“Do you know how hard it is with Mom going through menopause these days? Why are you like this too?”

Jae Hyuk found it awkward to deal with his mother, who had become increasingly emotional lately. He knew it wasn’t because she was ‘menopausal’.

If it were really due to ‘menopause’ as his mother claimed, he would have naturally understood as a son, and thought he should understand.

But both she herself and Jae Hyuk knew that the cause of her hysteria wasn’t due to physical changes.

“Now Chairman Min is making a fuss about not having the department store. You know how desperately your father wanted the LW department store merger, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Then you shouldn’t be like this!”

“Please sit down first. It’s hard to look up at you.”

At her son’s impassive words, Lady Jung finally sat down on the sofa.

“Go see Chairman Min and tell him you’ll proceed well with the marriage.”

“Why should I do that?”

“I told you, are you going to let the department store deal fall through like this?”

“If I don’t have that much power, I should step down from the vice chairman position.”

“What?”

Lady Jung’s face contorted.

“Is that something you should say?”

His eyes flashed as he looked at her.

“If I don’t have the power to accomplish even that much and have to rely on a woman’s strength, shouldn’t I give up this position?”

“Are you really going to be like this?”

Lady Jung stood up abruptly, unable to contain her anger even after sitting for less than a minute. She pointed at him.

“You’re not even a teenager anymore, why are you like this? Don’t you know how I raised you despite my small mistakes?”

“That’s what I want to say. Mother, why are you acting like this? Don’t you trust me? And I’ll handle the department store issue myself. I’ll fulfill Father’s dream with my own strength, without needing help from others.”

“How will you do that! When Chairman Min is so adamantly refusing, what will you do?”

The reason Lady Jung had become so emotional was all because of A Rin. She couldn’t stand to see her son living alone because of a mere driver’s daughter who was far below his level.

No matter how pretty or qualified a woman she presented, Jae Hyuk stubbornly refused. As Lady Jung kept insisting and Jae Hyuk kept refusing, their relationship had completely soured in this vicious cycle.

Moreover, Lady Jung had imposed various things on Jae Hyuk since childhood as the heir to the VAN Group, one of which was not showing his emotions.

He was trained that clumsy expressions of emotion could give others a weakness to exploit, so someone who would lead the VAN Group should never reveal their true feelings in any situation.

That’s why. Jae Hyuk was uncomfortable with people who pushed emotionally. Even if the other person approached showing their true feelings, he couldn’t act the way they wanted.

So he was uncomfortable with the current Lady Jung, who was behaving completely differently from what she herself had said in the past.

‘No matter the situation, you’ve changed too much.’

“Are you really Ban Jae Hyuk? Are you really the son I gave birth to? You seem like a different person these days, Mom. It’s like your soul has been switched.”

Lady Jung said irritably. The words she just said were exactly what Jae Hyuk wanted to say to her.

“Marry Yu Jin. If you don’t, Mom will die.”

“Mother!”

Jae Hyuk had never felt his mother so unfamiliar as he did these days. Now he had no affection left for his mother at all.

His affection for his mother began to crumble from the moment he learned that she had betrayed Chairman Ban and committed adultery.

His trust in his mother fell more and more, and after learning that his mother had tormented A Rin and urged her to leave, he even developed feelings of distrust.

This was the reason Jae Hyuk had changed from an obedient son to a disobedient son who no longer trusted his mother at all.

“I am your son, Ban Jae Hyuk. The only son of Chairman Ban Ho Jun of the world-renowned VAN Group. And to be clear, it’s the LW Group that will be at a disadvantage. I’ll make it so.”

“Am I doing this for my own good? I’m saying all this for your sake. And I’m not just doing this because of the department store. How long are you going to live like this because of Choi A Rin?”

“I’ve told you clearly. There won’t be anyone by my side now or in the future. So, Mother, please give up.”

Lady Jung trembled with rage as she watched Jae Hyuk, who didn’t yield to any of her threats. Filled with anger, she shook.

“What does Yu Jin lack compared to Choi A Rin? What’s so good about that wench that you’re doing this? Why on earth are you!”

It was the same conversation like a broken record every time. He felt like he was talking to a wall when conversing with his mother.

Unable to bear it any longer, he stood up. He looked down at Lady Jung and said,

“I warned you not to mention that.”

“Ban Jae Hyuk.”

“I’ll have someone escort you out.”

“You!”

“Mother. Please don’t do this. I told you, don’t make me truly reject you. I want Father to wake up and for you to be by his side. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”

Jae Hyuk stared straight into his mother’s eyes.

Lady Jung felt the unspoken pressure and couldn’t open her mouth.

Jae Hyuk opened the office door and said to his secretary,

“She’s leaving, so escort her down and come back. Chief Han, come in.”

At Jae Hyuk’s words, Chief Han nodded to the youngest member in the secretarial office, and the junior secretary stood up quickly.

“Yes, understood.”

Jae Hyuk turned his gaze to Lady Jung. Lady Jung also knew there was no point in staying any longer. But she was too upset to leave like this.

When Lady Jung didn’t move, Jae Hyuk said in a firm voice,

“Escort her.”

“Yes.”

Finally, Lady Jung stood up. But she glared at her son until the moment she left.

“Take care on your way home.”

“……”

Lady Jung had no reply.

Jae Hyuk pressed his temples as he watched his mother’s trembling back until she disappeared.

After watching his mother’s figure disappear, he closed the office door.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”

A sigh escaped Jae Hyuk. As he pressed his temples, Chief Han asked,

“Shall I bring you some medicine?”

“It’s fine. Let’s continue our conversation.”

It felt like a storm had just passed through. His head ached all day that day.

That same afternoon.

On the first floor of Memoria Yeonnam branch after closing, only A Rin and Chul Yong remained.

“Good work today too, Chul Yong. I’ll do it. You can go home now.”

At her words, Chul Yong, who was wiping tables, said,

“I’ll just finish wiping this.”

“Thank you until the end.”

“It’s nothing, oh right! Yu Hyun hyung came back earlier and is in the basement workshop.”

“Oppa came back?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Um, Boss.”

“Yes?”

“Did something happen between you and hyung?”

Since yesterday, for some reason, Yu Hyun’s mood hadn’t been good.

“No? There was nothing like that.”

At A Rin’s answer, Chul Yong scratched his head.

“When did he come?”

“Ah, well.”

Chul Yong, unable to understand why Yu Hyun was in a bad mood when he hadn’t fought with A Rin, answered her question still unconvinced,

“He went straight down to the basement saying he was going there when you left for the flower shop earlier.”

“Ah……”

“And Soo Han said he was going to meet the flour boss.”

“I see. Thank you.”

A Rin forced a smile, pretending to be okay. Chul Yong looked at her for a moment, then started wiping the tables again.

“I’m done.”

Chul Yong threw away the disposable cloth after wiping all the tables in the store.

“Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll head out first.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow. Good work.”

“See you tomorrow, Boss.”

As Chul Yong opened the door and left, A Rin sat on the counter chair and organized the card statements.

‘He said he’d give an answer by tomorrow……’

A Rin’s mind was filled with thoughts of Jae Hyuk. The day she was supposed to give him an answer was approaching relentlessly fast.

‘Contract dating… That’s ridiculous, how could oppa and I do contract dating.’

But while she thought rejecting the proposal was obviously the right thing to do, whenever she tried to actually contact him to refuse, the words wouldn’t come out.

Just then, the bell on the shop door rang. A Rin looked up at the door and said,

“Did you forget something?”

She thought Chul Yong, who said he was going home, had come back. But what entered her sight was someone she absolutely didn’t want to encounter.

“You, let’s talk for a bit.”

The person who opened the shop door and came in was none other than Lady Jung.

“How did you come here?”

Tension washed over her. A Rin tried to look at Lady Jung with cold eyes.

“Is this somewhere I can’t come?”

“You shouldn’t come here, ma’am. Why did you come looking for me?”

She decided she wouldn’t be pushed around by Lady Jung anymore. Of course, like Pavlov’s dog, past wounds had made her a coward. But A Rin steeled herself.

‘You can’t treat me however you want like before!’

Whenever she felt overwhelmed by fear, she reminded herself that Lady Jung was just a person too. It was different from the times when she was helplessly pushed around with no one to help her. She repeatedly steeled her heart.

A Rin stared straight into Lady Jung’s eyes without avoiding her gaze.

Did she notice the change in her? Lady Jung’s face suddenly contorted as she watched.

“You impudent thing!”

Lady Jung clicked her tongue at A Rin with all her might. She was irritated by A Rin’s arrogant attitude. Like Yun Kyung Sook, she thought A Rin was just one of the dogs she controlled.

So naturally, Lady Jung didn’t like A Rin’s change. She pondered how to train a dog that talked back and acted so boldly.

“Sit down. I don’t want to look at your face for long either.”

Lady Jung took up a corner of the shop before A Rin’s permission came.

“I’m not leaving the shop until I’ve said everything I have to say. If you want me to leave, don’t resist and sit down to listen to me now.”

“Don’t be unreasonable.”

“You’ll find out whether it’s unreasonable or not if you experience it.”

“This is obstruction of business.”

“I’m Jung Hyo Eon of the VAN Group. Do you think a mere police officer can arrest me for obstruction of business?”

Lady Jung glared at A Rin as she spoke.

‘She’s really a selfish person.’

She had the strength to forcibly remove her, but she couldn’t do that.

Given Lady Jung’s personality, she was a woman who would definitely keep her word.

She said she wouldn’t leave, so if A Rin tried to make her leave, a fight would surely break out.

So for now, it was better to listen to Lady Jung’s words than to insist she leave.

The only problem was that she didn’t want to do as Lady Jung said.