Chapter 14

“Didn’t you go play screen golf with Chairman Kang today? Why are you back so early, Executive Director Tae?”

“The man who’s already talking about my child with Sejin Group’s Kang Serin—don’t you think I should be here too?”

“Hmm…”

Seungjo’s cold gaze shifted to Na-ae. Startled, Na-ae bit her lip in embarrassment. Trying to change the subject, she shook off Serin, who was clinging to her arm.

“Well, since things have turned out this way, why don’t the three of us have dinner together tonight?”

Serin’s face briefly showed disappointment, but she quickly composed herself.

Dinner with Executive Director Tae Seungjo?

Unable to suppress her excitement, Serin looked up at Seungjo.

Meanwhile, Haejoo gave a deep bow to Seungjo.

“I… I’ll be leaving now, Executive Director.”

Seungjo grabbed her wrist. His gaze drifted to her legs, visible under her skirt. Her knees were red from kneeling next to Na-ae for a long time, giving her a massage.

“Listen carefully. Ms. Kang Serin, if you plan to become a member of this household, it’s good for you to know this too.”

“Sun Haejoo is not a servant of ours. She’s my employee.”

“Executive Director… please stop…”

“Meaning… don’t make mistakes with my employee again. Especially you, Madam Hong.”

Haejoo’s heart pounded wildly. Still holding her hand, Seungjo led her out of the room.

“Let me go alone. Executive Director, I think you should go back inside.”

Having left Na-ae’s room, Seungjo drove Haejoo to his car. When she tried to get out of the passenger seat, Seungjo fastened her seatbelt tightly.

“Today, I’m going to your house.”

“Executive Director!”

“Yeah, I’m your boss. So listen to me.”

Seungjo stopped in place and looked down at her, scolding with a cold and arrogant voice.

“I heard that Ms. Kang Serin inside is going to be your fiancée and future wife.”

“So what?”

“So… you shouldn’t be coming to my house anymore.”

Seungjo chuckled as if he heard something amusing. His face quickly turned cold as he closed the passenger side door and got into the driver’s seat.

“Sounds like you’re saying we won’t be having sex anymore.”

Haejoo felt like her heart would burst. And it hurt.

“…That’s how it has to be.”

How could she sleep with a man who would soon be with someone else? A woman she knew too well. Serin from Sejin Group was a perfect match for Seungjo—both socially and in status.

Haejoo had already sensed it was the beginning of the end between her and Seungjo after hearing Na-ae and Serin’s conversation.

Hadn’t their relationship been just physical from the start, without love?

Now, she had no reason left to stay by Seungjo’s side.

“Nothing will change.”

“What do you mean? You’re going to marry Ms. Serin.”

“Marriage, engagement… doesn’t matter. I’ll still hold you like I do now.”

“Executive Director!”

Startled, Haejoo shouted with a fearful look. Her hands clutching her bag trembled.

“That’s ridiculous! Please stop. Let’s end this now.”

“Why have you stayed by my side until now?”

“That’s…”

“I told you from the start—we wouldn’t date. I wouldn’t entertain your talk about love. I only said I’d use you to satisfy my needs.”

Seungjo’s arrogant hand grabbed Haejoo’s chin. Her heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife.

She stayed because she loved him. Even though she often felt lonely and bitter, just being near Seungjo—catching his scent, meeting his gaze—made her heart flutter.

So she chose this thorny path.

“…Sob…”

A small sob escaped from between Haejoo’s tender lips. Imagining what had happened in Na-ae’s room and nursing all her bottled-up wounds.

The man she loved was marrying another woman. From that moment, Haejoo’s world fell into darkness.

“I thought I made myself clear. The man you held onto that day was Tae Seungjo of Taehwa Group.”

“…”

“Even after marriage, I’ll still have a separate woman for my desires.”

Seungjo didn’t take his eyes off her teary, red eyes. With his fingertips, he wiped the tears from her wet cheeks.

Despite his eyes burning with desire as if he’d devour her at any moment, his breath and face stayed calm and cold.

“Marriage for me is just business. I’ll have children with my wife, but my interests lie elsewhere.”

“…Am I one of those interests?”

“Exactly. You’re interesting, Sun Haejoo.”

Seungjo licked his wet fingertips—tears she had shed.

Seeing his seductive gesture, Haejoo’s long lashes trembled faintly.

“Even if there’s another woman beside me, nothing I give you will change. Will it really make a difference?”

Early morning.

Haejoo was getting ready for work. Her hands, wiping rose water across her skin with a cotton pad, lacked strength.

“…What should I do, Mom?”

Clutching a necklace, she spent the night awake, thinking about Seungjo.

She had cried silently under her blanket. The blanket, scented with Seungjo’s cologne, soaked up her tears.

‘I’ll have kids with my wife, but my interests lie elsewhere.’

His cold words crushed her chest, but remembering how he gently massaged her sore legs left her heart melting helplessly again.

“Mom… this isn’t right, is it? If you were here, you’d probably slap me and tell me to snap out of it.”

No… her soft-hearted mother would probably just hug her tearfully, unable to say harsh words to her heartbroken daughter.

“I miss you, Mom.”

Smiling faintly at a photo on her vanity, Haejoo pulled herself together and smiled like the cheerful daughter she used to be.

She applied heavier makeup than usual to cover her swollen eyes and dressed carefully, ignoring the lingering warmth in her legs where Seungjo’s hands had been.

She couldn’t bring herself to wear the watch he had gifted her.

After saying goodbye to her mother’s photo, she slipped on her shoes at the door.

Just as she was about to step outside—

“Haejoo!”

It was Mrs. Soon, carrying lunch boxes in both hands, waving at her.

“Mrs. Soon! What are you doing here?”

“I made some side dishes for you yesterday, but you left so quickly I couldn’t give them to you.”

“Oh… so you came this early just for that?”

“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t have much of an appetite this morning. I even made some soft porridge for you.”

“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble. Thank you so much, Mrs. Soon.”

Haejoo’s voice trembled softly with gratitude. She took the lunchboxes from Mrs. Soon’s hands.

Mrs. Soon smiled warmly and brushed Haejoo’s hair. She too knew about what happened in Madam Hong Na-ae’s room last night.

No one expected Seungjo to grab Haejoo’s wrist and lead her out across the mansion like that.

Naturally, it caused quite a stir among the mansion staff. But what shocked Mrs. Soon even more was the call from Seungjo himself.

“Honestly, I couldn’t stop worrying about you since last night. But it was mostly because of the Executive Director’s orders.”

“Huh?”

“He told me to pack it full of your favorites. He even knew you liked shrimp and perilla seed porridge. That’s why I made it.”

Such an unexpected request from the cold young master left even Mrs. Soon feeling flustered.

She had a lot she wanted to ask, but no matter the situation, she was sure Haejoo would be the one hurt in the end.

Executive Director Tae Seungjo and Haejoo…

Mrs. Soon didn’t ask further. She simply stroked the back of Haejoo’s hand warmly.

Haejoo’s gaze lingered on the lunchbox that Seungjo had ordered for her. Her eyes quivered.

“You’re not late for work yet, right? Have at least a spoonful before you go. The Executive Director said I shouldn’t leave until I see you eat.”

At lunchtime at the company.

Seungjo was having a meal with Chairman Tae Jae-woong and his son.

While stirring his well-mixed buckwheat noodles, Jae-woong asked,

“When’s your formal meeting with Kang Serin of Sejin Group?”

“Kang Serin? She’s pretty.”

President Tae Sang-yoon, still holding his upset stomach from a night of heavy drinking, showed interest with a queasy expression.