chaper 2
785 Words
chapter 2: The Wife’s Suspicion
Yena Kang was perfect.
Too perfect.
From the soft curls that fell flawlessly over her shoulders to the designer perfume that followed her like a royal seal—everything about her screamed elegance, wealth, and control.
She had been raised to be a wife.
Groomed to manage a powerful man.
Taught to keep her voice gentle, her smile sweet, and her husband in love.
But Ares Ji…
He didn’t love her.
She knew it.
Everyone else believed the headlines. The fairy-tale marriage. The power couple. The love story of Seoul’s billionaire prince and the princess of Kang Pharmaceuticals.
But Yena wasn’t a fool.
She watched her husband from across the dining table that morning. He was dressed to perfection as always—black suit, tailored to his frame, cufflinks shining. But his eyes were distant. His coffee untouched.
And he hadn’t looked at her once.
“Is something bothering you?” she asked gently, her voice polite but edged with tension.
Ares didn’t even blink. “Just work.”
“You came in late again last night.”
“Board meeting.”
“I called your driver. He said you left at ten.”
Now he looked up.
Sharp. Quiet. Dangerous.
“Are you tracking me, Yena?”
She smiled coldly. “Should I be?”
A beat passed between them. Unsaid words. Widening space.
Then Ares stood up, adjusting his watch. “I’ll be back late tonight too.”
“Of course,” she said sweetly.
But her knuckles were white around her glass.
As the door clicked shut, Yena dropped the act. Her eyes darkened.
He was hiding something.
And she was going to find out what.
---
✦ Meanwhile, in another part of Seoul...
Irene Min didn’t cry when she woke up in an empty bed.
She had already wasted too many tears over Ares Ji.
Instead, she stared at the faint crease on the pillow beside her—the only sign he had ever been there at all—and then got up like she always did.
Breakfast. Shower. Work.
She had left her job as an interior designer after the scandal of Ares’s marriage broke out. Too many whispers. Too many eyes. Now she worked freelance, under a fake name, designing hotel interiors for mid-tier clients.
No one asked questions. No one recognized her.
Just how she liked it.
But that morning, as she stood at her desk sketching out a color scheme for a spa lobby, her phone buzzed.
Ares [1:42 PM]
I need to see you tonight. Same time.
She stared at the screen, heart clenching.
She hated herself for it.
For waiting. For answering. For still loving the man who now belonged to someone else.
But when night came, she still left the light on.
---
✦ Yena’s POV – Later That Night
It was half-past eleven.
Yena Kang sat in the backseat of her black Mercedes, eyes fixed on her husband’s car parked down the street. She had bribed one of Ares’s new assistants for his real schedule. She knew where he had gone.
But what she didn’t know… was why.
Her eyes followed him as he exited the building across from her. A quiet residential area. Far from the business district. No business partners here.
And certainly no meetings at midnight.
He entered Apartment 302.
She waited.
One hour.
Two.
No movement.
Yena’s heart pounded. A slow, nauseating realization settled in her stomach like poison.
He was cheating.
The perfect marriage was a lie.
And whoever that woman was…
She was about to meet Yena Kang.
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✦ Irene’s POV
She opened the door in silence.
No words.
Just the familiar weight of his gaze as Ares stepped in. Her apartment was dim, her world quiet. She didn’t greet him, didn’t smile.
She just turned her back to him and walked away.
“Rough day?” he asked quietly, following her into the living room.
“No rougher than being your secret,” she replied, pouring herself a glass of water.
Ares exhaled slowly. “I told you I’d fix this.”
“You’ve been saying that for months.”
“I need more time.”
She turned to him then, eyes finally locking. “And if time runs out?”
His silence was louder than thunder.
Then, as if he couldn’t bear the space between them any longer, he crossed the room and pulled her to his chest.
“You’re the only thing that keeps me alive,” he murmured. “I’ll give up everything. Just not you.”
But they both knew it was a lie.
Because he still wore the ring.
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✦ END OF EPISODE 2
- Writer
