Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter... and well, let's just say: what it's life without a little drama?

Thanks to Sandy for all her patience with me and all her help, and to you guys for reading.


Chapter Eleven: Party Time

It was always little things that would remind Hae Soo that she and Wang So came from very different worlds. Most times it was harmless – how he never looked at the price of anything and the way his secretary, well, almost everyone in his office, called her ma'am and treated her with deference when she visited him – sometimes it was a little more insidious, like when her workmates asked if she was sure she wanted to come back to work after her baby was born.

"I mean, a man who can buy you a ring like that probably doesn't need you to pitch in for the bills, right?" Ji Young had laughed good naturedly.

But it had made Soo feel uncomfortable. Not only did it remind her that her marriage had an expiration date, but also how little she actually contributed to the household. So always said it was okay and not to worry; that money wasn't an issue for him and she would eventually forget about it… until it happened again.

And now she was about to meet his parents in the middle of a black-tie event – the first since Mu took over as President of the Wang Group. It was a big deal. And the event was in their mansion, no less. Just her luck.

With Woo Hee's help, she had managed to find a dress with tightly-fitted deep-v bodice that gave way to a forgiving high waist and a skirt that softly draped over her seeming ever-expanding abdomen.

Really, the only thing that kept her self-esteem healthy these days was the fact that Wang So still wanted to have sex with her (all the time, the man was insatiable). Otherwise she would have felt way frumpier and unattractive.

But still, it was hard to keep a brave front when she saw all the women at the party wearing slick cocktail dresses and high heels (Woo Hee had made her get a floor-length-dress so she could wear slippers with no one being the wiser).

"Stop pouting, you look beautiful," Woo Hee admonished her. For all her protesting that they weren't serious, she was Baek Ah's date for the night.

"You look beautiful; I look okay." Soo grumbled, looking at her friend in her form-fitting silver dress with a high slit. It was times like this that reminded Soo that Woo Hee was a former rich girl and knew how to play the society game better than most.

Woo Hee's parents had died when she was in middle school, placing her under the care of an Uncle, who had gambled away her inheritance and then tried to marry her off to one of his friends in order to get his hands on the trust fund her parents had set aside for when she got married. Woo Hee had only been nineteen at the time.

Soo still got sad when she remembered those times: how Woo Hee had to sneak in and out of school every day for three months (until she turned twenty and her uncle couldn't force her to move back with him), shuffling between Soo's house and Chae Ryung's—the only two scholarship students in their all-girls high school. The only two students whom her uncle would never suspect of harboring her.

Upon graduation, Woo Hee had left her rich girl life behind forever and moved with Chae Ryung into a student-residence and they had been roommates ever since.

"You look beautiful. You have better skin than half the women here," Woo Hee said, bringing Soo out of her reverie. "And better makeup."

"I do glow, that's true." Thank you, pregnancy hormones.

"Here you go, beautiful ladies," Baek Ah said, returning with a glass of champagne for Woo Hee and sparkling water for Soo, which only made her pout again. "Are you sure you don't want to sit down, Soo-yah?"

"I guess I will. So is taking forever in coming back."

"He does have to make the rounds with Mu. Such is the fate of the CEO."

"Wait, what?" Soo had asked. "Was that the promotion he was up for?"

"Yeah, he didn't tell you?" Baek Ah asked, laughing awkwardly.

"That man never tells me anything," Soo growled, making her companions laugh. Really, it was like watching a teddy-bear try (and fail) to be menacing. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she had the temper (and lungs) to scream grown men—mostly Jung—into submission.

"Don't try to know everything about me or I'll want to run away," So said into her ear, coming up behind her. He gave her a hug which made her growl again.

Baek Ah and Woo Hee excused themselves to go dance, leaving So and Soo together.

"Why didn't you tell me about the promotion? What it was and that you got it?"

So blinked. "I'm sorry. It slipped my mind."

Soo's glare was fierce. "How convenient."

Before So could answer, Mu's wife Uihwa came to tell them that the reporters wanted a picture of the whole family and dragged them to where her husband was standing next to two elegantly dressed couples with Baek Ah, Jung and Eun already making their way toward them.

-000-

From the side, Wang Yo watched his younger brother and his new wife, taking a good look at her the way he hadn't that time he and Yeon Hwa had seen her from afar. She was cute, but nothing remarkable—certainly not to his taste—but So kept checking on her like she was precious or something. Yo didn't get it. But to be honest, Yo never understood anything about Wang So.

Losing the position of CEO to So had hurt Yo's pride; he was not going to lie about that and if it were up to him, he wouldn't have shown up tonight. But it was hard to avoid the goddamn party when he lived in his parents' mansion.

After Mun Seong had kicked him out of their home, Yo had found it practical to move in with his parents, especially once he got custody of Mun Deok. Now he was wishing he had gotten his own place, or better yet to be back at his own damn home.

But as the months passed, he became more and more certain that it wouldn't happen. He was neither married nor divorced but stuck in between.

Park Mun Seong wouldn't broach the topic with him, and he actually only got to see her at events like these, when she showed up to play the part of 'Wang Yo's Wife." Love had never been a part of their marriage, but Yo had liked to think that they were partners: committed to raising the perfect family and taking their places in society.

Yo had been content if a little bored in his marriage. However, it had been a comfortable relationship and once their children were born he counted himself happy most of the time.

At first, his affair with Yeon Hwa had been a diversion from his routine. But fucking Yeon Hwa had ended up fucking up his life.

Park Mun Seong hated her mother-in-law. She always had but up until two years ago, she had always been a dutiful daughter-in-law. The one good thing Yo's cheating had given her was that she no longer had to care about what Yoo Shin Myeong thought of her.

The moment Mun Seong arrived at the party, Yo's mother had started to criticize her hair, makeup, dress and choice of jewelry. The hateful woman had even tried to make her change into "something more becoming," which meant boring and conservative.

And then she had started with her usual speech on how It was Mun Seong's duty to forgive Yo's cheating, that she had already disgraced both families enough by dragging it out this long and making it the object of gossip amongst their society peers.

When Mrs. Yoo got to the part of "Do you think I enjoyed taking in my husband's bastards? I did NOT but –"

"But they are not bastards," Mun Seong interrupted. "Didn't Mr. Wang leave you to marry their mother? And then divorced her to marry you again because you threatened to sell all your stock in the Wang Group?"

"Don't speak of what you don't know!"

"Oh, but I do know. Yo talks when he's drunk," Mun Seong said cheerfully. "You might have used your money to buy your husband— twice—but I have better things to do with mine."

If looks could kill, Mun Seong would have dropped dead on the spot. But then her mother-in-law's attention was diverted by the arrival of Wang So and his wife. Mun Seong turned to hide her smile but wound up making eye contact with her husband, and her smile died.

Now, if only she could hate Wang Yo as much as she hated his mother. Mun Seong's life would have been so much easier.

-00-

After the picture, Wang So was pulled away from Hae Soo before they could settle their little tiff, as his father requested to talk to him in private.

Still, So paused to make sure she was settled in the care of Jung, Eun and Park Soon Deok—as Baek Ah and Woo Hee had mysteriously absconded together—who kept plying her with food.

So found his father having a drink in the library, a place his father kept closed off during parties at the mansion.

"I suppose you expect me to congratulate you," Wang Geon said without preamble when So closed the door behind him.

"You don't have to. It is no secret you wanted Yo to be CEO."

"Yo has a certain ruthlessness I appreciate, yes. But Mu trusts you better, so I expect you to behave accordingly."

"I have never betrayed any of my brothers, Father." So answered, not without sarcasm.

"True, and yet you still bring shame to the family."

So rolled his eyes. "Is there something else? I want to return to my wife."

"Ah, yes. About that…" Wang Geon said, stopping So in his tracks. He did not like his father's tone. "I have to say that I'm disappointed in your choice. At least Yeon Hwa was of our class and would have been an asset to the family if not for her foolishness. Even that girl Baek Ah brought, she knows our ways even if her family is in disgrace now. But no matter. Once the baby is born you'll divorce this… girl and marry someone more suitable of the CEO of the Wang Group—your mother is already looking into possible matches—and if your new wife doesn't want the baby, you can always leave it here with us and we'll treat it no different than Mun Deokie."

"First off, I'm not divorcing my wife," Wang So said firmly. At least, he hoped not. He had known for a while that he didn't want to and was hoping Soo felt the same way; but between getting ready for the baby and his new position at the Wang Group, he hadn't found the right time to talk to her about it.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course you are," Wang Geon scoffed. "You have a responsibility to this family first and foremost, and besides, Mu already told me about the contract you have with her."

"It's a prenup—which can be modified—not a contract, and my foremost responsibilities are toward Soo and our child. They are MY family." So had heard enough, and turned to leave.

"Don't you dare walk away from me, Wang So!"

"Watch me!" So snapped, slamming the door behind him just as the glass Wang Geon had been holding shattered against it.

-00-

Hae Soo was bored and dearly wanted to go home. Even with the slippers, her feet had begun to ache. Plus, the food wasn't that good. And she was still annoyed at So for not telling her about his work. How was she supposed to support him if he never told her what was going on?

Again, she remembered that for all the sex they had and all the time they spent together, they weren't married-married. They still had an expiration date, and just because her feelings had changed it didn't mean his feelings had.

Sometimes she thought they had. That they were on the same page when he would call her in the middle of the day just to check in, or show up at her job unexpectedly to take her to eat or to drive her home; how he would always reach for her hand when they had an ultrasound, or stayed up talking to her when the baby threw a tantrum and wouldn't let her sleep.

When he made plans for them like they would still be together in six months or a year or five years.

Then, next thing she knew, she ran into one of these walls with him: always about his work, always about his family. It broke her heart a little each time.

And it was SO infuriating.

Almost as infuriating as the whispered comments she kept hearing all night long:

"I don't get why he married her"

"Is it true she's a beautician?"

"He married her because she got pregnant, oldest trick in the book!"

"Those Wang Boys can't seem to keep it in their pants, can they?"

No matter how much Woo Hee and So's brothers tried to keep her insulated from those comments, she still heard them. And they still hurt.

"Come on! We are going home," Wang So said when he finally resurfaced after speaking with his father.

"Okay," Soo said brightly. She was glad she didn't have to be at this party any longer.


Author's Note:

From next chapter

Hae Soo didn't doubt for a second that Wang So loved their baby, but she couldn't help wondering if she was just a convenient sex partner and means to an end. She knew there was no logic to it.
Wang So had been nothing but a decent human to her since the very moment they met, but Soo was already feeling raw thanks to her own insecurities and all the comments she had heard through the night, and his parents' rudeness, and it was all too much.
For the first time since this all started, Hae Soo wondered if she had made a mistake.


To Suga'sSoulmate: LOL, he does make a pretty awesome and dotting father! Yo does have his moments and I'm not done with him yet! I'm always happy to answer questions! And yeah, We come near the end, it's going to be 14 or 15 chapters depending in if I can wrap it up in 14 :D Thanks so much! :D

To Enes: Soo's temper is one of my favorite things about her, but she does use it only when she has to, otherwise she's sweet as can be.

To Melimelo: Nope, I'm from Mexico, though I've been to Spain on holiday before and it was still a bit of a culture shock, but very beautiful country. As for So and Soo, it will still take them a little to figure things out but they will! and they will be happy and have lots of babies :D YH will still have more coming her way!, but much later on :D Thanks again.