27.3

“Sigh.”

Leaning on the bathroom sink, Yoonjeong took a deep breath. The anger still hadn’t settled inside her.

Feeling diminished by not having read the autobiography, she had sat there afterward like a mannequin. Minhu, who stood up first, claiming to be busy at work, chastised Yoonjeong for not reading the autobiography as she followed him to see him off.

“What have you been doing at home? You’re not doing anything. Even if you don’t read books, you should have read your grandfather’s autobiography at the very least. Either that or have a child to win his favor. You’re really not helpful at all.”

Minhu’s last words echoed in her head.

“What’s so great about a boastful autobiography everyone and their cow could write? And what about him? Has he even read my father’s autobiography? And what? I’m not helpful? We own so much stock in SC Group. Without our shares, he wouldn’t be able to do anything, and he’s complaining about me not reading some autobiography. huh?”

Yoonjeong gritted her teeth.

The issue of pregnancy was another point of contention. A man who couldn’t get pregnant himself had the audacity to complain.

Their marriage wasn’t warm, but there had been a degree of respect. Their s*xual life had been satisfactory, largely due to Yoonjeong’s efforts.

However, since starting the in-vitro fertilization treatments, they hadn’t been intimate for a long time. With the sensitive situation, Minhu had also been on edge lately, but not this coldly.

Could he be fulfilling his needs elsewhere?

And yet, she couldn’t give up on the treatments. If after hiring a surrogate, she had to pretend to be pregnant and go to her parents’ home, she’d be away from Minhu for a long period, and Minhu wasn’t the type to stay without a woman for long.

What if he had an affair? A child out of wedlock?

She should have addressed this with a prenuptial agreement like her mother-in-law had, but at the time, her own family had been more eager for the marriage, so she couldn’t bring up that clause.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Yoonjeong was tormented by her situation.

“Are you feeling unwell? My mother asked me to check on you.”

Chaeyoon, who had just entered the bathroom, asked Yoonjeong.

Yoonjeong quickly masked her anxiety, straightened up, and looked at Chaeyoon.

“Can I speak plainly? You’ll be coming in under me soon.”

“Of course, please do. I look forward to your guidance.”

Despite Yoonjeong’s imposing demeanor, Chaeyoon responded gently. Yoonjeong was visibly annoyed by Chaeyoon’s composed appearance.

“Well, I don’t know. There are some things you can learn from me, and some things you can’t.  You can dress things up with money to look like the part, but you can’t instantly acquire the dignity of a chaebol family.”

Yoonjeong swept her eyes from top to bottom, as if evaluating Chaeyoon with an arrogant attitude.

“Exactly, what can’t be changed just can’t be helped, so I’ll just do what I can. Luckily, since I’ll mostly be in the UK, it’s a relief I won’t have to see you too often. I’ll hide behind my husband then, so please cover for us. I’ll count on you.”

Chaeyoon smiled wryly, clearly diminishing herself in her modesty, but she didn’t appear crushed in spirit. It really bothered Yoonjeong. 

Unlike herself, who had abandoned her studies upon marriage, Chaeyoon had completed her studies abroad, handled herself well around elders, and spoke appropriately. 

Yoonjeong couldn’t understand why Chaeyoon, who seemed so insignificant, was so different from herself.

“I’ll be right there, so you can go ahead.”

“Okay.”

After Chaeyoon left, Yoonjeong slightly bent over.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, a sharp pain started in her stomach.

***

After the formal meeting, the Honorary Chairman was receiving tea in Seonkyung’s office. Seonkyung was inwardly nervous about what the honorary chairman would say about Chaeyoon as he drank his tea in silence.

“You’ve picked someone who resembles you well. Killing several birds with one stone, she’s sharp.”

A faint smile appeared on the Honorary Chairman’s lips.

At first glance, it might seem that Chaeyoon just happened to have read his autobiography. However, it also indirectly highlighted that she possessed the qualities of a leader, elevating the author himself, and subtly suggested that Seonho was a worthy successor for upholding the honorary chairman’s principle that “people are the highest asset.” It went as far as to prove Chaeyoon’s capabilities and efforts.

“Like me? She hardly has any ambition. She’s the kind of girl who dislikes being a chaebol daughter-in-law but has made Seonho’s heart flutter. Not just his, but also mine.”

Seonkyung made a face as if dealing with a troublesome child.

“She’s not ambitious? Do you really think so?”

“When she said she hates chaebols, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t acting.”

“Didn’t you hear her earlier? She said she studied chaebol heads because she might become one someday.”

At the Honorary Chairman’s words, Seonkyung paused as she was about to sip her tea.

Suddenly, she remembered Chaeyoon holding out the documents she had organized and telling her to become the chairman. Becoming th. It was an idea Seonkyung would never have thought of on her own.

“I see. She’s quite ambitious then. She has the ambition to rise to that position on her own, more ambitious than I am.”

“You’ve picked exactly the kind of partner Seonho needs. Seonho has so much but lacks a driven edge unless pushed.”

“Did I choose her? It was Seonho’s discernment. Having such discernment is his good fortune.”

“You didn’t filter her out, so you have discernment too.”

“I suddenly feel sorry for us, because they’re in love and here we are, always calculating.”

“Since we couldn’t do it, it’s not bad to grow old watching them love each other.”

Their lives had been consumed with trying not to lose what they had and accumulating more. But it was a more exhausting and fierce existence than one might think. But with Chaeyoon brought in by Seonho, it felt like they were opening a new world they couldn’t have themselves.

“It’s good to know that one of us can live with love.”

It was all thanks to Seonho’s courage to risk everything for love.

“Seonho is better than me.”

“You raised him well.”

The Honorary Chairman smiled faintly and looked at Seonkyung.

Seonkyung hadn’t raised Seonho that way. But her father-in-law’s words were comforting. Now she finally felt like she was truly Seonho’s mother.

“Yoonjeong is probably stressed. Hopefully, she doesn’t embarrass herself by attacking Chaeyoon. She’s your daughter-in-law too, take good care of her. Don’t just favor the second one. Minhu is also your child.”

“Things need to be given for things to be taken. How can those two be so alike, without any situational awareness, only thinking of themselves?”

Seonkyung sighed.