On the day of Jin Young Cheol’s 60th birthday celebration, Green, beautifully dressed in hanbok with Hannah’s help, headed to a luxury hotel in Yeouido.

She had secretly hoped her husband Sun Woo would come, but he ultimately said he wouldn’t.

She understood with her head that it was because he was busy, but she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Jin Young Cheol, who had lost the general election, was currently in an indescribably sensitive state.

‘Even if he’s just a husband in name, it would be nice to hide behind Jin Sun Woo at times like this.’

Although seeing her father-in-law’s glaring eyes was very uncomfortable, the only daughter-in-law couldn’t miss the 60th birthday celebration.

“You don’t have to stay long. You can just keep your seat for a moment and then leave.”

Park In Young, who knew her husband’s peculiarities well, volunteered to be a shield. It was thanks to her mother-in-law that Green could muster up the courage.

Entering the hotel banquet hall, Green first looked for her mother-in-law.

“Mother, what should I do?”

“Just help me greet the guests. Since we couldn’t invite anyone to the wedding, there will be many relatives you’re meeting for the first time.”

Pleased with Green’s elegant hanbok appearance, In Young introduced her to relatives and Jin Young Cheol’s acquaintances one by one.

Everyone looked at Jin Young Cheol’s daughter-in-law, who had been brought in through a private wedding, with curious eyes.

“Sister-in-law, why have you been hiding such a virtuous daughter-in-law until now?”

“Sun Woo was busy, so we had to rush the wedding. She’ll greet you often from now on.”

“I was disappointed not to see Sun Woo today, but seeing the daughter-in-law makes up for it.”

While In Young and the relatives chatted, Green faithfully played her role as a daughter-in-law, helping guide guests to their seats. Until one uninvited guest arrived.

“Father? What are you doing here?”

Startled to see Han Moon Taek, Green hurriedly pulled him to a corner. Fortunately, In Young was away greeting ruling party members.

“Of course I should come and congratulate my in-law on his 60th birthday. What, am I not allowed to come?”

Han Moon Taek frowned disapprovingly at Green, who was fidgeting nervously, afraid of being seen by her in-laws.

“Are you happy abandoning your father to be a rich man’s daughter-in-law? Has your fortune improved?”

“Who abandoned who? This marriage was what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

“Hmph, how was I to know the groom would run off on the wedding day? Where’s Jin Sun Woo? Shouldn’t he be here today?”

“He didn’t come. He’s still in France, I hear.”

“That heartless bastard, not even coming for his father’s 60th birthday? Don’t you have Jin’s phone number? Give it to me.”

“I only get news through his secretary. Whether the in-laws are blocking it or not, I haven’t been able to talk to him on the phone even once so far.”

Han Moon Taek looked at Green with disbelief, but her gaze didn’t waver. Though slightly exaggerated, it was all true.

From experience, he knew his daughter wasn’t lying.

“Damn it! We’ve been completely deceived by this household. This is a fraudulent marriage!”

“That’s rich coming from you, who threatened us first. You know Jin Sun Woo is paying for Mom’s hospital bills, right? Don’t make the in-laws uncomfortable and risk cutting off even the hospital bills. Please leave quickly.”

Han Moon Taek’s momentum faded when Green brought up the hospital bills. With eyes dripping with lingering attachment, he peered around the event hall before finally turning away.

“How dare you show your face here?”

Suddenly, Jin Young Cheol’s angry shout rang out from behind. He was already quite drunk.

Green closed her eyes tightly in despair, but Han Moon Taek soon put on a sly smile and greeted him cheerfully.

“Oh my, my in-law! Congratulations on your 60th birthday. May you live long and prosper.”

“Long and prosper? How dare you talk about long life when you’re eating away at mine?”

Jin Young Cheol’s furious gaze shifted from Han Moon Taek to Green.

“All the representatives with marriageable daughters were desperate for our Sun Woo, but look at this! To think this trash is parading around as an in-law!”

Growing angrier with each word, Jin Young Cheol suddenly grabbed Han Moon Taek by the collar. His momentum was so fierce that even Han Moon Taek, who had been through thick and thin, was taken aback.

“In-law, I mean, Representative Jin. Please calm down for a moment.”

“Shut up. Get out of here, you bastard!”

“Ow!”

Jin Young Cheol finally yanked Han Moon Taek’s collar and flung him down.

“You pair of frauds! Know that I’ll feed you both prison food once I find evidence to prove my innocence.”

Jin Young Cheol’s rampage drew everyone’s attention. All were shocked and murmuring, but no one dared step forward to stop the drunken Jin Young Cheol.

Click, click.

Then, with the sharp sound of high heels, Park In Young appeared. She glanced around briefly before approaching Jin Young Cheol as if nothing had happened.

“Honey, I hear the National Assembly Speaker will arrive soon. Shouldn’t we tidy up the place a bit?”

At In Young’s calm voice, Jin Young Cheol felt as if he had suddenly sobered up. He realized that causing more commotion here would be like spitting while lying down.

“Go wash your face and come back.”

Jin Young Cheol’s momentum immediately deflated. He glanced at Green and Han Moon Taek before hurriedly leaving.

Afraid that even her mother-in-law might misunderstand, Green quickly explained.

“Mother, I didn’t contact Father.”

“I know. You’d better go home now.”

There was much she wanted to say, but not knowing what to say, Green ended up just nodding.

‘I miss Mom.’

A wave of loneliness from living as a daughter-in-law without a husband suddenly washed over her. It was a day when she particularly missed her mother.

*****

On Park Chan Wook’s birthday, Green visited Hannah early in the morning.

Since things had gone terribly wrong at Jin Young Cheol’s 60th birthday party, today’s goal was to get through the day without any mishaps.

Fully understanding Green’s feelings, Hannah had already cleared her entire schedule for the day. And for a full five hours, she poured all her skills into preparing Green.

Green protested that the dress was too short, but Hannah lightly ignored such complaints. Seeing the final result, a very satisfied smile spread across Hannah’s face.

“Green, don’t be surprised.”

As she led Green to the full-length mirror, pride blossomed on Hannah’s face. But when Green saw her reflection, she just blinked her eyes wide and remained speechless for a while.

“Um, Hannah, I think this outfit is too much no matter how I look at it. Should I change now?”

Standing in front of the mirror in a tulip-like bright red mini dress, Green was at a loss, feeling uncomfortable.

It wasn’t a traditional luxury brand, but it was a designer quietly popular among the upper class.

The problem was that this mini dress, which accentuated both cuteness and sexiness well, seemed a bit too revealing.

The skirt was short enough to fully show off her well-shaped legs, and the shoulder-baring design would likely look naked to conservative elders.

But Hannah thought differently.

“These days, middle and high school kids wear even shorter than this. And is the weather a bit hot today? Showing shoulders is fine.”

Hannah tied Green’s hair up in a ponytail and added cute curls to the side.

“It might be too much for a daughter-in-law to wear, but it’s fine for a granddaughter-in-law. Granddaughters-in-law are supposed to be in charge of cuteness and adorableness.”

Hannah also put ruby earrings and a ruby necklace with cute designs on Green. And she gave her a cute tote bag shaped like a lucky pouch to hold.

“Oh my, Han Green. You’re so cute. I want to bite you!”

Although the Green born from her own hands was so lovely, she couldn’t bring herself to rush at her for fear of ruining what she had spent so long preparing.

“You tough and admirable thing. I did tell you to lose 5kg with my own mouth, but I didn’t think you’d really do it in two months.”

“If I didn’t lose weight, you said it would be hard to find clothes for me, right?”

“It’s also amazing that you’ve maintained it for nearly a year without yo-yoing. They say you shouldn’t associate with people who’ve quit smoking or lost weight! I’ll let it slide because you’re pretty.”

Thanks to Hannah looking at her with a proud expression, Green found a bit more confidence and glanced at the mirror again.

“Is it really okay? I really want to do well this time since I failed miserably at Father’s 60th birthday party.”

“Your father-in-law, is he really not a sociopath? What did you do wrong for him to grab you like catching a mouse? It’s ridiculous, really!”

“Well, my father suddenly showed up without being invited, so he had reason to be angry.”

“Then he should have grabbed your father, why you!”

The cold glare Jin Young Cheol had given her that day when she arrived dressed beautifully in hanbok was still vivid in Green’s mind.

Green, officially Jin Young Cheol’s only daughter-in-law, ended up being scolded by her father-in-law and becoming an outsider among relatives at her father-in-law’s 60th birthday party without her husband present.

Since that day, Green hadn’t been invited to any events related to Sun Woo’s paternal family. Occasionally she attended ruling party members’ family events alone in place of In Young, but even then, Jin Young Cheol thoroughly ignored her.

‘Don’t worry about it, just do the bare minimum and leave.’

It was In Young’s request, so she steadfastly kept her place despite Jin Young Cheol’s cold treatment, but it was inevitable that her heart was hurt.

Just thinking about meeting her father-in-law Jin Young Cheol at Park Chan Wook’s birthday party today made her heart start racing already.

Guessing Green’s inner thoughts, Hannah asked with a worried expression.

“Is your father-in-law coming today too?”

“He probably will. He’s Grandfather’s only son-in-law after all.”

“If he says anything to you again today, don’t just take it. Hit back hard!”

“Hey, how can you say that?”

Though she gave Hannah a reproachful look, thanks to her cursing on her behalf, Green’s heart felt a little lighter.

Hannah showered Green with praise to help her gain even a little strength.

“Anyway, it’s amazing, Han Green. You’re unexpectedly sincere about your in-laws’ matters. If it were me, I would have flipped the table in your father-in-law’s face at least twelve times and run away.”

“It’s not because I like Father-in-law. If I raise my voice to him, Mother-in-law will worry. The only thing Sun Woo asked was to keep Mother-in-law’s mind at ease, so I can’t break that.”

Green’s eyes were calm yet firm as she recalled her promise with Sun Woo.

“Thanks to marrying Sun Woo, I can now take care of Mom without worrying about money, and I was able to escape from Father. Sun Woo is keeping his promises well, so I want to do my best to keep mine too.”

“Alright, Han Green. Today’s main character is CEO Park Chan Wook, so stick close to him. No matter how dull-witted your father-in-law is, surely he won’t mistreat his daughter-in-law in front of his revered father-in-law?”

“Sigh, Sun Woo’s grandfather isn’t an easy person either.”

“Hmm, so you’re standing next to a tiger while trying to avoid a wolf?”

Green burst out laughing at Hannah’s apt metaphor. The only consolation was that the tiger, who had seemed so terrifying when they first met that she could barely breathe, was becoming a little less scary as time passed. Though only a tiny bit, of course.

“Hannah, I’m leaving now!”

“Do well and come back. Don’t be discouraged. You look the most beautiful today.”

With Hannah’s enthusiastic encouragement, Green neatly packed Park Chan Wook’s birthday gift and hurried her steps towards Pyeongchang-dong.