Episode 22
“What’s going on all of a sudden?”
Ha Joong burst into the room in a panic after receiving Hwaran’s message. It wasn’t even time for their scheduled meeting yet, but he rushed in as if he had been waiting all day. He hurried to Hwaran and pulled her into his arms.
Then he gently consoled her.
It was in these small gestures that Hwaran felt loved. The rage boiling in her chest seemed to ease the moment she saw Ha Joong’s face.
Suppressing her anger, Hwaran tried her best to smile brightly.
“Ha Joong, it’s nothing serious. I just have something to discuss.”
“What is it? What happened? What kind of matter would put such a shadow over your beautiful face? Tell me everything. You know I can handle it.”
Though she smiled, the faint darkness that passed over Hwaran’s face did not escape Ha Joong’s notice.
How could she not fall in love with a man who could read her feelings just from her eyes?
“It’s not a crime or anything… but I don’t think Yeoun and I-hyun’s marriage is going to happen.”
“Well, we were planning to delay it anyway. Didn’t we say it’s fine even if he gets remarried after the divorce?”
“It’s not just about the divorce. Chairman Seo will never approve of the marriage. And now the wedding has been moved up—only two weeks away. He’s determined to marry I-hyun off, and fast, too. Gosh, it’s so frustrating…”
Hwaran’s words fell like thunder.
She had understood that Seo I-hyun didn’t like Yeoun and wanted to postpone the wedding until after his divorce with his secretary. But to hear that it would never be allowed—that was like a blow to the head.
“What?! What do you mean, he won’t allow it? Why? Why the hell not?!”
Ha Joong shouted in rage, banging his fist on the table.
“Well… sigh. Yeoun tried to take matters into her own hands. She thought she was being clever, but it just stirred up a hornet’s nest. She involved the police and the media too…”
Hwaran left out the part where I-hyun had discovered her affair with Ha Joong and instead laid all the blame on Yeoun. Telling him everything would only burden him more, she thought.
As expected, even hearing just about Yeoun’s actions was enough to make Ha Joong fume with rage.
“What?! What did Yeoun do this time? Police? Media? Are you saying the news from the past few days was caused by that brat?!”
His eyes flared as Hwaran remained silent, silently confirming his suspicion.
Though she didn’t like betraying Yeoun, who was once on her side, she knew Yeoun was now a liability. She had to be discarded—for both Hwaran and Ha Joong’s survival.
If they didn’t get rid of Yeoun and keep her away from I-hyun, who knew what else he would dig up?
“What the hell was that crazy girl thinking?!”
“Sigh… how do I even say this…”
“Just say it! What did she do this time to piss off the chairman?!”
As Hwaran hesitated, Ha Joong’s face turned red and blue in frustration.
“Yeoun came to my house yesterday. She brought all sorts of things and talked about this and that… and I swear, I had no idea. But it turns out…”
“What?”
“It was all her doing. That news story from a few days ago—Yeoun planned it all. Apparently, she bribed both the press and the police. Once I-hyun and Chairman Seo found out, they completely blew up. The Ji-eum Art Museum, Ji-eum Group—everyone’s going crazy trying to do damage control. It’s a mess.”
Of course, Hwaran exaggerated the effort it took to calm Seo I-hyun, hoping it would look like she was working hard for Ha Joong’s sake.
She placed her hands on her chest as if calming her shocked heart, while sneakily watching Ha Joong’s expression.
“What? Are you sure Yeoun did all that?”
“Yes. The chairman’s secretary dug up the details. When he reported it, Chairman Seo went ballistic. I tried to find out more to prove Yeoun’s innocence, but it all turned out to be true.”
As Hwaran continued to reveal Yeoun’s misdeeds, Ha Joong looked more and more appalled. He couldn’t understand how she could cause such a disaster without any way to handle the consequences.
“Deleting CCTV footage, manipulating the incident, airing only clips that hurt I-hyun’s image in the media… what was she thinking?!”
Ha Joong was furious. This wasn’t just another one of Yeoun’s petty stunts.
She’d had her share of scandals—school bullying, partying with men every night during her studies in Paris—but those were manageable. Embarrassing, yes, but solvable.
This, however, was different. This time, his company and future had nearly gone up in smoke.
“That useless brat—what is she even good at?!”
“Calm down, Ha Joong. Don’t worry. I’ll smooth things over with Chairman Seo. You just need to deal with the reporters and the police Yeoun bribed—make sure it all gets buried. If word gets out that Yeoun paid them off… I don’t even want to imagine what’ll happen.”
Hwaran gently rubbed his back, and his outburst began to subside.
“Why do I have to keep cleaning up that girl’s messes?! I thought she’d be useful, but all she does is burn through my money like a parasite.”
“If Yeoun wants to marry I-hyun, it’s not entirely impossible…”
“What do you mean?”
“If… if Chairman Seo were no longer in the picture, maybe we could push the marriage through. Even if I-hyun resists, once the chairman dies, he’ll be shaken. He might still get married, and at that point, maybe Yeoun could… I don’t know, get pregnant or something. That could seal the deal. But that old man’s still going strong, unfortunately.”
Hwaran hesitated as she laid out the plan she had just come up with. The more she thought about it, the better it sounded.
“That old man’s not even sick?”
“I’m not sure. We’d have to check. He does look a little unwell lately, but… sigh. It’s not like we can pray for his death or anything.”
“Let’s think about it. For now, keep Yeoun away from Chairman Seo and Seo I-hyun. We’ll bring her back later.”
Ha Joong carefully retraced Hwaran’s words. The plan actually sounded pretty solid. But the key piece of the puzzle was the chairman’s death—a factor neither of them could control.
But not everyone lives to fulfill their natural lifespan.
“Alright. I just want to be with you, Hwaran. I love you.”
“That day will come soon. I want to live with you too. I wish both of them at home would just disappear. Forget S Group—I just want to live with you. If I’d had a woman like you by my side earlier, Ji-eum would’ve already surpassed S Group. If only you hadn’t married Jihoon first, I would’ve married you in a heartbeat. I love you.”
He kissed her.
And as Ha Joong pressed his lips to hers, he made sure to show that what he wanted most—was her. Because he needed her to believe that living together was their shared goal. Even though, deep down, his real goal was S Group.
As long as he could get his hands on S Group, he didn’t care who he used. Hwaran just happened to be the fastest route.
He could toss aside Yeoun and his wife, but not Hwaran. If anyone got in his way, he wouldn’t hesitate to discard them—even in an instant.
Right now, Hwaran was the only one who would do absolutely anything for him.
If he could manipulate her well, he wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty. Hwaran would stain hers for him.
He didn’t need to commit the crime himself. He planned for her to carry the blood on her hands—just like when she killed Soo-jung.
Hwaran was the kind of woman who would strap on a gas tank and run straight into flames for him.
After all, he had spent the last three years training her for that.
