The attached photo contained an article related to Si Heon.

Chahan Hotel lobby.

Yeon Ri Na affectionately brushing off Si Heon’s shoulder in front of the elevator.

And a photo of the two of them entering the elevator together was captured in its entirety.

[Yeon Ri Na, granddaughter of Daehan Electronics, likely to resume marriage talks with Cha Si Heon, third son of Chahan Life Group Chairman.] [Daehan Electronics and Chahan Life Group, finally to become in-laws?]

Along with the article that succinctly summarized the meaning contained in the photo.

My hands trembled.

It can’t be. There must be some misunderstanding. He clearly said he wouldn’t meet that woman Yeon Ri Na again…

As I stared blankly at the image of the two on my phone, a message arrived.

It was from Si Heon’s elder sister, Cha Si Yeon.

[I told you. That you were being used. My brother may be Si Heon, but he’s like that. He’s a bit easy with women. He’s met quite a few women this way, you didn’t actually think he truly liked you, did you?]

My mind went blank and tears welled up. A meaningless arrow of resentment was directed at Si Heon.

Then what were all those things you said to me…?

You said you wanted to have me. You said you wouldn’t meet that woman, that you had never forgotten her.

At that moment, something Young Hyun had said once quickly flashed through my mind.

‘That person is just playing with you. Why would a chaebol’s son like that bother to date you?’

Was that really true after all?

Was he just toying with me all along?

Didn’t he like me even a little bit?

No matter how many times I asked, my vision blurred with the questions I already knew the answers to.

My hands kept shaking, so I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my fingertips.

My heart pounded and my head felt dizzy. A ringing sound echoed in my ears.

I took a deep breath, but I can’t remember how I exhaled.

As I was barely managing to slowly exhale my uneven breaths, my phone vibrated.

It was Si Heon.

The vibration of the phone filled the entire room.

So Yi’s voice was choked up and she couldn’t answer the phone.

No, even if she answered, she didn’t know what to say, so she couldn’t pick up.

Shortly after the call ended, a message came.

[The article isn’t true. Don’t believe it.]

Then what is the truth?

So Yi hugged her knees to her chest and buried her head.

I got excited all by myself and felt fluttery alone.

I mistook it for love, when he was just trying to have fun with an easy and gullible woman by his side.

Yeon Ri Na, granddaughter of the Daehan Electronics chairman.

The woman he said he wanted so much that he even fake-dated me.

That day, the kiss we showed ultimately provoked that woman.

So in the end, did the two of them agree to date properly?

Suddenly, the words Si Heon had said quickly flashed through my mind.

‘From now on, you’ll have to be a bit tense. Actually, this contract is really important to me.’

‘Are you trying to use me to look like we’re dating to hold onto your ex-girlfriend?’

‘Well… Let’s just say that’s the case. Anyway, let’s be careful not to harm each other. For a month, refrain from contacting other people of the opposite sex.’

He wanted that woman so badly, how could he give up in just one day? Why didn’t I think of that?

A man who even acted to catch a woman.

How dare I delude myself that such a man would like someone like me.

‘Right now, you’re the only person I want to have. I can’t think of anything else.’

That gaze, that voice from yesterday seemed so real.

That’s why I approached him more, that’s why I embraced him.

I threw away the heart that had been anxiously watching from a proper distance, afraid that someday I would give up my feelings, and gave him everything.

But now it’s all fake.

Those sweetest words in the world from yesterday became the cruelest words in the world, tearing my heart apart.

Just then, the vibration rang again.

So Yi, who had been quietly looking down at her phone, slowly reached out her hand.

So Yi pressed the call button with empty, unfocused eyes and answered the phone.

“Yes, sir.”

− The article isn’t true.

Si Heon’s low, subdued voice was so serious that it made my heart ache.

“You… didn’t meet Yeon Ri Na?”

− No, I did meet her.

He did meet her at the hotel, but it’s not true.

I almost believed it was sincere. What else couldn’t a person who had already decided to deceive make up?

Finding him ridiculous, I inadvertently let out a small laugh and replied.

“Okay, I understand.”

Si Heon was relieved at So Yi’s laughter. He stroked his chest at the faint sound of her laughter that flowed through the receiver.

After hearing that one word of understanding, the tension finally eased from his deeply furrowed brow.

− Want to come out for a bit?

“No. I’m too tired today.”

“Right. You must be tired. Sleep well and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Si Heon said in a regretful voice as he looked up at So Yi’s room in front of her building.

− Yes. You sleep well too, sir.

Shortly after hanging up, the lights went out in So Yi’s room.

Si Heon, who had been rolling a ring box back and forth in one hand, slowly turned and got into his car.

It seems he’ll have to give her the ring tomorrow.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Mother, where are you?”

Si Heon entered the family home with an extremely angry face.

Hearing from the housekeeper that she was in the study, he headed there to find Yu Kyung wearing horn-rimmed glasses and reviewing some documents.

“You’re here.”

Yu Kyung asked in an elegant voice without even raising her head.

“What have you done!”

Si Heon’s angry voice reverberated loudly.

“What do you mean?”

“Yesterday’s article, you think I don’t know? Do you think I can’t find out which reporter was waiting for me to arrive there?”

“Well, I suppose it was a coincidence?”

Yu Kyung finally raised her head.

“Take down all the articles immediately.”

“Sit down first.”

“Mother!”

A blue vein bulged on Si Heon’s thick neck.

“Your father will propose an organizational restructuring plan at the next board meeting on the condition that you marry Yeon Ri Na. We’ve decided to hold the engagement ceremony next weekend or so. If you agree to the engagement, I’ll have the articles taken down right away.”

She held out a document with a white hand that was too smooth to be that of a woman in her 60s, without a single wrinkle.

The document contained details about the reinstatement of Director Cha Si Heon and his appointment as Executive Director, as well as the appointment of Department Head Kang Tae Hyun as Director, among other personnel changes.

“Ha, this is…”

“Si Heon. A mother cannot stand by and watch her beloved son go down the wrong path. Isn’t it a mother’s duty to help her son find the right path?”

Si Heon crumpled the document in his hand.

“Ah, and there’s one more thing to take care of before you return.”

Yu Kyung took out another document and placed it in front of Si Heon.

“A group formed by people who were fired from Chahan Media and Danbi Media will send some representatives.”

Si Heon still didn’t look at the document, glaring at Yu Kyung with sharp eyes.

“You just need to go and sit there. Your father will take care of the rest. Their representative was somewhat reasonable, so when we offered to add a little more compensation, they agreed to lead things towards an amicable conclusion. Fortunately.”

Having finished speaking, Yu Kyung slowly leaned back against the sofa.

“An engagement ceremony, you say.”

Si Heon, who had been looking at Yu Kyung, shifted his gaze to the document and parted his dry lips.

“Get engaged to Yeon Ri Na. And if I talk well with those people, you’ll give me back my position?”

Yu Kyung nodded quietly and replied.

“Rather than your position, it’s a higher position. You’ll be promoted to Executive Director.”

Si Heon, who had been rolling his tongue around in his mouth for a moment, let out a low, cold laugh.

“Fine. I’ll do as you say. But I have a condition too.”

“A condition?”

“Don’t release any news about the engagement with Yeon Ri Na. Make sure it doesn’t get out through any channels.”

“What…?”

“If even a hint of the engagement with Yeon Ri Na gets out, I’ll quit everything, Executive Director or whatever.”

Yu Kyung, who had been sitting with her legs crossed and tapping her fingers on her knee, nodded and said she understood.

“Alright, I’ll do that.”

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Si Heon, who had risen from his seat, left the family home.

Even after getting into his car, Si Heon still had his eyebrows fiercely furrowed.

He roughly loosened his tie, but his anger still hadn’t subsided, so he slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

The very act of meeting Yeon Ri Na was bait. From the beginning, they had agreed to his proposal with this in mind.

No wonder the word ‘give up’ came out of his mother’s mouth so easily.

He had been too naive to think they would give up on the marriage talks just by him meeting Yeon Ri Na. He had handed over the bait with his own hands and asked them to poison it.

‘Their representative was somewhat reasonable, so when we offered to add a little more compensation, they agreed to lead things towards an amicable conclusion.’

Saying they were somewhat reasonable.

It was something that could have been handled like this from the beginning.

He couldn’t understand how they had demoted him to this position just to hear his official apology.

What’s so great about an apology?

Anyway, they had received sufficient compensation.

It was a problem that could have been so simply resolved by giving a few more pennies to those who demanded an apology, saying it wasn’t enough. Yet they had sent him out here to extract an apology.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

We’ll see about that.

An engagement with Yeon Ri Na, they say.

It’s just an engagement ceremony, not a wedding. What’s so hard about that?

I’ll pretend to get married appropriately, then after returning to Chahan Media, I’ll cleanly end things with Yeon Ri Na too, he thought as he chewed on his lip.

Thinking that he should end everything as quickly as possible without So Yi knowing, since he had asked for it not to be revealed externally, he was about to start the car when a message came from Jang Woo.

[Hyung, take a look at this.]

The message Jang Woo sent contained a link to an SNS account that often posts information about controversial figures, whether celebrities or ordinary people.

[The truth about the relationship between Cha Si Heon, son of Chahan Life’s chairman, and Ms. Jin?]