Body

“Acting prideful, huh…”

Yeon-ha mulled over Sung-ji’s words.

The most miserable thing about this situation was that Sung-ji wasn’t saying this to upset her.

It was pure charity.

A meaningless favor, a simple act of kindness—even to the woman of the man she was supposed to marry.

And because there was no ill intent, it stung even more.

Yeon-ha just stared at the card without taking it.

But to Sung-ji, even this probably looked like a cute little act of defiance from the weak. She placed the card on the table with a faint smile.

“I’ll leave the card here. Next time, don’t think so hard about it.”

Sung-ji nodded briefly in farewell and walked away.

Now, only the card remained on the powder room table.

The goddess of fortune had never been on Yeon-ha’s side, but this kind of emptiness was something she hadn’t felt since her school days.

As she picked up her makeup pouch, she let out a weak, self-mocking laugh.

“I should’ve at least said I don’t need this… What a fool.”

She muttered to herself in regret.

Of course, even if she could turn back time, there wasn’t much she could have said.

Since joining Hanjung Group, she had spent her entire life keeping her thoughts to herself.

Silence was a virtue she had learned, while Sung-ji had not.

Depending on one’s status, even a single word carried a different weight—such was the way of the wealthy.

Yeon-ha picked up the card Sung-ji had left behind.

She had no intention of using it, but she couldn’t just leave it there either.

If she left it with the hotel lounge, they would take care of it.

After gathering her things, Yeon-ha walked out of the restroom and approached Hyun-seok, who was sitting with his legs spread wide.

“Did you wait long? I spilled my things, so it took a little time.”

“A man should at least be patient enough for a woman to fix her makeup. Now, shall we go? I’m getting tired.”

Go home now?

Yeon-ha blinked in confusion.

Before she went to the restroom, he had seemed like he had a lot to say.

Now, all of a sudden, he wanted to call it a night?

Of course, this was actually good for Yeon-ha.

She was exhausted, and she wanted to get away from Moo-jin and Sung-ji’s table as soon as possible.

“Ah, yes. You worked hard today.”

Yeon-ha politely bowed her head.

But instead of responding in kind, Hyun-seok burst into laughter, looking dumbfounded.

“Why are you pretending not to know? You fixed your makeup, right? Time for the real game to start.”

“…What?”

“You’re twenty-eight. You know how things work.”

His voice carried a smirk.

“Or is playing innocent your thing?”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Come on, don’t play dumb. Let’s go upstairs. We need to see if we’re a good match before deciding on marriage.”

Yeon-ha finally understood his words, and her face turned ice-cold.

She had tolerated his rude remarks with forced smiles until now, but this—this was crossing the line.

“No. That’s not happening.”

Her voice was firm.

But to Hyun-seok, even that must have seemed like playful resistance.

“So you like it when a guy insists, huh? I told you before—I like obedient women. If you want to impress me, you better behave.”

“Ugh!”

“Quit acting up. It’s starting to piss me off.”

Hyun-seok grabbed Yeon-ha’s wrist roughly.

His grip was so strong that pain twisted her face.

Even though he wasn’t much taller than her, a man was still a man—she couldn’t overpower him.

‘What should I do?’

If she screamed, it would end things quickly, but…

Moo-jin and Sung-ji were close by.

She didn’t want to create a scene in front of them.

If she had to be dragged away, she would rather it look like a mutual agreement than a struggle.

Maybe it was foolish pride, but she couldn’t stand the thought of looking pathetic.

And Sung-ji’s words had definitely made that pride sting even more.

’I just need to