ADT 13

Chapter 13

Madam Joo Sang-hee’s Summons

Yuri spoke to Iseo, who had been looking at her with a worried expression.

“There are still many things I have to take care of. I have to meet Madam Joo, and also Hyunwoo’s father….”

“Hey! Don’t even mention that bastard’s name. That filthy bastard. How did you find out he was cheating?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. At the villa in Yangpyeong….”

“These crazy bastards! This is unbelievable.”

The disgusting sight of the two people that Yuri never wanted to remember came back to her vividly, and her expression naturally hardened.

“Wow! They’re not even animals. Of all people, how could they cheat with the boss of the woman they were going to marry?”

Thinking about that miserable reality, Iseo felt so sorry for Yuri that it broke her heart. Just imagining how Yuri must have felt when she witnessed it made her chest ache.

“Our Yuri…. You must have had such a hard time. How lonely must you have been when I wasn’t there? I’m sorry….”

Iseo had already approached Yuri and tightly hugged her from behind, speaking with tears in her voice. Yuri told her it was okay and instead held her hand.

Perhaps because she had grown stronger through everything she had been through? Strangely, even though Iseo was crying, Yuri did not shed any tears. She simply patted her hand calmly.

A little later, after Iseo had calmed down enough to return to her seat, Yuri slightly parted her lips and spoke.

She had something very important to tell her.

“Iseo, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

“What else is there?”

Iseo looked at Yuri while pressing down on her reddened eyelids.

“I…. Starting next week, I’m going to work as Vice President Park Hushin’s secretary.”

“…….”

Iseo was so shocked by what she had just heard that she could not even close her open mouth. She only blinked at Yuri.

“Yuri, what I just heard…. Is it true?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Don’t you know that he’s Baek Seol-ah’s fiancé? Why on earth….”

This news shocked Iseo even more than what she had heard earlier about Hyunwoo cheating on Seol-ah.

No way!

A thought suddenly flashed through Iseo’s mind, and she asked Yuri in alarm.

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“…Yes.”

“But this isn’t right. What are you going to do about the consequences? Vice President Park Hushin isn’t an ordinary man. He’s the person who will become the next heir of PARK FOOD. If Baek Seol-ah finds out about this, she might even try to kill you.”

Iseo was afraid. She had watched Seol-ah closely since high school and knew exactly what kind of person she was. It was obvious that Seol-ah would try to hurt Yuri.

Both Yuri and Iseo already knew that Seol-ah was not the kind of person who would remember her own wrongdoings.

Seol-ah’s fiancé and the object of every single woman’s admiration. And now Yuri was going to become the secretary of Park Hushin, a third-generation chaebol and star chef?

Iseo was at a loss after hearing such shocking news.

“There was no other way.”

“You stupid girl. I know you’re upset, but do you really think this will be revenge against Baek Seol-ah? You’re only going to make yourself suffer even more.”

Everyone around them knew how desperately Seol-ah was clinging to Hushin. Their engagement was nothing more than a business-related arranged marriage, but Seol-ah was desperately trying to win over Hushin, who had no interest in her.

Yuri had only just managed to escape the Royal Hotel family, and now she was about to become entangled with them again in a hostile relationship. Iseo was so worried that she felt like her insides were turning upside down.

“The conditions aren’t bad either. If I do my job well…. There won’t be a problem.”

“There’s no way there won’t be a problem. You, by any chance…. Nothing happened between you and Vice President Park Hushin, right?”

Iseo was quick to notice things, and suddenly she had a strange feeling. Given Yuri’s usual personality, there was no way she would make a choice like this.

She suspected that something else must have happened during the week she had been away from Korea, something that had greatly affected Yuri’s feelings or situation.

“N-no. Nothing like that.”

Yuri could not bring herself to tell her that she had spent a night with Hushin. Although it had started as an act of revenge against Seol-ah, honestly, she had also done it to satisfy her own desires.

“Good. That must never happen. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Iseo repeatedly warned her. She desperately hoped that Yuri would not become personally involved with Hushin.

“…Yes.”

Yuri fully understood what Iseo meant. Even if nothing had happened between her and Park Hushin, she knew what Seol-ah would do once she found out that Yuri had become his secretary.

But the milk had already been spilled. As long as she did not create another situation where she became involved with Hushin like that, it would be fine.

After working under him for just one year and completing her duties as his secretary, she planned to leave Korea without any regrets.

Suddenly, Iseo jumped to her feet and said to Yuri,

“Jin Yuri, get up. I’ve barely come back to Korea and I’ve already heard one shocking thing after another. I can’t get my head straight. We need to go have a drink.”

“Now? It’s still daytime….”

“It’ll be night by the time we finish drinking. Let’s go.”

Iseo grabbed Yuri’s wrist and pulled her energetically outside.

＊＊＊

After drinking with Iseo until late at night and returning home, Yuri could not sleep all night because of the many thoughts running through her mind. Even though she had drunk much more than she usually could, strangely, her mind was completely clear.

She tossed and turned before finally falling asleep, but her eyes opened before the alarm even rang.

“Ugh…. My stomach hurts.”

Holding her burning stomach, Yuri walked into the living room and poured herself a glass of cold water from the water purifier.

“What time is it?”

She checked the clock hanging on the living room wall. It was not even 7 a.m. Normally, this would have been the busiest time of the morning as she prepared to go to work….

Come to think of it, if nothing had happened, tomorrow would have been her wedding day.

Well, even if it was a wedding, there was hardly anyone she could invite. She did not have any close colleagues at work whom she could tell about her marriage, so the only person who would have actually attended her wedding was her friend Iseo.

Hyunwoo had also suggested having a small wedding with only their families and a few close friends.

There would have been only about fifteen guests at most, so telling them that the wedding was canceled had not been difficult. Looking back, she even thought it might have been fortunate.

Rrrrr.

“Who’s calling at this hour?”

Suddenly, the sound of her phone ringing came from the bedroom. Yuri hurriedly walked over and picked up the phone from the bedside table, checking the screen.

Her expression instantly froze.

[Madam Joo Sang-hee]

“Ha…. The time has finally come.”

The hand holding her phone trembled slightly. She had already been planning to contact Madam Joo and visit her today, but since she had called first, Seol-ah must have finally told her everything.

Thinking that she had to answer before the call ended, Yuri quickly pressed the answer button.

“Yes, Madam.”

—What exactly are you doing?

Madam Joo Sang-hee’s voice came through the phone. She had neither raised her voice nor sounded angry, yet it sent chills throughout Yuri’s body.

She always spoke in a soft and composed manner, but there was strangely a sharp, oppressive force hidden in her tone.

Joo Sang-hee had always been a difficult and frightening person to Yuri.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you. I was going to come see you today and….”

—You shouldn’t have done something you needed to apologize for. When are you coming?

“Around what time…. No, I’ll come whenever it is convenient for you.”

—Come to the house by nine.

“Yes, I understand.”

Even after hanging up, Yuri’s hand holding the phone continued to tremble.

Just thinking about having to meet Joo Sang-hee made her heart pound violently.

＊＊＊

I never wanted to set foot in this house again….

But in the end, I came.

Yuri hesitated in front of the entrance to Seol-ah’s family home. The housekeeper already knew she had arrived and had opened the door for her, so Madam Joo was probably waiting for Yuri to come inside.

Yuri rubbed her sweaty palm against the hem of her coat before opening the front door.

“Hello.”

“Secretary Jin, welcome.”

The housekeeper who had just opened the door greeted Yuri with a kind smile.

“Have you been well?”

After exchanging a brief greeting, Yuri took off her shoes and slipped her feet into the neatly arranged slippers. The housekeeper then spoke.

“Of course. Madam is waiting for you in the sitting room, so please go in.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yuri gave the housekeeper a brief nod before heading toward the sitting room.

Joo Sang-hee had just turned sixty, but her appearance was so beautiful and elegant that one could easily believe she was only in her early fifties. She was the only daughter of a former National Assembly member and the current opposition party leader, and had grown up being treasured as a precious daughter.

Her older brothers had entered politics under the influence of their father and were currently serving as members of the National Assembly. Her family was practically a family of politicians. They were powerful enough that it was not unreasonable to expect that a president might one day come from their family.

When such a precious daughter announced that she would become the second wife of Baek Do-hoon, chairman of Royal Hotel, her family was thrown into an uproar. Despite opposition from her entire family, Joo Sang-hee had even staged a suicide attempt and was an unyielding woman who eventually won permission to marry Chairman Baek.

When Chairman Baek first took office, he needed financial support to expand his business, so he entered into an arranged marriage with his first wife, who was the daughter of a bank president. At that time, he had been in a relationship with Joo Sang-hee, but marriage had been impossible because of opposition from her parents.

After marriage, his first wife gave birth to their eldest son, Young-soo, and died from pregnancy-induced hypertension. Unable to forget the now-single Chairman Baek, Joo Sang-hee contacted him first. Chairman Baek also still had lingering feelings for his former lover, Joo Sang-hee, so they began seeing each other again and eventually succeeded in remarrying.

When the sitting-room door opened, Joo Sang-hee, sitting elegantly and drinking tea without a single thing out of place, met Yuri’s eyes.

“You came?”

“How have you been, Madam?”

“Would you have been fine if you were me? Sit down.”

Joo Sang-hee, sitting in the seat of honor on the sofa, snapped at Yuri, who was standing awkwardly, then pointed with her chin toward the seat where Yuri should sit.

Yuri went to the indicated seat and sat down, folding both hands demurely. She pressed her fingers together to calm her trembling hands even a little.

“I heard the general story, but explain it yourself. Exactly what is the problem?”

Without even telling the extremely tense Yuri to have a cup of tea, Joo Sang-hee went straight to the point.