Chapter 06

“…Ah.”

By the time she regained consciousness, the pale light of dawn was seeping through the window bars.

Heejae lifted herself and glanced around.

She had clearly fallen asleep on the sofa, but now she found herself waking up on the bed.

“You’re awake?”

The bedroom door opened, and Kyobin appeared, dressed as if ready to leave. Judging by his attire, it seemed he had also stayed at Heejae’s place overnight and was now preparing to leave.

“I would’ve liked to go to work together, but I have a busy morning schedule, so I need to head out now.”

Who asked for that? Who ever said they should go together?

Heejae mustered the courage and spoke toward Kyobin’s retreating back.

“D-Don’t come here anymore.”

Wearing nothing but a thin layer, Heejae pulled the blanket tightly around her and set her guard high.

Kyobin stopped and slowly turned his head.

“I’m not thinking of going back to how things were between us. Yesterday… I think I lost my mind for a moment. It was a mistake.”

Though her words said she disliked him, it had been her own hands that instinctively held onto his neck.

She had given him an opening—an error she acknowledged.

So she thought that as long as she kept her stance clear, the situation would be different.

Yet Kyobin’s dry gaze swept over her as if she bored him.

“You really think saying that would make me listen and follow, huh?”

She knew.

She knew such a warning wouldn’t suddenly correct his reckless behavior.

“You know me—I do whatever I want.”

Ignoring her words completely, he started to leave the bedroom but then stopped, remembering something…

“Tonight, my father said to bring you for dinner with him.”

At the mention of Chairman Shin Hyunggil, Heejae, who had been slouching, immediately straightened and looked at Kyobin.

This was the mentor who had recognized her potential over the years and invested in her without hesitation.

He was inviting her—the betrayer—back to a formal dinner.

“If you don’t want to do it in front of all the adults, then don’t act up.”

With a thud, the bedroom door closed.

Only after his presence completely disappeared did Heejae collapse onto the bed.

It was time to face the trap that had bound her even tighter than Kyobin ever had.

The evening she had hoped wouldn’t come had arrived.

After finishing work, Heejae headed straight to the Shinil Group owner family’s residence, where the meeting was to take place.

Upon reaching the entrance, she looked up at the mansion with wide eyes.

It had already been ten years since she left this place.

After graduating high school, she had lived in a dormitory for university and then isolated herself in a study room while preparing for the bar exam.

Of course, thanks to Chairman Shin’s continued support, she occasionally visited to see him, but such visits were few and far between.

“Oh my, Heejae, you’re here!”

While walking across the garden, Mrs. Han, a long-time employee, ran out to greet her.

Mrs. Han had worked here since Heejae’s time at the mansion and was also close with her mother.

“It’s been so long… you’ve grown into such a fine young lady.”

Mrs. Han, who had seen Heejae since middle school, welcomed her with astonishment.

Although Heejae had occasionally seen the chairman in casual attire during her school years, today she arrived in a sharp, fitted suit—the first time she had ever appeared so formally.

After becoming a prosecutor, she had not responded to the chairman’s invitations, and now, having been marked as a “traitor,” she was returning as a fully-fledged lawyer.

“Who could have imagined that our cute little girl, who worked with us, would grow into such a competent lawyer and be formally invited by the chairman?”

Heejae gave a small, awkward smile.

Even though Mrs. Han knew that Heejae had deliberately chosen a different path to assert independence, she maintained a polite demeanor.

“How is your mother?”

Mrs. Han carefully checked, asking about her mother Kyungin’s health.

When Heejae left for university and became fully independent, her mother had continued to work here.

However, when Heejae defied the chairman and became a prosecutor, her mother was dismissed from the mansion.

By then, Heejae could care for her mother on her own, so it was not a major concern.

Her mother quickly found new employment, and the two even settled into a new home.

Since then, it seemed her mother had lost contact with the other long-term employees she had been close to.

“Yes, she’s doing well. And you too, Mrs. Han?”

“I’m fine, same as always.”

Heejae exchanged a few casual words with Mrs. Han before entering the house.

Walking across the vast, green lawn, she had not felt tension, but once inside, the heavy atmosphere pressed on her shoulders.

Mrs. Han led Heejae to the second floor.

As she climbed the stairs, Heejae felt the tension run up her spine, stiffening her neck.

On the second floor were the bedroom used by the chairman and his wife, and the chairman’s private study.

Mrs. Han guided her to the study.

Knock. Knock.

Heejae, tense, swallowed hard, her throat working nervously.

“Chairman, Heejae, no… Lawyer Choi Heejae has arrived.”

There was no immediate response at the end of Mrs. Han’s announcement.

The brief silence was suffocating, tightening around Heejae.

Her gaze dropped to the floor, and her fingers fidgeted without purpose.

“Come in.”

Finally, Chairman Shin’s deep voice called.

Mrs. Han opened the study door herself, gesturing for Heejae to enter.

Heejae bowed slightly and stepped inside.

From the large windows, the garden trees swayed in the wind, visible in their full green glory—Shin Hyunggil’s study.

Bookshelves lined both sides of the room, and a desktop desk sat in the center.

In front of the desk, the chairman sat with his chair turned toward the windows, showing only his back.

“You’ve arrived.”

He spoke without looking at Heejae, likely catching a faint reflection of her in the window.

“Thank you for the invitation, Chairman.”

Heejae bowed again, this time to the chairman, who still did not look at her.

As she bowed, the previously open study door closed.

Now, trapped in the completely enclosed space, she was alone with Chairman Shin.

“I formally greet you again. I am Lawyer Choi Heejae, representing Shinil Group from now on.”

Heejae took a business card holder from inside her jacket pocket.

She presented a card she had prepared in advance, showing her title as the lawyer in charge of Shinil Group’s legal team.

The chairman didn’t look at her, so she stepped forward and gently placed her card on his desk.

“You went to the prosecutor’s office, pretending to hide away and not return, but you didn’t even last a year before resigning yourself.”

Without hesitation or filter, the chairman reprimanded the “traitor” who had returned.

But Heejae didn’t flinch.

She hadn’t come back willingly; the circumstances had been forced.

“So, as I said, it was to gain experience as a prosecutor.”

Even when she was first appointed a prosecutor, the chairman had summoned her.

She had declined to meet him directly, citing busyness, but she had called to explain.

She asked him to wait until she had gained sufficient experience, which would be useful when she became Shinil Group’s lawyer.

The chairman had angrily insisted it was unnecessary and demanded she return immediately, but Heejae hadn’t wavered.

“Don’t you think you quit too early, considering it was for experience?”

Even with only the back of his head visible, she could imagine the derisive tone dripping from his words.