“You can deny it all you want. You sound mad, you’re acting mad, and if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t still wear this to bed tonight.” He reaches over my exposed chest, where the robe hangs open over my nightgown, and picks up my wedding ring, which rests on my necklace. Lifting it and holding it in front of my face, turning it in his fingertips while he leans in and presses his cheek against my temple. His skin-on-skin contact makes my stomach clench and my palms turn clammy.
“It’s a part of my past. It reminds me not to go backward.” I yank it back, elbowing him away and berate my idiocy for still keeping this on and not covering it up properly. I make such stupid mistakes around him, and I’m already pissed and seething enough without him being a smart ass about it. “So, she’s fine then? You’re little mistress.” I divert his attention with bitchiness and throw him a cool look and raised brow. Soun
“I deserved it….. I did. It’s karma, and this is exactly what I should get.” He mutters it in a breathy, almost non-existent splice of words, still looking down and his hands, trembling the same way mine are. “It doesn’t make it hurt any less…. or mess me up any less. That you’ve been lying this whole time…. Pretending… Making me hope…. Was this punishment? Revenge? Did it give you a kick to see me falling all over you and trying to rekindle past memories?” Jyeon finally raises his head, his eyes so steeped in sadness and betrayal that it cuts me deeply. His words are slow and etched with bitterness. Questioning me in his mind and coming up with so many reasons I would drag this charade out and pretend not to know. I can see why he would think it was a ploy to hurt him that it was vindictive and mocking. Despite everything he did back then, I never wanted to wound him this way, and it wasn’t a manipul
Jyeon moves back and crumples onto the couch behind him, exhaling heavily, and drops his hands between his legs as he slumps forward. Looking exhausted and so emotionally done with all of this. It’s like all his fight dies a death, and his rage and fizzing energy he wears typically like a cloak disperses into the dim light around us.“For two years…… my life has been empty. I was a walking zombie who focused on work, juggling everything alone, and trying never to give up hope that you would walk back in the door one day. I don’t even remember why I pushed you away as much as I did anymore because all I have felt in your absence is regret and agony at not seeing you. Living with the void you left behind and struggling to breathe without you. I know I am the last person in the world that deserves your love or forgiveness, but for me…. that’s the only thing in this world that matters to me.” He kicks his boot toe against the edg
The harsh ringing, and vibrating assault, penetrates my sleep-addled brain, pulling me out of darkness, and I groan and attempt to reach for the invasive noise. Semi-aware and caught in a warm comfy bubble until it rudely awakened me. I try to roll towards it, but I’m restricted and held tight in an overly hot embrace around my waist and shoulders that brings me back to consciousness with a jolt and the memory that I’m not in bed alone.“Goddammit,” Jyeon murmurs right at my ear, as sleepy as I am and unamused at the same interruption to our slumber. He is rolling over on top of me, so he half flattens my tiny frame with his weight, chuckling at my ‘oofft’ noise and catching the cell phone on the bedside, sliding it to him. He braces himself on one arm just enough to let me breathe and get’s himself an elbow in the ribs for squashing me. Caging me in and hanging over me in a pose that makes me blush.“Hello.” His vo
“You are two consenting adults who also happen to be already married. I’m kinda shocked he managed to keep his hands to himself while you’re practically naked.” She nods up and down my black slip of lace and reminds me I have zero time before he saunters out and yelp in realization. Rushing back to the cupboard while waving her away.“Go. I have to get dressed… leave me be. I’ll call you or text you when I know what’s happening.”“Just one thing… Claire’s not dead, right? And you two are fine now?” She stays put, that stubborn air that means she won’t move without a response.“Claire is fine, apparently. He didn’t stay there, but she isn’t critical or anything. He said it wasn’t a serious attempt, and I guess we’re okay. It’s too soon to say…. I’m just trying to go with the flow and take one step at a time. I have no idea what I&
Jyeon is sitting reading the paperwork at his desk while I pour us both coffee to wake us up. It’s very technical and detailed, and as I have zero mechanical knowledge of vehicles, I left him to decipher it. He knows about cars, especially that one, given how much time he used to spend on it, and I wonder why he never had it repaired and brought back to life after it was recovered.The office feels eerily quiet at this time, and I forgot how much I used to enjoy this silence and serenity before the employees started clocking in at nine am. This was my hour to stroll the nearly empty building, drink coffee, and find my armor for the day in the peace of the company we owned. I forgot what it was like to feel like a queen roaming her kingdom and knowing it belonged all to her. It’s not as weird being back here as it was the first time, and I’m familiarizing myself with Jyeon’s office, even if I don’t dare venture near my old one. That’s a clos
Jyeon stills, narrowing his gaze on me, and it turns into a deep frown as he struggles to formulate a reply. I can see the flicker of a million racing thoughts in his eyes as he stares through me, and I know he’s having the same conflict of emotions I am. He is trying to understand that what he’s hearing is true and having an immediate painful reaction. His body tensing up and his jaw tightening as deep inner anger begin to show on the surface.“You’re sure? He said that? He admitted it?” His voice comes out in a husky and raw tone, inhaling with a shuddering breath, yet I can feel the pressure building up around him like a steaming pot that needs to vent. Much like it was to me, it’s a blow to him.“He admitted it…. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone, he just wanted to piss you off, and he was drunk and stupid. He thought you would discover your wrecked car and blow off at him. I know in my heart that he wouldn’t
“You took her from me…. You watched me suffer… all the while knowing that you did this. You said nothing. You watched me break and believe I pushed her to do that…and yet, it was never her choice.” Jyeon’s lost in his misery and thoughts, and Yoonha starts clawing at his arms to fight back. He cannot breathe while he has his forearm pressing against his throat and windpipe. His eyes bulging and face reddening several shades darker as he gasps out. Jyeon is mad enough to keep pushing if I don’t intervene.“Stop it…. stop it. You’re suffocating him. Jyeon, stop!!” I manage to slide to their side and start prying them apart with newfound strength and effort. Getting an arm between them so I can place a palm on Jyeon’s chest and start shoving with all my might. I haul at his elbow with my free hand and mentally beg him to respond to me. It releases his hold a little as Yoonah inhales erratically and hits
I pad out of Jyeon’s bathroom and into his bedroom, where he’s stretched out on the massive bed with one arm over his face after showering. I, too, have showered and dried my hair. I’m dressed in the spare clothes I brought with me, feeling a little less emotionally overwrought after taking some time to concentrate on a nothing task. My recovery capabilities these past two years have become almost superhuman.It's not even noon yet, but the shades in his penthouse apartment are closed to block the world out, and we agreed we both needed some downtime to process the craziness of the past couple of days. To stay here for the day, sleep, eat, talk. Greta agreed we should do this after I told her everything on the phone when I got out of the shower and cried a lot. It was surreal and painful to finally put a pin in the one thing that has plagued me all this time.She is as blown away as I am that my accident indeed was an accident, and Yoonah never