THE WIFE NO ONE WANTED — PART 3

The dining room became completely silent.

Seo Jun-Ho remained seated in his wheelchair, staring at Han Chae-Rin as if he were trying to read every thought hidden behind her calm expression.

She placed the teacup gently on the table.

Neither of them moved.

Chae-Rin lowered her eyes for a moment. She could have told him the truth. She could have admitted that she had seen him standing in the corridor, walking perfectly normally.

But she remembered the laughter from the night before.

She remembered the relatives calling her a foolish poor girl for marrying a man they believed was useless.

And she remembered something even more important.

Jun-Ho had not looked surprised when she said his secret was safe.

He looked afraid.

The Question She Was Afraid to Ask

Chae-Rin finally raised her eyes.

Jun-Ho’s jaw tightened.

He slowly looked toward the dining room entrance, making sure none of his relatives were nearby.

Then he leaned closer.

Chae-Rin did not move.

Jun-Ho remained silent.

For the first time since their forced marriage, she saw something different in his face. It was not arrogance. It was not shame.

It was fear.

Chae-Rin realized that whatever Jun-Ho was hiding was much bigger than a false disability.

The War Was Not What Everyone Believed

Jun-Ho finally told her the truth.

The injury he suffered during the war had been real. He had been badly wounded, and for months he could barely stand.

But eventually, he recovered.

He chose to hide that recovery because the war had changed everything inside his family.

His father had died under suspicious circumstances shortly after returning from battle.

His older brother, who was supposed to inherit the family estate, had disappeared.

And several servants who knew what happened had vanished without explanation.

Jun-Ho had realized that someone inside his own household wanted him to remain weak.

Chae-Rin stared at him.

Jun-Ho slowly shook his head.

The Name Hidden in the Letter

That afternoon, Chae-Rin returned to the room she had been given after the wedding.

While searching through an old wooden chest, she discovered something hidden beneath a folded piece of cloth.

It was an old letter.

The paper was yellow with age, and the seal had been broken years ago.

Chae-Rin carefully opened it.

The letter contained only a few lines, but one name immediately caught her attention.

Chae-Rin froze.

Minister Baek was not merely a distant official.

He was the man who had arranged the marriage between Jun-Ho and Chae-Rin.

He was also the man who had insisted that Chae-Rin marry into the Seo family despite her poverty.

Suddenly, the entire marriage looked different.

The Marriage Was Never an Accident

Chae-Rin returned to Jun-Ho with the letter in her hands.

The moment he saw the seal, his expression changed.

Chae-Rin placed the letter on the table.

Jun-Ho picked it up carefully.

His hands began to tremble.

He had seen the seal before.

It belonged to his older brother.

The brother everyone believed had died during the war.

But the letter had been written after his supposed death.

A Secret Bigger Than Both of Them

Jun-Ho looked at Chae-Rin.

Chae-Rin’s face became pale.

Jun-Ho slowly unfolded the last part of the letter.

There was a sentence written in a different hand beneath the original message.

Chae-Rin stared at the words.

She had always believed she was simply a poor young woman forced into a marriage with a wealthy man.

Now she understood that someone had deliberately placed her inside the Seo household.

But why?

The Truth About Chae-Rin

Jun-Ho looked at her with a seriousness she had never seen before.

Chae-Rin said nothing.

Jun-Ho explained that years earlier, a powerful family had been destroyed after refusing to obey the minister.

Almost everyone believed the family had disappeared.

But one child had survived.

A baby girl had been secretly taken away and raised under another name.

Chae-Rin slowly realized what he was saying.

Jun-Ho nodded.

Before either of them could say another word, footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Someone was approaching.

Jun-Ho immediately folded the letter and placed it beneath his robe.

Chae-Rin stepped away from the table.

The door opened.

Minister Baek stood there.

His expression was calm.

But his eyes immediately went to the letter in Jun-Ho’s hand.

Chae-Rin looked at Jun-Ho.

Jun-Ho looked at Minister Baek.

Nobody spoke.

Then Baek smiled faintly.

He looked directly at Chae-Rin.