TCDBL 07

Chapter : 07

“Uh, what the hell? You really are Seo Yoon-seol.”

A person she never wanted to encounter again for the rest of her life.

The bastard who had inflicted an unforgettable wound and humiliation on her.

“Yoon-seol. What the hell happened to you?”

Lee Jung-woo approached her with an expression as if he was about to die of pity.

How could she possibly have mistaken that bastard for him?

He didn’t have Han Do-gun’s distinctive, deep masculine scent, and his voice was hoarse and rough.

“I came here for a meeting with the construction company, and I wasn’t sure when I saw you from behind. But once you lowered your mask, I knew it was you.”

Lee Jung-woo was shameless beyond belief. It disgusted Yoon-seol that he was acting so friendly, as if he had forgotten everything he had done to her.

Yoon-seol simply walked past him. She didn’t even want to acknowledge him.

But then, abruptly, he grabbed her arm.

“You graduated from Korea University Law School, so why didn’t you go to a major law firm? Or couldn’t you? Want me to put in a word with some of my seniors?”

“Get your filthy hand off me.”

She violently shook him off, but Jung-woo stubbornly held on.

“Hey, Seol. I’m only doing this because it hurts me to see you living like this on the streets. How heartbroken would the late Director be if he could see you?”

Jung-woo had the audacity to bring up her father with that filthy mouth.

The disgust stabbed sharply at the pit of her stomach.

Lee Jung-woo, who had been an employee under her father at his legal office, had courted her for no less than three years.

Yoon-seol had been an exemplary student who did nothing but study, and the only men she had ever liked were actors. So she was eventually swayed by his unwavering devotion.

“I guess oppa must have saved the country in his past life. I’m finally getting together with the daughter of the director I respect most in the world. How can everything in life be going this well?”

On the day she finally accepted Jung-woo’s nth confession, he had even teared up, genuinely happy.

“Director, you know how much I truly respect you, right? Sincerely, with all my heart! I respect you.”

“Please accept me as your son-in-law! I know I have shortcomings, but when it comes to Yoon-seol, I’m confident I can make her happy even if I have to risk my life!”

Yoon-seol had intended to tell her father after their relationship became more serious.

But only a few days after they started dating, Jung-woo had immediately begun pestering her father to give them permission to marry.

Back then, Yoon-seol had been happy, too. She truly believed Jung-woo would make her happy.

……But then, for a reason that felt like a cruel lie, her father died, and all her misfortunes came crashing down at once.

Jung-woo hadn’t even shown up at her father’s funeral. Then, on the very day after the funeral procession, he appeared and announced that he was marrying another woman.

He screamed that he was ashamed because she was the daughter of a man he had claimed to respect so much—and because she was the daughter of a criminal.

Yoon-seol didn’t even have to wonder who Jung-woo was dating. She found out automatically.

The third-generation heir of Hyunshin Group had been making such a spectacle of it on social media that even Yoon-seol heard about it.

Every declaration of love Jung-woo had made to her whenever he got the chance had actually been a confession of his desire to climb the ladder and advance his career by attaching himself to the right connections.

The shock and wounds that came all at once broke Yoon-seol.

And then, after she had slowly, little by little, withered away over the course of several months, one day—

A message she checked with vacant eyes awakened her soul.

〈OO Airlines — Dear Customer, your departure for Rome is in 3 days. Please review the following important information.〉

She had forgotten about the late-summer vacation to Italy that she had planned to take with Jung-woo.

As if pulled along by something, Yoon-seol picked up her phone and tapped the screen.

〈Cancel Flight〉

She stared at the button, hesitating over whether to press it, then touched the menu beside it.

〈Change Itinerary〉

Then she postponed the date of her return flight by an entire year.

To her, it was an incredibly courageous act.

[I’m leaving. I…… hate this place.]

The impulse pushed her toward a decision.

She decided to leave on her own.

Italy or anywhere else—she simply wanted to reach somewhere, anywhere, and live however life carried her along.

If even there she found herself trapped……

She wouldn’t have minded if she never had to live anymore.

She left for Italy like that, met Do-gun there, and little by little began forgetting her unhappiness while standing at the edge of a cliff.

But in the end, she returned to Seoul, a place filled with nothing but pain, confronted her own misfortune, and began searching for the truth.

The fact that Jung-woo had left her was something she had already forgotten.

If anything, she was simply glad she had discovered his true nature before marrying him.

But the very bastard responsible for inflicting such a deep wound on her had the nerve to mention her father?

That was something she absolutely could not tolerate.

“……If you mention my father one more time, I won’t let it slide.”

Yoon-seol stopped walking and glared fiercely at him.

“I’m only worried about you. We used to love each other.”

She was dumbfounded.

They had dated for barely a month and had only held hands a few times.

Anyone listening to him would think they had been madly in love with each other.

“Don’t ever show up in front of me again. Not unless you want me to contact the woman you’re marrying and tell her to keep a closer eye on her boyfriend.”

“Oh, dear. Seol, why have you become so vicious? Have you been having a hard time all this time?”

“You crazy bastard. Don’t call me by my name like that.”

His grip tightened around the arm he had seized.

Apparently, she had finally gotten under his skin.

If only Do-gun would show up at a time like this……

“Let go. Do you want me to press charges for assault? If your future son-in-law gets charged with assault, I’m sure Hyunshin Group will be thrilled.”

With the man she had been seeing every day nowhere to be found today of all days, she felt inexplicably miserable. So she lashed out even more fiercely.

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down. I’m only acting this way because I’m glad to see you. Anyway, Seo Yoon-seol, you really haven’t changed. Still stiff and boring as ever.”

Jung-woo released her arm with a helpless shrug.

“Well, like you said, I’m part of Hyunshin now, so stop struggling like this and just ask me for help. Assistant Manager Kwak from the finance team? Is he the problem? Want me to call him over?”

It was time to truly ignore him.

Yoon-seol walked past the man babbling whatever he pleased and headed toward the main road.

“Ah, come on! Are you not listening to me?”

Even though she could hear him grumbling behind her, Yoon-seol kept walking forward without looking back.

On the outskirts of Seoul, halfway up a hill overlooking the Han River.

Do-gun exited the gate of a traditional Korean restaurant with his mother.

“It feels like everything is going to go smoothly all the way through the bidding process.”

His mother, Joo Young-in, the CEO of the construction company, smiled faintly as she watched the departing sedan.

A short while ago, the two of them had attended a dinner with the Polish ambassador and his family.

It had been an opportunity to establish a relationship in advance because of an upcoming bid for a bridge construction project in Poland.

“The ambassador’s niece was beautiful. I heard she lives in Busan? She couldn’t take her eyes off you.”

“It happens all the time.”

Do-gun replied indifferently.

Young-in smiled and swept back her short hair.

“If having a foreign daughter-in-law would help Executive Director Han’s future, Mom wouldn’t mind. What do you think?”

Why was his mother suddenly acting like this?

Do-gun let out a hollow laugh.

Knowing that his mother never said things she didn’t mean, he immediately drew a line.

“There is a woman I’m interested in.”

“Did you put honey around the main entrance? It’s amazing that the rumor hasn’t spread among the employees yet.”

He couldn’t fool even the CEO.

Do-gun gave a small laugh and readily admitted it.

“You know I don’t like sweet things. I prefer spicy, salty, and sour flavors. We’re still at that stage.”

“You can just say you’re seeing where things go. Everyone understands what that means.”

Instead of answering, Do-gun slightly raised an eyebrow.

Though it was closer to a game of tag than anything resembling dating.

“I’m glad you’re taking an interest in romance like other men your age.”

Young-in had secretly been worried about her son, who had shown so little interest in women.

She was grateful that he didn’t generate scandalous rumors like the heirs of other chaebol families, but at one point, her concern had run so deep that she had even wondered about Do-gun’s sexual orientation.

“Still, Executive Director Han, this isn’t the time to concern yourself with such trivial matters.”

As both his mother and the company’s CEO, Young-in continued speaking bluntly.

“It looks like your uncle is about to cause another problem. This time, he’s even trying to bring in a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund to shake up our shares.”

“I’m aware.”

“Women, romance. All of that is fine, but those are matters for later. Right now, focus on what’s important.”

What was important.

It referred to the blood-soaked restructuring of the group’s succession that he and his mother would soon set into motion.

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind. More importantly, about what we took care of in Italy last time.”

Do-gun readily acknowledged her words and moved on to another subject.

Making Seo Yoon-seol completely his was hardly a trivial matter, but there was no need to waste time arguing with his mother here.

He discreetly checked the time.

It was already around the time Yoon-seol would be finishing up.

They needed to leave this place soon.

“Good. You’ve worked hard. Handle that matter according to your judgment, Executive Director Han.”

A conversation that crossed the boundaries between business and private life was far too different from what one would expect between an ordinary mother and son.

“Are you going back to the office? Shall we go together?”

“I’ll take my own car.”

“It was a rare invitation to a date with my son. Mom just got rejected.”

Young-in smiled elegantly, gave him a slight nod, and willingly let her departing son go.

“Secretary Ahn.”

“Yes, CEO.”

Watching Do-gun’s broad back disappear into the distance, Young-in murmured,

“That female lawyer. Investigate everything about her in detail, starting with her family background and going all the way through her personal history.”