Bound by a Ruthless Contract - Chapter 56
The life of a successor.
“Before they come to greet me at home, I should meet that young lady first.”
Tap. Tap. While staring at the bouquet, Kwon Soon-yeol tapped the floor with his index finger as he spoke.
“Arrange it. Of course, Si-heon mustn’t know.”
“Understood.”
Kwon Soon-yeol thought.
If only she could be like these flowers.
Like these wispy, fragile, and soft petals.
That way, she would be easy to pluck away.
Well, it wouldn’t matter even if she turned out to be a tough, sturdy stem.
They could simply remove her without leaving a trace.
‘We can’t allow any stains on our precious eldest grandson’s path.’
* * *
Ga-eun slowly opened her eyes.
At first, she thought she saw some kind of stain on the white ceiling, but as her blurry vision cleared, she realized it was just the shadow of the window.
When she turned her head, she saw the evening sun setting.
Ga-eun stared blankly at the crimson-stained sky.
The moment she drew breath, the fragrance that washed over her suddenly made her realize where she was.
This was Kwon Si-heon’s house.
The Hwanhee Group’s ruling family. The eldest grandson of Chairman Kwon Soon-yeol, Managing Director of Hwanhee Construction, and… her husband-to-be.
She couldn’t believe she had fallen into such a deep sleep in the bedroom of a man who had seemed so impossibly distant.
“This can’t be…”
“What can’t be?”
Startled by the low voice that came from somewhere, Ga-eun gripped the sheets tightly and looked around.
Si-heon was watching her, leaning back in a large armchair not far from the bed.
The light from the window illuminated half his body while the other half remained shrouded in darkness.
His quiet, fixed gaze felt like that of a beast silently watching its prey.
“I asked you something.”
“Yes?”
“What can’t be?”
“Ah, that… I’ve never fallen asleep like this… in an unfamiliar place.”
Si-heon, who had been quietly listening to Ga-eun, raised an eyebrow.
“You seemed to sleep just fine. Didn’t even wake when I came in and sat here.”
“……”
“You were even grinding your teeth.”
“Really?”
As Ga-eun stammered with wide-eyed surprise, Si-heon’s expression softened for just a moment.
Like his grandfather, and like this woman.
Seeing such unexpected people’s softened expressions was quite…
‘Interesting.’
Si-heon’s mood was rather good at the moment.
The moment he opened the bedroom door, he caught a scent that shouldn’t exist in his space.
The subtle fragrance of white flowers that seemed to bloom only at night.
He was remarkably satisfied—even to his own surprise—as her scent, which cleared his head, calmed his churning stomach, and silenced the ringing in his ears, delicately filled his space.
“I must have been… tired. This has never happened before.”
Watching her mumble with such a serious face, a laugh escaped him. Unconsciously.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I thought you were dead. You were so quiet.”
The sunset illuminated Ga-eun’s blinking face.
He had the illusion that the white flower’s fragrance was growing stronger.
“I meant you were grinding your teeth.”
“…Really?”
Her heart raced strangely at the joke from the man who had seemed so cold.
“Why is your face red?”
She was about to say it wasn’t her face that was red, but the sunset.
“Seems our Ga-eun is thinking the same thing as me.”
Si-heon’s black eyes grew darker.
“Stay tonight.”
