Kiss the Scumbag

The room fell into stunned silence as a horrified scream rang out, drawing everyone’s attention to a single point. There stood Yu-jin, his face drained of all color, his body rigid as he rose shakily from his seat. He looked completely unhinged, as if his sanity had snapped.

“This is wrong. This doesn’t make any sense. It’s a lie. Ah, right—M-Mr. Campbell must not have been in his right mind. They said he was very ill, didn’t they? That means he might not have been thinking clearly. If not that, then something is definitely wrong. Maybe—maybe the USB was switched out or tampered with. Yes, that must be it. Otherwise, this just doesn’t make sense. This is impossible!”

“Winston.”

A quiet murmur came from beside him—his mother, urging him to say something. Yu-jin was rambling frantically, barely able to string words together, clearly reeling from an overwhelming shock. Winston could easily guess why. The contents of the will must have been drastically different from what Yu-jin had expected. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to speak just yet. He hadn’t even heard the will’s contents himself.

He’d been too absorbed in imagining how he would break that whore.

Slowly, Winston let his gaze travel around the room. For the first time, he took in the expressions of the other attendees, but the sight offered little clarity. Everyone wore looks of confusion and distress, exchanging uncertain glances or discreetly watching Winston, waiting for his reaction. It was obvious now—something serious had happened.

“Again.”

Winston finally spoke, his voice slow and deliberate. The moment he did, Yu-jin’s frantic babbling came to an abrupt halt, and silence fell over the room once more. With all eyes fixed on him, Winston held Yu-jin’s gaze and repeated himself.

“Play it again. Let’s make sure we heard it correctly.”

No one objected to his calm command—not out of agreement, but because no one dared to oppose him. Winston finally tore his eyes away from Yu-jin and refocused on the screen. Only then did his father’s words begin to register in his ears.

The first part was nothing unusual. Winston listened patiently as the will droned on, its formalities tedious and unremarkable. Even when it declared that all remaining assets, aside from the previously mentioned bequests, would go to Winston, he remained unfazed.

He would soon understand why Yu-jin had reacted so violently. That was all he thought—until the next part was read aloud.

“…The above inheritance is conditional upon Winston Campbell marrying Yu-jin Seol and conceiving a child within one year.”

Winston slowly uncrossed his legs and straightened from his previously languid posture. His expression remained unchanged, but that alone was enough for everyone in the room to grasp the magnitude of his shock.

But it wasn’t over yet.

“If the conditions of the will are not fulfilled, the entirety of the inheritance will be donated to the foundation, and the company will be transferred to professional management. Furthermore, all members of the Campbell family, including Winston, shall forfeit any and all claims to the estate. Execution of the will shall proceed one year from now, provided that the conditions have been faithfully met.”

One of Winston’s eyebrows twitched sharply. The scent of his pheromones thickened again, but this time, for an entirely different reason.

Yu-jin looked as though he was about to protest immediately, his body taut with desperation.

But there was still more to the will.

“…During the marriage, Winston must remain faithful to Yu-jin. Any infidelity, including participation in pheromone parties, is strictly forbidden, and he must ensure that Yu-jin lacks for nothing. All of the aforementioned conditions apply only if Yu-jin marries Winston. However, if the marriage does not take place or if the terms of the will are not upheld, resulting in the Campbell family forfeiting all assets and rights, Yu-jin will also receive nothing. However, if Yu-jin fulfills the contract in good faith and the marriage later ends in divorce, Winston must pay Yu-jin two million dollars per month for the rest of his life.”

At that point, Harold, visible on the screen, let out a harsh, body-wracking cough. He gasped for breath, his voice rasping and unsteady, but despite that, his final words were unmistakably clear.

“Yu-jin, I love you. I truly, truly am sorry. May God bless you.”

With a face ravaged by illness and exhaustion, Harold offered his final blessing. His weak smile flickered for a moment before the screen froze, and the recording ended.

A heavy silence settled over the study. It was only then that Winston fully understood why everyone was so utterly shaken.

Marriage?

His father’s words replayed slowly in his mind.

Have a child? With Yu-jin?

His expression remained frozen, mask-like, as he stared at the paused screen.

He wants me to marry that whore and have a child with him?

“This is insane!”

The sharp cry jolted Winston’s thoughts back into motion. He turned his gaze toward the outburst—Yu-jin, once again on his feet, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. His face was pale, stricken with disbelief, and his entire body trembled as he screamed like a man on the verge of breaking. It was as if all the anger and frustration he had been suppressing finally erupted.

“Winston and I, married? And we’re supposed to have a child? Are you insane?! This is absurd! There’s no way he was in his right mind. Anyone facing death would become delirious… Yes, that has to be it. Harold must have gone mad!”

“Father’s mind was perfectly clear.”

Winston’s cold voice sliced through Yu-jin’s frantic denial. As if to affirm his statement, the lawyer nodded and added,

“You saw the beginning of the will. Three doctors conducted independent evaluations and confirmed that Mr. Campbell was fully lucid. His pheromone levels were significantly low as well. The will is entirely legitimate.”

Yu-jin’s face went completely bloodless. He looked as if he had been struck by an invisible force, his eyes unfocused, lips slightly parted. Slowly, he shook his head, his voice barely above a whisper.

“This… This can’t be…”

He kept repeating the words, dazed, as if trying to convince himself.

Winston, watching him in silence, finally shifted his gaze. His father’s frozen image remained on the screen. Winston narrowed his eyes, lips curling into a bitter smirk.

Father, even in death, you still find ways to screw me over.

***

“How could this possibly happen?!”

Madam Campbell’s furious voice rang throughout the drawing room. It was exceedingly rare for her to lose her temper like this. In their entire lives, her children had only ever seen her in such a state once before. Unfortunately, the cause of her fury was the same as it had been back then.

Though Winston had not been present for that previous incident, he remained entirely unaffected by her outburst. Even as he witnessed this side of her for the first time, his face remained unreadable, lost in thought as always.

The rest of her children, however, were visibly on edge. Accustomed to their mother’s usual poise and composure, they dared not speak in the face of her unchecked rage. But that wasn’t all—Madam Campbell was so consumed by fury that she paced the room, cursing her late husband with relentless venom.

“Leaving behind such a will! I swear, I’d dig up Harold’s grave, drag his corpse out, and burn it myself! Shameless, despicable man! He tormented me my entire life, and now, even in death, he leaves me with this humiliation—giving that filthy thing such a will…”

That whore. Marrying her youngest son and bearing his child? Unthinkable. Absolutely unacceptable.

And to top it off, that kept man would be given more financial security than she, his lawful wife? The insult was beyond anything she could tolerate. Her pride, her dignity—it had all been trampled. Enraged beyond reason, she abandoned her usual restraint and let her true feelings spill out.

“That worthless piece of garbage! He should have died the moment he collapsed that day! If only I had killed him before he could write that damned will! I should have done it—I should have put a bullet in his head!”

Gordon watched her nervously, worried she might collapse from the sheer force of her wrath. But there was nothing he or his siblings could do. They were just as shaken, and no one had a solution for the mess they now faced. All they could do was side with their mother, voicing their outrage against their father.

“We can’t just let this happen—we have to do something.”

At Gordon’s prompt, Lady Catherine quickly added, “Of course! Expecting us to follow such a ridiculous will—Father must have been completely out of his mind. This is utterly absurd!”

Lacking better words to express her indignation, she simply repeated herself. Her husband, George, stepped in to continue where she left off.