It was the epitome of façade and lies beneath its exquisite exterior.

To the people outside, it was the home to one of the richest families in the city; to some people, the mistress of the house was one lucky woman who had bagged a young, affluent and good looking husband like Kim Taehyung; some were jealous of her, some hated her and some respected her. 

But the woman in the question, Kim Mishil, refused to believe her luck. Because she knew what laid behind those flashy lies and forceful pretends. She knew because she was the one living her life as The Kim Mishil. Only people in her shoes would understand why she should be considered as anything but lucky. 

Yet, the woman had no idea that her messy life would be getting messier after one night, that the butterfly effect of a single human being's return to her life would rekindle the biggest storm she'd never ever imagined even in her worst nightmares.

                                              _______

"Honey, aren't you done yet?" Taehyung, her husband who was known to be the sweetest of his kind, called her ever so sweetly from downstairs. To the people outside, it will sound like a sweet gesture of a husband. But the actual scenario behind his sweet voice and sweet actions was known by the couple themselves. 

Her husband was anything but sweet. His honey coated voice was as fake as dreams. 

Mishil shrugged in annoyance and touched up her already done make up for the so-called business party her husband had been pestering her to attend with him. In this marriage, it had always been like this. She had to pretend to be the perfect wife in front of the society, she had to pretend to be someone who she wasn't for the sake of her husband's so called image. 

"Coming!" She answered back and took a last glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Not that she wanted to look good for her husband, nor for her own self. She just had to look good because they had to show the society how perfect their life was, no matter how imperfect it actually was.

When she had reached downstairs to her awaiting husband, the man didn't even bat an eyelash at her, he merely rolled his eyes as if he was annoyed at her for taking just five minutes extra than the thirty minutes he'd given her to get ready after he'd finally persuaded her for the party, and stepped out of the house to get into the car. He didn't even look behind to check on her, since he knew she'd be following behind like the good trophy wife she was.

Getting into the car, Mishil robotically greeted her mother and younger sister who were also there to join the party with them. 

"You're looking gorgeous, my beautiful daughter." Park Chaeyeol, her mother, complimented her with a huge smile plastered on her face. 

Mishil only showed a short smile to the older lady, not in the mood to take compliments. She treated her mother almost as formally as she'd do to any stranger. And she believed this would continue for the rest of their lives.

It's been three years since her mother had forced her to marry this man, and she still couldn't move on from that fact. She still couldn't talk to her mother with an open heart because of that. She wouldn't be this upset with her mother if this arrangement of a marriage was done on the sole purpose of tying knots of two hearts, to make her happy. But the true purpose behind her marriage was greed. 

Well, that's a long story.

Mishil didn't want to ruin her already half ruined mood, so she concentrated on the serenity of the distant city lights through the glass window of the car to ignore the obnoxious chatters of her mother and husband. 

They arrived at their destination within thirty minutes. That was a grand party in a gigantic hall, with numerous famous business icons being invited as the guests, she'd probably even trace one or two famous models or celebrities or even politicians if she'd put her concentration on - but of course, she wasn't interested in any of it. 

The whole area was glittering with expensive suits and dresses. Mishil felt suffocated in these kinds of parties, because people would usually come here to show off their wealth and status, not to show concern for each other. She rather liked small family gatherings, where everything would be pure and natural, where only the intimate and loved ones would be present, where there will be no place for show off or fake smiles.

However, having Kim Taehyung aka money er as her husband, she didn't get any of that in her three years of married life. Even though she felt uncomfortable in such large and chaotic parties, she had to join him for the sake of their social dignity. 

"Hey, Babe, I am gonna grab some drinks and meet up with some potential business partners. Bye." Barely two minutes into the party, Taehyung had hurriedly whispered to her and darted towards the other corner of the hall, abandoning her like he'd always do.

Mishil just rolled her eyes in response which wasn't even noticed by her husband because he was already gone; he never listened to her anyway, he always did what seemed right to himself, not giving a to what his wife thought or want