“……Father, what did you just say?”

Yuri’s voice trembled endlessly in shock.

It was surprising enough that Vice Chairman Kwon had fallen into a coma, but to think that someone deliberately caused the accident. Moreover, the likely suspect behind it is suspected to be Minwoo?

“How could this happen….. Since when exactly?”

[It’s been a while. I heard until recently he was in a very precarious state. He had a heart attack, so Jeho had to rush to the U.S. urgently.]

– I’m leaving now. I’ll get there as fast as I can.

Yuri recalled Jeho’s troubled expression when he received the call at the Gangneung villa. He looked so serious that she couldn’t even ask what was wrong.

So that’s why you suddenly went to America?

[At first we suspected Minwoo the most, but it might not be him. However, it’s true that Minwoo and Director Kwon are major obstacles to investigating the incident. Anyway, that’s why we had to send Minwoo abroad.]

Pausing briefly, the congressman cleared his throat and continued.

[Hmm, your point is that it wasn’t just because of Yuri that Minwoo was sent abroad. We had to separate Minwoo from you, from Yuri, and from KG.]

“…That means.”

Yuri asked in a sinking voice, as if deep in thought.

“The next target is Director Kwon, isn’t it?”

As Yuri immediately understood the implication without detailed explanation, Congressman Chae’s heavy voice lightened.

[Yes. We plan to oust Director Kwon at today’s emergency board meeting. The incident 10 years ago that forced Vice Chairman Kwon to step down. I heard they’ve secured evidence that Director Kwon was behind it.]

Yuri recalled Director Kwon’s phone call from yesterday.

– There’s an urgent board meeting, so it’s become rushed. Bring it to the office early tomorrow morning.

That was why Director Kwon urgently wanted the ledger. That old ledger must contain evidence of Director Kwon’s corruption.

Suddenly Yuri’s heart sank.

Kwon Jeho was not simply competing for succession now. It was to find and take revenge on whoever had brought his father to the brink of death.

Not knowing that…..

Yuri turned her head towards the bag containing the ledger. This ledger is essential to remove Director Kwon at today’s emergency board meeting. Jeho hadn’t gone on a business trip, but must have been devising a plan to take down Director Kwon.

Ha, I must have been crazy for a moment.

Yuri hurriedly started her car. No matter how angry she was at Jeho, it wasn’t right to take revenge like this.

“I’m sorry, Father.”

Just as she’s trying to protect her family, he’s trying to protect his family too.

“I have to hang up now because I’m in a hurry. I’ll call you later.”

I need to put the real one back before taking the fake ledger.

Yuri drove her car at full speed towards Jeho’s house.

Fortunately, thanks to the lack of traffic, she was able to arrive earlier than expected. Yuri grabbed the bag and ran to the study. She had to put everything back in place before Jeho arrived.

The red light turned blue and with a click, the safe door opened.

“Gasp.”

Yuri’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked inside.

The fake ledger that should have been in the safe was already gone.

[This is the timeline separator]

“What, she turned back?”

As soon as Yuri contacted him saying she had parked in the company building’s parking lot, Director Kwon hurriedly called for Secretary Nam when she didn’t come up. A moment later, Secretary Nam reported that Yuri had turned her car around and left the parking lot.

“Why did you just let her go! You should have stopped her!”

“I’ll try calling her once.”

Secretary Nam quickly dialed Yuri’s number. Worried she might not answer, the call connected after a few rings. As if knowing why he was calling, she got straight to the point.

[I’m on my way.]

“What? On your way! Hey! What time do you think it is to say such nonsense?”

Director Kwon shouted with a reddened face.

[You clearly said ‘early morning’ yesterday, but you didn’t specify an exact time. It’s not even 9 o’clock yet, so it’s still early morning, isn’t it?]

Unlike the agitated Director Kwon, Yuri replied in a calm, settled voice.

“What?”

[What time does the interim board meeting start?]

“10 o’clock.”

[Don’t worry. I’ll be there before then.]

“You definitely switched it with the fake ledger, right?”

[Yes. The real one is in my bag now.]

“Alright, hurry up and come.”

After hanging up, Director Kwon stood up and paced back and forth in his office.

He didn’t know why his heart was pounding even though there was no need to be anxious at all. If the ledger had already been switched, what Jeho had now should be fake….

Still, it seemed his mind wouldn’t be at ease until he received the real one and burned it himself.

Director Kwon looked at the clock on the wall with an impatient expression.

The clock hands were already pointing to 8:55.

[This is the timeline separator]

After ending the call with Director Kwon, Yuri called Jeho again. She had been trying to call since leaving the house, but it went straight to voicemail as if his phone was turned off. Of course, he hadn’t checked her messages either.

“Please answer the phone!”

Despite several attempts, the call still didn’t connect by the time she arrived at the KG Group headquarters building.

With no other choice, Yuri parked her car in the underground parking lot and headed for the lobby. As Yuri approached the front desk, an employee bowed her head with a gentle smile.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m here to see Director Kwon Woosik. Please tell him ‘Chae Yuri’ is here.”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

After contacting the secretary’s office to confirm the appointment, the employee guided Yuri to the entrance gate. As the employee turned to go back to the front desk after guiding Yuri through the gate, Yuri called out to stop her.

“Excuse me, where did you say today’s interim board meeting is being held? I heard but forgot….”

“It’s in the 11th floor conference room.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Yuri quickly got on the elevator and pressed for the 11th floor instead of the 38th floor where Director Kwon’s office was located.

The range of choices available to her now was very narrow. She could either keep trying to call, or wait for Jeho in front of the meeting room.

Considering the chances of success, the latter option seemed to carry more weight. She planned to hand over the real ledger as soon as Jeho appeared.

“Haa.”

Yuri let out a low sigh as she watched the floor lights going up.

What expression will he make when I hand him the ledger?

Due to the urgency of the situation, she hadn’t thought that far.

Will he be surprised that she found out about his intentional approach? Or will he be shocked by the fact that she had betrayed him and sided with Director Kwon?

Either way, it was certain that her relationship with him would end today. She had never imagined such an ending, but she had no choice in this either.

Yuri smiled bitterly as she took out her phone from her bag. Just as the display changed to 9:28, the elevator doors opened.

Perhaps it was still early, but the conference room was empty. As she looked around, Yuri moved towards the emergency stairs at the end of the corridor.

It was a position where she could see the entrance to the conference room through the glass window of the door, so she planned to hide there and wait for Jeho.

How much time had passed?

People attending the board meeting began to appear one by one. However, Jeho was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, the phone in her hand started ringing loudly.

It was a call from Director Kwon. He seemed to be calling to check what was going on, having been notified that she was in the lobby but still hadn’t come up.

Considering whether to turn it off completely, Yuri switched it to vibrate mode in case Jeho might call.

Just as the repeated calls finally quieted down, Jeho finally appeared.

He was slowly heading towards the conference room, talking with an elderly-looking man with graying hair.

Ah, thank goodness.

I can undo things before it’s too late!

Yuri quickly opened the emergency door and stepped into the corridor. However, before she could take more than a few steps, she was blocked by employees in black suits.

“I’m not trying to enter the conference room. I just…”

“The Director is waiting for you.”

She thought they were staff preparing for the emergency board meeting, but it seems they were Director Kwon’s people.

Surprised, Yuri tried to quickly dodge, but ended up being caught by them. Just as she was about to call out loudly for Jeho, one of them covered her mouth with his hand.

It happened so suddenly that no one had a chance to notice the commotion at the end of the corridor.

The men dragged Yuri not to Director Kwon’s office, but to a dark and secluded room. As they entered the room, she saw Director Kwon leaning against the window, smoking a cigarette with a serious expression.

“If you came, you should have come up right away, making people worry!”

Director Kwon shouted with a very angry face as he approached Yuri.

“Ah, never mind. Hurry up and hand over the ledger.”

With an impatient face, he held out his hand, but when Yuri didn’t produce the ledger, he nodded to the men to give instructions.

“Search her.”

The men forcibly took her bag and emptied its contents onto the floor. As the ledger fell to the floor, Director Kwon’s eyes flashed.

Director Kwon quickly picked up the ledger and skimmed through it as if to confirm it was real.

“Phew.”

A moment later, a sigh of relief escaped Director Kwon’s lips. He lit the lighter he was holding with a vicious smile and set fire to the ledger. Almost simultaneously, he threw the ledger into the prepared metal trash can.

Director Kwon watched until it was completely burned, and only after confirming it had turned to ashes did he turn to Yuri.

“Ungrateful X.”

Spitting out harsh words between his teeth, Director Kwon slapped Yuri’s cheek with force. The impact was so great that Yuri fell to the ground without even being able to scream.

“I gave you a chance out of pity, but you try to ruin things at the last minute!”

Her lip was split and bleeding from how hard she was hit. Her face was burning so much she couldn’t even open her mouth, and she tasted the metallic blood inside.

But that didn’t mean she could just stay still. Yuri looked up at Director Kwon, holding her red and swollen cheek.

“…Do you know that Vice Chairman Kwon is in a coma right now?”

“My brother?”

At first, he seemed to flinch as if surprised. But soon he shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“I knew he had a traffic accident, but I didn’t know it was that serious. Ah, but you know what? My brother is no longer the Vice Chairman. It’s been a while since he was kicked out of the company, what Vice Chairman?”

How can he be so… when his own brother has fallen into a coma?

Yuri was left speechless at Director Kwon’s reaction. He knelt down on one knee, meeting Yuri’s gaze.

“You tried to ruin everything at the last minute, but I’ll keep my promise. I’m a fair person, you see.”

After finishing his words, he took out the paternity test and tore it to pieces in front of Yuri.

“There are no copies, so don’t worry. You’ll be able to live comfortably for a while. Ah, why only for a while, you ask?”

Slowly rising to his feet, Director Kwon grinned, baring his teeth.

“The person who provided the information realized this could be worth money. They’ll probably sell it to someone else soon. I don’t know exactly when that will be. You can tell your father if you want. With Congressman Chae’s information network, he’ll probably find out who it is soon enough.”

Yuri forcibly swallowed the words she wanted to throw back at him.

The real ledger had been burned, and all she could do now was to escape from here as soon as possible and let Jeho know that the ledger had been switched. To do that, she would need to show a submissive attitude.

“Just in case, we’ll hold onto this until the board meeting is over.”

Director Kwon picked up Yuri’s phone from the floor and left the room with a cruel smile.

“Keep her here until the board meeting is over.”

After giving his instructions, Director Kwon hurried towards the conference room where the board meeting was to be held. Although he was unintentionally late for the board meeting, his heart felt as light as if it could fly.

However, the moment he entered the conference room, everything changed 180 degrees.

“What is this!”

Director Kwon’s face contorted at the completely unexpected situation.

“You’re late. Please come and sit down.”

Jeho, standing in front of the screen, turned towards Director Kwon with a bright smile.

“Now the real start begins.”