“Beautiful.”

Min-hyuk couldn’t help but admire Dan-jung, who was wearing the evening gown and the necklace he had bought for her.

Indeed, the silver silk dress maximized Dan-jung’s elegance, and the dazzling necklace made her stand out even more.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Despite the many people around them, Min-hyuk kissed Dan-jung’s cheek and hugged her waist.

At this, the hairdresser, Secretary Oh, and Mrs. Kim, who were nearby, blushed and pretended not to see.

“And from now on, Mrs. Kim will be in charge of your meals and household chores from morning till night.”

Having watched Dan-jung for ten days, Min-hyuk took drastic measures because she wasn’t eating her meals on time.

That measure was to invite Mrs. Kim, who had been taking care of the main family’s household for a long time, to Jeju Island.

“But what about Mother?”

“Mother specifically asked Mrs. Kim. She was worried about her daughter-in-law and wasn’t at ease.”

Yeon-joo wanted to come down to Jeju Island herself to take care of Dan-jung, but she sent Mrs. Kim instead, worried that it might burden her daughter-in-law.

Mrs. Kim, who had been in charge of the main family’s household for many years, was someone she could trust.

“Please take good care of me from now on, young madam.”

“Yes, thank you for coming all the way here.”

Dan-jung felt sorry for causing concern to so many people.

So, she resolved to treat Min-hyuk and her in-laws even better.

“Let’s go now.”

“Yes.”

As Min-hyuk escorted Dan-jung and they got into the car, the hairdresser watched with envious eyes.

“Wow~ the madam of this house must be so happy. Her husband’s eyes are just dripping with honey.”

However, unlike the hairdresser who was seeing Min-hyuk and Dan-jung for the first time, Mrs. Kim and Secretary Oh felt a lump in their throats.

“How proud our madam would be if she saw this.”

“Indeed.”

As Mrs. Kim wiped away her glistening tears, Secretary Oh nodded in agreement.

* * *

Arriving at the Jeju Hotel’s opening event, Dan-jung captivated everyone’s attention.

Also, befitting the lady of the hotel, she greeted the guests with a dignified demeanor, and Min-hyuk watched her with satisfaction.

“All eyes are on you.”

Min-hyuk handed Dan-jung a glass of champagne and whispered in her ear.

“Well, that’s because I’m the wife of this hotel’s owner.”

Dan-jung replied to Min-hyuk’s words with a relaxed smile.

And the hotel staff, who were witnessing Dan-jung’s radiant smile for the first time, looked at her with envious eyes.

“Wow~ General Manager Choi looks like someone from another world when you see her like that.”

“Right~ But was she always that pretty?”

“The owner must have fallen for General Manager Choi’s eye smile. She’s really beautiful.”

As the hotel staff whispered, Si-woo, who was passing by, casually turned his head to look at Dan-jung.

And he couldn’t easily take his eyes off Dan-jung’s beautiful appearance.

Thump-thump. Flustered by his unintentionally racing heart, Si-woo quickly avoided her gaze, and Min-hyuk’s eyes caught Si-woo’s reaction.

‘Ah~ my legs hurt. I want to rest a bit.’

Dan-jung felt like resting because of her high-heeled shoes.

And not wanting to disturb the busy Min-hyuk, she quietly headed to the hotel’s backyard alone.

It was a place not easily seen by people, and with several benches, it was a perfect spot to take a break.

“You look beautiful today.”

Si-woo approached Dan-jung, who had taken off her shoes and was resting on a bench.

“Oh? Thank you.”

Startled by Si-woo’s voice, Dan-jung turned her head, and Si-woo handed her the water bottle he was holding.

“Your face is red.”

“I’ll drink it well.”

Dan-jung, who happened to want to sober up from the alcohol, drank the water Si-woo offered.

“Hyung Min-hyuk must be treating you well. It’s written all over your face, ‘I’m happy’.”

“Yeah, I’m happy.”

As Dan-jung smiled faintly, Si-woo, feeling bitter at Dan-jung’s happy appearance, began to sneer.

“I was worried for nothing. I was worried you’d be unhappy like that woman.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why Hyung Min-hyuk approached you. I stole Hyung Min-hyuk’s first love. Ah! I don’t know if you know her, noona. Go Hye-mi... a really outstanding woman. I thought he was taking revenge for me stealing his first love.”

“What?”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know I liked you, noona? Even the owner knew.”

“So, are you saying Min-hyuk-ssi married me to get revenge on you?”

“Well, only he would know that.”

Si-woo saw Min-hyuk approaching from afar, closed his mouth, and walked away.

“I’m warning you, you better not approach my wife.”

Min-hyuk, who was approaching Dan-jung, confronted Si-woo with a fierce expression.

“Back then, you knew but didn’t care... is that woman different?”

“What!”

“It’s going to be more interesting than back then.”

As Si-woo scoffed and took a step, Min-hyuk grabbed Si-woo by the collar.

“I let it go back then, but it’ll be different this time. So, disappear quietly before I take away the few things you have!”

Min-hyuk felt what people called anger, barely suppressing the boiling emotions that felt like they would erupt like a volcano.

And when Min-hyuk saw Dan-jung approaching, he released Si-woo’s collar, and Si-woo straightened his collar and went his way.

In any case, his purpose of shaking Dan-jung had already been achieved.

But strangely, Si-woo didn’t feel comfortable.

Contrary to when he had shaken Hye-mi a long time ago, his heart was incredibly uneasy.

‘Damn it, this feels awful.’

Si-woo wanted to take anything Min-hyuk had, but he couldn’t figure out why he felt this way.

“Min-hyuk-ssi~.”

As Min-hyuk glared at Si-woo’s retreating figure, clenching both fists tightly, Dan-jung stood in front of Min-hyuk.

Then, Min-hyuk turned his head and suddenly hugged Dan-jung.

“!”

Startled by Min-hyuk’s sudden action, Dan-jung blinked, and Min-hyuk hugged her even tighter as if afraid she would run away.

“Let’s go back.”

After holding her for a long while, Min-hyuk tightly grasped Dan-jung’s hand and returned to the party hall.

Dan-jung’s hand felt numb from the strength of his grip, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask him to let go.

Min-hyuk’s face was so stern that it was hard to talk to him.

‘He’s definitely angry... it’s better not to bring up that story.’

Dan-jung wanted to ask Min-hyuk what Si-woo had said, but aside from Min-hyuk’s mood, she was afraid that Si-woo’s words might be true.

In fact, the very idea of him proposing to her didn’t make sense.

No matter how much she didn’t want a divorce, she was far below Min-hyuk’s standards.

But even if she accepted the reason for the proposal, Dan-jung had no doubt that Min-hyuk loved her.

So, Dan-jung decided to bury Si-woo’s words in her heart, despite the unease.

________________________________________

Throughout the drive home after the party, Min-hyuk and Dan-jung were silent.

The tips of their fingers were touching, but they were both lost in thought, gazing out their respective windows.

Why hadn’t she reported that woman back then?

The doubts she had buried in her heart resurfaced, and a feeling of distrust began to sprout in Dan-jung’s mind.

And Min-hyuk was also uneasy because of Si-woo’s provocation.

Having experienced being robbed once, he was afraid of being robbed again.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Dan-jung, but that was a separate feeling from Min-hyuk’s anxiety.

“Do we really have to stay here?”

“Yes?”

Arriving home, Min-hyuk opened his mouth with a seemingly serious face.

No matter how he thought about it, Min-hyuk couldn’t leave Si-woo by Dan-jung’s side, so he wanted to take Dan-jung to Seoul.

But Min-hyuk knew very well that she wouldn’t obediently follow his words.

“If you want, I’ll give you the position of manager at the Seoul hotel.”

He impulsively blurted out twisted words without realizing it.

“What are you talking about?”

“I wish we could go back to Seoul together.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

Dan-jung was flustered by Min-hyuk’s sudden suggestion to return and snapped at him.

Why was he suddenly saying such things?

Was it because she had been with Si-woo?

But even so, Dan-jung thought Min-hyuk’s words were going too far.

“Wasn’t it the manager position you wanted? Or should I give you the general manager position?”

“...I’m going to bed first.”

Dan-jung, unsure if Min-hyuk’s words were sincere or sarcastic, tightly shut her mouth and brushed past Min-hyuk.

A cold atmosphere hung between them, and they slept back to back all night.

This was the first time this had happened to them, and the next morning, Min-hyuk went up to Seoul alone without even giving Dan-jung a goodbye kiss.

In fact, he was anxious because if Dan-jung didn’t return to Seoul, he would have to find a way to kick Si-woo out of the Jeju hotel no matter what.

But Dan-jung only felt resentful towards Min-hyuk for returning to Seoul without any conversation.

If he had made a gesture of reconciliation, she would have tried to cheer up, pretending she couldn’t resist...

“I had a night shift today.”

Dan-jung actually wanted to stay close to Min-hyuk, skin to skin, until the evening.

But because Min-hyuk had left early in the morning, Dan-jung’s plans went up in smoke, and she became gloomy and dejected.

“No calls either.”

Even after a long time had passed since he arrived in Seoul, Min-hyuk still hadn’t called, and Dan-jung, who had promised to call every four hours, was angry at Min-hyuk’s attitude and didn’t call.

And Min-hyuk, who was waiting for Dan-jung’s call, simply stared at his phone and didn’t call Dan-jung either.

Min-hyuk’s reason had long since crumbled, and he kept his distance from Dan-jung, worried about what other mistakes he might make.

Days passed while they waited for each other’s calls, and the couple’s fight lasted longer than expected.

“That Vice President, it turns out he’s even worse than trash.”

Kang-hyun, who had been looking into Sung-ho at Min-hyuk’s request, held out some photos on the desk.

“He even took photos just in case.”

Kang-hyun had been tailing Sung-ho and found out that Shin-young, Si-woo’s mother, was in poor condition.

And in the photos, Shin-young’s face was bruised as if she had been beaten, and her lips were cracked and dry with blood.

In fact, Shin-young was being beaten almost daily by Sung-ho, who had become very sensitive because his business ventures weren’t going well.

And Sung-ho, blaming everything on Si-woo, took his anger out on the innocent Shin-young.

“Haah~.”

Min-hyuk couldn’t help but sigh as he looked at Shin-young’s miserable state in the photos.

Her appearance was no different from a dying corpse, and the voice of Sung-ho, who had killed his young and powerless self with vicious words, echoed in Min-hyuk’s mind, making him tremble all over.

[Min-hyuk-ah, you can’t even use your arms and legs, how are you going to live as a cripple? Wouldn’t it be better to just die like this?]

And unable to endure it any longer, Min-hyuk jumped up from his seat.

“What are you going to do?”

Kang-hyun looked at Min-hyuk, who seemed like he would rush to Sung-ho and confront him at any moment.

“I can’t just stand by and watch this.”

Even though Min-hyuk had negative feelings towards Si-woo, he couldn’t possibly ignore Shin-young, who looked like she was about to become a corpse.

“Here.”

Kang-hyun reached out and handed Min-hyuk another document.

“This is the land the Vice President bought with the business promotion funds. He’s already bought two places in the center of Seoul. But the problem is that SY Group, whom he was trying to get an investment from, seems to have refused. They probably didn’t want to attract public attention because of Hye-mi’s incident.”

“I’ll call an emergency board meeting right away.”

Min-hyuk took the document from Kang-hyun and slumped back into his chair.

He planned to use this opportunity to remove Sung-ho from his position as Vice President.