Chapter 32.2

Chapter 32.2

Wasn’t it obvious? What was so good about being sold off to this man and that man?

Goyo wasn’t placing any grand meaning on this meeting. It was just a meeting that Lee Yi-taek wanted.

“Ah, you’re a good daughter who does everything her father tells her to do.”

Congressman, not father, and good dog, not good daughter, would be more accurate, but… whatever. That wasn’t what was important right now.

She felt Kwon Jae-heon’s gaze sweeping over her, from head to toe, taking in her fancy attire. She hadn’t planned to dress up this much, but Lee Yi-taek had sent her to the aesthetician as soon as he took her from the hospital.

Goyo wasn’t in a condition to meet anyone. Especially since her face, beaten by Lee Yoon-gun, was swollen and bruised.

She’d been dragged to various gatherings and events by Lee Yi-taek recently, and her face was quite well-known. If Goyo’s messed-up face was revealed, there would be bad rumors everywhere.

In the past, when she was beaten by Lee Yoon-gun and looked a mess, he wouldn’t even let her go to school and made her stay home, but this time, for some reason, he made an appointment with Park Jung-hoon. Instead, he sent her to the aesthetician first.

After passing through the hands of a professional, the swelling in her face had subsided considerably, making her look much better. Then, cover makeup concealed the bruises. Only after undergoing all those steps was she able to come here.

“I forgot. How we met.”

His terribly low voice flowed out, long devoid of any trace of a smile.

Goyo knew exactly why he was saying this. Anyone would find her frustrating.

Even though Lee Yi-taek raised her since she was young, he was still just someone else. Even biological children leave their parents’ arms and become independent when they reach adulthood. So how could he possibly understand why she was still being used by Lee Yi-taek and his son, with not a drop of shared blood between them?

She must have seemed pathetic to him, desperately trying to force a relationship like this—like grafting animals together.

But if she hadn’t been controlled like a puppet, Kwon Jae-heon would never have met Lee Goyo.

“You’re the one who said it was a meaningless night.”

From the moment she took Lee Yi-taek’s hand, she had never moved according to her own will—not even once. She spoke, acted, and lived as he wanted.

This was how a human being, collared since childhood, survived.

“I asked you. Is this relationship okay? Are you sure you have no complaints?”

“……”

Even wild beasts are tamed by violence. What could a young girl, abandoned and left alone in the world, possibly do? Especially when the person holding the leash was a so-called powerful figure. Obedience was the only way to survive.

“Didn’t you say it was okay?”

“Because the answer was already decided.”

She moved as Lee Yi-taek wanted. That was the correct answer.

He told her to seduce Kwon Jae-heon, so she slept with him. He told her to meet Park Jung-hoon, so she met him. If Lee Yi-taek told her to spend the night with Park Jung-hoon…

So what?

She had already slept with you. There was no reason she couldn’t sleep with someone else.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Her chest felt strangely heavy. And one question arose.

If he told her to sleep with Park Jung-hoon, could she really do it? Was she confident that she wouldn’t care?

“Lee Goyo.”

Jae-heon reached out and grabbed her chin.

The bruises on her body could be hidden with clothes or heavy makeup. But that didn’t mean the blue blood that had settled under her skin was gone. No matter how much she pretended it wasn’t there, the bruises on her body and the scars on her heart wouldn’t disappear easily.

Jae-heon’s hand tightened on her chin. Because her lips had been torn, blood seeped out even with just the pressure of his fingertips. Her breath, drawn in as she endured the pain, was unusually loud.

What a foolish woman. Her lips were trembling, but she was enduring the pain. Did she really think this was nothing?

Jae-heon let go of her chin and stroked her cheek with his fingers. It was swollen and bruised, even though it was covered with thick makeup. It couldn’t not hurt. Her body stiffened just from his touch.

“Am I easy to you because I’m being nice?”

“…..”

There was no way.

This was a man who had sent Lee Yoon-gun to the hospital twice and was still walking around so confidently. He was a man that even Lee Yi-taek couldn’t control, there was no way he was easy.

“I think you’re mistaken.”

Jae-heon’s large hand cupped her cheek. It was a hand so big it covered her entire face. As his warm body temperature spread across her cheek, the spot where Lee Yoon-gun had hit her felt numb and hot.

Looking into Goyo’s bloodshot eyes, which were filling with moisture, Jae-heon said, as if chewing on the words.

“I’m the one who throws you away, not the other way around.”

The smile that had disappeared returned to Jae-heon’s lips.