Chapter 30

Looking down at her left ankle, which seemed especially shabby today, Lee-jae bit her lip inward.

Lee-jae knew it too. That to Do-geon, she was the most pitiful choice of all.

Could someone like her, who could not even walk properly, really marry Do-geon? Would she not become the one and only flaw in a man who was otherwise perfect in every way?

It felt as though cold water had been thrown over the excitement she had felt at the thought that she might marry her first love.

“……I’m sorry.”

“It does make me wonder what exactly you could do to help by marrying Do-geon, Miss Lee-jae.”

Hearing Hira’s sigh only made Lee-jae shrink further into herself.

Even if it was a contract marriage, Hira would still become her mother-in-law. She felt that at the very least, her feelings toward Do-geon had to be shown sincerely.

Then what should she say?

After thinking it over, Lee-jae spoke in a careful voice.

“You may or may not know this, but I did not grow up in a whole and proper family.”

“And?”

“So I still don’t know how to become a good wife or a good family.”

Lee-jae continued calmly.

“As you can see, I have very little, and I know well that compared to Executive Director Beom, I fall far short. Of course, I know someone like me would not please you.”

“…….”

“But what I can do is…….”

Lee-jae let the end of her sentence hang for a moment.

“No matter what hardship comes, I can remain by Executive Director Beom’s side.”

Quietly, she laid out her true feelings.

For a moment, she saw Hira’s expression, which had been listening with cool indifference, stiffen slightly. She thought perhaps she should not have spoken after all. But Lee-jae still continued steadfastly.

“My grandmother told me that even when everyone in the world points fingers at you, you have to meet someone who will stay by your side.”

“…….”

“I think I could be that kind of person for Executive Director Beom.”

Lee-jae spoke in a soft voice, but one with a straight and steady core.

It may have been an unremarkable appeal, but this was the best she could do.

“It may be too small a role to really help, but still…….”

Watching Hira’s expression, Lee-jae bit her lip again.

Hira cleared her throat and lifted her coffee cup.

She did not want to admit it, but it was a perfect answer, one that scored a hundred. She had never imagined she would hear something like this from someone so young.

“I think I can do that well.”

Looking at Hira with sincere eyes, Lee-jae said it once more. This, at least, was the truth.

Beom Do-geon was a man so strong that he did not need help from someone like her at all, but even so, Lee-jae wanted to become that kind of person for him.

“……Madam?”

Hira, who had been staring at Lee-jae as if entranced, suddenly came back to herself. She blinked slowly and then looked bewildered.

“This is a bit unexpected.”

Hira pressed down on her lower lip.

The Lee-jae she had imagined had no manners whatsoever and was nothing more than a gold digger obsessed with money.

It had been strange enough that a girl only twenty years old was suddenly insisting on marriage, and suspicious enough that she had supposedly promised marriage to a man forty years older.

And yet, the Lee-jae she had seen today was the complete opposite of what she had expected.

If anything, unlike those other girls who would rehearse useless speeches about what help they could bring to Mujung Group if they married Do-geon, or flatter so obviously it showed, Lee-jae felt refreshingly different.

And that moved Hira’s heart for just a moment.

Am I tired right now?

As Lee-jae quietly spoke her heart, it felt as though the entire world blurred out, and only Lee-jae alone remained in view.

“I’m sorry for speaking so presumptuously.”

When Lee-jae saw that Hira had gone stiff without even maintaining her elegant smile anymore, she felt a sudden sting in her chest.

She lowered her head deeply. That shabby answer, offering up nothing more than this, was endlessly humiliating to her.

When Lee-jae looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, Hira swallowed dryly in alarm.

“What is it?”

D-did I just make her cry?

Holding back tears, Lee-jae looked so fragile that Hira felt as though she wanted to gather her into her arms at once.

“Don’t tell me you’re crying?”

“……No.”

Unlike herself, Hira seemed completely at a loss.

“What do you mean, no? It looks like I’ve just made you cry, Miss Lee-jae.”

Fumbling in a hurry, she pulled a handkerchief from her handbag and gently pressed it into Lee-jae’s hand.

“Was I too harsh with you, Miss Lee-jae? I did come at you a little strongly, didn’t I?”

Hira looked at Lee-jae with worried eyes, then suddenly pulled herself together.

No. That’s not right. I came here to oppose this marriage!

Whether Lee-jae cried or not, what did that have to do with her? If anything, she ought to break her spirit completely and drive her away.

And yet, the moment Lee-jae’s eyes brimmed with tears, even Hira as a woman felt such a protective instinct that she wanted to hold her and comfort her immediately.

Then again, if even she felt this way, would men not feel it too?

She truly should not underestimate her just because she was young.

She must have used this very method to thoroughly enchant her son. Even her too.

“It’s all right. I’m not crying.”

When Hira tried to soothe her, Lee-jae felt even more sorrow welling up inside her. It felt as though she had caused trouble for such a good person with this false marriage.

“Don’t cry! If it looks like I made you cry, my conscience will feel terrible…….”

Hira coaxed and comforted Lee-jae.

At first, she had thought Lee-jae was a brazen girl and had intended to overpower her from the outset.

There was even a thick envelope of cash inside her handbag.

If it turned out Lee-jae had approached them because of money, Hira had planned to throw it at her like in a drama and crush her spirit by telling her to break up with her son at once.

Now she felt she had completely planned this strategy wrong.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to make you cry like this…….”

Hira wore a blank expression as she watched the tears running down Lee-jae’s cheeks.

Had I always been this weak to a woman’s tears?

Before she even realized it, she had been completely swept up by Lee-jae.

Just as Hira was about to wipe away her tears herself with the handkerchief.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing.”

At that blade-sharp voice, Hira jolted and turned around. Do-geon was standing there crookedly, one hand shoved into his pants pocket.

Lee-jae’s eyes widened too as she looked at Do-geon, who had appeared out of nowhere.

Why is Mister here?

Her face went blank with shock.

Do-geon glared at Hira with a fierce look, and then tilted his head toward Lee-jae.

“Baby, come to me.”

B-baby?

At the strange pet name she had never heard in her life, Hira blinked.

What did I just hear?

“Seo Lee-jae, I told you to get up.”

When Lee-jae hesitated, unsure what to do between Do-geon and Hira, he strode over and caught her by the hand.

“It looks like Mother has a great deal she wants to say to me.”

“…….”

“We’ll speak later.”

Do-geon spat the cold words out, and then dragged Lee-jae out with him.

The café owner seemed to roughly grasp the situation and gestured for Lee-jae to hurry and go.

“H-he called her ‘Baby’?”

Watching the backs of the two as they left the café, Hira’s mouth fell open.

This side of her son, which she was seeing for the first time in her life, was far too unfamiliar.