“Mom, what’s wrong?”

Hyang Mi let go of Young Hoon’s hand and lay face down on the floor, trembling. Scared by Hyang Mi’s frightened state, Young Hoon cried along with her.

“Mom, it’s okay. I’m right here. Don’t cry, calm down, okay?”

After comforting her for a while, Hyang Mi stopped crying. She was no longer shaking either. Young Hoon gave her medicine and laid out a blanket, telling her to take a nap.

As he watched the sleeping Hyang Mi, a thought suddenly occurred to Young Hoon.

“Could it be about when the accident happened?”

It seemed strange that the cautious Hyang Mi had fallen down the stairs. Her sudden visit to Ju Ri’s house was also odd.

Something’s not right. Young Hoon started to rack his brain for the first time in a while.

[This is the timeline separator]

Time flew by quickly and two months had passed since their marriage. Da Eun had become quite accustomed to life at Hyanglimjae.

Da Eun woke up early in the morning with Yu Kwon. Having breakfast prepared by the staff and seeing him off had become part of her daily routine.

Just before Yu Kwon got into the car, Da Eun, who had been casually waving, approached him and gave him a hug.

“Employee.”

As Yu Kwon tilted his head at the sudden embrace, Da Eun pointed to the employee standing behind a tree.

Da Eun looked up at Yu Kwon with an expression that said, “I did well, didn’t I?”

“Such a model student.”

Yu Kwon gazed at Da Eun, who still wore a proud expression, as if she were adorable.

He kissed her forehead and then rested his forehead on her delicate shoulder.

“I don’t want to go to work.”

Myung Il seemed to be gradually stepping back from the frontlines, piling a lot of work on Yu Kwon and coming to the office only sporadically.

Perhaps he was testing Yu Kwon.

Though Myung Il appeared to be a nice person, he was meticulous and cold-hearted when it came to business.

Just as he had done with his son, he constantly tested Yu Kwon.

He wanted to confirm if Yu Kwon was capable of protecting Myung Il Group, which was more precious to him than his life and bore his name, and if he was someone who could engrave and practice the company’s philosophy.

“Just follow me. I’ll take care of it.”

Da Eun took Yu Kwon’s hand and got into the back seat of the car.

“Hello, Secretary Kim.”

Da Eun greeted Jung Woo.

“Yes, hello, madam.”

“Please just call me by my name. It feels awkward.”

“Alright, Da Eun.”

“Please take us to the main house. I have something to say to the chairman.”

“Yes, we’ll depart now.”

After meeting Hee Ju, Da Eun had asked Jung Woo if he was interested in being introduced to a woman.

Jung Woo firmly refused, saying he wasn’t interested in dating. It seemed he and Hee Ju weren’t meant to be, which was unfortunate for Hee Ju.

They quickly arrived at the main house. Da Eun told Yu Kwon to just trust her as she took his hand and went to see Myung Il.

Yu Kwon simply followed along with what Da Eun was doing.

Myung Il happened to be reading the newspaper in the living room.

“What brings you two here at this hour?”

“Grandfather, don’t you want to see your great-grandchild?”

Both men’s eyes widened at Da Eun’s words.

“Great-grandchild?”

“Yes, great-grandchild.”

Da Eun stared intently at Myung Il’s face. Worried that Da Eun might get bored, Myung Il often called her over to provide snacks. The two would chat about various things while eating snacks. As a result, they quickly became close.

“…I do want to see them. Maybe it’s because I don’t have much time left. But why suddenly mention a great-grandchild?”

“We want to plan for a second child, but Yu Kwon doesn’t have time, so our plans have been disrupted.”

Myung Il’s expression turned serious to match Da Eun’s grave look.

“Disrupted… That won’t do. I’ll try to adjust things.”

Myung Il nodded with a still serious expression. Only then did Da Eun’s expression soften and she smiled brightly.

“And Grandfather.”

“Yes?”

“There’s no set order for these things.”

Yu Kwon couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer at Da Eun’s bold statement.

Myung Il also chuckled as if dumbfounded.

“So please stop saying you don’t have much time left.”

“What an impertinent granddaughter-in-law.”

Despite his words, Myung Il’s eyes were as warm as when he looked at Yu Kwon.

[This is the timeline separator]

“For the past month, he hasn’t visited anywhere other than the company and home. There haven’t been any suspicious movements like meeting other directors either.”

“What about Song Da Eun?”

“She’s ordinary. Oh, from what I hear from the staff, they seem to have a good relationship.”

Yong Hee nodded at Secretary Oh’s words. After she left, Yong Hee tightly gripped the pen in her hand.

“Grandfather is atoning in his own way. He must have guessed who caused that accident that day.”

“How dare that insolent brat!”

Though furious, Yong Hee felt anxious.

Could he possibly know about the accident? No way. I wrapped it up perfectly.

I killed everyone involved. Cha Yu Kwon was the only survivor of that accident.

He should have died then. No, I should have killed him then.

From a young age, Yong Hee had lived constantly being compared to Yong Hyun. No matter how she thought about it, she wasn’t inferior to her brother in any way, but their father always took her brother’s side.

Moreover, he always gave promising business ventures to Yong Hyun. So no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t win.

That’s why she eliminated him. It’s only right to eliminate anything that stands in your way.

Yong Hee threw the pen and screamed.

Should I just kill him outright?

No, Father said he knows…

She was in a situation where she couldn’t do anything. Moreover, Yu Kwon was becoming increasingly successful. It was only natural since he had Myung Il’s trust behind him.

.

.

.

After work, Yong Hee went to Hyanglimjae. She had an appointment with Manager Ok.

She sat across from Manager Ok and drank tea. Manager Ok rarely called for Yong Hee unless it was for something quite important.

As there were no urgent matters at the moment and Manager Ok’s tea was particularly delicious, Yong Hee gladly accepted.

It was a strong pu-erh tea, both in color and aroma. Yong Hee took a sip.

While she almost emptied her cup, Manager Ok didn’t take a single sip. After silently observing Yong Hee, Manager Ok smiled with her wrinkled lips and spoke.

“Director, do you know about Gelsemium elegans?”

“No. I’m hearing about it for the first time.”

“It’s a poisonous plant with no color or scent. When consumed cold, it’s medicinal, but when consumed hot like this, it becomes toxic.”

Manager Ok said, looking down at the tea.

“What did you say?”

Yong Hee, who had been listening quietly, dropped the cup she was holding.

“I’m joking. Why would I use poison here at Hyanglimjae?”

Manager Ok burst into laughter. Yong Hee’s eyes twitched as she looked at her.

“What on earth are you…”

“But isn’t it sad? Living with such suspicions all the time.”

“Manager Ok, what are you trying to say?”

“I heard that our director tampered with the managing director’s food.”

How did she know that?

Yong Hee bit her red-painted lips while narrowing her eyes.

“The chairman will absolutely not tolerate this.”

When Manager Ok mentioned Myung Il, Yong Hee sneered.

Yong Hee had disliked Manager Ok for a long time.

She acted as if she were the owner of Hyanglimjae. Because she was close friends with their late mother and had the full support of their father Myung Il, Yong Hee couldn’t treat her carelessly, but now things were different.

Soon I’ll be the owner.

“So what are you going to do about it? Blood is thicker than water, after all.”

Yong Hee said as if it were ridiculous.

“Is that really so?”

At that moment, Myung Il came out of the lounge next to the dining room.

“Ah, Father!”

“Just what were you thinking?”

Yong Hee was greatly flustered by Myung Il’s rebuke.

She had been scolded when she did something wrong, but he had never reprimanded her like this in front of employees before.

Yong Hee was angry. It’s not like she sprinkled poison on the food, she just added some salt.

“Well, you see…”

“Speak up!”

As the scolding continued, Manager Ok sent away the staff who were standing by and left the place herself.

Only then did Yong Hee open her mouth.

“It’s just so infuriating. He pretends to be like you when he can’t even taste food! I was just testing him because he keeps lying. I didn’t mean to torment him…”

“What?”

“That Yu Kwon, he’s taste blind. He can’t taste anything at all. You didn’t know either, Father?”

She didn’t want to reveal it like this, but she had no choice if she wanted to save herself.

As expected, Myung Il seemed shocked.

“Father…?”

“I understand, now leave. Don’t come near the main house for a while.”

Yong Hee breathed a sigh of relief at Myung Il’s subdued words.

The only worry was that Yu Kwon might threaten her again like last time.

She couldn’t help but worry. Unless she had a weapon to keep Yu Kwon in check.

Suddenly, she remembered that child who had looked at her with greedy eyes.

Yang Ju Ri was her name, wasn’t it?

[This is the timeline separator]

For several days, Ju Ri had been eating ramen for dinner. Ji Hwa had thrown a fit, saying she was wasting food without even paying living expenses.

The nerve of her, bringing different men home every day at her age.

She was irritated but didn’t dare say a word to her face for fear of being kicked out.

As the vicious cycle repeated, her hatred for Da Eun only grew. She was furious thinking about Da Eun, who must be enjoying a happy newlywed life right now.

She should have seduced Yu Kwon from the start, not Go Young Hoon. She should have applied as a secretary, not to the marketing team.

“This ramen tastes awful.”

She hadn’t paid her phone bill either, so her service was at risk of being cut off soon. While she was searching through her contacts list looking for someone to squeeze money from, she received a call.

[Director Cha Yong Hee]

Startled, Ju Ri covered her mouth and stared at the phone screen. It really was Yong Hee.

Ju Ri cleared her throat a couple of times before answering the phone.

“Yes, Director.”

―Can we meet for a moment?

“Of course!”

―I’ll send you the address.

The call ended just like that. But Ju Ri’s face was filled with hope.

This time I must catch Director Cha’s eye!

Ju Ri changed into designer clothes she couldn’t bring herself to sell second-hand, then raided Ji Hwa’s piggy bank for cash before excitedly hailing a taxi.

.

.

.

When she got out of the taxi, she saw a sign for a whiskey bar.

Inside, there was no one except Yong Hee and Secretary Oh.

Not even staff were visible.

Ju Ri went straight to Yong Hee.

“It’s been a while, Director.”