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Lee Myeong-hee, the caregiver for President Park, was directly hired by Dojun. The employment contract explicitly stated that she would never disclose any information learned during her work. The terms were strict, and in return, she was paid double the usual salary. It was a promise based on absolute trust, yet...
“I’m sorry.”
A chill permeated the once peaceful room. Dojun checked the time and stroked his clean-shaven chin.
“I’ll ask again. Did you say I spread the rumor?”
“It’s a long story. I was caught in the middle and it was hell.”
Dojun sat on the main sofa and motioned to Lee Myeong-hee. Secretary Song then helped her sit down.
“Tell me everything that happened.”
Dojun was completely different from the man she knew before. He was intimidatingly dignified, and his mere presence exuded considerable pressure.
“A detective seemed to have been frequenting the nursing home for a while now.”
“Hmm.”
“At the time, I just let it be. I didn’t think it was related to President Park.”
“...”
“From then on, the doctor in charge of President Park looked grim.”
“Really?”
“Then he quietly called me and...”
Lee Myeong-hee became aware of the gazes surrounding her and took a deep breath.
“He told me to be honest if a detective came asking questions.”
“Shouldn’t you have informed me about such a thing first?”
“Strangely, after hearing that, when I came out, the detective was waiting for me outside.”
Lee Myeong-hee’s heart pounded with anxiety. Dojun watched her coldly.
“What did the detective say?”
“He said the rumor about the Madam marrying you started at this hospital...”
“Don’t interrupt; keep going.”
Lee Myeong-hee bit her lower lip painfully. She was on the verge of panic before revealing important information.
“I only heard what you and the elder spoke about.”
“...”
“When the elder looked for our daughter-in-law, you said she would be here soon.”
“And then?”
“He kept pressing me about that, and when I said I didn’t know, the detective eventually came to my house.”
“Is that all?”
Lee Myeong-hee nodded.
“He threatened me in every way possible, as if something terrible would happen if I disclosed anything.”
“Hmm.”
“After all that, I felt like it wasn’t something I should have done, so I came here on my own. Please believe me.”
Dojun’s eyes, firmly shut, darkened heavily. He sent Lee Myeong-hee away, leaving only Secretary Song and Attorney Park in the office.
“CEO, articles regarding reporter Choi Inho’s lawsuit will be pouring out soon.”
“Alright.”
“I just found out that Detective Kim and Choi Inho are high school classmates.”
“Trash sticking together.”
In the late afternoon, GINO Group released an official statement. It meticulously listed Choi Inho’s relentless stalking of Haejoo and the incident where he abducted Dojun’s ailing father and abandoned him on the street. They warned that they would not only file a criminal complaint but also seek damages through “real facts.” Various media outlets and public broadcast news began covering the story. In response, GINO Group released captured images from the black box and CCTV footage submitted as evidence, causing a ripple effect. The police announced that they had received the complaint and would soon summon Choi Inho for questioning.
“What’s the situation with Choi Inho’s side?”
“There’s no significant reaction yet.”
Dojun stood with his back to the office window. Behind him, Secretary Song seemed about to say something, then closed his mouth.
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“No, sir.”
“Is Secretary Song also doubting me?”
“Doubt? No, sir.”
Dojun turned around. Unlike the morning, his eyes held a hollow emptiness.
“Secretary Song knew.”
“What the caregiver told the detective is something the doctor also heard from the elder repeatedly.”
“Not that.”
Dojun’s gaze fixed directly on Secretary Song. The strange light in his eyes revealed a complex and resentful inner turmoil.
“Haejoo shouldn’t know about that, at least.”
Dojun’s phone, placed on his desk, vibrated. After the article about Choi Inho was published, various media outlets had been calling incessantly.
“They’ve probably found out by now that the search for the initial rumor spreader was filed through the agency.”
“Director Yoo Jinhan will believe I spread the rumor, right? The detective would have told him that.”
“Probably.”
Dojun turned his gaze back to the window. The sky, heavy as if it were about to rain, seemed on the verge of collapsing.
“Actually, that rumor...”
“Yes.”
“I really did spread it.”
“CEO!”
“At the time, there was no other way.”
Dojun recalled the moment he first met Haejoo. The warmth of holding her when she was about to fall from the rooftop railing was still vivid. Dojun had but one thought: to save Haejoo. The prayers he offered to God, begging her to live, continued thereafter.
“I had to succeed. For that, I needed time.”
Next to Haejoo, Dojun knew money best. He started his business from the bottom, enduring all sorts of dirty dealings with grim determination. Despite these efforts, the nickname that followed him like a tail remained.
“I didn’t care if people called me ‘the crazy money-grubber’ or ‘the loan shark’s son.’ I had to meet Haejoo.”
In his insignificant days, he didn’t seek Haejoo out. He first had to live as a human, shedding the guise of a mad scoundrel. Then, one day, Haejoo started appearing on TV. Seeing her, Dojun felt tears well up from overwhelming longing. Once ignited, his heart couldn’t calm down; each day was a torment just to stay awake.
“I never dreamed Haejoo would become an actress.”
“...”
“Haejoo on TV might look bright on the outside, but the raw loneliness she possessed remained unchanged.”
Haejoo was still the same. Even as an adult, she was delicate and could collapse from any small wound. And this Haejoo was married to Dojun. Without her even knowing.
“Then there was this guy, Yoo Jinhan, next to her.”
He was frequenting Haejoo’s accommodation as if it were his own home. Jinhan was giving unnecessary kindness to an agency actress who hadn’t even debuted yet, and word was sporadically circulating in the industry. It was only a matter of time before the relationship between these two came to light. In particular, Jinhan’s father was the head of GN. If a rumor spread, Haejoo could easily be misunderstood by the public and tragically abandoned.
Dojun had occasionally seen Jinhan and Haejoo being interviewed. In front of the camera, Haejoo constantly seemed aware of Jinhan, her eyes holding a parched, desolate look. In Dojun’s eyes, she didn’t look happy at all.
“The Haejoo I saw seemed to be hugging a ticking time bomb, so to speak.”
It was true that Haejoo, as an actress, was more glamorous than in the past. But her daily life was still so restricted that she couldn’t even go to the supermarket near her home. Under these circumstances, a secret about her marriage, unknown even to herself, awaited Haejoo.
Dojun had to meet Haejoo again somehow. He had to hurry before Haejoo became more famous and the fact of her marriage became a threat. If he contacted her officially, he could meet her, but there was a high possibility she would demand a divorce. Their accidental marriage was undeniably abnormal to anyone. Even a belated divorce would cause irreversible shock and pain to Haejoo.
So he made a vow. He already loved her, but he decided to love her more.
“I was too cautious, so I didn’t go through Secretary Song for this part.”
There was no normal way to continue the marriage without divorcing Haejoo. Seeing no solution, Dojun took a gamble. Just then, President Park’s dementia symptoms worsened, making it difficult for him to stay at home. After much thought, Dojun began his gamble.
‘Father, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.’
‘Yes, my son.’
‘You have a daughter-in-law.’
‘Really?’
‘Your younger son, Park Dojun, and Lee Haejoo... are married.’
‘No, Junyi got married, you fool.’
‘Let me say it again. Park Dojun and Lee Haejoo are married and are a couple.’
‘How long have they lived together?’
‘Three years.’
Just then, Haejoo was shown being interviewed on TV. Dojun pointed to the TV and repeated.
‘That child is your daughter-in-law, Lee Haejoo.’
After contracting dementia, President Park’s memories of Haejoo came and went. Because of this, Dojun repeatedly taught him every day that Haejoo and he were a couple. At some point, the word ‘daughter-in-law’ came from President Park’s mouth. He also babbled that Dojun, his younger son, and Haejoo had been a couple for three years.
‘Father, you must not forget that Lee Haejoo is your daughter-in-law.’
Dojun emphasized this even on the day President Park was admitted to the current nursing home. While he was briefly away, Secretary Song stayed by President Park’s side. President Park told Secretary Song:
‘My son says he married actress Lee Haejoo.’
‘...Yes?’
‘He says they’ve lived together for three years. He always told me to remember that.’
Dojun, who had returned to the room, overheard President Park talking to Secretary Song. He turned away from the door and murmured softly.
‘The rumor will spread quickly now.’
While staying at the nursing home, President Park would chatter to other patients, caregivers, and doctors about what Dojun had told him. The fact that the son of a successful businessman had actress Lee Haejoo as a daughter-in-law fueled people’s jealousy. What initially was a hushed rumor circulating only within the hospital soon spread. Then, Haejoo returned. She went to the old office where President Park had been, searching through her own memories.
“I need to see Haejoo.”
Dojun picked up his jacket and phone and left the office. He stopped when Secretary Song followed him.
“How much do you think Detective Kim knows?”
“He’ll only guess the specifics.”
“Secretary Song, stay here and monitor the situation.”
“Yes, CEO.”
Dojun got into the car and roughly ran a hand over his face. The place he blindly drove to was the house where he was supposed to meet Haejoo.
________________________________________
Haejoo left her luggage in the van and entered the agency building. She was nervous because Jinhan had been so serious, even expediting the filming schedule.
“Hyunseong, should I just run away?”
“Suddenly?”
“I just have a bad feeling.”
“What kind of...”
“It feels like Director’s office is on fire right now.”
“Don’t feel too pressured.”
Jinhan had been nagging her to hurry the entire way. Unable to delay any longer, Haejoo knocked and entered the office.
“Director.”
“Haejoo, you’re here. Have a seat.”
As soon as Jinhan saw Haejoo, he sighed. With a complex expression, he moved to the sofa and swallowed hard.
“That rumor about your marriage, Haejoo. We found the source.”
“Who did it?”
“Don’t be surprised, and listen carefully.”
A sharp glint passed through Jinhan’s eyes. Haejoo instinctively flinched at his unusually stern gaze.
“The rumor started at the nursing home operated by S Hospital.”
“That place...”
“Yes. It’s where CEO Park Dojun’s father resides.”
“He has dementia; he might have remembered me without really knowing what he was saying.”
“The police considered that possibility sufficiently.”
Before Haejoo arrived, Jinhan had called Detective Kim again. Since the matter was serious, he had specifically inquired about the progress of the investigation.
“CEO Park Dojun’s father reportedly told the doctor in charge that Haejoo was his daughter-in-law and had been married to his younger son.”
“...!”
“The doctor naturally assumed CEO Park Dojun was unmarried, and when he heard that his daughter-in-law was actress Lee Haejoo, he must have wondered what he was talking about.”
“So?”
“He thought something was strange and asked where he heard that.”
Haejoo’s eyes clouded, and a tremor ran through her. Her joints creaked with the slightest movement, so she clasped her hands together.
“He said his son told him. And that son is CEO Park Dojun.”
“That means...”
“Park Dojun deliberately spread the rumor!”
Jinhan, overcome with emotion, shouted. Tears streamed down Haejoo’s cheeks, but she didn’t notice. Her fading consciousness chased after Dojun, who had clumsily proposed to her at the airport just moments ago. With an innocent smile that didn’t quite match his towering physique, he had called Haejoo his bride.
“Oh, no... no...”
This whole situation began with a rumor. Every celebrity goes through hardships, but Haejoo’s situation was beyond that. It was an incident where the stigmatizing mark she wanted to erase from her shabby life was exposed to the world. Even if everyone else in the world deceived her, Dojun couldn’t. He was Haejoo’s only hero and husband. If Dojun really spread the rumor, if that was truly the case...
“That bastard did it on purpose. He didn’t want to divorce you, so he maliciously spread the rumor to possess you, Haejoo...”
“Stop!”
________________________________________
Haejoo covered her ears and screamed. Her clear eyes lost their light in a cry that was close to a wail. Yet, Jinhan didn’t stop.
“What happened between the two of you in the past doesn’t matter.”
“Please...”
“Get a grip, Haejoo! Don’t you understand even after hearing all this?”
Dojun spread the rumor. If he hadn’t, Haejoo might be in the middle of divorce proceedings with him right now. He was the first person she had ever opened her heart to. He was the only one who knew her deficiencies, and she trusted him. Jinhan claimed all of this stemmed from Dojun’s greed. If that were true, it would be as if Haejoo had lost everything.
“Park Dojun’s only goal was to possess you, Haejoo.”
Haejoo raised her head, and the tears obstructing her vision fell heavily. Hyunseong caught her as she seemed about to collapse.
“Are you sure?”
“I couldn’t believe it either, so I talked to the detective in charge multiple times.”
“Haa.”
“Haejoo, you need to leave that house immediately.”
“Director!”
“It seems this information has already leaked to reporters.”
“What did you say?”
“This isn’t the time to endure. First, let’s separate from Park Dojun and think about it.”
Haejoo staggered as she stood up from the sofa. Although she was in no condition to get into a car, she slowly turned around.
“I need to see Dojun.”
Haejoo, supported by Hyunseong, walked out. As soon as the van door closed, she burst into bitter tears.
“Noona...”
“Take me home.”
Dojun had deceived Haejoo. Of all people, he shouldn’t have.
“You need to go to the hospital first. Your condition isn’t good right now, Noona.”
Hyunseong turned the car around and drove to the hospital his elder brother managed.
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