“Yes. He’s older than me, and he’s still my prospective fatherinlaw, so I add a ‘nim’ as a term of respect.”
“Then should I also not call you Ra Jin, but… daughterinlaw? Hahaha.”
“Welcome to the family. Then I will take my leave first.”
Ra Jin rose from her seat and bowed to the family members who were looking at me with dismayed eyes.

“I’ll be on my way. Please continue your conversation.”
“Hey, Ra, Ra Jin!”
Sook Young hastily chased after Ra Jin, who was heading for the entrance.

“You, if you leave like this, what are we supposed to do…!”
“I felt the same way just now, mother. When President Jo, who appeared out of nowhere, sat across from me.”
“Ra Jin, you can’t do this, you can’t! After all we’ve done for you…”
“How can a mother and father do this to me?”
The emotion in Ra Jin’s eyes was not anger or hatred, but emptiness and sadness.

“You knew very well. That I always tried my best to be in your good graces.”
Sook Young couldn’t argue with that.

“Don’t hold me back. Otherwise, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
With those words, Ra Jin walked out the door.

Although she pretended to be calm and held her body tense, she was actually on the verge of collapsing.

It seemed that she could never have a family in her life.

Those who have been abandoned since birth are not welcomed by anyone.

“……”
She felt like crying.

If she went home and was alone like this, she felt like she would eventually collapse.

So Ra Jin took out her cell phone and called Jae Heon.

His voice came on before the call connection sound lasted a few seconds.

Hello.
As his low and deep voice reached her, Ra Jin clenched the hand that held her cell phone.

Why… did her heart feel at ease?

Hello?
“……You picked up quickly.”
At her words, Jae Heon cleared his throat.

I was about to check a newly received email, so I picked it up in a rush.
At his unexpectedly quick excuse, Ra Jin quietly smiled.

It was strange. Just a moment ago, she felt like she was about to burst into tears.

To make her laugh even in a moment like this. He truly was an amazing man.

But what’s up?
Ra Jin, taking a deep breath, slowly started walking and said.

“I want to use my penalty.”
Penalty?
“I wish you would come and pick me up now.”
Now? Didn’t you go to your parents’ home?
“I would prefer if you didn’t ask why.”

The sound of Jae Heon taking a shallow breath echoed at her words.

Ra Jin bit her lip.

‘Is it troublesome for him?’
Well, of course it would be. He must be perplexed, being asked to come fetch her on a weekend, let alone on a day they were not even supposed to meet.

Even considering it as a penalty, it was a bit too much.

Ra Jin was about to suggest postponing it to a later time if he was busy.

“What is it… Ah, you asked me not to ask.”
Muttering, he seemed to make up his mind and opened his mouth.

“Where is it.”
“Are you really coming?”
Jae Heon exhaled a short breath as if he was at a loss.

Wasn’t it Ra Jin who just asked me to come fetch her…?
Jae Heon, who barely avoided calling her ‘Secretary Sa’, gave a dry cough.

“It’s a pity. If you called me Secretary Sa, it would have been a way to avoid the penalty.”
You think I would make the same mistake twice? Anyway, wait a bit. I will send you the address via message.
“…Thank you.”
Don’t go anywhere else, stay right there. If I have to look for you more than a minute, it’s my penalty too.
With such a reasonable answer, Ra Jin wore a faint smile again.

As soon as she hung up, she sent Jae Heon her location through a message, and someone from behind called her.

“Hey, Sa Ra Jin!”
When she turned around, Yu Jin was huffing and puffing, running towards her.

“Why?”
“What? Why? Are you really asking me why now?”
“Then should I say it with my eyes instead of my mouth?”
At home, and now as well.

Yu Jin couldn’t believe it.

Ra Jin, who always used to yield and sacrifice for her, was now staring right back at her and repelling her words like this.

“Have you gone crazy?”
“Wouldn’t I go crazy if I were you? I thought I was having dinner, but it turned out to be a place where I was being sold?”
It wasn’t a wrong claim, which made Yu Jin pause for a moment, but she soon started to flare up again.

“So, so you’re selling off your younger sister? How could you do this to us after all we’ve done for you!”
“So I paid back the favor. I got you married to a rich man and ensured father’s company was safe. What’s the problem?”
“What, what? What’s the problem? You call this talking?”
“If you don’t want to listen, should I start cursing?”
“Ha! How did you tolerate this rudeness all this time?”
Ra Jin chuckled.

“That’s right. I wonder how I tolerated it. No, why did I tolerate it when in the end I was going to be…”
Abandoned.

Swallowing those words, Ra Jin stared at the woman who had once been her sister with a look of contempt.

“You should know, too. With your ability and will, it’s hard to get a proper job. So make your choice. Whether to get married, or to hang on to something as if your life depends on it.”
“Hey!”
Yu Jin rushed at her, grabbing her collar.

“Sa Yu Jin, won’t you let it go?”
“No, I won’t let it go, I can’t let it go! You can’t just throw crap at our family and escape cleanly… Ahh!”
Ra Jin forcefully pushed Yu Jin. Yu Jin, who fell to the ground, was too surprised to cry.

“You, did you… push me just now?”
“The reason I’ve been looking after you until now was because I considered you as my younger sister, and because I thought you saw me as your older sister.”
Ra Jin looked down at Yu Jin with a cold gaze.

“You’ll be fine wearing the blouse you showed me earlier for your first date with President Jo.”

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