Chapter 15

Chairman Jeong’s wife pulled out her phone and dialed Jeong Iwon’s number. It had been years since she had last called her eldest son. In the tense silence that filled the luxurious living room, everyone waited for the call to connect.

The number you have dialed is not receiving calls, or is temporarily unavailable at the customer’s request.

Instead, all they heard was the cold, mechanical voice of the automated message.

“Oh? What’s this? His phone must be turned off.”

“Wait. Let me try.”

Chairman Jeong clicked his tongue and called from his own phone.

The result was exactly the same.

Just in case, they tried the landline and even Jeong Siyeon’s phone, but not a single call went through.

“T-that damned boy! Don’t tell me he blocked every number in this family?”

Chairman Jeong slammed his palm against the table in fury.

Jeong Iwon had blocked every means of contact with the family home.

Ilseong’s secretariat was demanding a definite answer by tomorrow, yet they couldn’t even get in touch with the man himself.

It was enough to drive anyone insane.

“What are we supposed to do, dear? We can’t let the marriage proposal from Ilseong fall through like this!”

His wife stamped her feet anxiously, her face crumpling with worry.

Chairman Jeong loosened his tie and clenched his jaw.

If the phone wouldn’t work, there was only one option left.

He would have to go down there himself and drag the boy back by the scruff of his neck.

This was a lifeline that had fallen straight into their laps. There was no way he was going to let someone as stubborn as Jeong Iwon ruin it.

“Get ready. We’re going down to that backwater first thing tomorrow morning.”

And so, the following morning, the Jeong couple climbed into a top-of-the-line sedan and headed south.

They were going to retrieve the eldest son they had discarded like an old piece of luggage years ago, now that he had suddenly become useful again.

Their faces were filled with the ugly greed of people desperate to cling to the enormous power that was Ilseong.

The peaceful morning of the countryside was shattered by the roar of an unfamiliar engine.

In the quiet village, where the only sound was the occasional cry of cicadas, a massive jet-black sedan rolled in, completely out of place among the old houses and dirt roads.

A pale cloud of dust billowed behind it.

Jeong Iwon, who had been crouched on the wooden platform trimming bean sprouts, frowned deeply and looked toward the gate.

Screeech!

The car came to a stop with an unpleasant squeal of tires.

The driver hurried around to the back and opened the door.

A middle-aged man and woman stepped out.

Both were dressed in expensive bespoke suits and adorned with flashy designer jewelry. They walked into the yard with deeply displeased expressions, as though they were terrified that even a speck of dirt might touch their expensive shoes.

“Good heavens, what is that smell?”

Jeong Iwon’s mother pinched her nose.

“How does anyone live in a place like this? It smells like a pigsty. The stink is going to get into my clothes.”

Beside her, Chairman Jeong swept his eyes over the shabby yard with obvious disgust.

Jeong Iwon stared at them from the wooden platform, his eyes widening in disbelief.

The people who had not contacted him even once since the day he had left that house.

His parents.

“…What are you two doing here?”

Jeong Iwon set down the basket of bean sprouts with a heavy thud and spoke coldly.

Seeing her eldest son for the first time in years, his mother showed no sign of joy.

Instead, she hurried toward him as though she had discovered something horrifying and grabbed his thin forearm.

“What do you think we’re doing? Go inside and pack your things! Quickly!”

She looked around the shabby house and immediately changed her mind.

“No, there probably isn’t anything worth taking from a place like this. Just put your shoes on. We’re leaving right now!”

“What? Let go!”

Jeong Iwon roughly shook her hand off.

“Are you insane? Go back where?”

His skin crawled at the thought of being touched by her.

Chairman Jeong caught his staggering wife and clicked his tongue before stepping forward.

“How dare you raise your voice at your mother?”

His expression hardened.

“You blocked every number in the family. I wondered whether you were even living properly, and now look at you. No more talking back. Come with us immediately.”

His tone was authoritative, as though he still had every right to order Jeong Iwon around.

“The time has finally come for you to earn your keep.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Jeong Iwon’s eyes flashed with fury.

“I told you I’m not part of your family anymore. You cut off my living expenses and threw me away. And now you show up here talking about me earning my keep?”

He pointed toward the gate.

“Get out of my house.”

When they had thrown him out, the family had given him absolutely nothing. The money he had managed to live on since then had been left to him by his late maternal grandmother.

But none of that mattered to Chairman Jeong.

All that gleamed in his narrow, calculating eyes was greed.

He quickly realized that Jeong Iwon was not going to listen to him.

With a short jerk of his chin, he signaled the driver.

The chauffeur, a burly man built like a tank, stepped forward menacingly and reached for Jeong Iwon.

“Let go! Get your hands off me!”

Jeong Iwon stumbled backward.

Then—

“Take your hand off him.”

A figure vaulted over the wall and landed in the yard.

Yoon Mujin.

Under the midsummer sun, his thin short-sleeved T-shirt was completely soaked through with sweat. The muscles beneath it were thick and solid, rippling with the strength of a predator.

He caught the driver’s heavy wrist just before the man could grab Jeong Iwon.

His fingers clamped down with terrifying force.

“Ngh!”

The driver groaned in pain and instinctively stepped backward.

Yoon Mujin shoved him aside with one powerful movement before moving directly in front of Jeong Iwon, completely shielding him behind his broad back.

His eyes turned cold.

He stared at the Jeong couple with an icy, intimidating gaze.

“I don’t know who you are, but barging into someone else’s house and throwing your weight around isn’t acceptable.”

The Jeong couple faltered at the sudden appearance of the enormous man.

“What is this?”

Jeong Iwon’s mother looked Yoon Mujin up and down.

“And where did you come from? Why are you sticking your nose into another family’s business?”

Yoon Mujin ignored her.

“Iwon already said no, didn’t he?”

His low voice carried an oppressive weight.

“Go back before this gets uglier.”

The overwhelming pressure of an alpha poured from Yoon Mujin’s body, fierce enough to make the air in the yard feel heavy.

Even the driver, despite being hired specifically to handle situations like this, found himself frozen in place.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

Chairman Jeong’s face reddened.

The situation was slipping completely out of his control.

“You damned boy!”

A vein bulged on his forehead as he roared.

“Do you even know what kind of marriage proposal you’re throwing away?! It’s Ilseong! Kwon Heeseong of Ilseong Group personally pointed to you and made the proposal!”

His voice shook with outrage.

“A golden opportunity has practically fallen into your lap, and you’re hiding behind some dirt-covered nobody and throwing a tantrum!”

The instant those words left his mouth, the tension in the yard vanished beneath a heavy silence.

“…What?”

Behind Yoon Mujin’s broad back, Jeong Iwon’s eyes widened until they looked as though they might pop out.

He stared blankly ahead.

Had he heard that correctly?

“W-who made a proposal?”

His lips trembled.

“Kwon Heeseong of Ilseong?”

The name Ilseong alone was enough to shock him. It was one of the most powerful corporate groups in the country.

But that wasn’t what left Jeong Iwon speechless.

It was the person who had made the proposal.

Kwon Heeseong.

That lunatic who, only a few days ago, had been sitting right here in this very yard with a ridiculous purple work cushion strapped to his backside, screaming while pulling weeds.

The same man who swaggered around boasting about standing at the top of capitalism—

only to lose his mind over a single bowl of mixing-bowl bibimbap, snatch up a spoon, and shovel rice into his mouth like a starving man.

That ridiculous bastard?

What the hell is that crazy bastard scheming now?

Jeong Iwon’s mind went completely blank.

“That’s right! Ilseong Group!”

Seeing his eldest son frozen in shock, Chairman Jeong completely misunderstood his reaction.

He assumed Jeong Iwon had finally been overwhelmed by the sheer prestige of the Ilseong name and was beginning to submit.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of insane things you got up to in the past. If you marry into Ilseong, our entire family rises with you!”

Chairman Jeong spoke rapidly, already imagining the benefits.

“So change out of those filthy clothes, come up to Seoul, and prepare for the family meeting!”

He jerked his chin again.

The driver, who had hesitated until now, gritted his teeth and moved forward.

He tried to push past Yoon Mujin.

But Yoon Mujin planted both feet firmly on the ground.

He did not move even an inch.

If anything, his gaze had become even colder.

A sharp, murderous edge glinted in his eyes, as though a single wrong move would be enough to draw blood.

“You don’t seem to understand plain speech.”

Yoon Mujin’s voice dropped into a low growl.

“Iwon said he doesn’t want to go.”

His eyes swept over the people standing before him.

“Whether it’s Ilseong or anywhere else, if he doesn’t want to go, nobody is taking him out of here.”

“Y-you insolent wretch!”

Chairman Jeong was practically screaming now.

“This is a marriage proposal from Ilseong! It isn’t some game that a nobody like you can interfere with! Get out of the way!”

He reached out himself, attempting to shove Yoon Mujin aside.

For a moment, the yard became a powder keg.

One wrong move, and someone was going to grab a collar—or throw a punch.