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Today, Sehee personally summoned the Inno Planning associates to her office. Specifically, the production team leader and Young-guk, the managing director.
“To present such a shoddy proposal with that budget, if that’s competence, then it’s sheer incompetence. Or perhaps you were playing around with money. I think it’s both, am I right?”
Until now, Inno Fashion’s advertisements had been handled by other advertising agencies. However, as the representative of Inno Fashion, her last project advertisement was entrusted to Inno Planning. And with the largest advertising budget ever.
Of course, it was a bait to tempt the instigator of the recent, increasingly unpleasant rumors.
The production team leader timidly spoke up in place of the silent Young-guk.
“I apologize if you’re not satisfied, Representative. However, we cast a male actor who is currently the hottest idol-turned-actor, even overseas, and created the advertising concept based on his image. That way, we can definitely capture his overseas fan base and connect them to Inno Fashion customers.”
Sehee looked at the production team leader, who added that it was very difficult to cast that male actor, with a contemptuous gaze.
Of course, she admitted that the model was important in an advertisement.
But they shouldn’t try to fool her by simply casting a plausible model and then doing a half-hearted job.
“The majority of that male actor’s fanbase is teenagers and twenties. Inno Fashion’s loyal customer base is in their thirties and forties. And you’re going to try to capture that male actor’s fanbase as loyal Inno Fashion customers? By what means, exactly?”
The production team leader looked flustered by the sudden criticism, but Sehee didn’t stop.
“To be arrogant enough not to even grasp the trending colors for this spring in the fashion industry, which is sensitive to color. How little must they think of Inno Fashion to do this?”
As expected, the team leader, sensing that something had gone wrong, couldn’t hold out and blurted out the truth.
“It was all the Managing Director’s idea! Our team was also worried about the points you raised, Representative, but the Managing Director said he would talk to his daughter if there were any problems...”
“Team Leader Kim, you can leave. I have something to discuss privately with the Managing Director.”
After the team leader fled the office, Sehee calmly began,
“I clearly warned you, but you truly don’t listen.”
That I’m Joo Sehee’s father, the Hanshin family’s daughter-in-law. That I can’t reveal it due to the Hanshin family’s pressure, but he doesn’t know how dutiful his daughter is behind the scenes.
He had subtly mentioned her name in small matters, trying his best not to be caught, but unfortunately, it all reached Sehee’s ears.
Because the secretary Young-guk trusted implicitly was Sehee’s person.
The advertisement matter must have been something he deliberately caused upon hearing the news that she would soon resign as Inno Fashion’s representative and move to Hanshin Beauty.
“Sehee.”
The moment Young-guk uttered that name, Sehee’s eyes changed.
As if asking how dare he utter her name so casually.
“Representative. Address me properly, with respect.”
How could he be so consistently foolish and incompetent?
She had wanted him to suffer, just as he had made her suffer from indifference and neglect for so long.
But that was ultimately something that could change depending on one’s own choices.
Yoo Young-guk without Madam Jo was truly irredeemable garbage. He had squandered all his wealth on gambling and scams, belatedly getting addicted, and now he was going around borrowing money everywhere.
“I heard from Chairman Yoo that the position of factory manager for Inno Pharmaceuticals’ Wonju Plant 3 is vacant. Managing Director Yoo, you should take that position.”
Chairman Yoo never refused any request from Sehee, who was the only link maintaining the alliance with Hanshin. He seemed rather pleased, as he could at least use his incompetent son, whom he could otherwise discard.
Young-guk knelt again, his face drained of color.
“Sehee, how can you tell me to go all the way to Wonju...!”
“Representative.”
“Re-Representative, but isn’t telling me to go all the way to Wonju a bit too much? Still, we are father and daughter...!”
“Try bringing that up one more time.”
His icy gaze warned him like a stab, and Young-guk quickly shut his mouth.
“I’ll take care of the gambling debts you borrowed, Managing Director Yoo, so don’t touch company money again and don’t gamble.”
Young-guk’s eyes wavered as if asking how she knew, but Sehee calmly continued,
“Secretary Jang will guide you to my mother’s grave as soon as you arrive.”
Wonju was where Sehee’s mother lay.
The place where she had hidden to escape her twin sister’s eyes while pregnant and where she ended her life.
“Once a day. Whether there’s a typhoon or a torrential downpour, go to my mother’s grave at 6 PM and repent. Tend to the grave yourself, from weeding to maintenance, with sincerity. Later, your grave will also be prepared next to hers, so I hope you can remain a married couple even in the afterlife. For your information, Chairman Yoo has also approved this.”
Young-guk’s eyes showed his spirit leaving him at Sehee’s words.
But Sehee felt no sympathy whatsoever.
They were that kind of relationship from the beginning.
After Young-guk left the office, Sehee slowly closed her eyes.
What was so good about a man like that that her mother would tie herself to him?
Nevertheless, she decided to give her mother the one thing she had wanted in life.
As if repaying a debt for enduring immense pain and suffering in difficult circumstances, refusing to give up on her, and giving birth to her.
Thanks to that, she met Seo Kang-joon, met good in-laws, and had her precious son, Youngjun.
I am happier and more comfortable than anyone right now. What more could I ask for?
________________________________________
Madam Jo sat blankly on her bed.
Today, again, she recalled that day, gnashing her teeth, regretting and regretting again. She should have been more meticulous, more perfect.
Two years ago, her final desperate struggle, on which she had staked everything, ended disastrously. Section Chief Jeong had absconded with all her assets, and the situation was completely reversed.
Most of the public sympathized with and respected that cunning creature, while she and Young-guk were pointed at and cursed. She didn’t know if she would ever get out of here, but even if she did, a normal life would be impossible.
It was a complete reversal and revenge.
She should have left that overly cautious character one worry.
Now, that cunning creature would be living well, free of all worries. While she was here, growing old and dying day by day.
Trapped in a comfortable prison without bars, Madam Jo muttered daily,
“Someday, I will definitely kill you, just you wait.”
She should have killed her long ago, no, she should have never let her see the light of this world.
This calamity happened because she pretended to be elegant and dignified, not being cruel enough.
But she would hesitate no longer.
She would see her once before she died, and then she would certainly cut that tenacious life short.
If she didn’t dream of revenge, even like this, she felt like she would lose her mind.
So Madam Jo acted like a model patient. Sleeping well, eating well, pretending to get along with everyone, pretending to be obedient.
Every move would be reported, and that way, when it came to see her, it would be off guard.
How much effort had she put into hiding that one fork?
And finally, that day came.
The door opened, and Joo Sehee appeared, accompanied by a male nurse.
“Next week, I’ll be moving you to a wider, more comfortable hospital. Somewhere with good air and water, where you can take walks outdoors.”
“Am I supposed to thank you?”
Inside, she was boiling, but she pretended to be refined.
Even with her hair turned white and her face full of wrinkles, especially in front of her.
“You don’t have to thank me. I just have something I want to show you.”
Sehee shrugged as if it were nothing and kindly explained to Madam Jo,
“Every morning, when you open your eyes, look at your sister’s grave outside the window and apologize. And at 6 PM, when the sun sets, you’ll also see your husband diligently tending to your sister’s grave.”
“...What?”
“From next week, from the VIP room at that hospital, you’ll have a clear view of my mother’s grave. It took quite a long time to find and prepare a propitious location, a place you can see well.”
“I will definitely kill you!”
The male nurse restrained Madam Jo, who, with eyes like a demon, tried to lunge at Sehee.
“I know you tried hard for a long time to hide that one thing, but I’ll have to retrieve the fork hidden in your pants.”
No sooner had Sehee finished speaking than the male nurse’s hand searched Madam Jo’s waist and found the fork.
Only then did Sehee close the distance and look down at Madam Jo, speaking coldly.
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say. After today, I will not visit you again, and I will erase you from my mind forever. Now, I feel nothing when I see you.”
As if to prove it, her clear eyes, fixed on Madam Jo, were cold. As if there was no hatred or resentment towards Madam Jo.
“Whether you go there and eat well, sleep well, form good relationships with the hospital staff and live well, or whether you struggle and end your life. That’s your choice now, Aunt.”
Sehee, bringing her face, now more elegant and beautiful than before, closer, whispered sweetly into Madam Jo’s ear,
“I’m telling you I forgive you now.”
Because I plan to be perfectly happy from now on, without any hatred or resentment.
As she closed the door and left, Madam Jo’s venomous screams could be heard, but Sehee left the hospital with a peaceful expression.
You, whom I’m sick of, and this ill-fated relationship with you. Now, goodbye to all of it.
________________________________________
What a naughty little fellow.
This was what Kang-joon muttered when he first held the small, wrinkled creature that looked like an alien in his arms.
Because his son had not only tormented his mother for ten months in the womb but also continued to trouble her when he came into the world.
It was a secret from Sehee, but Kang-joon hadn’t felt any particular emotion for his newborn son.
From the beginning until now, there had been no one who stimulated his emotions except Joo Sehee, and his son was no exception.
He found it more fascinating to observe the baby, a new life form he encountered for the first time, rather than feeling a deep paternal connection.
Born with a small, wrinkled face like an alien, the child had now plumped up nicely and knew how to make eye contact and smile.
The child, born tiny at 2.9 kilograms and said to definitely resemble his mother, grew rapidly after his first birthday, as if protesting, “Actually, I resemble my dad.”
He would strain to flip over, his face red, then crawl, and then, after grunting and grabbing onto things to stand up, he would do the crab walk and fall on his bottom countless times before finally taking wobbly steps.
And now he could run quite well.
Just like now.
“Daddy, Daddy!”
Youngjun, who was playing with Yeon-sook in the playground set up in a corner of the garden, spotted his dad and ran towards him.
Watching him run towards him, calling out “Daddy” with a bright smile, strangely brought a smile to his face.
He wasn’t sure if it was paternal love, but he felt quite fond of his son.
Then Youngjun, running on his short legs, tripped.
Kang-joon signaled to Yeon-sook, who was startled and about to run over, to stop.
His son, with a face that looked like he was about to burst into tears, looked at him with dark eyes that perfectly resembled his own.
He was only three years old.
But living a life that was short yet long at 23 months, his son had become cunning and quick-witted.
He knew that the person looking at him now was not his mother, grandmother, or great-grandfather, but his father, who was scarier than the Grim Reaper.
Sniffling, he lifted his cute diapered bottom into the air first.
Then, he put his chubby hands on the grass and somehow managed to get up on his own.
“Brush your hands off.”
When Kang-joon spoke sternly again, he deliberately brushed his hands clean and ran back to Kang-joon.
Only then did Kang-joon pick up his son, toss him high into the air, and catch him again.
The sound of his son’s joyful laughter cut through the evening air and spread through the garden.
Yeon-sook frowned slightly and chided Kang-joon.
“You’re too strict with your son. He’s only three years old.”
“There has to be one person he fears. That way, he’ll live cautiously and well in the world.”
Yeon-sook chuckled as if she didn’t agree with him and asked,
“Son, I didn’t raise you that way, did I? And it doesn’t sound like you, who are living well without fearing anyone in the world, should be saying that, does it?”
“Why wouldn’t I have someone I fear?”
Just then, sensing someone approaching from behind, Kang-joon turned around.
The fragrant scent carried on the evening breeze, soft hair fluttering, a small, delicate face that seemed etched into his eyes, and a graceful silhouette.
“There she is. The only person I fear.”
She said she would be late.
As their eyes met, she smiled beautifully, her eyes crinkling.
________________________________________
The person who makes me feel the most afraid and terrified when she’s not by my side.
The person who makes me so happy I feel like I’m going crazy when she is.
My wife, Joo Sehee, more precious than life itself and loved more than anything in the world.
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