Ransomed Fiancée (Michaeng) ✔️

Summary (Part 31)

Chapter 55:

Morning light poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Mina's apartment. The day had just barely begun but Chaeyoung and Mina were in another disagreement. Mina paced across the living room with her arms folded. Chaeyoung sat on the couch, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees as she watched Mina warily. They had been circling the same argument for nearly an hour. The clock ticking past their usual time to leave for work but Mina refused to let it go.

"I just don't understand why we have to pretend," Mina said, stopping mid-stride to face Chaeyoung. "We're adults. And more importantly, we're married."

"We are married, Mina. But, we were separated. And now that we're... trying again, the last thing we need is to have everyone talking about us while we figure things out."

"Figure things out?" Mina repeated, her voice rising slightly. "We've already decided to give this another shot. We've been through enough. Why are you so scared to let people know? Is it me? Are you ashamed of me?"

Chaeyoung's eyes widened. "No of course not, Mina." If anything, she was ashamed of herself.

"Then what is it?" Mina pressed as she stepped closer. "Because to me, it feels like you care more about what people might say than about us."

Chaeyoung dropped her gaze. Her fingers tapping on the couch. "You're an investor in my company, Mina. If people find out about us, they'll question every decision we've made. Every deal, every project, they'll think it's personal, not professional. It could damage both your reputation and mine. Our marriage was already public once, and there was too much controversy surrounding it. I just think it's safer if we keep it quiet for now."

Mina's eyes hardened. There was a spark of pain crossing her face. "Do you even hear yourself? We've been apart for years, Chaeyoung. Years where I wasn't a part of your life. And now that we've reconciled, you want to keep me hidden?"

Chaeyoung sighed deeply, running a hand through her hair. "Mina, I'm not trying to push you away. I just don't want the gossip, the scrutiny to affect us. We've barely started fixing things. Can't we focus on us first without the world watching?"

Mina shook her head, "I waited. Waiting for the right moment. Waiting for things to settle. Waiting for you to choose me. And now you're asking me to wait again?"

Chaeyoung reached out and grabbed Mina's hand, her thumb brushed soothingly against Mina's hand, "I'm asking you to trust me. I'm trying to protect what we have, Mina. If we rush into this and something goes wrong—"

"So, you don't think we can handle it?" Mina interrupted sharply.

"That's not what I said." Chaeyoung stated firmly, "We're tied to two massive companies, two sets of responsibilities. If things get messy—"

"Relationships are messy!" Mina grunted, pulling her hand away from their intertwined grip then crossed her arms, "But I'd rather deal with that mess together than pretend like we're nothing to each other. You want to protect us from the world but what about protecting us from each other?"

Chaeyoung had something at the tip of her tongue but she held herself back. Protecting us? That was bold of Mina to say when they hadn't yet talked about him. Chaeyoung swallowed the words and forced them down. This wasn't the moment to bring him into the conversation. That would be low and it would only make things worse, especially with Mina already this emotional. Instead, Chaeyoung exhaled slowly, gripping the edge of her knees as she tried to calm herself.

Chaeyoung looked up at her, "Mina, I'm trying to think long-term. I want us to have a real chance this time. I don't want anything or anyone getting in the way of what we're rebuilding. We don't need the noise right now,"