Me After You | Choi Seungcheol

20. House Of Cards

TW: Violence

——

The silence between them felt heavy and suffocating as Haeun stood frozen while Seungcheol's gaze bore into her—steely and unforgiving.

"Tell me it's not true," his strained voice finally broke through the stillness.

"Seungcheol..."

For a fleeting moment, his features softened, and she caught a glimpse of the Seungcheol she knew. He stepped closer to her before speaking again.

"I'll never bring this up again, but I need you to look me in the eye and tell me it's not true," he insisted, almost desperately. "Please."

Haeun's hands trembled as she cupped his face, and the tears she had been trying to hold back spilled over, streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I can't."

Seungcheol inhaled sharply, as if her words were a physical blow. He pried her hands away, her touch burning his skin. "How could you do that to me?"

"You have to understand—" she tried to explain, but it was too late. The damage was done.

"You tricked me into marrying you!" he shouted, rage boiling over as he hurled his bourbon glass against the wall, the sound of shattering glass causing Haeun to flinch.

"That's not what happened!" She cried out between her sobs.

He glared at her before fishing the crumpled document Ria had given him from his pocket, his fingers shaking with anger. "Should Kang Haeun refuse this marriage, the stipulation shall be rendered void. In such an event, Seungcheol, my grandson, shall inherit the entirety of the Carat Group unconditionally, free from any obligations of marriage."

He crumpled the paper tighter, then walked up to her, gripping her wrist painfully, the rough gesture making her gasp. "You could've stopped this, and you just kept quiet. Why?"

Haeun sobbed harder, her heart aching with the venom of his words. "Because I loved you," she told him quietly.

Seungcheol faltered for a second as he looked into her eyes, but as quickly as it came, the moment faded. He released her and walked out of the study.

"Where are you going?" Haeun called after him.

"Out," he replied indifferently, his voice devoid of warmth as he slipped on his shoes and grabbed his keys. "I can't be here right now."

"We have to talk about this," she pleaded, urgency clawing at her throat.

"Now you want to talk?!" Seungcheol growled, anger surging again. "After a whole fucking year?"

"I was going to tell you," she struggled to say. "I just didn't know how. I thought... I thought maybe if we got married, you'd see—"

"See what, Haeun?" he cut her off, his voice rising. "How you played me like a puppet?"

Haeun opened her mouth to respond, but the words wouldn't come. She watched helplessly as he opened the front door and paused, turning to her one last time.

"Out of all people, I never thought you would be the one to betray me like this," he said with finality before stepping out of the apartment, the door slamming shut behind him.

Haeun sank to the floor, her heart aching as the echoes of their confrontation reverberated in her mind. She had imagined this moment countless times, but nothing could've prepared her for the real aftermath.

In that moment, Haeun felt lost, drowning in a sea of regret and despair as she buried her face in her hands and wondered how it was even possible to mend something that had been so irrevocably broken.