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SERIES: An Impure Reunion
CHAPTER: An Impure Reunion Chapter 3
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3.
After leaving the bathroom, Jian hurried to a pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test.
When she came out of the bathroom again, her face was deathly pale.
She couldn't even walk properly the short distance from the bathroom to the bed.
The pregnancy test had confirmed her fears.
She had bought several and checked the results multiple times, but every test showed only one outcome.
‘Pregnant.’
The moment she saw the two lines, Jian felt something inside her snap.
After her grandmother passed away, Heo Jian, a complete orphan, had moved like a puppet on a string, swayed by Taejun and his family.
But the moment she realized she was pregnant, the strings that bound her were severed in an instant.
Only one thought filled Jian's mind as her body was freed.
‘I don't want to raise this child in a hell like this.’
The thought that she had to get out, somehow, for the sake of this new life, was all-consuming.
Jian was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to handle the situation.
Just then, the phone in her pocket rang.
Startled, Jian quickly checked her phone. It was a text from her best friend.
[Kangji: Your husband is amazing. Already, at his age?]
Along with the praise for Taejun, her friend had sent a link to an article.
Jian hastily scanned the headline.
[The Succession Battle of Geonan Group Between the Legitimate and Illegitimate Sons, A Fight Where the Winner Was Decided from the Start.]
[Joo Taejun, Eldest Legitimate Son of Geonan Group, Unanimously Appointed as President of the Group, Stock Prices Soar with the Youngest-Ever President Elected.]
The subject of the article on her phone screen was none other than her husband, Joo Taejun.
“In the end…”
Jian knew how hard Taejun had struggled to achieve this result.
For the past two years, Taejun had lived his life down to the second, 24 hours a day.
Jian was the one who had watched him from the closest vantage point.
The reason he had pushed himself to such extremes was his father.
Taejun’s father, Joo Daesik, had a messy private life even before Taejun was born.
As a result, Taejun had more than a few half-siblings.
However, all those siblings were illegitimate children.
The only legitimate son of Geonan Group was Taejun, and only him.
But nothing was guaranteed for him.
‘Don't think you'll just inherit Geonan because you're my only son. You have to secure your own place.’
The problem was Daesik’s declaration that he had no intention of easily handing over Geonan Group, all because Taejun had brought home a daughter-in-law who didn't meet his standards.
Knowing Daesik's intentions, Taejun's half-siblings constantly coveted his position.
Thanks to them, Taejun had to make painstaking efforts to prevent his ambitious half-siblings from gaining any ground or running wild.
Day by day, he faced careful choices, calculating gains and losses.
Taejun’s life, where he constantly had to make decisions, was like…
It was as precarious as walking on thin ice.
“He finally did it.”
Knowing what he had been through, she should have been happy to welcome her husband's long-awaited achievement, but Jian felt no joy at all.
A bitter smile spread across her lips, especially when she saw the phrase in the article, ‘a devoted husband whose love for his wife is immense.’
What would they think if they knew that in reality, Taejun regarded his wife as nothing more than a submissive sex partner?
“Still, that’s a relief.”
If anything, it was a relief.
It seemed Taejun had finally reaped the fruits of his labor.
“Yes, that’s good, that’s great.”
Yes, it was a good thing.
For him, who had spared no expense for her grandmother's hospital bills and supported them until the very end, becoming an outlet for his sexual desires, unlike what others believed, was a small price to pay.
The correct calculation was that it was far from enough to cover the money he had lost on her behalf.
“Yes.”
As Jian muttered quietly with a smile, her face gradually filled with sorrow.
The reason for her sadness was obvious.
What Taejun demanded of Jian was for her to be nothing more than a doll, faithful to her role.
But Jian held deep feelings for Taejun.
To Jian, Taejun was her first love.
Suddenly, the moment she first saw him flashed before her eyes.
‘A freshman?’
As university freshmen, Taejun and Jian had met as a senior and junior in the same department.
She fell in love the moment she first saw his easy-going demeanor as he entered the department room in his unassuming clothes.
At first, it was his looks.
‘You have to protect your own body.’
Then, it was his small acts of kindness.
They stole Jian’s heart.
It was the beginning of a fresh, yet painful, first love.
That first love was cruel, refusing to let Jian easily escape its grasp.
It seemed Jian had only ever looked at Taejun.
‘Looking at you, I feel a bit of pity.’
Even on the day her grandmother was admitted to the ICU, when he hurt her with his harsh words.
‘Fine, try to endure it. I think I'll have to use you.’
Even when she realized he was using her.
‘In exchange for using you, I should get something in return, right?’
Even with his actions that treated her as a means of satisfying his desires.
Jian’s heart had always belonged to Taejun.
And even now, that heart hadn't changed.
“What's the use of any of it?”
No, a hint of sorrow could be read on her face, which had seemed merely vacant.
Just then, the phone in her hand buzzed again briefly.
As Jian looked at the screen, her eyes began to tremble.
Her phone screen was displaying a reminder for the next day's schedule.
[Wedding Anniversary]
Tomorrow was the second anniversary of Taejun and Jian's marriage.
And the day before, she had found out…
She dropped the phone onto the bed as if tossing it aside and buried her face in her hands.
After a long moment, Jian lifted her head.
She immediately made a call.
“Oppa, it's me.”
Jian’s expression was one of firm resolve.
After finishing the long call, Jian let out a short sigh and got up from the bed.
She then went straight to the mirror to straighten her clothes.
The dressing table mirror reflected an outfit that was mature beyond her twenty-five years.
A bitter smile hung on Jian’s lips as she examined her reflection.
It was at that moment Jian recognized that her smile was not one of happiness.
“He'd scowl if I showed him this expression.”
Jian murmured quietly, studying her face in the mirror.
In the reflection, Jian's lips were smiling, but her eyes looked precarious, as if they could spill tears at any moment.
Whenever Jian made such an expression, Taejun would harden his face, stare at her, and say.
‘Smile.’
‘…….’
‘A long face doesn't suit someone who's gotten what they want, does it?’
His gaze was so frightening that ever since, Jian had been especially careful about managing her expression in front of Taejun.
Jian quickly rubbed her face with her hands.
When she lowered her hands, her expression had brightened slightly.
Checking her face in the mirror, Jian tried to lift the corners of her mouth a little more to form a pretty smile.
“Today is the last day.”
Jian murmured again, composing her features.
She would be leaving tomorrow.
Today would be the last time.
It didn't seem so bad to smile for him as he had demanded.
When she finished arranging her expression and opened the door, the house was quiet.
Thinking Taejun hadn't returned home yet, Jian slowly descended the stairs.
“Ah…”
But with one step left, she spotted a person walking from the direction of the entrance.
At a glance, he was handsome, but a closer look revealed a man with sharp features, a sleek nose, and piercing eyes and lips.
The man, so sharp in every aspect that he was difficult to approach, came into Jian's view.
“You're home?”
It was Taejun.
Taejun glanced at Jian before walking past her, answering curtly.
“Yeah.”
His cold demeanor sent a chill through Jian.
She remembered the Taejun in the article from a moment ago smiling brightly, but the Taejun she faced now had no trace of a smile.
‘He forces me to smile, but…’
She felt a pang of disappointment that he himself paid no mind to his own expression.
But ironically, Jian felt a sense of ease at Taejun's consistently unchanging behavior.
Stepping onto the last stair and planting her feet firmly on the first floor, Jian quietly followed Taejun, who was already far ahead, and opened her mouth.
“I have another man, Mr. Taejun.”
Jian’s lips trembled as she uttered the lie.
She quickly bit down on her lip.
Just then, Taejun, who had been walking ahead without hesitation, stopped.
And he immediately turned around.
“What did you say?”
Taejun’s jet-black eyes pierced through Jian.
She was always scared when their eyes met.
Afraid that he would discover her feelings for him, which she kept hidden deep in her heart.
Afraid that she would see Taejun's distorted expression upon learning of her feelings.
She was always terrified.
It was the same now.
In truth, Jian didn't want to tell him she had another man.
She wanted to share the news of her pregnancy with him and, if possible, be congratulated with affection and abundant love.
‘But that's not what you want.’
Therefore, Jian tried her best to avoid his gaze as naturally as possible and moved her lips.
“I'm carrying his child now.”
“……”
“It's my fault, so I'll be the one to leave. And we…”
A bitter taste suddenly filled Jian's mouth.
She forced herself to ignore the bitterness and added.
“We never registered our marriage, so there's nothing complicated, right?”
“……”
“All I have to do is leave.”
They were a couple in name only, their marriage unregistered.
Two years ago, as Taejun had demanded, they had married when Jian's grandmother had passed a critical stage, and they had become husband and wife.
However, they had not registered their marriage.
Taejun, who had been listening quietly to Jian, scoffed and then spoke.
“Wasn’t it your idea to postpone the marriage registration, Heo Jian? Saying you didn’t want to be a wife at such a young age.”
“That was…”
“I guess you were just giving yourself an easy way out?”
Author: Donggeurami (Son Yoon-seo)
Publisher: Toonplus
Email: [email protected]
ISBN: 9791157738274
© Donggeurami (Son Yoon-seo), 2022
※ This e-book is published by <Toonplus> under contract with the copyright holder. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited. Violators may be subject to legal action.
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