Chapter 14

A contract marriage? That wasn’t a bad idea.

Was there anyone out there who was free from family interference, someone he could control, and, most importantly, someone whose pheromones wouldn’t make him want to gag?

Kwon Heeseong pinched the bridge of his nose as he gazed down at the glittering Seoul skyline from his office window. Then, suddenly, one particular face flashed through his mind.

Rough hands vigorously mixing rice in a large metal bowl.

A straw hat, sweat pouring down his face beneath the midsummer sun as he worked in the fields.

A dirt-streaked face glaring at him and screaming at the top of his lungs.

Jeong Iwon.

That was it.

Jeong Iwon.

Kwon Heeseong’s eyes widened. It was as though a blockage in his mind had been cleared all at once. The moment he thought about it, Jeong Iwon fit every condition perfectly.

True, Jeong Iwon had practically been disowned by his family, but the Jeong family he belonged to was still a respectable mid-sized company that was doing perfectly well.

It was nowhere near Ilseong’s level, and Jeong Iwon himself had quite a few blemishes on his reputation, but he was undoubtedly a rare dominant omega. Besides, wasn’t Kwon Heeseong himself an illegitimate son brought into the family from outside rather than the child of the legal wife?

In that sense, the two of them were strangely well matched.

But there was something else that appealed to Kwon Heeseong far more.

Instead of forcing himself through a fake romance and enduring the exhausting emotional labor that came with dealing with pretentious omegas drenched in suffocating perfume, the thought of sitting on the wooden floor of that shabby country house and bickering like children with Jeong Iwon seemed a hundred—no, a thousand times more entertaining.

And much easier to breathe through.

No, if he were being completely honest, he wanted to run straight back to that blue-roofed house and shovel down the bibimbap Jeong Iwon would grudgingly throw in front of him.

Once Kwon Heeseong had made up his mind, there was nothing that could stop him.

The following morning, the moment he woke up, Kwon Heeseong headed straight for the family home.

“I’ll take the matchmaking seriously. I’ll get married.”

Chairman Kwon, who had been leisurely drinking his tea, raised an eyebrow when his grandson appeared at such an early hour and dropped such a bombshell.

“Well, well. You’re finally growing up. But this is rather sudden. Has something changed?”

“Yes. But I want to choose my own partner. I’m not interested in the people the secretariat picked out. If it isn’t the person I want, I won’t marry.”

Chairman Kwon’s brows drew together at his grandson’s audacity. Still, curiosity soon won out.

“Who do you have in mind?”

“Jeong Iwon. The eldest son of Jeongga Foods. If it isn’t him, I won’t attend a single matchmaking meeting.”

The chairman’s expression immediately turned cold.

That family was far below Ilseong’s standing, and he had already heard the rumors surrounding their eldest son—the boy who had supposedly run wild, committed all sorts of vicious acts, disgraced his family, and ultimately been thrown out.

“Their eldest son? Isn’t that the one with a rather unsavory reputation? Do you intend to tarnish the Ilseong name?”

“I’m a bastard who was brought into the family from outside myself. What’s there to be so particular about propriety?”

Kwon Heeseong answered with a shameless smile.

“If anything, the lower his family stands, the easier he’ll be to control and keep in line. And he’s a dominant omega. If you want a superior heir, you couldn’t ask for better conditions.”

The chairman rested his chin against one hand and fell silent in thought.

His grandson wasn’t entirely wrong.

Chairman Kwon had never intended to hand Ilseong’s core power over to Kwon Heeseong in the first place.

Pairing him with a suitable family and putting a leash on him so he would stop wandering around was more than enough. Rather than marrying him into some prestigious family and allowing his influence to grow, tying him to a weaker household that had plenty of vulnerabilities—and could therefore be easily controlled—wasn’t a bad option.

“Very well. He was brought into the family from outside anyway. Pairing two people of similar standing shouldn’t be a problem. Do as you please.”

The chairman had given his permission.

Kwon Heeseong could have cheered.

He suddenly felt like grabbing Jeong Iwon by the collar, dragging him all the way to Seoul, and making him sign the marriage registration right then and there.

The moment the chairman gave his approval, Ilseong’s secretariat sent a formal marriage proposal to the Jeong family home.

Meanwhile, at that exact same time, in a luxurious mansion located in one of Seoul’s wealthiest neighborhoods, the Jeong household was thrown into an uproar.

Not an unpleasant one, however.

The proposal had come from Ilseong.

Even if the person involved was Ilseong’s illegitimate son, forming a marriage alliance with a chaebol family of that stature was still an enormous opportunity.

Champagne was immediately opened, and undisguised delight and greed spread across the family.

Jeong Iwon had a younger brother named Jeong Siyeon, who was two years younger than him.

Unlike Jeong Iwon, who had manifested as an omega relatively late, Jeong Siyeon had manifested early and had been cherished by his family from the very beginning.

He was also far more charming than his older brother. He knew exactly how to flatter people and had a natural talent for reading situations and manipulating them to his advantage.

Given all that, Jeong Iwon’s parents had not the slightest doubt that Ilseong’s proposal was naturally meant for their beloved second son, Jeong Siyeon—the apple of their eyes.

“Oh, my Siyeon! Look at this! I knew Ilseong would come calling! Our Siyeon is so handsome, and he’s a dominant omega with such excellent traits. Even that arrogant Ilseong wants him as a son-in-law!”

His mother excitedly fussed over him and clasped his hands.

Jeong Siyeon, already giddy at the thought of marrying into a chaebol family, was busy flipping through designer catalogs, deciding what to wear to the families’ first meeting.

“Mom, what about this outfit? Something elegant would be better than something too flashy, right?”

He held one outfit against himself and admired his reflection in the mirror.

“Oh, and I’ve actually seen CEO Kwon Heeseong in person once. He’s completely my type. I heard he has a terrible personality, but that’s fine. I’ll just keep him on a tight leash.”

Jeong Siyeon hummed happily as he posed in front of the mirror.

His father watched with a satisfied smile while tapping away on a calculator, already estimating how much the company’s stock might rise once they became in-laws with Ilseong.

But the warm, celebratory atmosphere in the living room was shattered by Chairman Jeong.

He had just finished a call with Ilseong’s secretariat to finalize the details, and his face had gone deathly pale.

“D-dear.”

His hand trembled.

“What is it? Do they want to set the wedding date already? My goodness, they’re certainly eager. We’ll need some time to prepare—”

“That’s not it.”

Chairman Jeong swallowed hard.

“The person they want isn’t Siyeon.”

“What?”

The entire living room fell silent.

Jeong Siyeon’s head snapped around from the catalog in his hands.

“What are you talking about, Dad? The proposal isn’t for me? If it’s not me, then who else in this family would they possibly want?”

“Haah…”

Chairman Jeong let out a heavy sigh.

“They want the eldest.”

His voice was strained.

“Director Kwon Heeseong personally pointed to Jeong Iwon and made the proposal. Apparently, he made it very clear that he won’t meet anyone else. If it isn’t Jeong Iwon, he won’t even attend the meeting.”

The moment those words fell, a grave-like silence descended upon the room.

“What?”

Jeong Siyeon’s expression twisted.

“My brother? They passed me over and chose that piece of trash?”

His pretty face distorted with fury.

The Jeong couple were equally stunned. They could only stare at each other in disbelief.

Jeong Iwon.

The eldest son they had branded a disgrace, thrown out of the family, and cut off from even receiving living expenses.

And now one of the most powerful chaebol families in the country had sent a marriage proposal specifically for that discarded son.

It was almost impossible to believe.

“Ugh! This is so annoying! It makes absolutely no sense!”

Jeong Siyeon grabbed a cushion and hurled it across the room.

“What does he have that I don’t? Why would Ilseong want him?! Is he prettier than me? Does he have a better personality?! He’s buried in some backwater digging around in the dirt, so why is he getting in the way of my future?!”

He began throwing cushions and magazines off the table at random, shrieking in frustration.

His mother hurriedly pulled him into her arms and tried to soothe him, but the sheer unfairness of it all eventually broke through his anger.

Tears spilled down his cheeks.

The parents weren’t exactly pleased either.

If that troublemaker, Jeong Iwon, married into Ilseong, it was obvious what would happen to their own standing within the family.

But the other party was Ilseong.

They were at the very top of the food chain, a family they could neither refuse nor deceive.

But if we seize this opportunity, the company could leap forward in a single stroke.

And Jeong Iwon is still our son.

Blood is thicker than water. If we coax him properly and smooth things over, we can make this work.

A greedy light gleamed in Chairman Jeong’s eyes.

“Dear, stop crying. We should contact Iwon first. Ilseong wants him, so what choice do we have?”

He spoke as though the matter were already settled.

“It’s a good match. Tell him to come up to Seoul as soon as tomorrow.”

“You’re right.”

His wife quickly caught on as well.

“There’s no way he’d turn down a chaebol family. It’s certainly better than suffering out in the countryside. And Siyeon can always find a better match.”

She paused before adding:

“Besides, isn’t CEO Kwon Heeseong illegitimate himself? If I had to choose, I’d rather Siyeon marry into a family with a legitimate heir.”

“And CEO Kwon has quite the reputation as a scoundrel, doesn’t he?”

She glanced toward her second son.

“What if he made our Siyeon cry?”

Only then did Jeong Siyeon finally quiet down.

His face, however, remained thoroughly sulky.