The Way I Loved You

I Love You

When she saw that line on the teleprompter, the world slowed down around her. She had already spotted Hyunwoo in the crowd earlier and knew that he wanted to stop her from giving herself up to Eunsung. She knew it would break his heart for her to join hands with the enemy, so she averted her gaze and pretended that she didn't see him even though she could feel his burning gaze on her. She was a hundred percent prepared to remain unfazed and read out whatever Eunsung wanted like a mere puppet, but not that line.

She would never marry him. Over her dead body. Baek Hyunwoo was the one and only person she would ever regard as her husband, and Yoon Eunsung would never measure up to the amazing man that he was. Choosing to marry Eunsung over Hyunwoo would be an insult to the both of them. She could almost see Eunsung's victorious smirk in the corner of her eye, looking a tad bit too confident considering that she could still turn the tides on him for the world to see.

Her breath caught in her throat as she thought of Hyunwoo who was still standing there, hoping fervently that she wouldn't say what he thought she was going to say. She knew without looking that he was begging for her to stay with his eyes, a desperate plea for her to stay by his side.

And then, his face resurfaced in her mind. She remembered the way he'd looked at her earlier, glancing between her and Eunsung in disbelief, before the resignation settled heavily in his shoulders. He was willing to let her go. Unlike the man who'd stood beside her, he wasn't a selfish prick and was ready to sacrifice his own happiness for hers.

He loved her, she had no doubt about that anymore. Even after everything that they'd been through, all the times that he'd hurt her, she knew in her heart that he loved her, and that she loved him back. Announcing her marriage to Eunsung right in front of him would be the biggest betrayal. She refused to hurt him like that, not when he didn't deserve it. She would protect him, even if it came at a cost.

For the first time in a while, she was more certain about her decision than she ever would be. She tore her eyes away from the offending words on the screen, redirecting her attention to the reporters.

"And Yoon Huijangnim. He... threatened me." She saw Hyunwoo's head snap up in her peripheral vision. "He threatened to falsely charge and put Baek Hyunwoo ssi, my husband and former legal director, behind bars. I have a recording as proof." Had the situation been different, she would have revelled in the satisfaction of reducing Yoon Eunsung to a stuttering mess, but her attention wasn't on him right now.

She took a deep breath. "Furthermore, I can't return to my position as the CEO of my department store. Because... I was told that I have little time left to live."

At last, she gained the courage to look at her husband. She had been afraid to do so earlier, afraid that the emotions on her face would betray her true intentions to Eunsung. Now that she'd done what she'd set out to do, she could let down her guard and allow things to run their course.

The moment their eyes met, she felt a jolt of electricity surge through her entire being. He was looking at her so intensely, his eyes swirling with a myriad of emotions as he processed what she'd just done. She felt her eyes fill with tears, her expression mirroring his as she simply stood there and stared at him, feeling too overwhelmed to move. All those days of tossing and turning in bed, trying to think of a solution to their impossible situation, weighing all the pros and cons as she tried to come up with the best decision possible, they all summed up to this moment.

Her heart was beating so quickly that she was starting to feel lightheaded, and the room began to spin around her. Was this just another one of her symptoms? Or was it something worse? Her gut was telling her that it was something different this time, not one of the symptoms that she'd experienced before. A sudden fear gripped her heart. Was she going to die? She knew that she didn't have much time left, but she didn't expect death to come so suddenly. Was she dying because she'd fulfilled her final purpose? But she hadn't told Hyunwoo how she felt yet...