him seemed emboldened when addressing Cha Ido. His arrogant gaze slid toward Sehee’s shoulder again.
“Surely, I deserve something in return.”
He had earned credit—he had taken over all the dirty work Yoo Hyung-jin used to handle and filled the power vacuum after betraying him to side with Haegang.
In other words, he was the key figure in making all of this happen.
“By the way, I heard you got married without telling us…”
“……”
“How disappointing. You could’ve at least introduced us beforehand—”
“Prosecutor Kang.”
Cha Ido, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke in a low, heavy voice. The prosecutor flinched at the sudden weight in his tone.
“Did you enjoy your trip?”
Cha Ido lifted his hand to signal his secretary to fill the man’s glass.
“Ah, yes. I went to Ulaanbaatar for a bit. The weather was so unpredictable.”
The man misunderstood the gesture as a sign of friendliness, puffing himself up with even more confidence.
“Ah.”
Cha Ido smiled faintly and pushed the glass toward him himself.
“I heard that country has a tradition of lending wives to guests.”
At that, Prosecutor Kang’s face lit up with understanding, and he let out a sly laugh.
Meanwhile, Sehee’s face turned ashen in an instant. Her heart plummeted into her stomach.
