Chapter 64

“―Is that really all you need?” 

Chen asked discreetly. 

“―With all your time and effort building your business, your position will become unstable. In the end, a fair bit of what your father wants will come true.” 

Taeheon had already publicly surrendered his neck to his father, and once he leaves the country, his father will swiftly take over the company. The businesses Taeheon built. Chen was pointing this out. 

Taeheon knew it as well. He also knew how to defend himself. He also knew a way to crush the enemy without losing a single grain. 

But to seize the entire family business, one would have to choose an even more dangerous approach.

“I don’t want revenge on my father.” 

Gambling wasn’t an option now. At one time, he’d wanted to see Kwon Seonghwan’s corpse. Now he didn’t much care about that sort of thing. 

“I just want my wife to live the best possible life.” 

He wanted Yaein and their child to be safe and free. He wouldn’t let them share the barred cage where he himself had been trapped. 

He refused to pass on the bad things he’d once held. 

“Besides, I can always build that back up again anytime.” 

It sounded boastful, but Chen didn’t accuse him of arrogance. Both knew why: Taeheon’s words were no mere vanity. He genuinely could achieve that.

“―Hearing you talk, I’m now curious about your wife. Is she beautiful as Yang Guifei was?” 

Taeheon deliberately ignored the question asked out of curiosity. There wasn’t the slightest desire to advertise how beautiful his wife was to another man. 

“All I ask for is the boat coming into Korea, the return entry logs timed to match when the trip ends. That’s all I need.” 

He would leave Korea exactly as his father ordered him. Not for a week, but just for a single day. 

Once he landed at the airport, he would head straight to the harbor and board the boat Chen was sending. His father wouldn’t know. He’d be busy with other matters. 

“―I’ll prepare it. In return, how about letting me see your wife just once?” 

“I’d rather give you gold equal to your body weight.” 

The person on the other end of the call let out their signature sharp laugh. 

“―I must have misread you. You’re quite a sentimental man.” 

That statement was not wrong, at least regarding one particular woman. Once cold and now full of emotion, he ended the call. It was time to go home. 

***

She was exhausted. 

Leaning back in a single‐seater sofa, Yaein rubbed her numb hands. She’d been sitting like this for about an hour after getting home from work, but the fatigue still hadn’t lifted. 

Working while pregnant, under the worst boss, proved more grueling than she’d imagined. If she didn’t have a clear goal, she would never have kept at it. 

But now, truly, just a little more remained. It was right in front of her. Yaein consoled herself. 

“Just hold on a bit longer.” 

She spoke quietly, stroking her belly. 

Her husband would be home soon, too. The hour hand on the clock was nearing the time he’d said in his text message. 

Yaein, who was pricking up her ears at every little noise by the entrance, hurriedly stood. She’d heard the door open just now. 

She moved to welcome Taeheon as he came in, and then stopped. 

“There’s a smell of gunpowder on you.” 

Seeing Yaein wrinkle her nose, Taeheon pulled her into his arms. 

“I was at the shooting range.” 

So that was the smell she recognized. Yaein slipped away from Taeheon’s embrace. 

“I didn’t go there to shoot for myself this time. I was just keeping Father company with his hobby.” 

Yaein headed to the living room in front; Taeheon trailed after her, continuing his explanation. His long stride quickly caught up. Approaching from behind, he embraced her, and though Yaein let out a complaint, she didn’t pull away this time, remaining in place. 

With Yaein in his arms, Taeheon began walking. They had to waddle in an odd posture, yet Taeheon led them along smoothly, as though dancing. 

Is this man truly wonderful in every possible way, or is that just my rose‐colored view? Yaein wondered. While she was lost in thought, Taeheon went toward the living room’s display cabinet. 

Before long, Taeheon brought out a box. Its appearance was familiar. Once opened, Yaein realized why. 

Seeing the revolver lifted from inside, Yaein’s face fell. She vividly recalled the moment Taeheon had once held that gun. 

“Why are you taking that out?” 

“Come hold it.” 

Taeheon gestured for her, but Yaein shook her head. 

“I don’t want to.” 

“It’s not loaded.” 

He removed the cylinder to show it, but Yaein kept refusing. 

“I still don’t want to.” 

“I want to show you how to fire it so you won’t get hurt.” 

Taeheon winked from one eye while tugging Yaein’s hand. 

“Like back when I taught you how to piss off your family.” 

He pressed the gun into Yaein’s palm. The heavy metal in her grip made her spine tense. 

“Straighten your arm.” 

Taeheon’s arm enveloped hers as she extended it. She could feel his breath from behind. 

Just by holding a gun, the ordinary scene of home life felt strangely turned into a hunting ground. Everything before Yaein looked like a potential target. 

Even though there weren’t any bullets, her heart pounded with a heavy thump. 

“For a warning shot, there’s no issue, but this isn’t for long‐range shooting, so if you want accuracy, best do it as close as possible.” 

He continued explaining calmly how to aim, in contrast to Yaein’s restless heartbeat. 

“If you’re not going to shoot yet, keep your finger here…”

Taeheon placed Yaein’s index finger on the trigger. The tip of her finger slowly curled.

“Go on, shoot. Right now.”

Yaein pulled the trigger. Her finger bent tighter, the metal pulled back, and a smell of gunpowder spread.

“Bang.”

That was Taeheon’s voice echoing in Yaein’s ears.

“Be careful when you actually fire—it’s going to recoil.”

He grabbed Yaein’s shoulder firmly and gave it a shake to mimic the recoil. Yaein, still holding the gun, blankly looked at Taeheon.

“Do you really think I’ll ever end up shooting this?”

“I’m giving it to you just in case.”

Even though their practice ended, Taeheon didn’t take the gun from Yaein’s hand. Now, this gun was hers. Realizing that, Yaein gripped it even tighter.

“I want you safe, even if you have to shoot and kill someone.”

It was a dreadful yet sweet confession.

“If it looks like you’re in danger, shoot them. I’ll take the blame.”

Though he said it lightly, Taeheon was sincere. As proof, he soon retrieved the bullets that had been included in the box. 

A single bullet, enough to kill anyone, rolled across the table. The reflected light pooling on its surface was razor-sharp.

“Carry it around like a talisman.”

Reading Yaein’s complicated feelings, Taeheon coaxed her in a soft tone.

“It’s a six-shot revolver.”

Explaining how to load it, Taeheon set out six bullets. Following the instructions she’d been taught, Yaein even finished loading it herself, then picked up one more bullet.

“You said you hated it—yet you’re taking seven bullets?”

He was right: he’d given it to her for self-defense. It was unlikely she’d face a situation where she’d empty the cylinder.

“You told me to think of it as a talisman.”

Nevertheless, Yaein fully loaded the cylinder and added one more round.

“I’m not going to leave anything to fate. I’ll do my best to keep hold of every possible choice.”

If a “what-if” happens, she wants to give it her utmost.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Yaein’s cheeks reddened under Taeheon’s sharp, unwavering gaze.

“I just realized what my ideal type is.”

“Someone who packs more bullets than the cylinder fits?”

She responded with a smile, and Taeheon nodded. In moments like these, her husband seemed oddly gentle.

Whenever she felt his unguarded affection so plainly, her heart ached for some reason. It was like the dull ache of something full swelling even more.

She wished she could give Taeheon even more. Even if she poured all the love she possessed into him, there was a limit to what one person could offer alone.

Just as she hopes for the baby in her womb to be loved by many, Yaein hoped the same for Taeheon. Humans can’t live alone, after all.

“Mother is going to help with the money-laundering evidence.”

When she brought that up, Taeheon’s first response was suspicion.

“She’s going to help send Father to prison?”

“She was talking about you, Taeheon.”

When her name unexpectedly came up, Taeheon tilted his head crookedly. 

“You asked my mother for help for me?” 

“My staff are tied up at the moment, but Representative Park would be able to move around regardless.” 

“She said she came because you asked her. At first, she told me to blow the whistle using her own transaction records.” 

“Why would she do something like that?” 

He clearly had no idea. 

“She said she wants to act like a mother to you.” 

Speaking carefully, Yaein revealed this, and Taeheon looked all the more puzzled. He frowned as though repeating her words to himself, then outright shook his head. 

Whatever Gyeongju’s feelings might be, Yaein telling Taeheon didn’t mean it would reach him. He might never accept her or forgive her. Even so, Yaein wanted to say it. 

“She’s going to leak word that the foundation is about to be searched. Unlike me, she’s on close terms with the people who entrusted money to the foundation, so Serin or my stepmother will believe her.” 

“So they’ll try to hide the evidence, and that’s when you can take it?” 

That was exactly right. Serin, at least, would definitely panic and reveal she was unsettled. It’s hard to tamper with hidden materials, but if they try to relocate them, that’s when they’re easiest to steal – the moment when they’re most likely to lose them. 

“Once you find the evidence, just hand it to me.” 

Taeheon made a point of emphasizing this. 

Once she found the ledgers, Yaein would pass them to Taeheon. On the day Taeheon left, Yaein planned to head to a place near Incheon Port he had arranged in advance. 

With the exposure of a massive money‐laundering route, even Chairman Kwon Seonghwan wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. 

If they examine how that money was made, a deal would have to be struck – but with his ailing body, the likely prison term he’d face would be harsh. 

The plan was tidy. Even so, Taeheon’s face remained far from bright. 

“You’re worried?” 

“If it were something I could do alone, I’d be fine.” 

Yaein knew what he was worried about. She ran her hand through his hair, then kissed his forehead. 

“It’s only one day that we’ll be apart.” 

Taeheon sighed out the words like a whisper, as though telling himself. Once he arrived in Shanghai, he’d already explained how he’d come back. He’d leave a record of exiting the country, then travel by land and return to Korea by sea, which would take a day’s time. 

Taeheon’s return would conclude the plan. 

Once Taeheon arrived at the place Yaein was hiding in Incheon, the two of them planned to spend a little while out of the country. 

So, they just had to get through that one day when Taeheon departed. 

Then, at last, they could be safe.