episode_0066

“So, you confirmed she left for the airport?”

“Yes, Miss Cha Soeun was seen boarding the plane with one executive assistant.”

“The destination is, obviously, Southeast Asia like the Philippines?”

“Because her husband mainly operates around that area. He often visits Singapore or Hong Kong for work, but the Philippines is his main stage. It seems he even has the police wrapped around his finger.”

My younger sister’s husband—my brother-in-law—is a notorious figure in Asia.

He runs several casinos, involving both the police and gangs, and launders this suspicious money of unknown origin, investing it further to swell his profits.

With the vast liquid funds circulating in the casinos, he’s bribed or influenced people everywhere, from the police to gangs, to build his own independent power.

He’s truly a big shot.

He’s so shady he’s called the “Black Tiger of Asia.”

“Then I guess I’ll be getting a death threat soon.”

“…It seems Miss Cha Soeun was very angry back then.”

“Hey, I’m the one who should be angry.”

Leaning back and settling into the CEO’s chair,

“She didn’t even manage her inherited assets properly, and then she suddenly burst in and pulled off some ridiculous stunt like a kidnapping.”

“Indeed… after her father’s funeral, she married and became much more arrogant, riding on her husband’s coattails.”

“Right, it’s a nuisance that arose because neither Dad nor Mom properly disciplined her.”

A smirk.

“So, instead of Dad, I’ll have to give her a proper education now.”

Even if I don’t know the details of her past, Cha Soeun must have grown up receiving the most affection among the family.

The youngest, who grew up soaking up love like a sponge.

The problem is that excessive favoritism completely spoiled Cha Soeun.

No matter how cute my younger sister is, if she continues like this, she’ll only lose her sense of fear.

This time, she needs proper discipline.

“So, as instructed, scrape together everything down to the very bottom within the deadline.”

“I am carrying out your orders… but since it’s a national asset, the procedure for collecting the targeted amount in physical form is quite complicated.”

She sighed heavily through her nose, as if the task was difficult,

“Moreover, does it absolutely have to be… in physical form?”

“That has an entirely different meaning from the amount of stock futures purchased. Furthermore, it’s highly likely that the value of physical assets and the value represented by numbers will diverge significantly in the future.”

“Understood.”

Woo Miae bowed her head, signifying she would no longer complain and would obey.

The work discussion ended there.

Naturally, he put his feet up on the desk.

As he pulled out his messenger app, completely sprawled out like a rice cake,

Mother-in-law: 「Was this photo not good…?」

Mother-in-law: 「You must be busy even for contact lately,

Mother-in-law: 「I won’t disturb you too much! Only contact me when you have time, son-in-law」

“……”

The sweet, adorable messenger exchanges with his mother-in-law.

That has now been paused for several days.

He wasn’t intentionally stalling to make her anxious; instead, he was gritting his teeth, repeatedly writing and deleting replies to keep his promise with Ahn Hayul.

The promise made at the restaurant not to contact her for a week.

Although it was an impromptu verbal promise made during a tense conversation, he grits his teeth and keeps a promise once made.

Because the other side held a significant weakness of his, and he didn’t want to needlessly turn his tiger-like ex-wife into an enemy again, creating an uncomfortable relationship.

‘Ha… still, when they tell me not to, it just makes me want to do it even more, it’s driving me crazy.’

When he closed his eyes tightly, his mother-in-law’s figure surfaced to the mind’s surface.

That night, when dopamine surged wildly.

From the beginning, he never played push-and-pull with his mother-in-law.

Until now, he had shown 100% pure devotion, unilaterally, to exploit the gap in her lonely heart, but now that this is happening, his own heart feels anxious.

He even suspected that Ahn Hayul might have actually aimed for this.

All sorts of anxious delusions came to mind, wondering if she intended to gain a week to separate them, but he pressed his thigh and endured.

“Is this another woman, Young Master?”

“Whoa!?”

As he was fretting over his phone, Woo Miae openly peered at it from the side.

It might be rude behavior for a secretary, but he took it as a sign that she had grown closer to him through this incident.

“Hehe, it’s the first time I’ve seen the Young Master, who usually gets things done so recklessly, suffering over a woman.”

“…This matter has various circumstances.”

“Haha, I don’t know what it is, but it seems difficult to resolve right now.”

She chuckled.

When he glared at her with narrowed eyes, she moved away, still with a hint of a smile.

“If you find it hard to endure and need my help, please call me.♥”

Woo Miae teased him to her heart’s content and then left quickly.

As she left, busy with the tasks he had just assigned, he leaned his head back in the now quiet CEO’s office.

‘Ha… just let a week pass, damn it.’

He resolved.

He repeatedly vowed that once this period of grace passed, he would thoroughly enjoy the meal his mother-in-law prepared for him at home.

* * *

“What brings us out shopping together?”

A shopping trip to the department store with her mother, where she even drove herself.

She even left behind her bodyguards and the executive assistant she always had trailing her, fearing they might be a nuisance.

A shopping trip to be enjoyed solely by mother and daughter.

However, even looking back herself, it felt like she had planned it too hastily, so she scratched her head vigorously.

“What’s strange about a daughter wanting to spend time with her mother?”

“Hmm, rather than strange, it’s just so out of the blue, and it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Because it’s been a long time… are you dissatisfied?”

For a moment, words she didn’t even mean slipped out.

To be honest, it was because the situation felt awkward.

Because going out into the city with her mother was such a distant past that she couldn’t even remember, a peevish tone, like that of a finicky middle school girl, burst out to ease the awkwardness.

“No, it’s just because I like it that much!”

Nevertheless, her mother smiled brightly at her.

“……You like it?”

“Of course I like it! Let’s see… I haven’t gone out with Hayul since you were in elementary school. Haha, you skipped grades early and matured quickly, didn’t you?”

“……”

A face showing 100% pure delight.

Not a lie or pretense, but genuine happiness brimming with expectation.

Moreover, perhaps it was just her imagination, but her mother, whom she saw properly for the first time in a long time, seemed to have become even more beautiful.

Not to boast because she was her mother, but truly a beauty that others would easily take for someone in her early thirties. A face that ninety-nine out of a hundred men would surely ogle.

…It seems she’s become prettier because she’s secretly meeting a man.

‘Moreover, she came out fully prepared and dressed up….’

What’s more, perhaps she’d recently developed an interest in dressing up, as her clothes were quite revealing.

Thanks to that outfit, her age seemed to drop into her twenties.

As she analyzed her mother, who looked perfect in her floral dress as if it were custom-made, her mother exuded a perfume scent and linked arms with her.

“Then, shall we go buy clothes for our daughter first!”

“Ah, no… Today we came to buy Mom’s clothes, didn’t we? I told you to swipe your card as much as you want, whether it’s for bags or anything else!”

“Mmm-hmm.”

A cuter whine than hers.

“I’d much rather our daughter dress nicely and presentably. Shall we go straight to the third floor?”

“……”

Saying that, her mother pulled her along.

Like someone meeting a friend after a long time, her mother took her wrist and walked forward, like a retriever vigorously wagging its tail.

“Oh, this hat is pretty! Shall we buy it right away?”

“No, you’ve been saying everything suits me since earlier… More importantly, choose your own clothes, Mom!”

Mother and daughter giggled, trying on hats alternately,

“Don’t you feel like department store food always lacks something whenever you eat it?”

“Well, restaurant quality has generally improved these days.”

They went to the underground food court corner and ate a meal together after a long time,

“When I was young, photo cards were popular too. Trends really do go in cycles, don’t they?”

“No, this is different. It’s called ‘Life Four Cuts,’ and if you set it up like this, you can even insert celebrity photos!”

“Oh my, it really feels like someone is right next to us!”

They even took photos, the last time they had done so was so long ago she couldn’t even remember.

Even as they laughed while looking at the four-cut photos that made them look like close sisters, her heart felt gloomy wondering when they had last taken a photo together.

“Hehe, when I’m out with Hayul, I don’t even notice how time flies.”

“…I know, right.”

Her mother, excited for an outing after a long time.

To that extent, everything was exactly as that bastard said.

She could easily see that her mother had been fighting loneliness by herself all this time.

‘……It makes me angry, but I also feel like I just got hit hard.’

Her mother was someone who married into the family with a significant financial disparity from the very beginning.

Naturally, the household operated under patriarchy, and her father exercised absolute power within the home, completely confining her mother to the kitchen in the old-fashioned way.

Her mother’s future was decided the moment she got married.

Of course, she gained immense financial wealth, but her father meticulously controlled even minor things like card usage.

Lest she entertain any other desires.

While he himself… was doing unspeakable things outside.

As a businesswoman who protected the company through countless crises, I respect my father.

But as a patriarch, even when I tried to view him favorably as a daughter, he was the worst.

Whether it was the irregularities arising from managing the company or his personal private disgraces, her mother had to secretly cover them up.

‘Haa…!’

They stopped by a cafe for a short break.

When she walked back to her seat, holding the strawberry sorbet her mother had ordered, her mother was looking at her phone.

“Hmph……”

Her expression was the worst she had seen all day.

“Why do you keep looking at your phone?”

“Huh?!”

As she put down the tray and asked, her mother became flustered as if she was about to throw her phone.

Knowing roughly whose text she was waiting for, she subtly probed.

“Is there someone… you’re expecting a call from or meeting?”

“Ah, no! Meeting someone? Who would contact Mom? Haha…”

“Why, Mom can meet friends too.”

“Even if you call them friends, they’re all just people for Mom to chat with! I don’t have any other friends…”

‘……’

From her mother’s face, which desperately tried to cover it up while also showing disappointment, she learned two things.

First, that her mother was not being forced into a relationship, just as that bastard said.

In addition, that Cha Doyeon was strictly adhering to the prohibition of contact for a week.

It made her angry.

The words matched exactly, to the point of making her furious.

‘Yes, Mom is a person too….’

Even while understanding that,

‘Then, am I really forcing Mom to do the same thing as Dad did?’

She felt indignant.

That bastard’s words were uncomfortably lodged deep in her heart, like a dagger.

Her mother had shouldered the burden of family all alone, in loneliness.

Moreover, looking more closely, they were already too distant to be called a family, and without her mother, the family wouldn’t even exist.

Her mother had sacrificed enough in this broken relationship.

“……Mom.”

“Huh?”

A bright smile.

“Let’s take this opportunity to meet more often and spend time together.”

At that, her mother raised her eyebrows slightly, as if surprised,

“Hehe, let’s do that.♡”

She simply smiled.

Just a single word from her indifferent daughter brought a happiness like having the whole world.

‘I absolutely… can’t say it.’

In fact, she had intended to meet her today and try to instigate a rift to separate her mother from that bastard.

But after spending time with her today, she, too, became her mother’s daughter and couldn’t bring herself to say such cold words.

Because her mother had the right to be happy, even if it was late.

+ + +

The high-end Chinese restaurant from before.

“Alright, it’s been a week now, hasn’t it?”

“……”

“You can check, but I really kept my promise properly, didn’t I? So—”

“I know. I won’t tell Dad even if my mouth splits open now.”

Hearing those words, he sighed inwardly with relief.

Because Ahn Hayul, who was always so cold, was not someone to utter such words carelessly.

Now, the risk of having to break up with his mother-in-law was erased.

It was a blessing in disguise, as even the obstacles that would have interfered were gone.

“Are we good now? It’s up to you if you want to throw a wrench in things belatedly, but don’t unnecessarily spoil things and hurt my mother-in-law.”

“……”

He immediately stood up from the restaurant chair.

As soon as he left, he would immediately dispel the misunderstandings with his mother-in-law—

Grab!

—he intended, but his wrist was grabbed.

‘……She grabbed me?!’

His wrist was held, preventing him from leaving.

The most surprising point right now was that Ahn Hayul had pressed and grabbed his wrist tightly.

Ahn Hayul had never even shaken hands with him until now.

She was a woman who disliked the very existence of Cha Doyeon so much that she considered him on par with a cockroach, hated touching him with even a fingertip, and would break out in hives just by sharing the same air.

So he waited silently.

He looked down to see what she would say, and then,

“You know… I met Mom recently.”

“……”

“After seeing her face become noticeably brighter recently, I tried to close my eyes and acknowledge it. Because, as you said, Mom is also human after all.”

“But?”

“But still, after turning around, it’s different…”

Squeeze!

“Still, I can’t bear to see the family scatter like this.”

Her eyes glaring wide,

“Mom falling into your hands… I cannot accept that!”

“Hey, you—”

“So!”

Bang!

She struck the restaurant table’s edge.

If you saw the table, which rang like an earthquake, she must have kicked it up with her high heel as if kicking a soccer ball, *Bang!*

“I’ll… do it.”

“What?”

When he asked again, Hayul bowed her head deeply.

Soon after, she suddenly lifted her face, which was flushed red as if she had swallowed three glasses of alcohol,

“I, I’ll take her place and deal with you!”

……………………………………Huh?

“Then, are we good!?”

His ex-wife’s shocking declaration of substitution.

It was so shocking that he entered a “Zhonya’s State” for approximately two minutes.