Chapter 01
[EC 01] This account is connected to multiple players
“No way.”
An unbelievable thing had happened.
It was so absurd, it was almost comical.
No matter how many times she thought it over, she must have misheard.
“Can you say that again?”
In response, Chu Yeong-eun, who had just wiped her reddened eyes, calmly answered,
“June 20, 20X5.”
“You’re kidding.”
“June 20, 20X5.”
“That can’t be.”
“President.”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t believe me?”
That sharp question left Seung-eon speechless.
‘Of course not.’
She swallowed the words that almost left her mouth and furrowed her brows.
Her grandmother, Lee Joo-ok, whom she respected and followed, passed away last spring.
“Dear, promise me. Woo-jin… you must protect him.”
Has it really been two years?
She remembered her grandmother’s face clearly as she lay on her hospital bed, looking at her.
That always strong and dignified figure had vanished.
Gripping Seung-eon’s hand with her frail, bony fingers, her grandmother repeated over and over that she must take care of Woo-jin, her only grandson and Seung-eon’s younger brother.
Since he had lost both parents at birth and later his beloved grandmother right before entering elementary school, Seung-eon thought she was the only one who could protect him until he became an adult.
That’s why she had turned the IT company her father built, LOOKIN, into a subsidiary of the HG Group, which her grandmother owned.
While other relatives stepped away from management, believing they couldn’t run the company like her grandmother did, Seung-eon and her youngest aunt, Kang Joo-hee, fiercely competed for HG’s management rights.
And just when it seemed Seung-eon had won the HG shares battle—
She had… lost her memory in an accident?
The “car accident” Yeong-eun mentioned occurred on December 23 of last year.
And apparently, after that, she was in a coma for six months, hovering between life and death.
She finally woke up, only to discover—
Amnesia?
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
Sure, her body felt oddly weak, and her legs were shaky.
She had no memory from age 32 to 33 and had been in the hospital for six months!
“If this is some joke, it’s not funny.”
Seung-eon snapped at her secretary, who looked at her calmly.
When she saw a trace of sympathy in Chu’s eyes, she frowned again.
“Haa… so other than the memory loss, there’s nothing wrong with my body?”
“That’s right. It’s fortunate.”
As chaotic as this all was, she needed to stay calm.
“Secretary Chu.”
“Yes, President.”
“You know I just woke up, right?”
“I do.”
“Then give me a quick summary. What’s happened since my last memory?”
Chu Yeong-eun looked at her intently, composed her thoughts, and finally began to speak.
“Huh?”
Even though she’d asked for a short summary, it took over an hour for Chu to explain everything that had happened since June 13, two years ago.
When she finally finished, a dry laugh escaped Seung-eon’s lips.
“So you’re saying… while I was unconscious, my dear aunt tried to take my position and go after Woo-jin’s inheritance?”
Chu nodded.
Seung-eon hesitated, then asked,
“You stopped her… right?”
“Yes.”
Not a hint of hesitation.
‘As expected.’
She knew how to pick good people.
Years ago, after unexpectedly losing her parents and struggling to find her way, her grandmother had asked her to come under her wing.
It wasn’t a small family shop—this was HG Group, one of the most powerful conglomerates in Korea.
She’d been scared at first, but of course, she’d accepted—because of her little brother, Woo-jin.
She had to do something. Anything.
But just because it was family-run didn’t mean it was easy. She was thrown into the jungle of a conglomerate.
Even with a top university degree, Seung-eon had zero work experience. For years at HG headquarters, she was treated like a parachute hire, a burden.
Her aunt, who should have supported her, instead set traps to drive her out of the company, making those early years even harder. And then—
“I’ll support you. Use me however you want. I won’t betray you.”
That’s when Chu Yeong-eun appeared.
With a stoic face and no expression, she said she’d do whatever was needed.
Despite graduating early from DaeHan University’s business school and even attending its law school, she stayed as nothing more than Seung-eon’s assistant.
And during the six months Seung-eon was unconscious, Chu defended both HG and LOOKIN against the aunt’s attempts to seize control.
The woman who promised she’d never betray her after taking her hand—
Had kept that promise to this day.
“Are you moved?”
Chu asked with her usual robot-like tone, still expressionless. Seung-eon laughed dryly.
“Honestly, yeah, that was touching.”
“Then repay me—financially.”
Same old attitude.
Laughing again, Seung-eon replied, “Of course,” and sighed deeply.
“But seriously. My aunt’s something else.”
Unlike her father, Kang Woo-hyuk, who as the eldest son created his own business path early on, Kang Joo-hee, as the youngest, coveted everything about HG.
While other relatives gave up on inheriting the company due to pressure, she grew jealous when Seung-eon started being groomed as successor, wanting not just the chairman position but everything Seung-eon had.
“Let’s not go too far, Aunt. If you touch Woo-jin, I won’t forgive you.”
While sorting their grandmother’s inheritance, Seung-eon once warned her aunt, who tried to snatch even the shares meant for Woo-jin.
She made it clear—cross the line again, and even family won’t stop her from taking legal action.
“She couldn’t wait six months? She had to make a move while I was unconscious?”
Thinking about her aunt’s greed made her grind her teeth.
“Secretary Chu.”
“Yes, President.”
“Start the discharge process. We can’t let my dear aunt run wild any longer.”
“……”
“……Yeong-eun?”
Chu was known for executing Seung-eon’s orders without a second of hesitation.
She was so loyal, employees called her Seung-eon’s faithful dog.
So when she froze, Seung-eon tilted her head.
Chu looked at her and finally spoke.
“While you were unconscious, a new will was found.”
“What will?”
Chu explained.
While organizing the LA villa of Lee Joo-ok during Seung-eon’s coma, Kang Joo-hee found a newly updated will.
And—shockingly—it was confirmed to be legally valid by the late chairman’s lawyer.
“So…”
Seung-eon’s shoulders trembled.
“You’re saying… although Grandma left me shares to become the HG Group’s major shareholder, there’s now a condition to receive them?”
And that condition…
“I have to get married within a year from when this new will was revealed, just to secure enough shares to block my aunt?”
“Yes.”
“Then once I have a child, I get shares that ensure full management control?”
“You’ve summarized it well. That’s correct.”
“I agreed to that crazy will?!”
As she freaked out, Chu nodded.
“It was your official seal, no doubt.”
Unbelievable.
“When was that will written?”
“Two years ago. Early January.”
Early January…
“That was just a few months before Grandma passed!”
“Correct.”
“Then why don’t I remember any of it?”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t!”
As Chu asked again in confusion, Seung-eon shouted. Chu fell silent for a moment, then calmly responded.
“If I may guess—it’s because of your memory issues.”
“What?”
“Given multiple traumas, it’s possible memories from that time are scrambled. You might not be able to recall them now.”
“But I remember Woo-jin’s birthday… Ugh, seriously!”
A bitter laugh escaped her.
After a pause, she looked at Chu again.
“I’m single!”
She shouted.
“I’ve never even dated!”
She hated admitting it, but truth is truth.
She was the textbook definition of someone who’d never been in a relationship.
“You’re not single.”
As Seung-eon clutched her head in denial, Chu dropped another bomb.
“What?”
Stunned, Seung-eon stared at her. Chu replied calmly, with no change in expression.
“You’ve been dating someone for two years.”
This was… unbelievable.
