As the maid placed a cup of lukewarm barley tea on the table, Eun Chae asked.

“Where is Mrs. Haman?”

Eun Chae lightly speculated that the chairman must have given her a temporary leave for some dissatisfaction.

“Well…. as far as I know, she quit.”

Eun Chae froze in the act of sipping her tea.

“……When?”

“I’m not quite sure….”

The housemaid fumbled her words, clearly uncomfortable.

Of course. She was employed by the chairman and couldn’t speak freely.

Eun Chae didn’t press further and nodded understandingly. The maid repeatedly thanked her and turned around, heading to the stove.

Eun Chae’s face lost its color as she heard the sounds of cooking.

She quit. Just like that, so suddenly.
Caught off guard, Eun Chae pretended to be unaffected and straightened up. She picked up her spoon, barely noticing the food served by the housemaid. The rice felt like grains of sand, and the soup like plain water.

With a clack, she put down her spoon and stood up abruptly.

Hoping someone knew something, she hurried out of the dining room and made her way to the break area for the resident staff, a corner of the house she had never visited before.

Muffled chatter leaked through the slightly open door.

“The lady probably doesn’t know yet that Mrs. Haman was driven out like that.”

“Don’t mention anything until the chairman does. Act like you’re dead, just don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

“She used to be a nanny, right? After her mom passed away, she was like a mother to her… It’s sad… Isn’t the chairman a bit too harsh? To dismiss the matriarch of this house overnight…”

“That’s why we have to be careful. We shouldn’t even step into the greenhouse! If Mrs. Haman can be dismissed, what about us?”

Overhearing this, Eun Chae barely managed to hold herself together. She left before being noticed, her head spinning.

Memories of Mrs. Haman flooded her mind – the dining room where she bustled about, the living room she’d wait in during school pick-up times, the stairs she’d lead her up when she was sick.

The clumsy hands that braided her hair, the warm smile as she handed her a lunch box, the comforting shoulder by her side during her mother’s funeral.

Who really should be leaving this house?

Biting her lip, Eun Chae glared at the study. Without a plan, her body moved on its own. She grabbed the doorknob, flung open the door with all her might, making a loud bang as it hit the wall.

Inside, Chairman Song Myung Hwan and Kwon Ki Joo looked up, startled by her entrance. Eun Chae, oblivious to Ki Joo’s presence, glared straight at the chairman.

Thinking he had tamed her temper, the chairman waved dismissively, “I’m in the middle of something. Whatever it is, get out.”

Eun Chae, breathing heavily, demanded, “Did you fire Mrs. Haman?”

Flipping through a stack of documents, the chairman replied, “Yes. If that’s all you came for, leave before I make you…”

Eun Chae, filled with anger, marched forward and swept the documents off the desk, scattering them into the air. Not satisfied, she grabbed the open laptop and threw it to the floor, defiantly lifting her chin.

“Now you have nothing left to do, right?”

The fluttering papers slowly landed on the chairman’s shoulders and chest, then slid down. Infuriated, he snatched them away and yelled.

“What do you think you’re…!”

“Did you really kick her out?!”
Eun Chae’s voice cracked with suppressed rage, revealing an emotional intensity rarely seen from her. Chairman Song Myung Hwan narrowed his eyes slightly, surprised by her outburst.

“Making a fuss over nothing,” he dismissed.

Eun Chae felt as if the last thread of her restraint snapped at his indifferent attitude.

“She has been in this house… longer than you. And you just throw her out? By what right?”

Her words were accented with such force that her teeth almost clattered together.

The chairman’s composure shifted completely at her blunt accusation. He spoke in a chillingly low tone, “What did you just say to me?”

“Are you deaf?” she retorted defiantly.

Instead of being intimidated by the chairman’s rising fury, Eun Chae’s voice grew louder. “If the temple doesn’t suit the monk, it’s the monk who must leave.”

“…”

“If you’re dissatisfied, why don’t you leave, Chairman!”

Before Song Myung Hwan’s intrusion, the house had been peaceful. In less than a decade, he had turned everything upside down.

Eun Chae didn’t know what her words would bring, but she didn’t hold back, filled with deep-seated doubts, anger, and resentment.

The chairman approached her menacingly. Eun Chae’s gaze didn’t waver, even as his thick hand loomed over her, ready to strike.

Whether it was pride or recklessness, she didn’t care. She defiantly offered her cheek as his hand neared.

At that critical moment, her eyes flickered. Kwon Ki Joo had intervened, grabbing the chairman’s shoulder and blocking his path.

He confronted the chairman with an incredulously calm voice, “Chairman.”

It was a remarkably polite tone.

Realizing his undignified behavior, especially in front of Ki Joo, whom he highly regarded, the chairman’s face reddened with embarrassment.

“I’ll take her out,” Ki Joo stated.

“Ah, yes. That would be best.”

Furious at Ki Joo’s composed demeanor, Eun Chae glared at the back of his shiny head, feeling betrayed by his calmness.

Leaving him behind, she stormed out first. As she stomped up the stairs, Ki Joo calmly bowed to the chairman and then turned to follow.

Eun Chae was already ascending the stairs, each step echoing her anger. Ki Joo remained composed, even as he listened to the fading sound of her footsteps.