“Was it true when you said earlier that you had plans for a second child?”

Seo Yeon was the first to respond to Seok Hyun’s question.

“Yes. It’s true.”

“Hmm…”

Seok Hyun scrutinized Seo Yeon with a meaningful gaze. Thinking about it now, Seo Yeon wasn’t exactly the ideal granddaughter-in-law.

Her family had the audacity to stage a shameless fraud against Hankyung Group, cornering his most beloved grandson, and Seo Yeon herself had a long period of poor relations with his grandson.

Her frail physique, appearing so weak, also greatly irritated him.

However, if Seo Yeon were to bear Seong Jun’s child, such shortcomings could be overlooked to any extent.

Seok Hyun knew that Seong Jun had despised his father, who had complicated relationships with women, since childhood, and because of this, he was very skeptical about marriage.

Even without saying it, he could tell from his attitude. His grandson was the type to forgo marriage for the sake of work.

That’s why when he said he would marry of his own accord, Seok Hyun was inwardly pleased, thinking it was a stroke of luck, and hurried the marriage. Now, if they were to give him a great-grandchild as well, he couldn’t ask for anything more from the two of them.

“Chairman, the meal is ready.”

At Seok Hyun’s signal, the waiting staff hurried over. Then, the course meals prepared by the chefs were neatly and appetizingly arranged on the large dining table. Seo Yeon’s face showed puzzlement as she looked around the table.

‘Grandfather doesn’t eat spicy food.’

Especially as he got older, Seok Hyun, who had trouble digesting, preferred bland foods with little seasoning for health reasons.

The first-class chefs who had worked at Gyeongwonjae for a long time would certainly know this. So this must have been Seok Hyun’s instruction.

‘Could it be… Did he consider me?’

Seo Yeon stared at Seok Hyun with surprised eyes. She couldn’t believe that Seok Hyun, of all people, had shown consideration for her. After composing her expression, she slowly picked up her chopsticks.

The food was of such high quality that it could rival meals served in hotels. However, among the dishes that filled the table, many were spicy, salty, and had strong spices. Just as she had worried.

‘Is he alright?’

At a glance, Seok Hyun seemed no different than usual. But gradually his eating pace slowed, and after a while, he put down his chopsticks when he hadn’t even finished half of his rice bowl.

Despite frequently suffering from indigestion due to his weak digestive system, Seok Hyun didn’t prefer taking digestive medicine. For him, digestive aids not only lacked effectiveness but rather increased his discomfort. Not many people knew about this situation.

“Grandfather.”

Seo Yeon, who had been pondering, called out to him with a determined expression.

“What is it?”

“Are you having trouble digesting?”

Seok Hyun frowned. Aside from wondering how Seo Yeon knew about it, he was very displeased to show his weakness in front of his smug grandson.

It wasn’t just Seok Hyun who was surprised by Seo Yeon’s tactless remark. The nearby staff members became pale and fidgety.

“If it’s alright with you, may I give you a hand acupressure massage?”

However, seemingly oblivious to Seok Hyun’s displeased expression, Seo Yeon pulled her chair closer to him and started massaging his hand without waiting for permission.

Seok Hyun, who had been opening and closing his mouth in astonishment at this outrageous behavior, finally uttered a word.

“My, what an impudent thing I’m seeing.”

Seo Yeon smiled faintly at those words. It was something she had heard from Seok Hyun before.

When Seok Hyun collapsed, the doctor gave him a devastating terminal diagnosis shortly after. Unfortunately, Seong Jun had left for a long-term overseas business trip at that time.

Even then, Seo Yeon was in a precarious position, but she gathered her courage and visited Seok Hyun’s hospital room. Despite being an unacknowledged wife and granddaughter-in-law, she wanted to do something in her husband’s stead.

At that time, Seo Yeon saw Seok Hyun complaining to the medical staff that he felt unbearably uncomfortable in his stomach despite not having eaten anything.

Of course, with no food in his system, no medicine would work.

From then on, Seo Yeon visited Seok Hyun’s hospital room every day. And regardless of whether he spoke harshly or not, she kept him company until visiting hours ended, diligently giving him hand acupressure.

Whether that action helped or not, Seo Yeon couldn’t tell. She just wanted to do something for him.

Back then too, Seok Hyun had looked at Seo Yeon with that same bewildered expression and called her impudent in a gruff voice.

“How is it? It feels quite refreshing, doesn’t it?”

“Refreshing? Not at all.”

“Then I’ll massage more diligently. Please let me know if you feel uncomfortable.”

The staff members, who had been fidgeting as if something terrible was about to happen due to Seo Yeon’s audacious behavior, were surprised to see Seok Hyun silently allowing her actions, even though he clicked his tongue, seemingly not entirely displeased.

They rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

‘My goodness. What’s going on? Is that daughter-in-law not afraid of our Chairman?’

‘Why is the Chairman just sitting there?’

‘Is this a dream or reality?’

They didn’t say a word, but they could read the same message on each other’s faces as they looked at one another.

*

It was in the car on the way home. Seong Jun, who was starting the engine, suddenly turned his head and stared at Seo Yeon. Then, in a voice that seemed uncertain, he asked.

“What’s your ulterior motive? Have you suddenly become interested in management?”

Seo Yeon, who was momentarily dumbfounded by Seong Jun’s joke that wasn’t quite a joke, nodded and feigned innocence.

“That’s right. From today, I’m planning to jump into the succession battle for Hankyung Group. Seong Jun, you should be nervous. It’s not just that I like the elders, but the elders like me too.”

Seong Jun let out a hollow laugh.

“I didn’t know you were such an ambitious character.”

No. Perhaps he should say he didn’t know she was so bold. In Hankyung Group, Seok Hyun held a position akin to a king born in the era of monarchy, so his employees, as well as his children and grandchildren, were so cautious of his mood that they could barely even breathe properly.

Since he was a bulldozer who would restructure even carefully nurtured subsidiaries if he judged them useless, they had no choice but to be cautious.

Even people who didn’t particularly want anything financially from Seok Hyun were no different.

Everyone was intimidated by his fierce aura.

The only person who didn’t seem fazed by Seok Hyun’s difficult personality was himself. Ah, today another person joined that list. It was his wife.

Seong Jun was certain that his wife was probably the only person who could say everything she wanted to say without being intimidated, even when Seok Hyun glared at her as if testing her.

Meanwhile, Seo Yeon was lost in thought with a calm face.

‘Seong Jun’s words aren’t wrong.’

In the end, the reason she suffered humiliation in her past life was because she had no power.

Now she had a husband by her side to protect her, but if his feelings changed and he became indifferent to her again, not only her position but also the place of their future child would be in jeopardy.

So even if she couldn’t become a satisfactory granddaughter-in-law to Seok Hyun, she at least needed to become someone who didn’t irritate him.

‘I should see grandfather’s face more often than now.’

It was, so to speak, an insurance policy. Seo Yeon was surprised that she could think so calculatingly. She had developed an almost pathological aversion to lies and insincere things after experiencing her family’s change of heart.

But what she learned through many experiences in the past was that compared to the despair of not being able to protect and having to let go of loved ones, such things were nothing.

Ding.

Suddenly, a notification sound for a new message rang out.

-Why aren’t you responding to my messages?

It was that woman. Her husband’s lover. Seo Yeon fell into thought.

In her previous life, although the woman would curse at Seo Yeon as if venting her anger or urge her to break up with Seong Jun, there was always a pattern.

She would rage furiously but soon calm down. She had never sent consecutive messages like today.

-Don’t tell me you’re ignoring me right now?

Why was she suddenly acting differently? I haven’t done anything different to this woman…

“Who is it?”

As Seo Yeon was lost in thought, perplexed by the woman’s changed behavior, Seong Jun’s voice came from beside her.

“A friend?”

Startled by his voice, Seo Yeon quickly put her phone in her bag and said,

“Yes. That’s right. A friend.”

Trying to lie when she wasn’t used to it made her voice tremble somehow.

“You must have become really close in such a short time. Sending messages in the morning yesterday, and late in the evening today.”

Feeling a pang of guilt, Seo Yeon immediately shifted her gaze to check Seong Jun’s expression. However, contrary to her tension, he was turning the steering wheel with an expressionless face, as if he hadn’t noticed anything suspicious.

‘Phew…’

Seo Yeon let out a sigh of relief. After that, she found herself staring at her husband, as if his driving was somehow fascinating.

No. To be more honest, her husband’s handsome appearance had captured her gaze.

The black hair slightly covering his eyebrows, his high nose bridge and sharp jawline, and his intelligent eyes that complemented it all. A classic aura flowed from his entire body.

‘I guess that’s why women keep coming after him, because he’s so handsome.’

Somehow, she felt that her emotions on this issue were going in circles, repeating themselves. She had decided to let it go, but her heart wasn’t moving according to her resolution. Seo Yeon quickly averted her gaze from Seong Jun.