* * *

In the past 48 hours, Yuhyeon had only slept about four hours. Exhaustion hit him hard, but his mind remained sharp. He gently pressed his fingers to the corners of his eyes.

“Madam arrived safely.”

“Good.”

“Shall I have dinner prepared?”

“I’m not in the mood.”

“Didn’t you meet with the chairman?”

The chief secretary looked at him through the rearview mirror.

“I did. But he didn’t say a word.”

“Does it bother you… that the chairman chose this villa as your honeymoon destination?”

“No. But I had to be sure.”

“Still, it seems like you feel a little more comfortable now.”

Yuhyeon slowly closed his eyes. He had met with Vladimir and confirmed things, but nothing suspicious had come up.

“I had heard that she liked flowers, but still… who would have thought that she would actually touch that? It’s a flower that blooms high on a wall – one that’s not easily accessible.”

The flower, used to make powerful narcotic painkillers, was notoriously difficult to grow.

To grow it, they had bought a remote island – far from tourists – and turned it into private land just for the purpose.

While the flower could ease the pain of patients nearing death, it was dangerous to a healthy person.

If someone inhaled the scent and tried to eat it in a hallucinated state… the consequences could be severe.

Yuhyeon tightened his lips. He blamed himself for carelessly suggesting that they go to that villa and forgetting about the flower.

Even after confirming the facts with his adoptive father, the uneasy feeling remained.

‘Vladimir… if you ever become a threat to my woman, I won’t hesitate to let go of you.’

Yuhyeon glanced at his wristwatch. It was 8 p.m.

‘She’s been in the greenhouse for four hours now.’

He wanted to see Soo-min right away. It had only been two days since they had been apart, but he missed her like crazy.

As soon as he arrived home, he went straight to the greenhouse.

Inside the brightly lit greenhouse, he saw Soo-min’s figure reflected in the light.

He opened the door and went inside. She must have sensed someone entering, but her attention was focused on the flowers.

Her hands, which were busy tending to the plants, were covered in dirt, and her clothes had dirt on them as well, but she looked absolutely beautiful.

A wave of heat stirred at his core. The memory of being with her just a few days ago flashed through his mind. Even if she hadn’t realized it, he longed for her again – desperate to taste the sweetness he had once known.

Without hesitation, Yuhyeon walked over and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Oh! Yuhyeon… When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

“You must be exhausted. You should get some rest.”

“No. I have my own way of resting.”

He gently took the back of Soo-min’s head and kissed her. Her eyes widened in shock and she shivered slightly.

When her lips parted in surprise and her tongue tried to withdraw, he quickly caught it and deepened the kiss.

“Haa… haa…”

As insane desire surged through him, an image of her last expression – the one that had felt like betrayal – flashed through his mind.

He wanted nothing more than to take her right then and there, but he knew the timing wasn’t right – at least not yet.

Slowly… she has to realize that he is Junhwan. And she has to suffer and be in pain many times more than he ever was.

How satisfying would that be? To know that the man she married is the dead Junhwan.

He almost burst out laughing.

‘No, it will be even more fun if she falls in love with me first… Because the gift I’ll give to the one who confesses her love to me will be a golden cage.’

He opened her mouth wider and inserted his tongue. Seeing her swallow rough breaths increased his excitement.

He moved his hips and rubbed his fully *rect p*nis against her body. He felt like he was going to come any second.

***

“Tch.”

Sparks seemed to fly in his eyes.

Even in this situation, she didn’t know what to do with the dirt on her hands, and the sight of her hands hovering awkwardly in the air displeased him.

What’s wrong with a little dirt on expensive clothes?

Yuhyeon made Soo-min put her hands on his shoulders.

“It will get dirty.”

“This isn’t the time to worry about that.”

Yuhyeon pressed his fully aroused p*nis against her lower body. Her face turned red.

“Suck it. I feel like I’m going to explode.”

He gently stroked the top of her head. As his p*nis entered her moist mouth, a low moan escaped from Yuhyeon’s lips.

***

‘Ah… my mouth hurts…’

It felt as if f*llatio was more strenuous than s*x. You’d think she’d be used to it by now, but because his p*nis was so big, the corners of her lips hurt.

While applying lipstick, Soo-min felt a sting and looked in the mirror. She saw that her lips were chapped.

“…Sigh…”

She opened a drawer, applied a moisturizing balm, and layered lipstick over it.

After her makeup, she went to the dressing room to get dressed, but the arrangement was different from yesterday. Swish, swish – she looked through the clothes, but none of them were hers.

“My clothes… where did they all go?”

“I threw them away.”

“…!”

When she turned around, Yuhyeon was already in the dressing room.

“What do you mean you threw them away? They were mine.”

“There was nothing worth keeping, so I threw them away. Is there a problem?”

“Ha… Yuhyeon. What kind of attitude is it to throw away someone else’s belongings without even asking them? Maybe those clothes didn’t mean anything to you, but they could have meant something to me. Why would you throw them away on your own?”

Soo-min was angry.

Not being able to choose something as simple as her own clothes felt like a form of imprisonment.

She glared at Yuhyeon.

But Yuhyeon just looked back at her even more coldly.

When he took a step forward, her feet involuntarily stepped back.

“People get thrown away in this world. So what’s the big deal about a bunch of clothes?”

“W-What? W-Who throws people away?”

“You must have thrown something away at least once, right?”

“What?”

Soo-min stared at him blankly.

Yuhyeon came closer and lightly cupped her cheek. A heavy feeling of dominance radiated from his gaze and her shoulders shifted with tension.

“For example, a man you once loved.”

Soo-min’s eyes widened immediately.

What had he just said?

Was this man investigating her past?

Her heart beat loudly.

“Don’t tell me… you looked into my background?”

“There is no need to investigate such a thing. It’s obvious.”

He made a cryptic remark and turned away. She quickly reached out to stop him.

“H-Hey, Beom Yuhyeon.”

“If I need to know something about your past, it would only be about your ex-husband.”

What the…?

He sounded like he knew something… Why was he probing her like that?

It was disturbing.

Feeling a chill, Soo-min wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

‘He is a strange man. I don’t know anything about him… it’s frustrating…’

Yuhyeon turned around. Yuhyeon turned around.

“Considering your position, you should be even more careful about how you dress. Don’t forget that your husband is the most watched man in Korea. I don’t want to look like a miser who skimped on spending money for his beloved wife.”

***

When she arrived at the hotel for work, the team members set off party poppers. Jeong-ah brought in a cake with lit candles. Her face grew hot with embarrassment.

“Chief! Congratulations on your marriage!”

“How have you been?”

“Great, of course. Welcome back!”

Since they hadn’t been invited to the wedding, the team celebrated belatedly in the office. They had a quick tea with cake and coffee.

Eunhyuk appeared and entered the office.

“Noona, you’re here.”

“Yeah. I was just on my way to the CEO’s office.”

“No, it’s okay. My being here is enough.”

“Sit down. Would you like some cake?”

Soo-min cut the cake and offered it to him. As Eunhyuk ate it with a fork, he pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it to her.

“This is Yeon-joo Noona’s contact information.”

“She really came back to Korea… I thought it would take longer.”

Yeon-joo, whose dream was to become a musical actress, had returned from studying abroad earlier than expected.

Soo-min remembered that when she left five years ago, she had said that she would never return to Korea if she didn’t become an actress.

“Are you really not going to see any of your college friends? Even if it’s a second marriage, you could have invited at least one… She’s your best friend.”

“I was just a little embarrassed.”

“Second marriages are common these days.”

“Yes…”

Soo-min held the coffee cup.

“Oh, by the way, he still uses the suite as his office.”

“Huh? Really?”

“He said he was looking for a building to use as a company office, but I guess he hasn’t found a suitable one yet.”

“Yeah…”

She looked at Eunhyuk.

“What? Something bothering you?”

“I thought I’d have to tell you sometime, but it’s hard to bring it up.”

“What is it?”

Soo-min took a deep breath.

“The newlywed house.”

“What about it?”

“It’s… where I used to live.”