A few days later, Yuri, who had been discharged from the hospital, applied for a week of sick leave from the company. Since she still had vacation days left that were originally scheduled for her honeymoon, there was no significant disruption to her work.

Jeho visited the hospital room every day without fail until the day of discharge. It wasn’t easy to face each other, but since he hadn’t yet decided how to deal with it, he couldn’t show any signs. Fortunately, she would be staying at her family home during her sick leave, creating about a week of time to avoid Jeho.

For two days after being discharged, she stayed in bed continuously. Perhaps the aftereffects of the successive shocks she had received were only now appearing, as she didn’t have the strength to lift a finger. While sleeping like the dead, Yuri turned off her phone.

Because if a message came from Jeho, she wouldn’t be able to bear not looking at it.

Only after three days did her energy slowly start to return. Still, she spent most of her time in bed, occasionally allocating time to go out to the terrace to soak up some sunlight.

Today too, Yuri sat on the terrace lounge chair, deep in thought. Before returning to work, she had to decide what to do going forward.

In fact, forget about deciding, she could just curse at him and tell him to get lost right to his face and be done with it.

But she didn’t want to end the relationship so easily.

For whose sake? In the current situation, ending things like this would only be a loss for her.

The reason Minwoo was sent to the overseas branch was because Assemblyman Chae had intervened. If Assemblyman Chae hadn’t stepped in, no matter how terrible a thing Minwoo had done, Chairman Kwon wouldn’t have batted an eye.

The biggest beneficiary of this incident was, of course, Jeho.

If he hadn’t stolen Yuri’s heart, the strategic marriage would have proceeded as planned, and Minwoo would have solidified his succession to the KG Group even more.

Now that Minwoo, who had been a thorn in his side, was gone, her usefulness might have decreased as well. If so, he might gradually reveal his true colors. He must be getting tired of pretending to like her by now.

Yuri was curious how Jeho would push her away.

Of course, there was always the option of immediately returning to America, but he still had quite a few projects to wrap up in Korea. If he abandoned his work midway and left, it would damage his reputation as a responsible architect.

“You’re on the terrace right now?”

Suddenly, a noisy voice was heard from somewhere. Turning her head towards the sound, she saw Hyunkyung running over with a flushed face.

“Hey, Chae Yuri! I heard you were hospitalized? Why didn’t you contact me?”

Hyunkyung, who had rushed over dramatically, began examining Yuri here and there with a worried expression. Seeing that she looked like she had been seriously ill just from her face, Hyunkyung’s expression twisted.

“What on earth happened? Look, look at your face. You’ve become half of what you were, tsk.”

Hyunkyung made a clicking sound with her tongue and cupped Yuri’s cheeks with both hands.

“Hyunkyung, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in Switzerland right now?”

“Hey, how could I leisurely travel when I heard you were sick?”

“But how could you just barge in like this? What about your mother?”

Yuri felt guilty knowing that Hyunkyung had rushed back from Europe because of her. This is why she had held out without contacting her… Hyunkyung shrugged her shoulders as if it were no big deal as she let go of Yuri.

“Don’t worry. Mom came back with me too. Actually, I went in place of Dad, it’s not like I wanted to go, right? I guess Mom got bored traveling with just me without Dad. When I said I was going back first, she was all too happy to pack her bags with me. She said she’d rather be at home with Dad than traveling with me. Hmph.”

Hyunkyung grumbled as she talked about her parents’ good relationship.

“That’s a relief.”

“By the way, I heard Kwon Minwoo finally messed up?”

Hyunkyung cursed with an excited face, spewing out harsh words.

“Stalking, that crazy bastard! I knew that X would screw up big time one day. Serves him right, getting sent to the Paris branch.”

“How do you know about that?”

That was something only Assemblyman Chae, Chairman Kwon, and Jeho knew about. Fearing the information might leak, they hadn’t even told Yuri and Madam An. Yet Hyunkyung, who had been in Europe, knew all about it. No matter how skilled Cheong-a Group’s intelligence team was, they couldn’t have dug that deep…

“I bumped into Minwoo in Paris by chance. That crazy guy was complaining to me without even realizing his own fault. He said he came to the Paris branch because he was framed by Jeho while trying to protect you.”

“Minwoo said he was trying to protect me?”

“Yeah. He said he installed listening devices because he was worried about you living alone. He told me that with a shameless face.”

“Ha, ha.”

Yuri let out a bitter laugh with an incredulous expression.

Kwon Minwoo, who doesn’t even know that what he did was a crime, and Kwon Jeho, who seduced a woman he doesn’t even love to get what he wants – they’re both just as bad, these cousins.

“After hearing that from Minwoo, I was worried about you and tried to call, but couldn’t reach you. So I called Yuri, and she said you had collapsed and were in the hospital. So I rushed back right away.”

Hyunkyung spread her arms wide and hugged Yuri tightly.

“Oh, our poor baby. I guess you were so shocked you fell ill. Yeah, I would have been terrified too if it were me.”

Hyunkyung seemed to misunderstand that Yuri had collapsed because of Minwoo. Of course, that incident was very shocking too. But compared to being betrayed by someone she had difficulty opening her heart to, it was nothing.

But instead of correcting the misunderstanding, Yuri wrapped her arms around Hyunkyung’s back and hugged her back. No matter how close a friend Hyunkyung was, she couldn’t confide in her about the matter with Jeho.

Hyunkyung. I have too many things I can’t tell you. But I just can’t do it.

Suddenly, tears began to pour out. Even though she was the only friend in the world she could trust, she had to hide it. She felt sorry for constantly deceiving Hyunkyung.

“Hey? Are you crying? What’s wrong, Yuri?”

“Sob, ……I’m just so happy to see you….. Hyunkyung, I…… was so lonely without you.”

“Hey, hey, don’t cry.”

When Yuri burst into tears, Hyunkyung seemed flustered and didn’t know what to do. She quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her handbag and wiped Yuri’s cheeks, which were soaked with tears.

“What do you mean you were lonely without me? Jeho would be upset if he heard that.”

Then, as if worried someone might hear, she lowered her voice.

“Your family still doesn’t know about you two, right?”

“No.”

Yuri seemed to have noticed the relationship between the two, but there was no need to worry too much. She wasn’t the type to carelessly spread rumors. The same went for Madam An. And anyway, she wasn’t even her real daughter, so what did it matter?

Even after Hyunkyung left, Yuri remained on the terrace, silently gazing at the garden.

Her complicated thoughts were gradually becoming clearer. First, she needed to find out for sure why he had approached her and what he wanted from her going forward.

To do that, she couldn’t let him know that she knew everything, at least for now. She had to watch him closely from beside him.

Honestly, she wasn’t confident she could face him as if nothing had happened. Her hand might move on its own before she knew it, or curses might fly out of her mouth. But whether to take revenge or forgive, she couldn’t make a decision while apart from him. Even if it was a pathetic excuse made up because she didn’t want to break up, she couldn’t help it.

It wouldn’t be easy, but it was the best method she could attempt right now.

Yuri clenched both hands tightly and slowly closed her eyes.

Jeho, who had been fiddling with his phone in his hand, finally put it down and got up from the sofa. He had sent several messages, but there was no reply from Yuri.

Since she was recovering at home, there was no need to worry too much. The attending physician had said to rest as much as possible, so maybe she was sleeping all day.

Jeho moved to the window and stared blankly at the gray sky full of clouds. It would be nice if rain poured down, but the gloomy weather had continued for days, just cloudy. Jeho twisted his lips into a smirk, as if looking into his own state of mind.

How much does Yuri really know?

Only the person involved would know what the question “Does father know about Mr. Jeho too?” meant.

She said that question came up in the process of asking about Shin Dahee. Did she notice something? If so, how much did she notice?

Even Assemblyman Chae didn’t seem to know how much his daughter had found out.

The worst-case scenario is that she knows everything and is intentionally avoiding him. It was true that there was a sense of distance that wasn’t there before. At first, he thought it was just because she was sick and had no energy, but looking back, Yuri seemed to avoid facing him altogether.

“Sigh.”

Jeho placed his hand on his forehead and let out a long sigh. No matter how much he racked his brain, it was just a waste of time now. He would know for sure later when he met her after she returned to work.

For now, he had to deal with the tasks at hand. With Minwoo’s hands and feet cut off overseas, he needed to speed up the progress of work.

To do that, he first had to take control of the board of directors, so Jeho contacted major shareholders whenever he had time. He needed to increase the number of allies who could lend their strength until the regular board meeting was held.

“Tsk, that bastard Minwoo.”

Just then, the door opened and Woo Gyeol came in. He shook the envelope of documents in his hand with an exasperated look, as if he had heard something.

“There’s already noise coming from the Paris branch. Ha, it’s natural for a leaky jar to leak outside too, but this is too much.”

“Oh?”

Jeho’s expression didn’t change much, as if he had already expected it. He took out photos of Minwoo’s life in Paris from the envelope of documents that Woo Gyeol handed over. At a glance, it was a scene far from work, indulging in entertainment.

“But these images are not being reported to the chairman or shareholders at all. Because Director Kwon is intervening in between.”

“I know.”

Jeho nodded lightly at Woo Gyeol’s words.

It probably wouldn’t be reported to Chairman Kwon, but that didn’t mean Chairman Kwon didn’t know anything. However, Jeho didn’t correct the misunderstood situation. He still had to hide the fact that Chairman Kwon knew everything. Because he needed to find out first with what intention Chairman Kwon was staying quiet…

“Then, we should get rid of Director Kwon first.”

Jeho, who had been staring intently at the photos, said with sharp eyes.

The stage was set to some extent, now it was time to make a move.

Assemblyman Chae returned home after concluding the temporary National Assembly session, the day before Yuri was to return to work. Assemblyman Chae called Yuri, who had more or less recovered her health over the week, to his study. As she entered the study, Assemblyman Chae put down the documents he was reading and looked up.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for causing you worry.”

“No need. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

For some reason, Assemblyman Chae’s voice sounded caring today. Yuri gently bit her lip, feeling somewhat strange. Her father, who had always felt like an enemy, now felt a little bit like he was on her side. But that didn’t mean she would lower her guard. The betrayal she felt from Jeho was too great for that.

“I heard you wanted to ask me something.”

“……Ah.”

Yuri fell silent as if lost in thought. Then she smiled faintly and shook her head.

“It’s nothing. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, father.”

Assemblyman Chae furrowed his brow as if perplexed, but didn’t ask for a reason.

At first, she had thought about asking Assemblyman Chae about Jeho. But soon she changed her mind and decided to find out for herself.

“I’m going back to work tomorrow. When I get off work, I’ll go straight to the officetel instead of coming home.”

“Will you be alright on your own?”

“Of course. I’ll be fine.”

Yuri smiled coldly and turned around to walk out of the study.

From now on, she wouldn’t trust anyone. Not her father, not anyone.

Then at least she wouldn’t be betrayed.

And she wouldn’t cry like a fool either.