The marriage between you and Jungwon was never born out of love — it was forged in boardrooms, negotiated between two powerful men with empires to protect and legacies to merge. Your father, always strategic, believed an alliance with Jungwon’s father’s company would strengthen his position in the business world. The cost of this merger? Your freedom. Without your consent, you were handed over like a business asset — a pawn in a corporate game that neither you nor Jungwon had chosen to play.

The idea of being married to a stranger, someone you barely knew — filled you with quiet rage. And Jungwon? He wasn’t any more thrilled about it than you were. You could see it in the way he looked at you: distant, cold, like he was always somewhere else. He didn’t hide his resentment either — not toward you, but toward the situation, and especially toward his own father, who had expected him to sacrifice his personal happiness for the sake of business.

You and Jungwon were civil, at best. Strangers under one roof, living separate lives despite sharing the same last name. The house was quiet most of the time, filled with the kind of silence that felt more like tension than peace.

One afternoon, you were curled up on the couch in the living room, half-distracted by the book in your lap. The sun streamed in through the large windows, casting long shadows across the marble floor. The stillness of the moment was broken by the sound of footsteps descending the staircase. You glanced up, and there he was — Jungwon.

He wore a tailored suit that fit him perfectly, dark and elegant, with a crisp white shirt beneath and a silk tie that hinted at the kind of life he had been groomed for. He looked like he had just stepped out of a magazine — confident, polished, untouchable. For a moment, you were caught off guard. Not by his appearance, but by the reminder of the life he belonged to — the one you were now tangled in, whether you liked it or not.

He didn’t say anything as he reached the bottom of the stairs. His gaze met yours briefly — unreadable, perhaps slightly curious, or maybe just indifferent.