Chapter 58

Of course, it should have been Yaein who stepped in to stop it. But she just sat still. Serin shot her a glare full of betrayal. She used to mock Yaein for acting self-righteous when she intervened—yet now, when Serin needed it most, she stayed silent.

In the frozen silence, Taeheon threw the now-empty wine bottle to the floor. The thick glass clunked and rolled away with a dull sound.

“Well, I guess dinner’s over,” Taeheon said, glancing at the stunned faces around him. 

“We’ll be heading out first.”

Yaein clung to his side as they left the restaurant. Just before disappearing, she glanced back. Her gaze met Serin’s, who was now gripping the tablecloth in fury.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” 

Sojeong jumped up, flustered, dabbing at Serin’s hair with a napkin.

“I knew it. That thug. Of course he’d act like that. To our precious daughter, no less. And look at that Yaein, acting like she owns the world.”

Sojeong kept ranting, but Serin could barely hear her. Rage buzzed in her ears. Her damp hair clung to her cheeks, casting shadows over her face.

I won’t let this go.

Serin bit her lip hard. Her lipstick stained her teeth.

***

Taeheon helped Yaein out the door. As soon as she breathed in the outside air, she started coughing, like she had been holding it in all along.

“Are you okay? Let’s rinse off first and then head home—”

“I just want to leave like this.”

The rejection came too fast. Yaein was trembling.

She had barely held herself together during dinner. Taeheon had noticed how her hand had been shaking under the tablecloth the whole time.

He took off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. It was big enough to cover her entire body.

“You’ll get cream on it.”

“So what?”

“It’s an expensive coat.”

“If you threw it in the trash, I wouldn’t care.”

Taeheon answered without hesitation. Yaein gave him a weak smile. So fragile it looked like it might shatter. It stirred both tenderness and a murderous urge in him.

Yaein often awakened those extremes in Taeheon—hatred born from love, aggression born from the need to protect.

He gently helped her into the passenger seat and got in the driver’s side. Bundled up in his coat, she looked like a child wrapped in a blanket.

She stared blankly at his hand as he buttoned the collar for her, then softly spoke.

“I’m not a little girl anymore. I know they can’t treat me the way they used to. But I don’t know why I still feel like this. I kept thinking about when the four of us used to eat together.”

Her voice trailed off, soaked with tears.

The past doesn’t disappear. Its traces linger and drag back those who wish to forget.

Taeheon knew it well.

No matter how strong you become, you can’t erase who you were when you were powerless.

“I don’t want to cling to the past, but…”

Taeheon gently pulled down the arm Yaein had raised to hide her face. The carefully composed exterior she had maintained to avoid seeming weak was now unraveling. And Taeheon, looking at her disheveled state, had nothing but softness in his gaze.

“This isn’t your fault.”

As his lips met hers, Yaein exhaled a shaky breath and allowed her tension to melt away. Their kiss deepened as her lips parted. The soft flesh inside her mouth was warm and sweet.

It was as though he were cleaning her up with his lips—pressing gentle kisses where syrup and cream had stained her. When his tongue brushed against a sticky patch left on her neck, the sweet scent filled his nose. He sucked at the drop of syrup that had pooled between her collarbones, leaving a faint pink mark on her skin.

“If you don’t want to see them again, you don’t have to. You don’t need to work with them either.”

“But we had a plan.”

“We don’t have to go through with it.”

Taeheon could handle everything on his own—he always had. He didn’t need help, not now, not ever. What he wanted most was for Yaein to stay somewhere safe, untouched by harm. And for that, he was willing to hurt anyone.

“I don’t want that.”

Yaein shook her head.

“I’m going to do this—for you.”

She was willing to give herself up in order to protect Taeheon.

“I have an idea,” she had said.

When Yaein first brought it up, Taeheon never imagined she meant facing her family.

“I heard your father used the foundation for money laundering. That he even dipped into its funds.”

She had referenced the shady dealings between Chairman Kwon Seonghwan and her own parents.

“My stepmother said she kept records of all the transactions, just in case. She said she couldn’t trust him.”

Taeheon could guess how that conversation had gone—probably full of snide remarks about gangsters and lowlifes.

And honestly, they weren’t wrong. Kwon Seonghwan was the kind of man who’d cut ties with anyone, even family, if it served his interests.

“If I can find those records… could we report him?”

There were more sins trailing Yaein’s father than maggots on a corpse.

He had committed endless crimes and walked away untouched, time and time again.

Kwon Seonghwan had connections—deep, tangled ties built through bribery and favors. Those connections had protected him for decades, and they were rarely cheap.

But this time, things were different.

Now, Yaein’s family—people with influence in the upper echelons of society—were involved. Their clients were equally elite.

Without those born and bred into high society, people like them would never have had a seat at the table in the art world. That world was precisely the “big pond” her father had always wanted to swim in.

Joining hands with the wealthy to embezzle on a grand scale—gaining the privilege to commit even greater crimes.

The bigger the reward, the greater the risk.

If Yaein reported the transaction records her stepmother had kept, the scale of the corruption would be too large to sweep under the rug. Someone would need to take the fall.

That sacrificial pawn would be Chairman Kwon Seonghwan. And also, Yaein’s own family.

“Alright. Let’s do it your way.”

When he first heard Yaein’s plan, Taeheon hadn’t been entirely on board. He didn’t like the idea of her getting entangled in a conflict. For the plan to work, Yaein would inevitably have to play her part—and that meant risk. It would’ve been safer if Taeheon handled it alone, even if it meant greater danger.

But after tonight, he understood why they had to go with her plan.

If they could get their hands on evidence of the crimes committed by Chairman Kwon and Yaein’s parents, no amount of familial ties would be enough to protect them. They would be dragged down—humiliated, ruined.

It wasn’t as though Taeheon had tolerated them out of fondness. He had left them alone only because they were still useful and because they were Yaein’s family. That excuse no longer applied.

Still, like when he had stood before his ailing father, the same complication restrained him—if he went after Yaein’s family, she would inevitably be caught in the blowback.

But he no longer needed to sully her in the process.

A clean strike was now possible.

Yaein had insisted on pushing through with the plan, even though it meant confronting the family that had hurt her. All to protect Taeheon.

And Taeheon—doing the same thing—was planning revenge.

“I’m going to make your father regret everything.”

For me? Taeheon stroked Yaein’s determined face.

His father was the kind of man who could chew up and swallow someone as gentle and naïve as her without a second thought. Yet Yaein, even knowing what Seonghwan was like, was standing up to him—for Taeheon.

This was what it meant to be loved. To step in front of an unbeatable foe without hesitation. To fight to protect someone.

To imagine Taeheon’s pain before he even felt it, and to do everything in her power to prevent it.

It was extraordinary. And still, Taeheon didn’t fully understand why. Why someone like her would go so far for someone like him.

But it didn’t matter. Whatever the reason, Yaein’s protection was his. Just having it was enough.

Taeheon could do the same for Yaein—more, even. 

To make the scales balance, he’d probably have to give back double what he received. And he was confident he could. 

“I’ll make your family regret it too.” 

He made the promise sincerely. 

“Thank you,” Yaein said with a small laugh, as if it were just a comforting remark. 

Ever since she learned the truth, Yaein had started treating Taeheon like a wounded boy. 

She often forgot he was a cold, ruthless man. Anyone who knew Taeheon would’ve been shocked to see it. 

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m doing this because I want to.” 

If you want to keep seeing me as a loving husband, then so be it.

Taeheon was good at hiding his teeth. He wasn’t used to this kind of thing, not yet—but he would be soon. 

*** 

It had been a long time since Yaein got ready in the morning like this. She stared into the mirror, feeling oddly unfamiliar. 

A woman with long hair was brushing it out. She looked very different from the woman reflected in her vanity mirror before that one exhibition of Serin’s. 

The most noticeable difference was her clearly rounded belly. 

Her lightly made-up face looked lively. Her complexion no longer looked pale and worn. 

Maybe it was because she was eating well lately. As she looked carefully in the mirror, she noticed a figure behind her. 

“You’re up?” 

Yaein put down the brush and greeted him. 

Taeheon was already dressed for work, leaning against the wall of the dressing room in his shirt and slacks. 

His eyes swept over Yaein’s figure with an open hunger. 

“That’s your outfit for your first day?” 

“It’s not like I’m actually going to do much—just show up and head home. But I figured I should at least look the part. You don’t like it?” 

Taeheon frowned. Yaein nervously fiddled with the hem of her clothes. 

“Does it look that bad?” 

“You look amazing. So much so I don’t want anyone else to see you.” 

As he said it, he pushed off the wall and crossed the room in just a few strides. 

“Don’t go,” he pleaded, toying with the buttons of her jacket. 

“Show it only to me.” 

She knew he was teasing, but her chest still fluttered. Yaein quickly did up the rest of the buttons. 

“You know I have to go.” 

It was, as Taeheon had pointed out, her first day. She would be reporting to the foundation her stepmother ran. 

After the dinner had ended in such dramatic fashion, her parents had started reaching out to Taeheon, desperate to fix things. 

Their reaction had been quicker than expected. 

Yaein guessed her stepmother believed this had turned into a pride match for Taeheon. And since Yaein would soon give birth, she probably thought she’d only work briefly anyway. 

They were all playing into Yaein’s hands. 

Everything was going just as she hoped. The sense of tension, pleasant in its anticipation, filled her. 

“You’re ready too, right? Let’s head out together.” 

Yaein beamed brightly as she spoke, and Taeheon nodded. 

These days, Taeheon rarely said no to her. 

As they got into the car together, she felt giddy. 

This was their first time commuting side by side. Until now, she had only ever seen him off. 

“You look happy,” Taeheon said, glancing sideways as he scooted closer.