She was a mistress.

She had lived her entire life as Chairman Han’s mistress. It was a fact everyone knew but no one was allowed to speak of. Ba Ha’s mother, Seol Ah, was Chairman Han’s hidden woman.

‘Mom, why can’t I call him Dad? Does that mean I don’t have a father?’

She loved him.

Seol Ah loved Chairman Han. She loved the man who was dragging her into a pit. She loved him even though the price of this love was that even the child she bore had to live in hiding.

She was a foolish woman who knew neither how not to love him nor how to leave him.

‘Will you come, dear? So when exactly is… this next time you speak of?’

She withered away.

Day by day, Seol Ah withered away as she waited for Chairman Han, only staring out the window.

When she grew weary of waiting for him who never came, she couldn’t bear to let go when he finally visited once in a while. Thus, Seol Ah, who had withered away waiting only for him, turned to dust, leaving behind young Ba Ha.

Han Young Ho.

He was Ba Ha’s father and the owner of Taesan Group, who built the company. Chairman Han was a man with a sharpness and coldness different from Ba Ha’s, one who would use any means necessary to accomplish what he set his mind to.

“Let’s go.”

Chairman Han, showing no expression, spoke to young Ba Ha, who was crying endlessly after losing her mother.

Without a single word of gentle comfort.

Just in a blunt tone.

And so young Ba Ha, having bid farewell to her mother, followed Chairman Han whom she had barely ever seen. Ba Ha hesitated when she saw the large door that appeared as his footsteps stopped.

As if predicting her own future, Ba Ha tightly closed her eyes at the intimidating presence of the large door, swallowed hard, and with heavy steps crossed the threshold of the Taesan family home for the first time.

“You’ve arrived, Chairman.”

The moment she crossed the threshold of the Taesan house, Ba Ha wanted to run away from the gazes of Chairman Han’s family members and the household employees inside.

She just wanted to return to that small, secluded, but warm house where she had lived alone with her mother, rather than this spacious mansion.

“Is… that her? Song Seol Ah, that woman’s daughter?”

Kim Mi Ran.

A woman with a beautiful face, furrowing her brow and nodding towards Ba Ha. A woman openly displaying hostility towards Ba Ha whom she was seeing for the first time.

She was the true mistress and owner of this household.

Ba Ha flinched at hearing her mother’s name from Mi Ran’s lips.

“Greet them.”

Surrounded by people she had never seen before and those who visibly disliked her, young Ba Ha trembled, her small body shaking with tension and fear, while Chairman Han paid no attention to her state.

“From now on, she’s your mother.”

A mother, he said.

Barely a week had passed since her real mother, Seol Ah, had died, and young Ba Ha was given a new mother.

One who, upon first seeing her, immediately disliked her immensely.

“Who are you calling her mother? How unlucky, she looks exactly like that woman! Don’t you think you’re being too much to me…?”

“Ah, hello. I’m Han Ba Ha.”

“What…?”

Though Ba Ha was still just an elementary school student, though she hadn’t lived many years, in the time she had lived, she had painfully realized and understood that she was the child of a mistress, a being who should not have been born. Someone who, having somehow been born and seen the world, became a troublesome existence now that her mother, who had been a mistress, had died.

Ba Ha was someone who could never reveal herself outside, and thus became the hidden daughter of Taesan.

“Hello, young miss. I’m Driver Lee. This is my son, Han.”

“He… llo.”

The daughter of a mistress and the son of a household employee in this grand house.

That was our relationship and

That was our first meeting.

“What… on earth are you saying? Let’s just eat. We’ll talk after eating.”

It wasn’t just because she was tired.

Ba Ha, who had been jumping with excitement at the thought of seeing Lee Han, now began to notice that Lee Han, who had been sitting silently, was different from his usual self.

“…”

“…”

She was scared.

A heavy silence fell over the house, and Ba Ha couldn’t say anything. Because Lee Han had never once spoken of breaking up, not even as a joke or in anger, she was afraid to meet his eyes and exchange words with him.

If she looked into his eyes, she would surely realize that what Lee Han was saying now was sincere.

“Han Ba Ha, look at me.”

“No… I don’t want to.”

Ba Ha’s throat began to tighten at his firm tone calling her name. She lowered her head, trying not to meet his eyes, and her fingertips began to tremble.

At the unbelievable breakup announcement, she hid her trembling hands under the table and clasped them tightly, trying to stop the shaking.

“Ba Ha. Look at me.”

“I don’t want to. I said… I don’t want to!”

“…”

“I don’t understand why you’re suddenly acting like this. Is that all it takes for us to break up, just you saying ‘let’s break up’? Without any reason! Any explanation! Nothing at all, just those words ‘let’s break up’ and we’re over? Is that how it is?”

Ba Ha, not wanting to meet his eyes that kept trying to make contact, suddenly stood up and spoke with her back to him.

“I don’t want to break up. So… you need to think about this again.”

She spoke, trying her best to suppress her trembling voice as waves of excitement washed over her. Still with her back to him, Ba Ha’s nose began to sting, and her eyes reddened, starting to fill with tears.

“There will be an article tomorrow.”

“An… article? What kind of article?”

Ba Ha turned to look at him in surprise at his sudden mention of an article, after abruptly talking about breaking up.

She looked at him with eyes full of tears, ready to fall at any moment.

“A scandal.”

The reason for breaking up that Lee Han was talking about meant nothing to Ba Ha. Having lived as the long-time lover of a celebrity, a scandal wasn’t enough of a reason for Ba Ha to break up with him, so it was fine.

Ba Ha finally wiped away the overflowing tears with one hand and gave him a bitter smile.

“A… scandal? Just because of that? It’s not like it’s the first or second time celebrities have scandals that aren’t even true…”

“It’s true.”

It was a look she had never seen before.

His eyes, as he said it was true, were empty. They looked at Ba Ha, who was crying endlessly, with eyes that seemed devoid of any affection, love, or any emotion towards her.

“You’re lying.”

She couldn’t believe it.

Lee Han had never once made Ba Ha feel insecure. Even when surrounded by beautiful women, he had always had eyes only for Ba Ha.

For such a Lee Han to have an affair.

It was impossible.

“…”

Lee Han remained silent, just looking at her. Waiting for Ba Ha, who was trembling with her delicate body, to calm down.

“Oppa, you and I have been dating for 7 years. And the reason for breaking up is just a scandal? Moreover, you say that scandal is true? Don’t I know you? I know it’s a lie. Come up with… a more plausible excuse. So…”

Please tell me it’s a joke.

She didn’t want to accept his words that it was true. Once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop, and Ba Ha looked at him with shaking eyes, tears falling drop by drop.

“It’s not just a scandal. I told you. It’s true.”

“…”

“Hah… I came to sort things out before the article comes out tomorrow.”

“Sort things out? You mean sort out me, not that woman? Who is she? Who is she, I’m asking!”

At the word ‘sort out’, her voice, which she had tried to keep calm, rose again, and Ba Ha cried out towards him. The look in her eyes as she gazed at him was changing from love to resentment and anger.

“Cha Hi Ra. Surely you’re not going to ask who Cha Hi Ra is.”

Cha Hi Ra.

An actress with the title of granddaughter of the KH Group, and the female lead who worked with Lee Han in this recent project. A slender body with a cute yet pretty face. Elegance flowing beneath her youthfulness. And a solid background to back it all up. She was a rising new star who appeared on TV whenever you turned it on these days.

“How can we break up? What about all the time we’ve spent together? It’s not just 7 years for us…! How we’ve loved each other all this time! How we’ve come this far!”

She thought it would last forever.

He was Ba Ha’s first love. From the moment she set foot in the Taesan house until now. He had shared almost all of Ba Ha’s time, and they had been together for 7 years. He was the only person Ba Ha could lean on.

To Ba Ha, Lee Han was a person greater than any other existence.

“I… love you.”

She loved him more passionately than anyone else.

That passionate love.

The love she thought would last forever.

Was coming to an end with his unilateral declaration of breaking up.

“…”

“Can you… live without seeing me?”

“Yes. I can live without you.”

Ba Ha, who had been crying and shouting, collapsed onto the floor without saying a word upon hearing Lee Han’s cold words. The room was filled only with the sound of her crying, drowning out any other noise.

“Can’t you… reconsider?”

She wanted to hold on.

Ba Ha looked at him and asked, as if grasping at the last straw.

If he would change his mind and come back now, no, if he would just come back, Ba Ha wouldn’t care about the wound he had just inflicted.

It would be okay.

So please come back. Please.

“That won’t happen. I’m leaving.”

She cried endlessly.

Ba Ha stared at the door Lee Han had left through for a long time, shedding tears. How long had she cried? Ba Ha looked at the table she had set, dreaming of a happy dinner with him, with eyes tired from crying.

“Hic…”

Ba Ha wiped away the endlessly flowing tears and began to eat the meal she had prepared. As she ate each bite, despite the tears welling up again, Ba Ha forced herself to swallow the food.

It felt like if she ate this cold food, Lee Han would come back, opening the door with a bright smile, saying “Am I too late? I’m sorry.”

It felt like he would come back and hug her tight, saying he was sorry.

“Ugh.”

She had waited all day for this moment.

For a warm dinner together with him.

For the evening hours whispering love and exchanging glances with him.

Ba Ha vomited into the toilet bowl the meal she had prepared with such happy expectations.

“Hic… No! I don’t want this! How can you suddenly do this…”