Chapter 199.1

Chapter 199.1

“…!”

Seoryeong shoved him back onto the sofa and snatched up the cane that had rolled across the floor.

“From now on, you answer everything I ask.”

The moment her real voice rang out, the one she had kept hidden, his head snapped up. His tongue, flushed and restless, flicked between parted lips as the parts of his face visible beneath the bandages twisted uncontrollably.

“Ugh…”

Lee Wooshin clutched the leather cushion, one hand flying to his ear like he had just taken a bullet to the head.

“Wait, don’t talk, not yet.”

He shook his head over and over, licking his dry lips like a man dying of thirst. Seoryeong ignored the dark stain spreading on his pants and tightened her grip on the cane.

She pressed the tip against his chest. His heartbeat pounded hard under it, wild and unsteady. Her cold fingers tightened further.

Now I think I’m finally ready to hear your excuses.

The long, burning fury had cooled. Her mind was clear, and for the first time, she felt ready to confront someone else’s truth.

Just like that day on the ship’s prow, when she had decided to end things with Kim Hyun and run to Lee Wooshin, she took another step forward, this time for closure.

“Tell me exactly what your mission was.”

“…”

“What reason did you have to marry me? I want to hear everything.”

He hunched over, trembling. She hadn’t even touched him, yet he looked like a man under torture. Saliva glistened at the corner of his mouth as his tongue swept over his lower lip and vanished.

“When you interrogate someone,” he rasped, “aren’t you supposed to tie them up first?”

“…What-”

“Being treated like a prisoner… actually, that’s exactly what I want. But look around, curtain cords, robe ties, even neckties. They’re all here. Why haven’t you used a single one?”

“…”

“You used to be good with chains too, why not now?”

“Shut up and answer the damn question!”

Seoryeong pressed her fingers hard against her temple and suddenly shouted. She stabbed his body with the cane like it was a knife, and Lee Wooshin winced as he exhaled a breath that had climbed to his chin. She jabbed around with the tip, then accidentally grazed his nipple.

He slapped his own cheek. Smack! then grabbed his knee like he might crush it. The scent of sweat and arousal grew thick and heavy.

Soon, he covered the bandages with clasped fingers and began muttering rapidly in Russian. It sounded halfway between swearing and a prayer asking to stay loyal to his wife.

“To protect you.”

His tight abdomen rose and fell rapidly.

“I cut off every force that tried to get near you. I tried to protect you from your father.”

“…!”

“That was my mission, to keep you and your father from meeting.”

His voice was rough, but his tone carried a strange submission, as if he had given up resisting altogether. With every word, he gripped the cane pressed against his chest and drew her closer, inch by inch.

“To keep Russia from taking you.”

“…”

“To be your safety net.”

“…”

“To become your family.”

“Stop.”

“To love you. To become your everything.”

“Stop!”

Seoryeong reacted on instinct, swinging the cane and striking his shoulder. “Ugh…” He groaned and shuddered, but she didn’t flinch. Her glare dropped to the stiff bulge in his pants, her expression twisting in disgust.

Rigay had been the one who bombed Winter Castle. To her and her siblings, he had been a savior, but to Yuri Solzhenitsyn, he was the criminal who had destroyed his entire family. And yet…

“You’re Solzhenitsyn.”

Her grip tightened on the cane as she raised it again, this time aiming for his throat. Lee Wooshin was Solzhenitsyn’s grandson, and she was Rigay’s daughter. If fate had run its proper course, they would have despised each other, not married.

“That client, the one who bombed the mansion. You told me about him before the Blast Corp mission.”

“…”

“And even knowing that, you still married me?”

“…Yes.”

His immediate answer made her falter. She didn’t know whether to call it madness or to admit it felt like the final blow.

One thing was certain: this man wasn’t sane. Her cold stare cut across him like a blade, but the anger that once burned in her had already burned itself out.

The past six months had been enough time to cradle her pain, to understand the version of herself that had once bled for him. Now all she wanted was to fill the empty spaces she had ignored in her blind rage. That was the only question left unresolved between them.

If she could just uncover that one missing piece, maybe then the wound would finally close. Seoryeong swallowed, her throat aching.

“What exactly were you protecting me from?”