MY FANFIC SETTLEMENT

bad reputation

"So, there's no prenup?" Jeongguk asks, fist clenching against his forehead as his eyes flutter shut, trying his best not to entirely lose his shit. "Nothing?"

He can't believe the stupidity of his father. To marry a socialite, a fuckin'  gold digger , just like that, without a prenup and she just — she wants to take half of everything.

Half of Jeongguk's money, his father's money, half of Jeon Inc., half of his — their fucking life.

Something his father had worked so hard for, something he created all on his own. Threatening to be gone and to who? A gold digging fucking  _ socialite.

"I — I didn't think it was going to end like this, Jeonggukie," his father sounds broken, miserable, but Jeongguk can't find it in him to feel bad. He's so angry. "I thought this one was going to last."
Jeongguk sees red.

He's fuming, his body is itching with disappointment and frustration and just—

Breathe.

"It's your fourth fuckin' marriage, how could you have possibly thought—" Jeongguk cuts himself off and sighs deeply, digging his nails into the flesh of his own palm. "Fuck — I'll be there. I'll come to Korea. I'll represent you."

His father lets out a breath of relief and Jeongguk wants to punch something. The runs his fingers through his hair and twists at it angrily, sharp pain from the root of his hair causing him to almost flinch. Jeongguk thinks he might lose his damn mind.

Was he surprised that his father had called to tell him he and his new wife are getting a divorce after less than a year of being together? Absolutely not.

Jeongguk had seen it coming before they even got married — hence why he never bothered to come to weddings after wife number two.

This wasn't any different than his father's other whirlwind romances — dating for a couple of months, marriage proposal, divorce papers signed before you'd even blink an eye. Jeongguk had never even seen her in person — never even bothered to learn her name. All the information he knew about her was from the newspaper he'd read online sometimes, and the pictures his father would send.

He knew, vaguely, that she'd been married numerous times before, just didn't think anything of it.

It wasn't any different than any other one of his previous marriages — except this.  This  time, he didn't have a prenup.

This  time, he made a huge fucking mistake that could cost them half their family fortune, and he needed Jeongguk to fix it.

Had called his London office, begging Jeongguk to represent him. To fix this mess, to try and salvage things.

Jeongguk would have said no and let his father learn the hard way if all that money wasn't inherently his money, too.

He squeezes his eyes shut and loosens his tie that's tightening around his neck, making it hard for him to breathe. The air conditioning blows in a cool breeze but the office feels too  _ hot _ , too small, cramped up he just needs to breathe.

Jeongguk just — he didn't understand. His father was sharp on his tongue, clever, hard-working man who ran an entire empire, and just when it came to women... His self-preservation skills and decision making were so impaired that it was honestly beyond Jeongguk at times.

This marriage lasted for less than two years, and Jeongguk's pretty sure they couldn't have been dating for more than a few months before getting engaged and then married. Jeongguk didn't attend the ceremony — it was honestly pointless. He had no interest in meeting or interacting with someone who was so clearly just after the lifestyle, who didn't give a single fuck about his father, someone who was clearly going to be replaced sooner rather than later.