Yuri, who was looking at the report, looked at Assistant Kim with an unbelievable expression.

“This is…?”

Her large pupils trembled with confusion.

The report was mostly about Minwoo’s private life. She knew there was a problem, but she didn’t know it was this serious. His stalking of her was just the tip of the iceberg.

Seeing Minwoo’s misdeeds with her own eyes, which she had only heard about, left her speechless. Especially the violence inflicted on Shin Dahee was beyond imagination. The tablet screen was filled with photos of Shin Dahee battered and bruised from Minwoo’s beatings.

“Did Minwoo do this?”

Assistant Kim quietly nodded.

“Director Kwon Minwoo is judged to be a sadist. There are more victims besides Shin Dahee. Each time, Madam Na personally cleaned up afterwards. Unlike other victims, Shin Dahee maintained a relationship with Director Kwon for quite a long time.”

As Yuri listened quietly, Assistant Kim continued his explanation.

“At first I suspected Shin Dahee might be a masochist, but it doesn’t seem so. Considering she tried to get revenge on Director Kwon.”

“Revenge?”

“Yes. Shin Dahee was secretly collecting Director Kwon’s weaknesses. She even anonymously tipped off newspapers. Though it ended up fizzling out without much result.”

“Then did you find out this phone number while investigating Shin Dahee?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

As expected, the owner of the phone number that sent the text messages and videos was Assistant Manager Shin Dahee.

“Then Father already knew Assistant Manager Shin Dahee’s identity.”

“Yes, I reported it to him.”

There was still something incomprehensible about Assistant Kim’s explanation. If Shin Dahee wanted revenge and joined hands with Kwon Jeho, why did she send such a video?

—Shin Dahee is… I know, she must be angry.

Judging from the phone conversation she’d overheard briefly, it was clear their cooperation had fallen apart due to something.

Could he have approached Shin Dahee rationally like he did with me?

As the image of the two embracing tried to form in her mind, Yuri shook her head vigorously.

Just as she managed to push away the terrible imagination, this time Jeho’s phone conversation from last night came to mind.

—Of course I love you, rain or shine.

Though faint and barely audible, it was a voice that conveyed a passionate love for the other person. The person he was talking to then could have been Jeho’s real lover. His cooperation with Shin Dahee may have broken down when she learned that Jeho had a real lover, out of jealousy.

A makjang story worthy of a morning drama unfolded one after another. At the same time, jealousy welled up towards Jeho’s lover, whose existence wasn’t even certain. Yesterday she had remained silent, numbed by the great shock, but not anymore. Every word that came out of his mouth now felt like a pain squeezing her heart.

—No matter what I always love you.

To her, he had simply said “I love you,” but to that woman, he whispered sweetly with all sorts of flowery words.

Of course, she wondered why it mattered whether confessions to a woman he approached intentionally were long or short. Nevertheless, she was angry. Her mouth dried up with jealousy.

Did that woman know? That Kwon Jeho was a man who could jump into bed with anyone for his purposes?

“Ha.”

Thinking of herself as “just anyone,” a hollow laugh escaped involuntarily.

Just then, with a notification sound, a text message popped up on her phone screen. It was a message from Jeho.

Yuri glared at her phone, biting her lip. She wanted to confront him right away, but now wasn’t the right time. Instead of replying, Yuri put her phone in her bag. Then she asked Assistant Kim another question.

“So does Father know about Jeho as well?”

“What exactly are you referring to?”

“The very thing that just came to your mind, Assistant Kim.”

Assistant Kim’s face, which always maintained an expressionless mask, wavered for a moment. Having watched over Yuri for a long time by Assemblyman Chae’s side, it seemed difficult for him to completely exclude emotion. A fleeting look of sympathy appeared and disappeared in Assistant Kim’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you mean.”

Though he said he didn’t know, Yuri couldn’t fully believe Assistant Kim’s words.

“I see. I’ll ask Father separately myself.”

With those words, Yuri stood up. She didn’t want to waste any more of Assistant Kim’s time. As she left the office, she carefully went over what Assemblyman Chae had said.

—Fine. I won’t stop you from playing with fire. Go ahead and try if you can. But control yourself.

At the time, she thought he was opposed simply because Jeho and Minwoo were cousins. But perhaps Assemblyman Chae knew why Jeho had approached her. Is that why he referred to it as playing with fire?

—Don’t forget. You are my daughter. Handle things cleverly at all times, and never easily break down.

Never easily break down?

“Ha, ha.”

She laughed, feeling too dumbfounded. Yuri leaned weakly against the hallway wall, clutching her shattered heart. She couldn’t take a single step, feeling nauseous and dizzy.

“…What are you?”

Yuri muttered, glaring at the ceiling.

“Playing with people’s emotions?”

It’s too cruel. You shouldn’t do this to me.

Why are you doing this to me? Why to me…

Gradually her eyes grew hot, and tears were about to pour out. But this was no time to cry leisurely. It was frustrating enough to have been fooled all this time, but she couldn’t shed tears over Jeho too.

She bit her lip and steadied her breathing. It was partly her own fault for giving her heart so easily. How foolish she was to think of leaning on him when she couldn’t even open up to her family.

Yuri slowly took a step forward, pushing herself off the wall she had been leaning on.

From now on, she must move forward carefully, one step at a time, even if slowly.

Not with anyone else, but alone…

[This is the timeline separator]

Even until the last schedule of today’s seminar ended, there was no reply from Yuri. She hadn’t even checked the message. Returning to the hotel, Jeho found a note left in the empty room.

“Hmm.”

Jeho sat on the edge of the bed, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. The note said she had to return to Seoul due to an urgent matter, written below the note he had left this morning.

Coming without notice last night, and leaving just a simple note today…

He couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling. Jeho put down the note and called Yuri. Worried she might not answer, fortunately the call connected after a few rings.

[Hello?]

Yuri’s voice, sounding somewhat subdued, flowed from the other end of the phone. It was as if she had been woken up from sleep to answer the call.

“Did I wake you up?”

[…Ah, yes. I was taking a nap because I was a bit tired. Did your seminar end, Jeho?]

“Yes. It just ended.”

[What about dinner?]

“Not yet. I’m on my way back to the hotel in a hurry to eat together.”

[Ah, I see.]

Yuri just mumbled softly to herself, without explaining why she had to return to Seoul urgently. Jeho was about to ask what happened, but changed his mind and shifted the topic.

“You must have been very tired today.”

[…Yes, a bit.]

Her voice seemed to tremble somehow, and Jeho slightly furrowed his brow.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

[…Jeho, I’m sorry but I just woke up from sleep and I’m a bit out of it. Let me sleep a little more and I’ll call you back.]

“No, you’re tired today so get a good night’s sleep and let’s talk tomorrow.”

[Okay. Sure.]

After finishing her words, Yuri hung up the phone. It felt a bit strange, but he silently followed her wishes.

Just as the room service he ordered for dinner arrived, his phone rang.

“Hello?”

Jeho pressed the call button while watching the hotel staff set the table.

[Have you eaten dinner?]

“I’m about to eat now.”

[Oh my, I’m interrupting your meal.]

“It’s alright, Mother.”

Jeho handed a tip to the staff member leaving the room, then put the phone down on the table and switched it to speaker mode.

[I’m sorry about yesterday. Calling you suddenly in the middle of the night… You must have had a hard time today from lack of sleep.]

“It’s fine. How are you feeling today, Mother?”

[…I’m much better thanks to you. Thank you.]

“I’m glad to hear that.”

[Yes, go ahead and eat your dinner now. I just called to tell you not to worry, that I’m fine.]

“Yes, Mother.”

After hanging up, instead of eating, Jeho opened the glass door and went out to the balcony. The sea with the setting sun spread out before his eyes. As he silently gazed at the sea, he could almost hear Mrs. Yoon’s tearful voice from last night.

—I was the one who caused the accident.

Born in America, Mrs. Yoon was quite fluent in Korean, but when excited, she could only converse in English. Last night, she was in an extremely agitated state, perhaps due to the shocking report from Brandon. Though the mastermind behind the traffic accident hadn’t been revealed yet, they had found out who the original target was.

—It was me.

It was an accident cunningly aimed at Mrs. Yoon, not Vice Chairman Kwon Jewoong. Upon learning that her husband had fallen into a coma because of her, Mrs. Yoon lost her senses. The only person she could lean on was her only son, Jeho. Jeho whispered tender words to comfort his mother, who was crying and blaming herself.

—No matter what I always love you.

Thanks to that, Mrs. Yoon was able to stop crying and calm down.

In fact, Jeho was also quite shocked. It was hard to believe that they had targeted his mother, not his father. Though he had harbored some doubts, he never imagined it would be revealed as the truth.

Everything went back to square one. If Mrs. Yoon had been in the accident as planned, they needed to deduce who would benefit from it.

If his prediction was right this time too…

In the end, is that how it is?

“Haa.”

Jeho let out a long sigh, gripping the railing.

By now, the red sunset had disappeared, and darkness was descending upon the sea.

[This is the timeline separator]

Even long after hanging up the phone, Yuri couldn’t let go of her cellphone. She stared intently at the screen, holding the phone with both hands. But she couldn’t bring herself to call Jeho.

Yuri looked around the officetel with a bitter smile. Though all the wiretapping devices and surveillance cameras had been removed by Assistant Kim, she still felt uneasy. But she had nowhere else to go. She didn’t want to go to Jeho’s house, and the same was true for her family home.

It was truly a pitiful situation.

“…Ah.”

Suddenly, an unbearable chill came over her. Yuri frowned and rubbed her arms with her palms. Only then did she realize her body was shaking. It was because she had been out all day without an outer garment since last night. When she pressed the back of her hand against her cheek, it felt hot and feverish.

Though a warm shower might help, she had no energy for it. Yuri went to the bedroom and got under the covers fully clothed.

As soon as she lay down, a deep drowsiness came over her, making it impossible to move a finger. As she lost consciousness, Yuri sincerely wished.

That she would never wake up again.

That she would sink deep into the earth like this.

How much time had passed?

“Yuri, Chae Yuri!”

A familiar voice was heard from somewhere.

“Open your eyes.”

For some reason, it was an anxiously trembling voice. She tried to open her eyes, but her heavy eyelids wouldn’t budge.

“Yuri, please.”

Hearing the pleading voice, Yuri sank back into darkness once more.