Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1.1

“We would like to call off the engagement.”

There was a we in his phrasing, but it was not something mutually agreed upon. Still, Seo Eun-seong spoke in a firm, decisive voice, as if he had been thinking about this for a long time.

“I’m sorry to Si-eun, but I’m in love with someone else.”

It had been an ordinary family dinner.

Or so it should have been.

A shared meal between Seo Eun-seong’s family and Jang Si-eun’s happened about once every quarter, so there was no special reason for the gathering. Sometimes there were one or two things to celebrate, but generally, it was a pleasant evening spent chatting and catching up.

At least, it was until Seo Eun-seong said, “We would like to call off the engagement.”

Clink. Chairman Seo Man-ho dropped his fork, the one covered in the chef’s special fig sauce, onto his plate, breaking the silence with a stuttering voice.

“W–what… what did you just say?”

“I said I want to break off the engagement with Si-eun.”

At his repeated words, the expressions of everyone in the private room shifted, joy and despair flickering across different faces.

Chairman Seo Man-ho, the one most eager for the marriage, shot to his feet as if he were about to grab the collar of his precious eldest son.

“You…! You dare, you brat…! Do you have any idea what kind of marriage this is!”

“Dear, sit down. Dr. Kim said you need to watch your blood pressure. At least hear him out. We should find out why Eun-seong is suddenly behaving this way.”

The one who stopped him was his second wife, Jo Hyeon-ju.

She constantly worried about whether Seo Eun-seong, her stepson, would manage to secure a good marriage. During the engagement, Si-eun had been flawless, an exemplary bride-to-be… until recently, when her father, Jang Myeong-hwan, lost the election and became the subject of a corruption investigation. That was when her value plummeted overnight.

The worse things became for Si-eun, the more warmly Jo Hyeon-ju welcomed her, growing kinder and more affectionate toward her. Only now had she fully grown fond of Si-eun. Perhaps that was why she spoke with a tense, uneasy smile, worried that if this engagement fell apart, Seo Eun-seong might bring home someone far more ambitious than Si-eun.

“Why all of a sudden? Did something happen between you two? You and Si-eun seemed to get along just fine…”

“It isn’t a problem with Si-eun. I’ve met someone I truly love. Someone I care for deeply. If I ever marry, I want it to be with her.”

“So who is this girl? Who dares push her way in over Si-eun? What is she, the president’s granddaughter?”

Chairman Seo Man-ho’s eyes went red with rage, but Seo Eun-seong didn’t even flinch. He answered evenly.

“She’s from an ordinary family. She has an ordinary job. Don’t speak so crudely. She’s someone I’ve set my heart on.”

Even in the middle of the explosiveness, Seo Eun-seong defended the woman he claimed to love.

He really was a good man. Kind, considerate, respectful, principled. Well-mannered, steady, and with a decent, wholesome temperament. He wasn’t model handsome, but tall, over 180, and noticeably good-looking. His personality wasn’t sharp or aggressive.

Considering the number of third and fourth generation chaebol heirs who got bored of alcohol and cigarettes, moved on to drugs, engaged in rampant orgies, caught unheard-of STDs, and showed up in the news every season for one scandal or another, Seo Eun-seong was without a doubt the best groom Si-eun could have hoped for.

Even setting the Jin-gwang Group aside, he was exceptional.

In Si-eun’s world, where arranged marriages were simply a given, having someone like Seo Eun-seong as her fiancé was a blessing worthy of bowing down to her ancestors. She had thought life with him would be peaceful. No mistresses, no secret children, no scandals that would rot her marriage from within.

She never imagined this would be the problem.

That he would be this naive and clueless about the world.

“Si-eun, did you know? Did you have any idea Eun-seong was like this…?”

Si-eun’s mother, Min Se-hwa, couldn’t hide her flushed face as she spoke through clenched teeth.

“I…”

Si-eun looked at Seo Eun-seong when she spoke. He avoided her eyes and stared only at his father.

“I’m hearing this for the first time.”

A while ago, he had come to her and told her he liked someone else, but Si-eun had said, “It’s fine.”

She told him that whoever he loved had nothing to do with her. As long as he didn’t have a child with that woman, he could do whatever he wanted.

It had felt like a clear conversation. She thought the matter had been resolved cleanly. She never imagined Seo Eun-seong would drop a bomb like this in front of their families.