“Hello, I’m Jin So Eun. I’ve heard a lot about you. That day, you were crying and making a fuss at our house, but I’m glad to see things seem to have worked out well for you in the end.”

“Unnie! Why are you saying such things!”

So Yi quickly reached out to cover So Eun’s mouth.

So Eun had actually been very worried about how So Yi was feeling afterwards, but seeing Si Heon rush over with So Yi upon hearing the news of her injury made her feel a bit relieved.

“That day…?”

Si Heon asked as if he didn’t know what she meant.

“Ah, last weekend So Yi stayed overnight at our house. The day after the news about the CEO first broke.”

Last weekend… That was the day he saw So Yi getting out of Baek Do Hun’s car.

A peculiar smile began to spread across Si Heon’s lips.

“That day, she cried so much I wondered how she’d make it home. Then by chance, a friend she’s been close with since high school called. So I sent her off in that car…”

“U-unnie. Get up quickly. We can go home now, right?”

So Yi interrupted urgently while supporting So Eun. Her cheeks and even her earlobes had turned bright red.

“Let’s go. I’ll escort you home.”

Si Heon said politely, desperately suppressing his rising cheekbones.

After taking So Eun home, on the way back to his own place.

As soon as they got in the car, So Yi turned her head away in embarrassment and just stared out the window, but soon fell asleep again.

The tension from worrying that So Eun might have been badly hurt had eased, and due to not sleeping properly for several days, she seemed to have finally succumbed to the drowsiness that hit her all at once.

As he drove along the darkened roads, Si Heon’s ears kept ringing with what So Eun had said.

‘She was crying and making a fuss.’

The fact that So Yi had cried in sadness made his chest ache painfully.

‘By chance, a friend she’s been close with since high school called. So I sent her off in that car…’

The corners of his mouth kept rising at the fact that the reason she got out of Baek Do Hun’s car was not because they spent the night together, but simply because he gave her a ride home.

His chest hurt one moment, then he felt happy the next.

Laughing like a madman, then sighing again.

He drove on like that for a while, acting like a crazy person.

When they finally arrived in front of So Yi’s house, Si Heon slowly parked the car and took off his jacket to cover So Yi’s chest.

As he covered her, Si Heon paused for a moment and quietly gazed at So Yi’s sleeping face.

His eyes fell on her feather-like black eyelashes resting on her skin, so fair it was almost transparent.

The subtle fragrance that permeated with her steady breathing filled his lungs in an instant, as always, clouding his mind.

How can just looking at her sleeping face feel so good?

Si Heon finished covering So Yi’s shoulders with his jacket and leaned on the steering wheel, watching her.

In the end, it seems it really was because of Yeon Ri Na that he got angry.

Why on earth did he so stubbornly insist it wasn’t true?

Why didn’t she believe me when I said I met her for a reason?

She cried all weekend.

She cried so much she wasn’t sure if she could go home.

As the words that she had cried her heart out because of him came to mind again, one side of his chest stung.

How can the fact that you were sad because of me be such a painful thing?

The more he thought about the fact that So Yi had been hurt because of him, the more his chest area burned as if on fire. Something rushed up to the tip of his throat, and when he finally let out a big sigh, it stung again as if on fire.

As he recalled saying those crazy things without even knowing, his head spun and he felt dizzy.

Saying nonsense like the contract wasn’t over yet.

And that she should let him hold her until the contract was over.

Si Heon took a deep breath and exhaled, leaning his head against the headrest.

He thought with his eyes tightly shut.

I wasn’t planning to back down anyway and was going to keep her by my side somehow.

Now that I know your feelings, I can’t back down anymore.

This weekend, once I finish the engagement ceremony with Yeon Ri Na and get the executive director appointment passed at the board meeting, everything will be cleanly wrapped up.

If I had my way, I’d throw away the engagement and everything else right now, but the board meeting is next Tuesday. If I say I won’t get engaged now, they’ll immediately cancel the executive director appointment.

But…

What if Jin So Yi finds out about this…?

Even the customer whose phone I compensated said they would keep it a secret, but in the end that fact spread across the country, and somehow that one reporter found out I was at the hotel with Yeon Ri Na and came looking, causing Jin So Yi to find out things she didn’t need to know.

No matter how much I tell the reporters not to report it, what if by some chance the news of my engagement to Yeon Ri Na reaches Jin So Yi’s ears…?

The thought that So Yi might cry tears again because of him made his mind go blank.

Just the fact that I met Yeon Ri Na at the hotel made her turn off her phone and disappear, so if she hears about the engagement ceremony, I might really not be able to turn things back, he thought.

As his thoughts continued to snowball, the idea that he might lose Jin So Yi spread.

For the first time in his life, the fear of possibly losing something spread rapidly.

It felt like all the blood was draining from his body.

Si Heon bit his lip at the fear of an unimaginably terrible pain that seemed to be right in front of him.

How could I know your feelings.

How did I endure those hellish days.

The thought that he could never make So Yi cry again dug deeply into his heart and took firm root.

Si Heon turned his head again to look at So Yi, who was breathing softly and evenly.

Her sleeping form, with her head slightly tilted and covered by his jacket, is unbearably lovable.

The way she glares with her sharp eyes when angry.

The way she smiles shyly in my arms, saying she likes it.

Even the way she tried to stab me with her coldly frozen expression.

After gazing at So Yi for a long time, Si Heon firmly pressed his lips together and made a resolution.

It seems I’ll have to think of another way to return to Chahan Media.

Meanwhile, Ri Na received photos just now from the person she had assigned to follow Si Heon.

With a loud crash, the wine glass she was holding shattered against the living room cabinet.

“So you still haven’t sorted things out.”

Ri Na looked at the photos sent to her phone. They showed So Yi getting into Si Heon’s car in the parking lot on the day of the press conference, and the two of them kissing in front of So Yi’s house the next day.

Then another photo was sent.

The photo taken this afternoon showed not only that the two had gone to Incheon and Yongin, but also that in Yongin, Si Heon had personally taken So Yi’s elder sister So Eun home.

“I won’t let this slide!”

Ri Na shouted as she threw the liquor bottle that was on the living room table. Still not satisfied, she threw the vase and her phone as well.

The housekeeper on standby only began cleaning up the scattered glass shards after confirming that Ri Na had nothing left to throw.

As if it was no longer surprising that Yeon Ri Na would throw whatever she could grab when angry, she skillfully went about her work.

It had only been a few days since she had already caused a scene once before.

The day she saw Si Heon and So Yi kissing with her own eyes.

When Ri Na returned home that day, she screamed like a madwoman and threw every object she could get her hands on.

She couldn’t bear it at all.

I waited for years.

I even endured when he kept postponing our meetings with the excuse of being busy.

Her fingertips trembled for a long time, unable to calm down.

I thought he was just meeting her for some fun, so I let it be. They’d break up soon enough anyway.

That’s why I gladly accepted Si Yeon’s invitation to attend the HS Capital chairman’s birthday party.

Sensing what that invitation meant, Ri Na wasn’t too surprised to see Si Heon and So Yi together at the party.

But when she saw the two of them in the hallway as she stepped out with Yu Kyung, her blood boiled.

She felt like she was going crazy, but she gritted her teeth and comforted Yu Kyung.

Saying nonsensical things like young people can make mistakes.

But that kiss must have provoked Yu Kyung, because a date for the match was set right away.

That arrogant attitude, I’ll break it, she thought, honing her determination as she went to the matchmaking meeting with Si Heon, and even arranged for a reporter.

She asked them to secretly take photos and spread the scandal with a plausible article.

She deliberately spoke loudly on the phone in the hotel bathroom.

Hoping anyone would hear and spread the story that Yeon Ri Na, granddaughter of Daehan Electronics, was having a matchmaking meeting with Cha Si Heon.

But to her surprise, rumors started circulating that Jin So Yi and Si Heon were just partners.

Thinking their relationship might be over, but just in case, she had someone follow them.

Cha Si Heon, Jin So Yi.

Take photos of them together, whatever you can get.

As the photos she received earlier came to mind again, heat rushed to the top of her head.

“Aaargh!”

Realizing there was nothing left around her to throw, Ri Na screamed while pulling at her own hair.

You’ll make it so Jin So Yi can’t get married in this industry if I touch her!?

Just wait and see. I will eventually have oppa, and I will trample on the tragic end of that love.

And I’ll bring down Jin So Yi with my own hands.

Ri Na clenched her trembling fists and gritted her teeth.