Listening to Assistant Kim’s words, Yuri carefully opened the book.

Perhaps traces of her mother, So Yeon, might be contained somewhere in the book. Even if not explicitly expressed, could there be something?

[The Congressman said it wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet with Congressman Jung Tae Hyuk once.]

At Assistant Kim’s continued words, Yuri quietly nodded. Congressman Chae was right. She wanted to meet Congressman Jung up close at least once.

In the end, she changed her mind and decided to attend. After hanging up the phone, Yuri quickly skimmed through the book’s contents.

Since it was during work hours, she couldn’t read it properly and just skimmed the content. Most of it was about how he got involved in the student movement and what reasons led him to enter politics.

The only personal parts were anecdotes about his poor childhood and how he met his current wife. Nevertheless, Yuri could easily find traces of her mother So Yeon.

Congressman Jung Tae Hyuk, who lost his father early and grew up under a single mother, said he couldn’t even dream of having birthday parties due to difficult circumstances.

In the year he turned 6th grade in elementary school, fried shrimp appeared on his birthday table, when he couldn’t even eat seaweed soup with beef. And not just ordinary shrimp, but crispy fried shrimp freshly cooked with live prawns.

Young Tae Hyuk was so surprised because they were so poor they couldn’t even put pork in kimchi stew. Then he found out that his mother had gone to the dawn fish market to do odd jobs and received prawns.

Even though she must have been tired from working as a housekeeper all day, his mother went out to work at dawn for her son. Congressman Jung wrote in his autobiography that he cried feeling his mother’s great love.

“Whew.”

Yuri let out a small sigh as she closed the book.

―Do you think it’s easy to clean and fry live shrimp one by one? Maybe once or twice, but always? That can’t be done without love.

At first, Yuri had denied it when she heard those words from Jeho, but she began to think that maybe her mother loved her father even a little bit. But it seems it was a vain hope.

The “happy memories that remind of a loved one” might include not only Congressman Jung Tae Hyuk’s mother but also his old lover So Yeon.

Perhaps So Yeon made fried shrimp for Tae Hyuk, and even after marriage, she continued to make it to recall happy memories. Not because she loved her husband, Chae Hyungsik…

She could imagine how bitter Congressman Chae would feel reading this part.

A wry smile came to her lips at the fact that both her father and herself had fallen into unrequited love. Not wanting to read anymore, Yuri opened the bottom drawer and put the book in. Then she accidentally met eyes with Jeho.

Seeing Yuri’s dark expression, Jeho gently furrowed his brow. Yuri smiled lightly as if nothing was wrong and quickly turned her gaze to the monitor.

When it was time to leave work, Jeho approached, seemingly to escort her like yesterday. Yuri, who had turned off her computer, looked up at him and shook her head lightly.

“You don’t need to escort me today. I have to attend a meeting with my father.”

“A meeting?”

“Yes. They said they arranged a place for socializing between key figures of both parties.”

Jeho’s expression hardened as if he didn’t like her answer.

His irritation rose at the thought of how long Congressman Chae was going to use Yuri as his tool, dragging her to political meetings when her body hadn’t fully recovered yet.

But Jeho hid his displeased emotions and instead asked about Yuri’s condition.

“Won’t you be tired if you attend the meeting?”

“Even if I’m tired, I still have to eat.”

Yuri spoke nonchalantly as she picked up her bag and stood up.

“After the meeting, I’m just going to go to the main house today.”

Though indirectly expressed, it meant not to come to the officetel tonight. Jeho quietly nodded and Yuri left the office.

Human hearts are truly fickle, she thought, feeling a bit disappointed when Jeho let her go so easily.

Ha, how pathetic. To feel disappointed over something like this.

Chae Yuri, you still haven’t come to your senses!

Yuri scolded her foolish self and firmly pressed the elevator button with her finger.

[This is the timeline separator]

As she exited the company building, a car carrying Congressman Chae approached. It seemed he had already arrived and was waiting for her.

As she got into the back seat, Congressman Chae, who had been looking out the window, turned his head towards Yuri. He had the same impassive expression as usual.

What would it feel like to meet a political rival? It probably wouldn’t be very comfortable to see the man who had held his wife’s heart.

Congressman Chae and Congressman Jung were political and personal rivals, opposing and checking each other both politically and privately.

“Tae Hyuk seems to be stretching out to become a presidential candidate soon… Huh.”

Congressman Chae, who had spoken as if to himself, lifted the book resting on his knee.

“Publishing an autobiography like this is a good way to get closer to voters. So, did you read it?”

“Roughly. Did you, Father?”

“I just skimmed through it as well.”

His voice was impassive, but Congressman Chae’s complexion somehow looked darker. Could it be that he read the fried shrimp anecdote and felt displeased?

For a moment, a small doubt arose in Yuri’s mind. Could it be that Congressman Chae had also harbored hope, seeing his wife making fried shrimp, that she might love him even a little?

Soon after, the car carrying the two arrived at the high-end Korean restaurant where the social gathering was being held. Known as a gathering place for political circles, it boasted a vast garden reminiscent of a palace, with stunning scenery and brilliant lighting.

As they entered the reserved annex, they saw Congressman Jung Tae Hyuk already engaged in conversation with other arrived congressmen. Perhaps because it was a place for socializing, the conversation topics were mostly personal rather than political.

The congressmen who had watched Yuri since she was young welcomed her warmly. Most kept quiet about her broken engagement with Minwoo. Only one person, Congressman Park Chang Sun, who had long coveted Yuri as a daughter-in-law, tactlessly brought it up.

“Yuri, these days, that broken engagement thing is nothing. It’s not a flaw at all. It’s much better to break up before going than coming back after going, right?”

“That’s right.”

If she had truly loved Minwoo, Yuri might have been hurt by Congressman Park’s words, but she only smiled gently, grateful for the broken engagement. Congressman Park continued the conversation.

“How about it? If you have time, would you like to meet my second son? If you don’t mind someone younger, my youngest is good too. Both boys take after me, so their brains, personality, looks – there’s nothing to fault. Hahaha.”

Unable to refuse outright, Yuri quietly turned her head towards Congressman Chae. At times like this, it was wisest to let her father do the refusing.

“Congressman Park, let’s talk about that separately later. It hasn’t been long since the engagement was broken…”

“I know. I’m just mentioning it in advance in case another family takes our Yuri before then.”

“I understand. I understand, so…”

Congressman Chae stepped forward and gestured for Yuri to go sit at the table first.

“Yuri, my youngest is coming to Korea next month. Won’t you see his face for just a moment? When are you free?”

As Congressman Park continued trying to set up an appointment with Yuri, Congressman Chae took his arm and led him to the garden. After the two went outside, Yuri scanned the name tags placed on the table to find her seat.

Surprisingly, her seat was right next to Congressman Jung Tae Hyuk.

As Yuri sat down, Congressman Jung, who had finished talking with another congressman, naturally turned his body towards her.

“Hello. You’re Congressman Chae Hyungsik’s daughter, right?”

“Yes, Congressman. Hello.”

As she began conversing with Congressman Jung, Yuri found herself unconsciously tensing up.

“I’ve always seen you from afar, but seeing you up close like this is quite surprising.”

When Yuri made a puzzled expression at his words of surprise, Congressman Jung nodded gently with a warm smile.

“I say that because you look exactly like your late mother.”

“Yes, I hear that a lot from people around me.”

Just then, a waiter came with a plate of fried shrimp and began placing them on individual plates. As he was about to place one on Congressman Jung’s plate, he politely raised his hand to decline.

“I’ll pass. I have a shellfish allergy.”

“An allergy?”

The waiter asked with a somewhat surprised expression.

“Yes. I suddenly developed an allergy after entering high school. It’s not very serious, just hives, but I try to avoid it if I can. Other seafood is fine.”

“Then Congressman, shall I change the menu to fried fish or squid?”

“No, that’s not necessary. The others are fine with it…”

As she listened to the conversation between Congressman Jung and the waiter, Yuri took a bite of the fried shrimp. Crunch, as the batter crumbled, a savory taste spread in her mouth. But due to her complicated feelings, she couldn’t taste anything.

If he had developed a shellfish allergy since high school, Congressman Jung would not have had the chance to eat the fried shrimp made by her mother, So Yeon.

“Huh.”

Lost in thought, Yuri ended up laughing as if it were absurd.

How ridiculous. What’s the use of speculating like this alone? In the end, I’ll never reach the truth…

It might be better to ask Congressman Jung directly, “How much did you love my mother? Have you still not forgotten her?”

What if the answer comes back that he hasn’t forgotten for a moment? If it’s true that they longed for each other desperately?

Even if they didn’t cross the line, even if it was just in their hearts, it would be a great wound to their respective spouses.

“Excuse me.”

At that moment, Assistant Kim approached Yuri and informed her, “Congressman Chae suddenly has an urgent matter and needs to return to the party headquarters now.” As Yuri rose from her seat, Congressman Jung gently stopped her.

“I don’t think Yuri needs to go… Finish your meal and go.”

“Yes, Congressman Chae also wished for Yuri to stay.”

Father did?

As Yuri sat back down, Assistant Kim bowed slightly in greeting and left the annex.

“If it’s alright, I’ll drive you back, so don’t worry.”

Congressman Jung said as he poured plum wine into Yuri’s glass. Yuri received the glass politely with both hands and gave a courteous smile. Perhaps Congressman Chae had deliberately arranged this opportunity for her.

Is it consideration? Or the beginning of another scheme?

Yuri slowly took a sip of the plum wine Congressman Jung had poured. The first taste was sweet and sour, and the aftertaste was bitter – a subtle flavor like her current situation.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Why are you reporting such an important fact only now!”

Enraged to the point of his hair standing on end, Director Kwon threw the documents he was holding at Secretary Nam, who had been Minwoo’s subordinate.

Secretary Nam flinched but didn’t dodge the papers. His cheek was cut by the brushing paper and started bleeding. But Secretary Nam couldn’t even think of wiping the blood.

“I’m sorry. The manager told me not to tell anyone absolutely.”

“Anyone? Hey? Am I just ‘anyone’? I’m that boy’s father, his father!”

Director Kwon, who had been investigating Congressman Chae, had already found out that Minwoo had conducted a similar investigation.

Not only that, he also learned that Minwoo had used it to blackmail Congressman Chae and proceed with the marriage that was about to fall apart.

“Yuri was beaten to the point of needing more than 3 weeks of treatment?”

“Yes. I couldn’t get photos, but here’s the hospital diagnosis.”

Secretary Nam took out the hospital diagnosis from the file and handed it to Director Kwon.

“Hmm.”

There must be something between Congressman Chae and Chae Yuri. Otherwise, how could he assault his own daughter to this extent! And a daughter who looks exactly like his dead wife at that.

“Where is Congressman Chae now?”

“Today there’s a celebration gathering for Congressman Jung Tae Hyuk’s autobiography, and he attended with Ms. Chae Yuri.”

“What? Autobiography celebration gathering? Tch, what celebration between political rivals. Anyway, report everything that happens at the gathering without missing anything. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Secretary Nam quickly answered and hurriedly left the office.

[This is the timeline separator]

Congressman Chae, who had left the gathering saying there was an urgent matter at the party headquarters, had for some reason returned home before Yuri.

Yuri, who was heading to the study to tell him that Congressman Jung had driven her home, stopped in her tracks at the loud voice coming from inside.

“Dad did that to Brother Minwoo because of me, right!”

It was Yuri’s voice.

“Because I liked Brother Minwoo, so you sent him away!”

What? Yuri likes Minwoo?

Yuri froze in place with an unbelieving expression.