At first, Seungjoo openly showed his hostility toward Ji Yeonhwa, but soon he realized that he had to hide it. If he rebelled while the other side was playing the role of an affectionate stepmother, he would only appear to his father as a stubborn calf with horns on its buttocks.

In other words, he had no choice but to respond to acting with acting.

[Seungjoo, are you here? Come and have dinner.] [The food Mom made is the most delicious.]

For others, a place to relax after returning from the battlefield-like outside was home. However, for Seungjoo, home was the most intense battlefield. He couldn’t even let his guard down for a moment. He always had to wear a mask and act perfectly.

Otherwise, Ji Yeonhwa would immediately grab the tail and report it to his father.

Having an affair with his father was not something that bothered him. What he feared was being pushed out of the position of the heir.
Before my mother went missing, I heard her talking to a friend who visited our home.

[Even if we divorce, I’ll tightly hold onto the stocks until the end, and eventually, they’ll all be passed down to our Seungjoo. Daewon Group was raised by our dear father-in-law, so we can’t let it fall into the wrong hands.]

At that time, I didn’t know who that “wrong person” was, but later I realized it was about my stepbrother.

The problem arose because due to the declaration of my mother’s disappearance, most of her stocks, which were part of her inheritance, were inherited by my father, Chairman Kwon. Legally, Chairman Kwon, as the spouse, should inherit it in a 1.5 to 1 ratio with Seungjoo, his stepson. However, the issue was the enormous inheritance tax.

Since my mother was the major shareholder, an additional inheritance tax was applied, and Seungjoo had to pay an overwhelming 65% inheritance tax. Of course, being a minor, Seungjoo had no money to pay the taxes. Chairman Kwon paid the inheritance tax in cash and, in return, took the stocks.

In the end, most of the shares left by my mother ended up with my father. So, the succession struggle solely depended on my father.

My father’s favoritism was clearly directed towards my stepmother, Ji Yeonhwa, and her son, Seunghyun. From the beginning, my father always disliked Seungjoo, who left home with his mother when they separated. So, the one my father wanted as a successor was not Seungjoo but Seunghyun.

Nevertheless, for now, the reason Seungjoo was superficially treated as a successor was that my father was afraid of other people’s opinions.

The fact that Daewon Group originally belonged to my mother’s family was known nationwide. Everyone knew that Chairman Kwon, my father-in-law, was an adulterer and that he had taken a second wife after my mother went missing. There was no one who didn’t point fingers. Ironically, the stepmother’s nickname was ‘National Second.’

Under such circumstances, my father couldn’t dare consider making his originally illegitimate son the successor.

Of course, Seungjoo’s exceptional abilities were another reason. He knew that if he didn’t do his job properly, both his stepmother and father would eagerly attack that weak point at any time, like a beast targeting the most vulnerable part of its prey.

So, Seungjoo always worked relentlessly. He entered the top university as the top student and graduated with top honors. The same went for when he joined the company. From the beginning of his career and even after he took the position of the CEO, he was the first to arrive at work and the last to leave.

The intimidating and cold years passed like that. The boy who used to laugh and be cheerful gradually faded away, replaced by an expressionless and flawless man.

Forgetting how to smile.

Forgetting how to cry.

Forgetting how to express my thoughts and feelings.
In the midst of losing everything one by one, if there was one thing that Seungjoo clung to, it was his mother. Even after receiving the declaration of her disappearance and being legally declared deceased, Seungjoo didn’t believe that his mother had truly passed away. He was convinced that she would come back someday.

When that time came, he would show what he had achieved and proudly say, “Look, Mother, your son has worked so hard to hold this position.”

But the stern mother never gave him that opportunity…

Eventually, until the day Seungjoo returned with his mother’s ashes to his maternal grandparents’ side, he didn’t shed a single tear.

“Let’s go to Yeonsadong.”

On the way back from the mortuary, a word escaped his lips without him realizing it.

“Yes, sir.”

Even though he was surprised by his own words, the driver had already turned the car towards Yeonsadong.

Arriving at the house where he used to live with his mother, Seungjoo gently pushed the front door. He had visited a few times before, but the house was always locked because someone else was living there. However, today, as if it had been waiting, the door opened smoothly.

Stepping into the yard, it had been a whopping 13 years since Seungjoo had come this far. Standing in the middle of the yard, Seungjoo glanced around the house.

It was an old house to begin with, and since no repairs had ever been made, he expected it to be close to ruins by now. Surprisingly, the house looked very neat, perhaps because the tenant took good care of it. There didn’t seem to be much change from when he lived there. If there was any difference, it might be the large tree standing in the middle of the yard.

“…….”

Seungjoo sat on the doorstep, gazing endlessly at the door. It felt as if his mother would call out to him and walk in at any moment. Although he knew very well that his mother had already become a handful of ashes in a jar, he couldn’t bring himself to get up from that spot.

As he sat there, staring at the door until sunset turned into night, the door opened, and a woman entered.