“Ah… No, that’s not it, Mr. Ji…”

Yun Sook’s lips dried up when her true self was exposed to Do Jun.

“Ms. Ga Eun is not at fault at all for this incident. Someone harbored a grudge and tried to sabotage the fashion show.”

Unlike earlier when she was fiercely attacking Ga Eun, Yun Sook quickly lowered her tail and couldn’t say a word to Do Jun. It was because with one word from Do Jun, her cosmetics brand could be withdrawn from Shino Department Store.

“No… Mr. Ji seems to be greatly misunderstanding. It’s because Ga Eun was cornering me as if I was the culprit. I was just feeling wronged…”

Yun Sook stammered as she explained the earlier incident in front of Do Jun. Do Jun just stared at Yun Sook’s face with a cold gaze.

“You know how much I love Ga Eun, don’t you, Mr. Ji?”

When the word ‘love’ came out of Yun Sook’s mouth, Ga Eun felt a surge of disgust and her stomach churned. At that moment, Do Jun, who had been keeping his mouth shut, moved his lips as if giving an order to Yun Sook.

“Apologize.”

“What?”

Yun Sook, completely flustered by Do Jun’s words, asked him again.

“For your harsh words. You should apologize to Ms. Ga Eun.”

Do Jun’s fierce gaze turned towards Yun Sook’s lips.

At Do Jun’s command-like instruction, Yun Sook had no choice but to turn her body towards Ga Eun. After hesitating for a while, Yun Sook’s lips slowly moved.

“Sorry…”

At the insincere apology that seemed forced, Do Jun’s lips moved threateningly again.

“I can’t hear you at all. Mother-in-law.”

Under Do Jun’s pressure, Yun Sook gripped her handbag tightly and bowed her head to Ga Eun, speaking loudly.

“I was too harsh with my words. I’m sorry, Ga Eun.”

Yun Sook, seemingly feeling quite humiliated by her current state, quickly left the hospital room. Ga Eun felt greatly perplexed at receiving an apology so easily from Yun Sook, who she thought would never bow her head to anyone.

She had thought she would never be able to get an apology from her no matter how hard she tried. But she lowered her tail at just one word from Do Jun. Ga Eun felt a sense of deflation at that sight.

“Have you now decided to use me?”

Do Jun’s gaze fixed on Ga Eun’s trembling eyes. Ga Eun blurted out her true feelings at Do Jun’s provocation.

“What if I use you and discard you without mercy?”

Ga Eun’s lips trembled as she spoke her inner thoughts. But Do Jun still had a relaxed expression.

“It would be an honor.”

At Do Jun’s answer, Ga Eun’s mind went blank and she was left speechless.

“Tomorrow, you should meet the Chairman yourself.”

Ga Eun’s eyes wavered at Do Jun’s words, which seemed to know her plans in advance.

“That’s your next plan, isn’t it?”

Just as Ga Eun was about to make excuses to Do Jun, there was a knock on the hospital room door.

“CEO, are you alright?”

The person who opened the door and came in was Secretary Kim, who had returned from the police station. Do Jun, after confirming Secretary Kim’s face, opened his mouth again towards Ga Eun.

“You go home and rest well.”

Do Jun’s gaze unknowingly turned towards her stomach. Ga Eun gathered her things and immediately grabbed the doorknob of the hospital room. Then she turned her head towards Do Jun.

“Thank you.”

Without waiting for Do Jun’s reply, Ga Eun quickly opened the hospital room door and went out. Do Jun just stared at her retreating figure. Secretary Kim, sensing a subtle change in emotions between the two, opened his mouth towards Do Jun.

“Did something happen between you two?”

Do Jun changed the subject with unnecessary words.

“Did you meet the culprit?”

Secretary Kim let out a long sigh at Do Jun’s question.

“It seems they’ve thoroughly silenced them on that side. They’re consistently testifying that it was done out of a grudge against Team Leader Yoon Ga Eun.”

Even at Secretary Kim’s words, his expression didn’t waver at all.

“Did you expect this?”

Secretary Kim asked another question at Do Jun’s reaction.

“It’s become clearer that this incident was done by CEO Lee Yun Sook. She just visited the hospital room. She probably wanted to confirm my condition with her own eyes.”

Secretary Kim immediately understood the situation upon hearing Do Jun’s words.

“Since there was no report in the news about which hospital you were admitted to, it means she was watching you.”

Do Jun recalled Yun Sook’s sharp appearance as she continued to corner Ga Eun. He had expected it, but he didn’t know Yun Sook would torment her to that extent.

If she was going to torment her like a thorn in her side anyway, why did she adopt her as a legitimate child of the World Group?

A deep suspicion bloomed in Do Jun’s heart. According to his investigation, he had heard that CEO Lee Yun Sook couldn’t have children due to uterine problems. That’s why he thought she had raised Ga Eun as her own daughter, not an adopted child, until now.

However, due to Yun Sook’s contradictory attitude, Do Jun was convinced that she was hiding something. Do Jun looked at Secretary Kim’s face again and opened his mouth.

“Please look into CEO Lee Yun Sook’s past actions.”

“Pardon?”

Secretary Kim’s eyes widened at Do Jun’s unexpected instruction. After hearing Do Jun’s instruction, Secretary Kim quickly moved his lips towards Do Jun as if he had just remembered something.

“I looked into the man named Taeyang that you asked about before.”

Do Jun’s nerves involuntarily sharpened when the name Taeyang came out of Secretary Kim’s mouth.

Although he hadn’t doubted at all that Ga Eun might have another man, he felt anxious as if his heart was dropping to the floor every time he heard that name.

“There was no man with such a name around Madam. There was no such name among her elementary, middle, and high school classmates, including college classmates and acquaintances.”

Do Jun was once again strengthened in his conviction that the baby in Ga Eun’s womb was his child. As Do Jun’s tense expression finally softened, Secretary Kim’s persistent question followed.

“Perhaps… does Madam have another man?”

Secretary Kim slowly opened his mouth, worrying if there was a problem between the couple, while observing Do Jun’s reaction.

“Someone else did come along.”

At Do Jun’s meaningful words, Secretary Kim’s doubts only grew.

Ga Eun, who left the hospital, immediately got into a taxi. She became anxious, not knowing how much Do Jun knew about her plans.

Whenever Ga Eun felt anxious, she placed her hand on her stomach. Although it was still a very small life, just the fact that that life was growing inside her made Ga Eun’s loneliness disappear.

As she kept her hand on her stomach for a while, her anxious feelings sank calmly below the surface. Meanwhile, the car arrived in front of the apartment entrance. Ga Eun greeted the taxi driver and hurriedly entered the apartment lobby.

When she opened the front door and entered, all the lights were on in the house, which she had expected to be dark. Hearing her sound, Oh Jipsa, wearing an apron, approached and brightly greeted her.

“You’re here?”

Ga Eun was a bit surprised to see Oh Jipsa still guarding the house at such a late hour, long past the end of the workday. But without showing it, she approached her and spoke.

“You haven’t gone home yet?”

Oh Jipsa’s voice was filled with delight.

“CEO Ji Do Jun asked me to stay at home for a while, saying he might be away from home for some time.”

“Ah…”

Ga Eun was no longer uncomfortable with Oh Jipsa, who knew about her pregnancy. And she felt grateful that she didn’t tell Do Jun about her pregnancy until the end.

“Go wash up quickly. You should have at least a light meal.”

As soon as Oh Jipsa finished speaking, she went back to the kitchen to prepare the meal. Ga Eun hadn’t eaten properly as she was in the hospital with Do Jun. When she smelled the savory sesame oil, her stomach growled.

After changing clothes and finishing her shower, Ga Eun now naturally sat at the table set by Oh Jipsa. Seeing the seaweed soup with beef, her mouth watered.

“Even if you don’t have an appetite, try to eat a little. It’ll settle your stomach.”

Before Oh Jipsa could finish her explanation, Ga Eun’s spoon moved first.

Whenever Ga Eun ate the meals prepared by Oh Jipsa, she strangely felt as if she was receiving a mother’s love. After emptying the full table, Ga Eun didn’t leave her seat immediately like before, but remained sitting there.

Oh Jipsa, noticing that Ga Eun had something she wanted to say to her, calmly waited for her words.

“When I eat the meals you prepare, Oh Jipsa, I can’t help but think of my mother.”

As it was the first time Ga Eun had brought up a personal story since she came to this house, Oh Jipsa took a seat across from her.

“Your mother?”

Ga Eun’s eyes welled up with tears just from pronouncing the word ‘mother’. They say it’s not easy to control emotions when pregnant. As time passed, her longing for her birth mother grew uncontrollably.

Seeing Oh Jipsa, who looked about the same age as her mother, the emotions she had been holding back burst out.

“My birth mother who abandoned me.”

Hearing Ga Eun’s words, Oh Jipsa’s gaze shook violently. She looked like someone who had just found out that Ga Eun knew about her adoption.

“Birth mother?”

Oh Jipsa pretended not to know anything and asked Ga Eun with an innocent face.

“CEO Lee Yun Sook is not my birth mother. I’ve known this fact since I was very young.”

Hearing Ga Eun’s words, Oh Jipsa’s hands hidden under the table trembled slightly.

“Just once, I want to see my birth mother’s face. It’s okay if she doesn’t tell me why she abandoned me. I just… wish I could see her face once to know if she’s alive.”

Ga Eun had been pretending to have lost her memories and suppressing her emotions until now. But at Oh Jipsa’s actions, which treated her kindly like her birth mother, she momentarily let everything go.

In front of Oh Jipsa, Ga Eun cried like a child, even making sounds. Oh Jipsa quietly waited beside her until Ga Eun poured out all her longing in tears.

After crying for a long time, Ga Eun seemed to regain her senses and tried to move her lips while looking at Oh Jipsa’s face.