Cha Hyun waved her hand through the window of the red Porsche, shouting to get in quickly.

Feeling the gaze of the gathering crowd, Yeo Eun hurriedly got into Cha Hyun’s car.

“Seatbelt.”

Instead of a greeting, Cha Hyun instructed to fasten the seatbelt and started the car.

Cha Hyun focused only on driving, while Yeo Eun just silently fidgeted with her fingers on her lap.

Only after completely leaving the street where the Hanjoo Group headquarters was located did Cha Hyun open her mouth.

“Darling, you didn’t call yesterday?”

Every evening, she must report on work.

But yesterday, she couldn’t. No, she didn’t.

She was at a loss for what to say if she called.

Should I say, the director pushed me to sleep with his nephew, so I ended up sleeping with him.

His nephew was quite good at it.

I have to do it again today, so I’m on my way to his nephew’s hotel now.

What, should I say that?

“I’m sorry. Yesterday…”

“It’s fine. You can skip it sometimes. How could you talk about every little detail?”

Interrupting her as she barely opened her mouth, Cha Hyun glanced at her and said casually,

“Do you want to have dinner with me?”

Though asking as if it’s not a big deal, her black eyes were quite sharp.

Cha Hyun has the observational skills and insight to see through a person’s true intentions with just one glance.

How on earth could she explain yesterday’s situation to such a Cha Hyun?

Clearly, she did as Cha Hyun ordered.

Everything that happened yesterday falls within the scope of what Cha Hyun allowed.

For some reason, she felt guilty.

Maybe that’s why she postponed the report.

After carefully choosing her words, Yeo Eun cautiously opened her mouth.

“I’m afraid dinner won’t be possible. I have a prior engagement…”

“Prior engagement? With whom?”

Cha Hyun’s eyebrows twisted slightly, then she accurately blurted out the answer.

“Don’t tell me, it’s Do Ha?”

As Yeo Eun hesitated to answer, Cha Hyun laughed heartily.

Cha Hyun’s soft short white hair fluttered lightly every time she laughed.

“Our Director Cha. Last night must have been quite satisfying. Seeing him seek out Yeo Eun two days in a row.”

Yeo Eun pressed her lips tightly together.

She thought Cha Hyun would know about yesterday.

All the more reason she should have reported, but yesterday she mixed personal feelings into the relationship and missed the timing to report.

It’s her fault for not seeing the work as just work.

“Yesterday…”

“You don’t have to tell me. As you might have guessed, there are people attached to both your side and Do Ha’s side.”

She vaguely knew.

In this industry, it was commonplace for wealthy individuals to hire trainers or counselors at great expense and even install CCTVs to monitor the process.

“Director, then perhaps the Chairman also…”

“He knows.”

Cha Hyun answered decisively as she put on the car’s turn signal and pulled over to the side of the road.

“It’s already been reported that Yeo Eun, who entered the hotel last evening, left only at dawn. Along with photos.”

Ah, even photos.

As she clenched her hands tightly, her nails left red crescent marks on her palms.

“Director Gong calling you this morning was a kind of test.”

It was an unexpected summons.

Usually, instructions were always relayed through Cha Hyun, but for the secretariat to call her directly.

It was very unnatural and out of context.

Director Gong’s attitude was the same.

Like someone entering a sandwich shop and placing an order without much thought.

In a soulless voice, please add tomatoes, remove the cucumber. Rye bread, Emmental cheese.

As if he wasn’t going to eat it himself, nor did he particularly need to order it.

“They wanted to see how effective one night was.”

Director Gong, who went to the FKI meeting, listed the things Cha Do Ha should do, not forgetting to wish him good luck.

So she sensed that it was a kind of test.

“To see how far Cha Do Ha would follow Seo Yeo Eun’s words.”

If only she had known it was a test of the effect of one night.

“They seem to have confirmed sufficiently, and from now on, the demands will grow. If it gets severe, they might even call you separately to scold you.”

Her head suddenly became dizzy.

Information was tangled, and the situation was distorting into a mess.

In the end, Hanjoo Group hired her not for Cha Do Ha’s image training, but to get Cha Do Ha in their palm and manipulate him at will.

It’s not about his heart, but to invade his bed and conduct pillow talk.

Training is just an excuse, and she is merely Chairman Cha Ji Seop’s spy with surveillance attached.

And Cha Do Ha… knows this fact too.

That’s why Cha Do Ha’s friend referred to her as a ‘pretty spy’.

Not knowing this, she spoke to Cha Do Ha telling him to do this and that for training, how pathetic she must have seemed.

As self-loathing rushed in, her clenched hands trembled, and Cha Hyun called out to her.

“Listen carefully, Yeo Eun.”

Her voice, which was laughing heartily just moments ago, sank quite seriously.

“The Chairman and I have different purposes.”

Only then did Yeo Eun turn her head and look directly at Cha Hyun.

Sometimes she’s a person full of mischief, but not someone who speaks nonsense.

Such a person is now saying that in fact, her desires differ from those of Hanjoo’s leader.

“We may seem to be in the same boat, but we’re clearly walking different paths.”

“What do you mean by different paths?”

“The Chairman wants to see a synergy effect by making Do Ha and In Woo compete. He’s grasping a rice cake in each hand, trying to weigh which one is heavier.”

She had already heard about that.

That they want to raise Cha Do Ha as a rival to Cha In Woo and make them compete.

That’s why she was needed.

But the situation she saw after coming inside was a little different.

Just looking at how they put Cha Do Ha forward for the FKI meeting, one can tell where Chairman Cha Ji Seop’s heart lies.

The front page of Hanjoo Group’s company newsletter also mentions Cha Do Ha’s name, not Cha In Woo’s, and Cha Do Ha represents the company at major events.

To anyone’s eyes, Hanjoo’s future seemed to lie with Cha Do Ha.

“Didn’t you already have the Director in mind… as the successor?”

“It may seem like his heart has leaned towards Do Ha at a glance, but that’s absolutely not the case.”

Cha Hyun shook her head and quickly continued.

“The Chairman can never exclude In Woo from his heart. He’s the precious eldest grandson of this family.”

People who know Chairman Cha Ji Seop well find the current situation quite puzzling.

Cha In Woo, the eldest grandson whom he loved even more than his beloved eldest son Cha Un.

They say, how long will this current situation last, excluding that Cha In Woo?

The prevailing opinion is that Chairman Cha Ji Seop, who is thoroughly angry about something, is temporarily using Cha Do Ha, but in the end, he will raise Cha In Woo’s hand.

That’s also why Hanjoo Industrial refuses to listen to the words of the Strategic Planning Division.

“But not me. I will definitely make Do Ha take Hanjoo.”

Whatever secret purpose may be hidden in Chairman Cha Ji Seop’s mind, Cha Hyun’s purpose was clear.

“My goal is for Do Ha to become the owner of Hanjoo. For Do Ha to reign over everything. And thus, to become the head of the data bank. That’s my only goal. Because that way…”

This house can stand upright.

She swallowed the last words while mumbling, but it wasn’t to the extent that Yeo Eun couldn’t understand.

Lost in thought for a moment in her own world, Cha Hyun looked straight at Yeo Eun.

Her black eyes looked as empty as a deep, dry well, yet also incredibly sharp.

It evoked a bit of sympathy and a bit of fear.

“I pulled Yeo Eun into this game, but unlike the Chairman, I have not the slightest intention of hurting Yeo Eun.”

In other words, Chairman Cha Ji Seop might hurt Yeo Eun.

And the source of the threats Cha Hyun has been making is also Chairman Cha Ji Seop.

“I did take advantage of Yeo Eun’s desperate situation, but I don’t think I did wrong. It would have been helpful to Yeo Eun too, not harmful. At least until now.”

Until now…

At that one phrase, her throat felt tightly constricted.

Yeo Eun, who had entered deeper into the game set by Chairman Cha Ji Seop due to yesterday’s events, could no longer be safe.

Chairman Cha Ji Seop has confirmed her usefulness, and he will move her around on the board as he pleases.

What will happen to her when she has served her purpose?

How will a hunting dog be treated after it’s been used up? A vague fear feels like it’s rising up to her ankles.

But it’s already too late to pull out.

Cha Hyun knows this too, which is why she has that expression.

“Mom, I’ll take responsibility. So you take responsibility for Do Ha.”

At Cha Hyun’s words, Yeo Eun bit her trembling lips tightly.

“From now on, it’s not a threat but a request. Because Yeo Eun is no longer unrelated to our Do Ha.”

“What… do you mean? No longer unrelated?”

Yeo Eun’s voice trembled as she asked the question.

“Yeo Eun, you slept with Do Ha. Now that you’ve become Do Ha’s woman, from now on, help only Do Ha.”

Do Ha’s woman.

A sigh-like breath parted Yeo Eun’s lips.

Is that how everyone will see her now? As Cha Do Ha’s woman?

“The Chairman? I don’t know what thoughts he harbors in that snake-like mind, but you and I must do whatever it takes to make Do Ha win against In Woo from now on.”

It’s a fight between Cha Do Ha and Cha In Woo, but in reality, it’s a fight between Cha Do Ha and Chairman Cha Ji Seop.

“He must win in every battle, understand?”

And there, Yeo Eun is supposed to help him as Cha Do Ha’s woman.

“So be as wise as a serpent, Yeo Eun.”

Cha Do Ha’s woman, what a ridiculous notion.

In the end, it means becoming his hidden woman who just warms his bed as Cha Do Ha’s night companion.

And a wicked woman who recites what Hanjoo Group wants every night.

“I’ll keep in mind the words to be as wise as a serpent.”

But Yeo Eun cannot become such a being.

“So, Director, please remember one thing.”

Yeo Eun intends to remain his image trainer until the end.

“I am not Director Cha Do Ha’s woman. I have not the slightest intention of becoming his mistress.”

She won’t become a cheap mistress who is called Cha Do Ha’s woman but can’t possess him, and eventually has to let him go.

Losing helplessly what one once had.

Having to let go of what one cherished dearly in the end.

She’s experienced it to the point of being sick of it, so she knows the end well.

How maddening it can be.

Isn’t tasting that bitterness of life once enough?

To never taste such a sense of loss again, one simply needs not to possess from the beginning.

This is the first reason why she should take her relationship with Cha Do Ha lightly.

“But I’ll do my best. To protect myself, the Director must win this fight.”

For that, she just needs to serve her purpose as Cha Do Ha’s tool, and in the process, obtain what she wants.

That’s the right answer, and the only way not to get hurt.

“Our mom.”

It’s such an easy and simple path.

“I look forward to working with you, Director.”