“People are all the same. If they don’t want to admit they’re insanely jealous of someone, they deny that person instead of their own feelings. ‘Yoon Seo Ha was born with a silver spoon, so she hasn’t achieved anything through her own efforts. Her head must be a flower garden. She’s just lucky.'”

Kyung Joon’s face grew hot.

That’s right. He had been jealous and envious of her, who shone with joy and confidence. And now, his despicable and dark side had been exposed.

“Enough with the word games.”

Kyung Joon rubbed his face and spoke dryly.

“Jo Seo Ha, I will hire you as an official designer on the condition that you give up Yoon Seo Ha’s designs.”

“I understand the first part, but why the latter condition?”

Kyung Joon’s gaze swept across the cluttered sketches.

‘Finally, Kang Yoon Company is launching a new brand. Congratulations, Designer Yoon Seo Ha.’

He had heard the conversation between Yoon Seo Ha and CEO Kang about these designs.

‘Entering department stores is the last step. It’s not us begging department stores to let us in; we need to make department stores offer us a place first. Can you do it, Yoon Seo Ha?’

‘You’re asking the obvious. Whose daughter am I, Mrs. Kang?’

‘Yes, yes. My pretty daughter.’

He had no idea how much he envied the conversations and laughter coming from the CEO’s office. Kyung Joon couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like to receive recognition and love from one’s parents.

“This is Yoon Seo Ha’s new brand.”

Kyung Joon gathered the sketches and organized them neatly. All the while, Seo Ha’s gaze hadn’t left Kyung Joon’s long fingers.

“New… brand?”

“When Yoon Seo Ha wakes up, she will launch a new brand with this. She’ll open a boutique in Cheongdamdong, invite VIPs and celebrities to a launch show, and open popup stores throughout the country. So you must not touch this.”

Seo Ha suddenly felt choked and rubbed her throat.

“… Anyway, you’re going to sell this company to Taeyang Group when the timing is right, right?”

“That’ll be after CEO Kang and Yoon Seo Ha return. Until then, I have absolutely no intention of handing over this company to Taeyang Group or anyone else.”

Kyung Joon placed the collected sketches of Seo Ha into the bottom drawer of the desk and pressed the lock button.

“Jo Seo Ha, please cooperate as well. Instead of wasting time tailing a dimwit like Lee Seung Oh, focus on creating even more amazing designs, as befits a designer.”

Seo Ha stared at Kyung Joon’s face with a bewildered expression.

In fact, she was curious. He could have handed over the company at any time during the three years, but he hadn’t. Why he stayed with the company while even serving as Lee Seung Oh’s secretary.

Perhaps he had been protecting Kang Yoon all this time. Ridiculously enough, she thought.

“What are you looking at like that? Do you have something to say?”

“… I have a favor to ask.”

She thought that maybe she could get a little help if that was the case.

“I want to see CEO Kang. Please let me meet her.”

“Why would Jo Seo Ha want to see CEO Kang?”

Kyung Joon’s eyes narrowed.

“I told you I’m Yoon Seo Ha’s friend. I don’t have parents. Since I was young, CEO Kang has always adored me, so I think of her like a mother.”

“That great friend who steals designs?”

Seo Ha really wanted to slap the sarcastic Kyung Joon.

“If you’re suspicious, you can stay by my side. I won’t do anything; I just want to see her.”

Without revealing her feelings, Seo Ha asked again, and Kyung Joon looked at her suspiciously.

“… Fine, after work tomorrow. I’ll go with you to the hospital, so come down to the parking lot when I call you.”

Finally, she was going to meet her mother. Seo Ha gently pressed her swelling chest. She could already hear her mother’s voice calling her ‘my daughter.’

“No, no way!”

At the shocking news, Ji Soo, who was about to sleep, flushed red and abruptly sat up.

“Jo, Jo Seo Ha hasn’t even finished her in, internship period yet. But she’s a fullfledged designer in just a month!”

“That’s how it turned out, dear. Even if I am the CEO, I can’t overturn a decision made at a meeting.”

“What’s so special about Jo, Jo Seo Ha that you had a meeting for her?”

“Director Ryu liked Jo Seo Ha’s design. So did the other executives, and so did I.”

Ji Soo pushed away Lee Seung Oh, who tried to wrap his arm around her shoulder, with all her strength.

“I wasn’t at that meeting! The design department is mine. A personnel decision that doesn’t reflect my opinion is invalid!”

For a moment, Lee Seung Oh’s eyes were filled with discomfort. In the dimly lit room with only a soft stand light left on, Ji Soo couldn’t see that.

“You’re a good girl, my dear.”

After a brief silence, Lee Seung Oh gently stroked Ji Soo’s head.

“The design department is under your charge. But this company is mine. You don’t have authority over personnel matters.”

It was cruel that Lee Seung Oh didn’t say he was sorry, or that he would fire Jo Seo Ha.

“When Lady Yoon was the team leader, it wasn’t like this. She chose the new designers, and that’s why I didn’t make it either.”

“Yoon Seo Ha was a member of the owner family.”

“So am I!”

Ji Soo pushed Lee Seung Oh away again, shouting.

“You’re the CEO, and I’m your wife! A wife is family too!”

“I meant an owner family recognized legally and socially. It will be as you say once we register our marriage and have a wedding ceremony, but it’s not like that now.”

It was infuriating. She even thought that maybe Yoon Seo Ha wasn’t just enduring to get revenge but was genuinely not dead.

Ji Soo flipped the blanket over and turned her back on Seung Oh.

Usually, when she got upset like this, Seung Oh would call her cute and always try to appease her. But today was different. He let out a deep, irritated sigh, got up, and left the room.

“Where are you going?”

“Going for a drive.”

He didn’t even ask her to come along. Soon, the sound of slippers crossing the living room was followed by the sound of the front door opening and closing.

And Lee Seung Oh didn’t come home all night.

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