Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 71

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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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#71

Oh Sang Chul, who was driving, glanced at An Soo Yi and Pyo Yeon Su in the back seat through the room mirror.
“You’re not uncomfortable, are you?”
“No, not at all. If anything, I’m the one who’s sorry. You must be tired from work…”
As An Soo Yi trailed off, Pyo Yeon Su, sitting in the passenger seat, wrapped his hand around hers.
“Don’t say that. We’re happy we can help you out.”
“Director…”
“That’s right. Even if I’m just a team leader, how happy am I to be your driver? Ha ha ha!”
The tension that had gripped the moment softened at Oh Sang Chul’s playful tone.
‘These are really wonderful people.’
An Soo Yi thought to herself.
If she were to divorce—
with them at her side, she wouldn’t feel so terribly alone.
Even if she returned to Seon Ham Funeral Service and lived as a funeral director like before, she would be happy.
“By the way, An. You didn’t eat breakfast either, did you? Have this at least.”
When the car stopped at a red light, Oh Sang Chul pulled something from beneath the passenger seat and handed it to Pyo Yeon Su.
“I bought this tea earlier, but it should be fine to drink in the morning without too much worry.”
“No, really, it’s okay. The two of you should have it.”
“On an empty stomach you won’t hold up. We’re on our way to see your father. What if you get carsick or collapse? And in the meantime… you might end up going somewhere else anyway.”
Then, remembering something, Pyo Yeon Su pulled something from an envelope and added it to the tea in the cup.
“This makes the taste richer, apparently. One of the staff recommended it.”
An Soo Yi nodded and accepted the tea Pyo Yeon Su offered.
Holding the still-warm cup between both hands, she felt some of her tension beginning to ease.
“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without the two of you.”
An Soo Yi took a sip of the tea.
The warmth of the liquid spreading through her was not unpleasant.
“It feels manageable because you’re both here. I would have been so anxious alone.”
“I know. And of all times, your husband is away on business.”
Husband…
At that word, An Soo Yi laughed weakly.
“The two of you don’t have any problems, do you?”
“…No.”
“Your husband really cares for you, doesn’t he?”
An Soo Yi took another sip of tea and nodded.
“Yes.”
“He wouldn’t hesitate to do anything for you. He’d probably even give his life, wouldn’t he? Right, An?”
At Oh Sang Chul’s praise, An Soo Yi answered, “Yes.”
‘Something’s wrong.’
Why were her lips moving so slowly?
And why did her vision keep spinning like that?
“An. Did I ever tell you something?”
Oh Sang Chul’s voice sounded as if it were coming from very far away.
Like slowly sinking into the depths of a dark ocean.
“I have a twin brother.”
An Soo Yi fought to keep her eyelids open and concentrate on Oh Sang Chul’s voice no matter what.
“We were desperately poor. And on top of that, our son got very ill. Actually, I never told you this either.”
A son…?
She could have sworn they said they’d decided not to have children…
“It was a rare disease—one of the stubborn ones—and the medicine was staggeringly expensive. But because he was still young, they said complete recovery was possible if he kept taking it regularly.”
An Soo Yi felt her strength drain away completely.
Pyo Yeon Su took the cup from An Soo Yi’s hand.
“If my twin brother in America hadn’t paid for the medicine, our son wouldn’t have lived five years with us. He would have died much sooner.”
So that was it…
An Soo Yi tried to move her lips, but her body wouldn’t obey her.
“Then one day, contact with my brother stopped. Naturally, so did the money. We did everything we could to save our son, but… without the medicine, he collapsed right away and died.”
Thud.
An Soo Yi’s head fell onto Pyo Yeon Su’s shoulder.
“My brother loved that nephew dearly. We were abandoned at birth and raised together in an orphanage. We were each other’s only family. My son was like his own son too.”
An Soo Yi’s Mobile Phone in her bag kept ringing.
Pyo Yeon Su checked the screen and spoke to Oh Sang Chul.
“It’s Dok Go Beom Jin.”
Beom Jin…
That name filled An Soo Yi’s mind completely.
“Let it ring until we arrive. He’s probably already figured out that we took her.”
“Understood.”
“Well, our An still seems to have some consciousness left, so shall we continue? My brother finally called after our son died. He’d been unconscious all that time, he said. He’d ‘paid the Price.'”
“…”
“He got into some trouble with a young master from a wealthy family over something stupid, and he was retaliated against by people that family sent after him.”
Oh Sang Chul’s eyes grew dark.
To pay for his nephew’s medicine, it was impossible to earn enough money through legitimate means.
So Oh Sang Chul’s brother had joined a Gang and taken work as a courier.
“The young master was there to deal in Motorcycle Parts, and my brother came to trade medicine. They simply mistook each other for the other.”
At the mention of Motorcycle Parts, An Soo Yi’s fingers trembled slightly.
“Yes, that’s right. That young master was Dok Go Beom Jin. Your husband—who loves you desperately.”
At that time, Oh Sang Chul’s brother, Oh Sang Jun, already knew of Beom Jin’s existence.
Once, when passing through the Wealthy District, he caught himself staring at a grand mansion, wondering what kind of people lived in such a grand place, and at that moment Beom Jin emerged from the mansion gates.
Dressed in expensive clothes, driving a luxury car, attending an elite private school, and as if that weren’t enough—
collecting ultra-premium, limited-edition Motorcycle Parts that ordinary people could never hope to see, all just as a mere “hobby.”
Here Oh Sang Jun was, risking his life, wandering through dangerous underworld, illegally selling medicine, while his one precious nephew suffered from a Rare Disease, clinging to life day by day.
Yet this boy lived comfortably and arrogantly, favored by fate with good parents.
Worse, despite his sheltered nature, there was a hardness in his gaze that grated on Oh Sang Jun’s nerves.
Then, as if by cruel fate, Beom Jin and Oh Sang Jun found themselves face to face, each mistaking the other for their intended trading partner.
When Beom Jin realized Oh Sang Jun’s true identity, he threatened to report him. Cornered, desperate Oh Sang Jun spread rumors that Beom Jin was a drug courier to cover his own crimes.
That wasn’t enough. He bribed his associates to film Beom Jin from a distance, capturing him buying and selling Motorcycle Parts in ordinary fashion.
In the grainy closed-circuit footage, the exchange of parts was cleverly manipulated to appear like a secretive black market drug deal.
Beyond that, he illegally opened a bank account in Beom Jin’s name and deposited a massive sum of untraceable money into it with calculated precision.
The decisive blow was bribing someone from the rival Gang to send an intimidating message to Dok Go Hyung Jun.
And the moment Dok Go Hyung Jun received that message, he moved immediately.
“My brother said this—even if it’s a tiny country, Chaebols are different. The man who threatened his grandson? Dok Go Hyung Jun made him crippled and wiped out the entire Gang he belonged to.”
Through An Soo Yi’s increasingly blurred vision, she saw Oh Sang Chul’s bitter smile.
“Some parents abandon their children at birth, yet some grandfathers respond so cruelly to a single threat to their grandson. What is bloodline, really?”
With that image, An Soo Yi’s vision went completely black.
“So don’t resent us too much. A worm crawling in the dirt only has methods like this to writhe and survive.”
The car carrying An Soo Yi continued forward.
As if it had no intention of stopping.
As if it would drive all the way to the cliff’s edge—fast and relentless.

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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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