episode_0110

“Haa…”

This feeling is truly hard to describe.

It’s good, yet at the same time, terribly bad.

It’s impossible to find any other fitting expression.

First, my current work is progressing smoothly.

The short-term investment I personally pushed for, loudly proclaiming I’d take responsibility, yielded double the profit much faster than anticipated.

It wasn’t a simple small-scale investment; I poured in the company capital that I could manage within my authority.

Moreover, I secretly attached some of my personal assets through a subsidiary I’m secretly fostering, so it’s a matter that brings double the happiness of the profit itself.

It truly means I’ve achieved a significant accomplishment, enough to make a promotion a certainty.

It solidifies my position perfectly as the future successor, while also dispelling rumors within the company that I rose through nepotism, thus properly establishing my prestige.

However, two negative consequences come along with this.

First, the information for this investment came from ‘that guy’s’ head.

Initially, I had many concerns.

After facing him again after a long time, I agonized several times over whether this information was reliable, and repeatedly considered the possibility that the performance was inflated or a scam.

But it wasn’t a scam.

Though the numbers were abnormally high, there were no underlying issues whatsoever.

Even after having my close associates investigate, it was pre-verified, and cross-verification was completed through connections I had planted.

It was highly suspicious, yet it was a trustworthy stepping stone.

Unbelievable investment returns and market capitalization in an suspiciously short period, as if he learned some magic trick to print money while playing like a scoundrel.

So, I decided to take a chance and roll the dice.

Honestly, this was an uncharacteristically hasty decision, but after hearing his advice, I inwardly grew impatient about whether I would inherit the company only in my old age, and I wanted to gamble.

[HR Profit/Loss Ratio ↑246.2%]

And this hasty impulse resulted in a huge success.

The stock of , which I thought had risen as much as it could and was full of bubbles, ascended even more steeply day by day before the earnings announcement, spreading who knows what rumors, and then set another unbelievable record.

As a result, among the stock prices of the past 52 weeks, yesterday’s price became like a cheap discount sale, making it a blue-chip stock.

It was the kind of stock that experts had repeatedly pointed out as a bubble, yet it proved its worth through performance and stock value, making anyone who didn’t buy it a fool.

‘Does he really see the future…?’

The announced performance was that absurd.

A credit card company, much smaller than us, that doesn’t properly create or even service anything, began generating hundreds of billions, even trillions of won in profit, merely through reckless investments.

It showed profits that made me wonder if such numbers were even possible, and even its newly launched business is starting grandly, pouring in trillions of won.

The growth rate, swallowing up its surroundings, is nonsensical.

‘That’s why I feel like I owe him a debt of gratitude…’

Thus, this was the first negative point.

Rather than feeling like I properly achieved something using my own strength, I strongly felt like I rode on Cha Doyeon’s back and sucked the honey.

I clearly gained money and results through investment, but it feels like I’ve become a guest at a prepared dinner, taking a bite, which leaves a lingering sense of unease.

Moreover, one piece of bad news remaining from this aftermath is,

*Drrrk!*

“Are you working hard?”

“Ah, Dad— Chairman-nim!”

I stopped myself from habitually calling him ‘Dad’ in the company.

I had been slumped over my desk, tapping on my phone, but I quickly straightened up.

It was a time when everyone else had left their desks.

Even though it was just the two of us, my father, the Chairman-nim of , smiled contentedly as I greeted him formally, and his characteristically thin frame showed through his skin.

“These days, it’s impossible to ignore the news about you within the company.”

“Well… one project just worked out well, that’s all.”

“You suddenly started buying up stock shares. What got into you? You mobilized a considerable amount of money.”

“…It just so happened that I obtained some highly reliable information, and it felt like a waste to let it go. So, I took responsibility and made a move.”

My dad stroked his chin.

He stroked his coarse white beard, then asked, probing.

“Right, there’s no sure way to make money. If you’re truly confident, you have to take a gamble when the time comes.

But isn’t HR the place your former husband branched off from his main family? You used to detest him so much when you were married, making such a fuss about him. Are you still meeting Cha Seobang?”

“…That guy wasn’t the one who told me.”

As family matters suddenly came up, I quickly reverted to my usual way of speaking.

Lies to deflect his mention of ‘that guy’ even flowed out in a set.

“Well… if not, then not.”

Seeing my face, twisted with irritation, my dad cleared his throat.

On the day the divorce papers were signed, I had vehemently confronted him about the resentment I had harbored. Perhaps not wanting to step on another landmine, he changed the subject.

“Ahem! Anyway, I don’t know where you got the information, but you did well. I’ll even give a substantial bonus to the team members you put together.

…And actually, I didn’t come to ask about company matters like this. There’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about your mom.”

*Flinsch.*

At the word ‘Mom,’ my ears perked up.

I pretended to be nonchalant, but I was so tense my lips felt parched.

“These days, she seems busy. Her outings are quite frequent… Do you know where she’s going?”

“……”

His tone was calm, but it was undoubtedly suspicion.

A small question emerging about Mom, who was spending more and more time outside the house.

A probing tone, gathering clues of this suspicion to form a conviction.

“Ah~ that?”

I calmly accepted it.

I replied in my usual calm tone when speaking to family, without overdoing it.

“It’s nothing much, she’s just been going out with me a bit.

We go shopping for clothes together, and get some fresh air outside.”

“You, Hayul?”

“…Mom has spent all her time at home until now.

She doted on me and painstakingly took care of me until I grew up. Now that I’ve mostly gotten the hang of company work, I thought I’d spend some of my free time with her, so we’ve been meeting outside often.”

It was so natural that I didn’t even think of it as acting myself.

The reason I could lie so skillfully was that it contained some truth. In reality, I do meet her regularly twice a month.

Of course, I know the ‘real reason’ Mom has been busy recently.

And it’s even connected to her divorced ex-husband, ‘Cha Doyeon’—a massive bomb that would explode if it reached Dad’s ears.

‘Ah… Seriously, why do I have to be stuck in the middle of this and rack my brain?!’

That’s right.

This was it.

This was the worst part of the penalty.

At this point, where I owed Cha Doyeon a great debt, I was the mediator who had to secretly and smoothly manage the affair between Mom and Cha Doyeon.

I had to bury this huge scandal deep inside, and if something happened, I would have no choice but to step in and put out the fire.

Suddenly, like a cupid fairy, I had to keep Mom and Cha Doyeon’s secret quiet.

‘I can’t just expose it and let the family fall apart…!’

Of course, besides the debt to him, it was also an action taken for the peace of my family.

Anyway, hiding a family secret is maddening.

Especially if it’s not a pleasant surprise good for both parties, but an impure relationship that would cause chaos if exposed to the world.

‘Well, it’s also a punishment Dad deserves…’

But even at this point, as his daughter, I absolutely could not take Dad’s side.

After graduating from school quickly, I learned about Dad little by little while learning company work from an early age.

I found out why Dad came home late at night, who he met late at night. I found out how many mistresses he had hidden.

He was usually a meticulous person and tried to hide it, but perhaps due to his age, or perhaps because of Mom’s excessive innocence, by the time I entered, his trail was too long, and I could easily figure it out.

Picking them apart one by one, they were astounding.

The content was so impure that Mom’s current secret affair looked like something a nobleman would do in comparison.

Having even seen dirty photos of Dad naked at parties with hostesses, I couldn’t possibly take Dad’s side, not even if I died and came back to life.

It was only right for Mom, who had always waited at home, to find her freedom, albeit late.

‘…The problem is that it’s my ex-husband, though.’

Anyway, at my reply, Dad stroked his chin again.

Perhaps the ‘dutiful daughter’ shield, following my calm tone, worked, as he didn’t delve deeper.

“Well… if that’s the case, then tell her not to neglect the house.”

“Didn’t you say she was too meticulous with household chores, to a fault?

And that you’d feel at ease if she were a bit more relaxed?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Dad abandoned his stern Chairman facade and trailed off.

Soon, he pulled out his phone from his suit’s inner pocket.

“Look. Even her messenger replies are too slow these days.

*Hmph*… She said something about going to a fitness academy at her age.”

He thrust the screen displaying the messenger app right in front of my face.

It was truly a face reserved only for family, unlike the Chairman of Geumgang, as he appealed to his only daughter.

“……”

At that, my poker face almost broke.

I’m not usually one to be easily surprised, but something truly shocked me.

It wasn’t the trivial message content or Dad’s exasperated face, but a single photo that captivated me.

“…Alright.”

“Good, I’m counting on you.”

Dad, after asking me to relay the message, turned and left.

And after confirming his back view had completely disappeared, I hurriedly grabbed my phone again and checked it.

The result confirmed my intuition.

‘Mom, why are you even using multi-profiles for your family…?’

Different profile pictures, appearing differently to me and to Dad.

Mom, who was usually a technophobe, was even using such detailed and minor features.

*Tap. Tap. Tap.*

That bothered me.

It was a very small and trivial matter, but it bothered me intensely, like a fishbone inadvertently swallowed after gnawing on my fingernails with my front teeth.

Is this perhaps—