Corporate Villain
Copyright© 2025 by K.W
Chapter 6
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
How can I not worry?
Custody and parental rights?
It’s not even about custody or parental rights.
Just the second generation.
The second generation was never part of the discussion before.
“I’m most concerned about this right now.”
The executive waved his hand as if to say there was absolutely no need.
“I left work a bit early yesterday after getting a call from Grandpa, you know.”
“Yes.”
“Grandpa was saying yesterday. In the old days, by this age, one would have at least two kids, even if they were still in elementary school. Since marriage has been delayed, he said to hold the wedding soon and quickly have children.”
I truly couldn’t grasp what kind of expression I should be making in this situation.
“It’s an inevitable worry from our family’s perspective. Thirty-four. It’s not a young age. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t worried about that aspect too.”
I glanced at the last clause of the contract once again.
That’s when the executive spoke to me.
“But the problem is, I don’t have the luxury to do that right now. So, there’s no reason for Deputy Director Yoon to worry about that clause. Grandpa said to get a promise in advance, just in case.”
“What kind of promise?”
“In case we marry and then separate, to ensure that issues concerning the children’s custody or parental rights don’t cause any messy scandals that could damage the company’s image.”
Was this contract, as I originally understood it, supposed to be a secret agreement just between the executive and me? Why include such a clause in a contract that only the two of us are supposed to know about?
“Ah, I just threw in whatever came to mind into the clauses. And that last clause was added yesterday. Why? Should I remove it?”
“No, it’s not that. I was just asking because I wondered if this clause would bring such ... responsibility onto me.”
It was when I was about to fill in the blanks, pen cap in hand, that the executive asked me.
“Why? If you had to take on such responsibility, would you want to act as if this contract never existed?”
“Now that it’s come to this?”
“So, would you?”
The bridge had already been crossed.
The Chairman, the President, and even Team Leader Son Jeong-hyun.
Even with my transfer order already dropped.
How could I, who will have nowhere to go to work from tomorrow, pretend the contract offering me 50 billion won never existed?
“We should change the contents of the contract a bit.”
“How? By increasing the amount under the guise of alimony, custody, and parental rights?”
No, that’s not it.
“Even if I give up custody and parental rights, let’s add a clause that sets rules so I can see the child on designated days.”
“...”
“What sin does the child bear? Living only with their mother, without a father. That’s really not good. I know because I’ve been through it. But I won’t worry about this part ... as you said, Executive.”
“ ... Right. It’s a part you don’t need to worry about.”
There and then, the executive and I filled in the blanks and bound two copies of the contract side by side, completing the joint certification.
Side by side, we stamped our contracts with the executive’s lipstick, using it as ink, and each took a copy.
The promised 5 billion won was deposited into my account on the spot.
5 billion won.
The executive, nonchalantly transferring such a massive sum as if it were a mere 50,000 won, urged me to check my account, as if it was no big deal.
A whirlwind of thoughts engulfed me.
Could there be a zero missing from the 5 billion? I checked twice, and even though the number was correct, it felt so surreal, like a dream.
This is it, my life’s game is over!
I’ve hit the jackpot!
One would expect a surge of excitement, but instead, I found myself becoming calmer, more rational.
It was a strange sensation.
I thought having 5 billion won in my account would feel like owning the world, but instead, it brought an identity crisis ... such was the feeling.
Two days later, I went down to Daejeon to see my mother.
In the car heading to Daejeon.
My resolve was clear, but the path from where I stood to the decision I had made seemed blurred.
How should I unfold this story of marriage to my mother?
Indeed, that was the case.
A contractual marriage for 10 billion won?
Selling myself?
Leaving a trace in the family registry?
I’d do it for 3 billion, even 2 billion.
Is there a reason not to?
Realistically, the economic value the world assigns to me isn’t even close to 10 billion, let alone 3 or 2 billion.
The money I’ve toiled and saved for eight years amounts to 200 million won.
200 million and 900 thousand won.
It wouldn’t have mattered if it wasn’t the executive; I would have accepted the same offer from anyone else.
I was honest with myself.
I had the confidence to be proud.
Haven’t I done my best?
I’ve strived to earn recognition within the company, to advance and succeed on my own merits.
What did I get in return?
The achievements I believed were in my line were snatched away by my direct superiors.
Those people, who said they needed to secure their positions first to quickly promote me, what did they do after climbing the ladder one step at a time with the projects I created?
Those trashy villains, who didn’t just spoon-feed on the proposals that a subordinate had slaved over for months without sleep but stamped their own names on them, have each ascended to deputy manager, manager, and even head of the department, drawing salaries in the hundreds of millions, and yet they live so brazenly. So why can’t I stand tall in front of the marriage I’ve chosen?
But...
But I was confident and proud of this decision I made, in front of everyone in the world, except for one person, my mother.
I decided to raise myself properly, to live boldly without being belittled anywhere, sacrificing everything you had, mother.
So, I made up my mind.
I would include my mother in the category of all the people in the world I would have to deceive with this marriage from now on.
As I vividly outlined the process that had only been blurry in my mind, I found myself standing in front of my mother’s kimbap shop.
“There are no customers, just sit back and watch TV...”
Peering into my mother’s shop through the glass front, I unwittingly muttered my dissatisfaction.
The economy is definitely not doing well.
Even though it’s almost closing time, normally there would be a couple of tables occupied by customers having a late dinner, but there’s not a single one.
My mother, tirelessly scrubbing the idle tables without a break, even when there are no customers.
How could someone as honest and incapable of deceiving others as her give birth to someone like me?
Just in case, I pulled down the black hat I brought.
Will she be fooled again?
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The bell on the entrance door jingled as the shop door opened.
“Welcome.”
With the brim of my hat hiding my face, I took a seat at the table closest to the entrance.