Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#56

In the end, An Soo Yi’s revenge had succeeded.
All day long, Dok Go Beom Jin’s mind had been consumed entirely by thoughts of her.
That morning, when she drove him and headed to the annex, he clung to her for what felt like an eternity, insisting his feet wouldn’t carry him away—that had been just the beginning.
After that, he sent messages whenever a moment presented itself, wanting to see her, so An Soo Yi had to flip her mobile phone face-down on the table.
“Is it Beom Jin?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought it might be work and was just checking…….”
“It’s remarkable, really, no matter how many times I see it.”
Jin Sook Young shook her head with a slight laugh.
“I never knew that boy could even use a mobile phone.”
An Soo Yi was currently having an elegant lunch with her mother-in-law at a hotel restaurant overlooking the Han River.
As her mobile phone buzzed repeatedly throughout the meal, Jin Sook Young told her to check it at once—it might be something urgent.
But when An Soo Yi glanced at the screen, the messages were not work-related at all; they were entirely from Beom Jin.
[Are you eating right now, love?]
[I miss you, An Soo Yi]
[Can I eat something I want when I get off work?]
[Tell me I can stay up all night eating]
[I think I’m melting inside, love.]
An Soo Yi’s cheeks flushed hot at the shameless words.
Seeing her hurriedly switch off the screen, Jin Sook Young let out a light laugh.
“That’s what newlyweds are like.”
“Well, he’s not usually this frequent with messages, really.”
An Soo Yi tried awkwardly to brush it off, though it was immediately obvious she was lying.
Jin Sook Young smiled warmly and took An Soo Yi’s hand, squeezing it with affection.
“Don’t be embarrassed. I’m only saying it because it’s lovely to see.”
But Jin Sook Young’s expression gradually grew somber as she slowly withdrew her hand.
“……You’ve heard about it, haven’t you? What happened when Beom Jin was studying abroad.”
“Ah…….”
“I think about it sometimes. If only I had believed in him completely back then, perhaps we wouldn’t have grown so distant.”
Jin Sook Young had wanted to trust her son.
But the evidence her husband had shown her alone—no matter how hard she tried to deny it—had been far too damning.
“Forgive me, Mother, but was there actual evidence that Beom Jin had done what they claimed?”
Jin Sook Young nodded slowly, her face grave.
“……Yes. Though Beom Jin doesn’t know about it.”
“Would you mind telling me what kind of evidence it was?”
Jin Sook Young recounted the evidence she had seen with her own eyes, piece by piece.
The CCTV footage and financial records her husband had shown her, and even the connections to local gangs.
An Soo Yi, listening intently to her mother-in-law’s explanation with a serious expression, suddenly tilted her head.
“But Mother, the footage didn’t actually show what was inside that bag—whether it was drugs or slush funds—did it?”
“Still, circumstantially, there was no reason he would have received such a bag from a rough crowd he didn’t usually associate with…….”
“Couldn’t it have been something other than drugs? Motorcycle parts, for instance?”
“Motorcycle parts?”
“Yes. I heard that during his time studying in America, Beom Jin was deeply absorbed in Old Bike Customization.”
Having spent so much time together, An Soo Yi and Beom Jin had shared countless stories.
It would be no exaggeration to say he had recounted every detail of his life from birth to the present.
What had fascinated An Soo Yi most about Beom Jin’s account was his life studying abroad in America.
“He said he had to go through illegal modification shops in Harlem or the black market to find rare genuine parts, so he frequented that neighborhood often.”
At An Soo Yi’s words, Jin Sook Young’s eyes widened.
‘I had no idea.’
She had never known her son had an interest in that sort of thing.
Given the tragic accident involving her husband, it seemed he must have deliberately kept it hidden so as not to worry his family.
Jin Sook Young, still struggling to recover from the shock of her husband’s death at that time, had been oversensitive about everything concerning her remaining son’s safety.
Had she learned of Beom Jin’s interest in motorcycles, she would have scolded him harshly without a moment’s thought for his feelings or disposition.
‘That’s why he couldn’t tell me.’
Jin Sook Young felt her heart being torn to shreds by an intense, piercing pain.
She had not even known what her son’s passions were.
The guilt of not being a mother he could comfortably open up to, even about such small, ordinary things, became a knife blade that cut deeply into her heart.
“What looked suspicious to others might have simply been the process of restoring a motorcycle he loved.”
At An Soo Yi’s words, Jin Sook Young drew a deep breath and nodded slowly.
“Yes…… that could have been it.”
“And the proxy accounts—from what I’ve seen in recent films and news reports, brokers can easily set them up using stolen information from organized crime groups however they wish.”
“But what about the local gang directly contacting Father?”
“Couldn’t that also have been bought with money? If someone—someone who either deeply hated or feared Beom Jin—had set a trap from the very beginning?”
At the time, occupied with containing the scandal unfolding before her eyes, she had not considered deeply the gaps that An Soo Yi now pointed out.
It was true that Dok Go Hyung Jun had assigned people to investigate thoroughly to verify the authenticity of the evidence.
Yet the more they dug, the more circumstantial evidence mounted against Beom Jin’s supposed involvement in drug trafficking.
Had her father-in-law’s investigation been insufficient, or…….
But if, as An Soo Yi suggested, someone truly had orchestrated everything from the start, then the situation would be different altogether.
‘Now that I think of it…… Dok Go Jin Su was particularly zealous about stepping forward, insisting he knew people who could help.’
It was natural for her to call her brother-in-law by his given name, as they had been juniors and seniors in middle and high school.
In the past, Dok Go Jin Su had harbored feelings for Jin Sook Young and pursued her persistently, confessing his love numerous times.
But Jin Sook Young had despised his frivolous character and coldly rejected him each time.
Then, when she announced her engagement to Dok Go Jin Hyuk, Dok Go Jin Su’s cousin, his twisted possessiveness and resentment reached a fever pitch.
The inferiority complex he had always felt toward his cousin was magnified when he faced the pathetic ‘fact’ that the woman he had so desperately desired had been taken from him, and it finally erupted in an ugly explosion.
At that time, Dok Go Jin Su had acted more like an incompetent wastrel concerned only with superficial appearances rather than openly baring his fangs, so her father-in-law and she had not viewed him as a serious threat.
They dismissed the notion that someone unable to manage his own affairs would have the audacity to move against the Dok Go Group’s heir apparent.
Had that complacency been the cause of all this?
“I’m ashamed to face you, Soo Yi.”
Jin Sook Young lowered her head.
“Oh, Mother.”
An Soo Yi stammered, not knowing what to do.
“I didn’t even consider believing in Beom Jin. I simply assumed it was his fault and was preoccupied with covering it up.”
But An Soo Yi had believed in Beom Jin completely and had stayed by his side.
“You are a treasure to our family, Soo Yi.”
Jin Sook Young spoke through tears glistening in her eyes.
“Thank you for coming to us.”
“Mother…….”
“I’m so grateful Beom Jin has you. I hope you’ll continue to care for him.”
An Soo Yi could offer no reply and simply pressed her lips together.
‘If she learns this marriage is a contract, it will break her heart…….’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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