Chapter 14.1

Chapter 14.1

“Wow, my baby is fearless,” he thought, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

It was intriguing. He wanted to crack open that small head to see what she was thinking. “Joking around with me and all,” he mused, his curiosity piqued. Who could she possibly want to kill?

Like a puppet wrapped in strings all over her body, she was used as a tool by Lee Yi-taek. Lee Yun-geon demanded she lick his soles while calling her his dog. Bastards were ready to shove themselves into her, given any chance. Scumbags spread malicious rumors out of jealousy towards her. More than a few names came to Kwon Jae-heon’s mind right away.

Am I on that list? That would be unfair. I haven’t done anything yet.

“And what is it that you want?” he asked, his voice low and probing.

“They said she was a foolish puppet, a dog that obeyed its master. But she was actually cunning,” he thought, considering her reputation. This is why you can’t believe all the rumors.

“Can you grant my wish?” she asked, her voice soft yet laden with something he couldn’t quite decipher.

“If it’s right now,” he replied, feeling the tension build. Was this what pillow talk was like? At this moment, it felt like Lee Goyo could kill anyone she wanted dead.

“What do you want? No jokes, tell me what you really want.” He asked quietly, his smile fading. He wasn’t expecting an immediate answer, but he was curious.

“What I want…” Lee Goyo’s lips moved slightly but then stopped, leaving the air thick with unspoken desires and dangerous possibilities.

She had never really thought about it. Or rather, she had thought about it, but since it wasn’t something she could have, she gave up on it long ago. It was a wish that made her chest tighten and throat choke up just thinking about it, something she couldn’t even dare to speak aloud…

At least, it wasn’t a man she wanted. Not just one man, but multiple men?

‘Sucking up by licking your uncle’s feet for wealth and glory? It’s because of empty-headed women like you that women’s rights in our country are so low.’

Goyo remembered the biting words from Kang Gyuri.

Kang Gyuri, Lee Yi-taek’s niece, openly ignored and despised Lee Goyo. Not just her, Lee Goyo had faced countless inexplicable hostilities until now. She had heard the comment about seducing rich men as a life goal so often it became tiresome.

She didn’t know what provoked them so much. All Lee Goyo wanted was to live quietly.

‘Do you think you’re so great? You’re just a lucky orphan.’

Would they ever understand that being noticed by Lee Tae-hyuk was not a stroke of luck but a misfortune?

They knew nothing at all.

Lee Yi-taek grasped Goyo’s weakness and shackled her with it. Whenever Goyo tried to rebel, he would unerringly bring up that weakness to threaten her.

The reason Goyo had no choice but to be dragged around with a leash held by Lee Yi-taek.

A secret known only to Lee Yi-taek and Goyo.

It was:

‘I am the daughter of a kidnapper.’

Lee Goyo was not actually a kidnapping victim. She was the daughter of Lee Chul-woo, who had been identified as the kidnapper.

When her father, Chul-woo died during the suppression operation, Goyo suddenly became an orphan. Lee Yi-taek took it upon himself to become her guardian. He was able to do this because she was a ghost child.

Since Chul-woo was an unmarried father, he couldn’t register his daughter in the family registry. Lee Yi-taek cleverly exploited this fact to manipulate Goyo.

‘No one knows that you are Lee Chul-woo’s daughter. There’s no need to reveal it and live a difficult life. From now on, I will protect you.’

Lee Yi-taek confined Goyo and repeatedly told her that her father was a bad person who deserved to die. When he menacingly asked if she wanted to die like her father, Goyo could only tremble in fear and sob.

To the desperate child, Lee Yi-taek presented two choices.

Do you want to live a life of suffering as a kidnapper’s daughter or live happily as my daughter? Of course, the answer she had to choose was obvious.

‘Child, if you want to get out of here, you have to listen to me.’

The six-year-old child who had witnessed her father’s death before her eyes was terrified. She was seized by the fear that she might die like her father. To survive, Goyo said and did whatever Lee Yi-taek commanded.