Prenup of a Third Son novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Family Friend
At the family meeting Madam Heo lays out her terms while the groom says nothing; Seo-yeon reads the penalty clause aloud, gives the ring back in the hotel lobby and is offered a contract by his cousin, and then learns her mother owes the family three hundred million won.
"After the wedding, Seo-yeon will leave her little firm," her future mother-in-law said. "She'll sign the family's prenup tonight."
Then Madam Heo smiled. "And Yu-na will join us at the holidays, as a family friend."
She said it over the soup course, in a private dining room on the third floor of her own hotel.
Seo-yeon's mother stopped with her spoon halfway to her mouth.
Seo-yeon looked at the woman in white sitting at Madam Heo's left.
She had assumed the woman was a cousin.
Yu-na had poured Seo-yeon's mother's tea when they arrived, and smiled at Seo-yeon as if they were going to be friends.
"Yu-na," Madam Heo went on, "was the girl Tae-joon really loved. It's only decent that she keeps her place with us."
Then she looked at Seo-yeon kindly.
"You understand, Seo-yeon. A Kang wife doesn't work for clients."
Seo-yeon turned to Tae-joon.
Her fiancé of four months. Her boyfriend of two years.
He was cutting his abalone into very small pieces.
"Tae-joon," she said.
He didn't look up.
The family lawyer slid a cream folder across the tablecloth toward her. Fourteen pages, tabbed in gold.
"The standard agreement," he said. "Every Kang bride signs it."
Next to Seo-yeon, her mother had gone very still.
She had closed her noodle shop on a Saturday for the first time in twenty years to be here.
She had bought a new jacket for it. Navy, with gold buttons.
Seo-yeon opened the folder.
She was an architect. She read fine print for a living.
Clause nine was on page six.
She read it aloud.
"If the wife leaves the marriage, files for divorce within ten years, or brings disgrace upon the family," she read, "she forfeits all marital property."
"And she repays the family's wedding costs. Five hundred million won."
Madam Heo dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "It's only a formality."
"There's more," Seo-yeon said. "'The wife resides where the family designates during the first year of marriage.'"
She looked up.
"Where's that? A tower?"
Yu-na laughed, a small bright sound. Nobody else did.
Seo-yeon took a pen out of her bag.
"I'll sign it," she said. "If you add one line."
Madam Heo's eyebrows lifted a millimeter.
"The same clause binds the groom. If Tae-joon breaks faith, he pays the five hundred million. Payable to Baek Noh Architects."
There was a silence.
Then Madam Heo laughed, and the lawyer laughed, and Tae-joon's two older brothers at the end of the table laughed louder than either of them.
"Seo-yeon." Madam Heo shook her head. "A Kang man doesn't sign for a girl."
"Then a girl doesn't sign for a Kang man."
Seo-yeon closed the folder.
"Tae-joon," she said again. "Say something."
He set down his knife.
He looked at his mother.
That was his answer.
Seo-yeon stood up.
Her mother stood up with her, her napkin still in her hand.
Seo-yeon took the ring box out of her bag.
She hadn't worn the ring to dinner. It was too big for her finger, and nobody had offered to resize it.
"Sit down," Madam Heo said. "You're embarrassing your mother."
"My mother's leaving with me."
Seo-yeon walked out.
Behind her, chairs scraped. Madam Heo's voice came sharp for the first time. "Tae-joon. Go after her."
Seo-yeon didn't take the elevator. She took the stairs, three floors, in flat shoes.
When she came out into the lobby, the Kangs were already there.
The family had taken the private lift.
The Hwaseon Hotel lobby was all gold marble and chandeliers.
On a Saturday night it was full. A wedding party. Two tour groups. A man playing the piano.
Madam Heo stood by the elevators with her pearls and her perfect chignon. Tae-joon stood at her shoulder. Yu-na stood behind them, in white.
Half the lobby had turned to watch.
Good, Seo-yeon thought.
She opened the dark green velvet box and held it out at arm's length.
The diamond caught every light in the room.
"Your ring," she said to Tae-joon.
He looked at it.
He didn't move.
The piano stopped.
"Take it," Seo-yeon said. "Or I'll leave it on the floor."
His hands stayed at his sides.
It was Yu-na who stepped forward.
She took the box from Seo-yeon's hand with two fingers.
"I'll keep it safe," she said.
Seo-yeon turned around.
By the brass revolving door, a man in a dark suit was waiting.
Kang Do-hyun. Tae-joon's older cousin. The CEO of Hwaseon E&C.
She had met him a dozen times in one year, in conference rooms, and turned him down each time.
He had a folder under his arm.
"Ms. Baek," he said. "The library contract. My offer stands."
His voice was low and flat.
"Tonight, if you like. Or I'll send it to your office in the morning."
"Do-hyun." Madam Heo's voice cracked across the marble. "Don't you dare."
He didn't look at her.
He looked at Seo-yeon, and put one hand flat on the brass of the revolving door.
Seo-yeon took her mother's arm.
"Before you go, Ms. Baek."
Madam Heo had walked to the middle of the lobby.
She smiled at the people watching, gracious again.
"You might ask your mother," she said, "about the three hundred million won she owes this family."
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