chapter 5
965 Words
📘 Episode 5: Shadows of the Wife
The sun rose cold over Seoul the next morning.
Irene stood on the rooftop of her apartment building, wind brushing her face, the city humming beneath her feet. Her phone buzzed again and again in her pocket—Ares.
12 missed calls.
She didn’t answer any of them.
Downstairs, he waited—like a shadow.
She knew he hadn't left all night. That stubbornness… it was one of the reasons she had once fallen in love with him. That maddening loyalty—only now, she wasn’t sure who he was loyal to anymore.
To her?
To his guilt?
Or to his damn ego that refused to lose something he once owned?
She tightened the cardigan around herself.
She had said goodbye last night. She had meant it.
So why did it still feel like her chest was being carved open?
---
✦ At the Lobby
When she finally stepped into the building’s elevator, she wasn’t surprised to find him standing there.
Back leaned against the far wall, hands in his pockets, eyes haunted.
Ares Ji.
His tie was crooked. His shirt slightly wrinkled. He hadn’t shaved. For the first time, he looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days. Not the clean, polished CEO the world worshipped.
Just a man. Broken. And hers… but not really.
She didn’t speak. Neither did he.
But the moment the elevator doors closed, the tension thickened between them like fog.
“You really stayed the night here?” she asked softly, eyes ahead.
“I would’ve stayed a year if it meant seeing you.”
She snorted, shaking her head. “Still know how to say the right things, huh?”
He stepped forward slowly. “Irene. I told you I’ll fix this. I’ve already started—”
“By doing what?” she snapped. “Sleeping outside my door like a stray dog?”
His jaw clenched.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, but it sounded weak. Hollow. Overused.
“Your sorry won’t pay my rent when your wife ruins my career,” she whispered. “Your sorry won’t undo the nights I cried like a fool waiting for your name to appear on my screen again. And it sure as hell won’t change the fact that I was the one left behind.”
Silence.
Then, slowly, he said, “Then let me give you something real.”
She turned sharply. “Like what? A secret apartment? More stolen nights? A ‘don’t tell anyone I’m married’ policy—”
“A public divorce.”
Irene blinked.
“What?”
“I filed for divorce this morning.”
---
✦ FLASHBACK – Same Morning, Ji Group Headquarters
Ares slammed the legal documents on the table, facing his lawyer head-on.
“I don’t care how politically dangerous it is. I’m divorcing Yena Kang.”
His lawyer paled. “Sir, her father—”
“Will be dealt with.”
“But—”
“She tried to destroy someone I care about. That’s war.”
The lawyer slowly nodded, knowing that when Ares Ji made a threat, he didn’t shout. He whispered. And then he followed through like a storm that didn’t stop until everything was broken.
---
✦ Back to Irene
Irene stared at him like he had spoken a different language.
“You… you filed for divorce?”
“Yes.”
“And your father?”
“He disowned me the minute I refused his business merger plan,” Ares said calmly. “The minute I married Yena, it was never about love. It was about empire. Now I’m done playing their game.”
Irene’s heart pounded, but her mind refused to give in.
“You think divorcing her will fix everything?” she whispered. “You think suddenly making me your public girlfriend or wife will erase the fact that I was always second?”
“No,” he admitted quietly. “But it will be the first time… you’re first.”
Her hands shook at her sides.
She wanted to believe him.
God, she wanted it more than anything.
But love had already burned her once.
Before she could respond, her phone buzzed again.
---
✦ TEXT MESSAGE: [Unknown Number]
> “Hope you enjoyed the little drama last night, Miss Min.
That was just the beginning.”
– Yena K.
Irene’s blood ran cold.
She looked up at Ares, eyes wide. He noticed instantly.
“What happened?”
She handed him the phone. He read the message in one breath, and in the next second, he was already dialing his private investigator.
“Start monitoring Yena Kang’s digital activity. Full sweep. Anything sent to Irene Min, I want it traced, sourced, and shut down.”
He ended the call and looked at her.
“I told you. I’ll protect you. Even if I have to destroy her entire world.”
Irene stared.
This wasn’t just guilt.
This wasn’t just apology.
This was a man unraveling everything for her.
But was it love? Or the guilt of a man who broke what he couldn’t bear to lose?
---
✦ Yena Kang – Meanwhile
“Divorce?”
Her voice shook as her father slammed the newspaper down.
“You let him file for divorce? You? Are you out of your mind, Yena?!”
“I didn’t let him. He just did it!” Yena yelled, pacing the marble floors.
Her father’s voice boomed, “Do you understand what this will cost us?”
She gritted her teeth. “He’s still mine. I’m not signing it.”
“And what about the girl?”
Yena’s smile returned, but colder now. Sharper.
“She won’t survive what’s coming next.”
---
✦ END OF EPISODE 5 (Word Count: 1,116)
- Writer
