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Chapter 15
It was a time like a fleeting spring dream that lasted only one night.
Afterward, when she returned home, the only thing waiting to greet her was the bleak and unchanging scenery inside the house.
She already felt suffocated.
A dark figure was approaching from afar.
“You’ve returned, Miss.”
It was Chief Jang, Chairwoman Yeo Baekhwa’s loyal right-hand woman.
A woman with jet-black hair slicked straight back and dressed entirely in a black suit.
The moment Yeo Jaekyung spotted her, her expression immediately sank.
Because the dream was over.
“You worked hard today, Miss. Allow me to escort you inside.”
“What about Mother?”
“Chairwoman Yeo said her dinner gathering would likely run late tonight.”
“I see.”
“First, I’ll remove the tracking device. After that, we’ll measure your weight.”
“Understood.”
With practiced hands, Chief Jang removed the metal bracelet hanging from her arm and guided her inside.
A precision tracking device.
One of the many pieces of evidence proving how obsessively Chairwoman Yeo cherished her only daughter.
“Yesterday, you gained approximately 0.5 kilograms above your target weight. Chairwoman Yeo instructed that if there is no noticeable weight reduction today, you are to skip dinner.”
“Yes.”
“Maintaining your ideal weight is one of your most important responsibilities, Miss. It is Chairwoman Yeo’s will, so I ask for your cooperation.”
“Yes.”
Did you know, Seo Taejoo, just how suffocating this house is for me?
With every trace of expression wiped from her face, Yeo Jaekyung followed Chief Jang upstairs.
There, she stepped onto the prepared scale with practiced familiarity and had her waist, upper arms, and thighs measured.
“…There hasn’t been much change. It would be best for you to skip dinner. Increase your exercise, and starting tomorrow morning, we’ll switch you to a stricter diet menu.”
Without replying, Yeo Jaekyung quietly put her clothes back on.
Chief Jang led her to the room at the far end of the second floor.
The room where she had spent her childhood, adolescence, and all the years since. A massive lock secured the door.
Click.
After unlocking it, Chief Jang motioned for Yeo Jaekyung to enter.
“Then have a pleasant evening, Miss.”
With a blank expression, Yeo Jaekyung stepped inside.
Clatter. Click.
The door closed once more.
As always, a suffocating fear wrapped itself around her throat.
Enduring the familiar wave of dizziness, Yeo Jaekyung leaned against the door and counted to ten.
Step. Step.
From beyond the door came the sound of Chief Jang leaving the floor.
The moment she confirmed he was gone, Yeo Jaekyung rushed toward the window.
Creak.
She threw open the room’s lone window.
Of course, even there, a decorative but sturdy security screen covered the opening like prison bars.
A tightly woven barrier that wouldn’t even allow a little finger to pass through.
“Haa…”
Pressing her mouth close to it, Yeo Jaekyung inhaled deeply as her breathing grew ragged.
She shut her eyes tightly and tried to recall the fierce wind she had felt inside the car earlier.
That freedom.
Seo Taejoo, do you have any idea what the time I spent with you today meant to me?
The taste of that free air I breathed in your car tonight.
The surprise I felt at your kindness when you granted my ridiculous request to roll down all four windows and even turned on the radio for me.
Do you know…?
The next morning.
At the usual hour, the lock on her room was opened. Yeo Jaekyung had already finished preparing to go out.
Following Chief Jang downstairs, she found the mother-and-daughter breakfast table prepared as always.
“As I mentioned, starting today, Miss Jaekyung’s meals will be changed to a diet menu.”
Yeo Jaekyung sat down and looked at the children’s tray placed before her.
A pitiful meal consisting of a little konjac jelly, some spinach, and soy milk.
Beside it sat a pill.
“A newly prescribed appetite suppressant.”
Chief Jang held out a glass of water.
“…”
Without a word, Yeo Jaekyung swallowed the pill.
Her stomach burned.
At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed from the entrance.
“Ugh, this hangover. Chief Jang, get me a hangover remedy. Honestly, that guy I met yesterday really loves his wine. I have no idea how many glasses I drank.”
It was Yeo Baekhwa, appearing in a flashy pink robe.
Chief Jang quickly pulled out a chair for her.
Then she brought over the requested hangover remedy, opened it, and handed it over.
“Ahh!”
Yeo Baekhwa downed it in one gulp and slammed the bottle onto the table.
Mother and daughter sat facing one another.
While Yeo Jaekyung’s meal looked pitiful, Yeo Baekhwa’s side of the table was overflowing with luxurious breakfast dishes.
“Today’s breakfast has been prepared as a Japanese course meal by a chef who formerly served as a senior chef at the Blue House. First, a clear soup containing soft fish cakes wrapped in pollock skin and wild pine mushrooms, along with local seafood such as abalone, squid, sea cucumber intestines, and assorted sashimi—”
“Ah, that’s enough explaining.”
“Yes, Chairwoman. Enjoy your meal.”
Chief Jang immediately bowed and stepped back.
Yeo Baekhwa began eating at once.
The contrast between her extravagant feast and Yeo Jaekyung’s meager meal was stark.
Grrr…
Because she had skipped dinner the night before, Yeo Jaekyung’s stomach growled loudly.
She ate as slowly as possible.
But after only a few bites, the tiny breakfast on the children’s tray was gone.
I’m still hungry…
Instinctively, her gaze drifted toward Yeo Baekhwa’s lavish breakfast.
Bang!
Yeo Baekhwa suddenly struck the table with her spoon.
“Yeo Jaekyung, how many times have I told you to sit up straight while eating?”
The scolding came down immediately.
Without even lifting her head from the newspaper spread before her, Yeo Baekhwa continued.
“Honestly, no matter how many times I teach you, you’re always the same. If you weren’t my daughter, I doubt you’d even know how to function properly in society.”
Yeo Baekhwa was so absorbed in her newspaper that she hadn’t even noticed Yeo Jaekyung had already finished eating.
“I’m sorry.”
Yeo Jaekyung straightened her back again.
Her tray was already empty, but it looked like Yeo Baekhwa’s lecture was about to begin.
Interrupting her would only make things worse, so Yeo Jaekyung sat silently.
“Do you remember when you were four years old? No matter what chair I sat you in, you couldn’t keep your back straight for even ten minutes. Do you know how worried I was?”
“…I remember.”
And I remember exactly what you did to me because of it.
“We had you tested for ADHD, developmental disorders, even took you to child psychology specialists. Every one of them lied right to my face and said there was nothing wrong with you. Imagine that. A problem child showing symptoms like yours.”
Really?
…Isn’t it stranger for a four-year-old child to sit perfectly straight for ten straight minutes?
But Yeo Jaekyung said nothing.
“In the end, Chief Jang and I had to take special measures. Do you remember ordering a custom-made chair covered with needles?”
“…Of course.”
How could she ever forget?
The sensation of those needles piercing her skin and flesh.
The pain.
“You should be grateful to me. In today’s world, do you know how rare it is to find someone who can maintain perfect posture anywhere they go?”
Yeo Baekhwa looked up proudly at her daughter.
“Try finding someone as determined as your mother. When my four-year-old daughter collapsed from exhaustion, foaming at the mouth and rolling her eyes back, did I ever take you out of that chair?”
“…No.”
Yeo Baekhwa smiled with satisfaction.
“Exactly. Dieting is the same thing, Jaekyung. Pain is temporary, but the results of investing in your beauty while you’re young last forever.”
Munch. Munch.
She rummaged through the premium sashimi platter, found a plump abalone, and popped it into her mouth.
“Mmm. This abalone is a little tough. Anyway, Jaekyung, this is the golden age of your life right now. Think of it as your final opportunity to maximize your value.”
Swallowing her food, Yeo Baekhwa fixed her daughter with sharp eyes.
At the table, her daughter sat like a painting.
A slender figure that could rival any actress.
Elegant lines.
Just as the public praised her, Yeo Baekhwa’s daughter was perfect.
Inside and out.
“Do you think I raised you to have a celebrity’s figure for no reason? It’s all for you. Everything I’ve done was to increase your value. These days, a woman can’t be empty-headed, but she can’t neglect her appearance either. When I think about all the worry and effort I put into making sure you lacked for nothing growing up, I still get stomach cramps.”
…If the person who inflicted it suffered enough to get stomach cramps, how much worse must it have been for the person enduring it?
Still, Yeo Jaekyung remained silent.
Yeo Baekhwa sighed dramatically.
“When my father died and I declared I would inherit Hanlim, people lost their minds. A woman inheriting a corporation? They came at me from every direction. Back then, I proved my worth to every one of those people who opposed me. The image people associate with Hanlim in South Korea today? I built it all with these two hands.”
Setting down her utensils, Yeo Baekhwa rested her elbows on the table.
She spread her hands wide, turning them over to display the gold rings covering her fingers.
“…And it was always the same afterward. Before marriage, after marriage, after divorce, after remarriage, even when I gave my child my surname. ‘Women shouldn’t do this.’ ‘Women can’t do that.’ Because I’m a woman—!”
Bang!
She slammed both fists onto the table.
“Hoo…”
After barely regaining control of her emotions, she turned to her daughter with the gentlest smile imaginable.
Then she revealed a chilling grin.
“That’s why you should be grateful to me, Jaekyung. Using my experiences as a foundation, I made sure those people would never dare say such things about you.”
Her eyes gleamed intensely.
“You are perfect, Jaekyung.”
The finest product she had ever created.
Fashioned so flawlessly that no one could criticize it.
No one could find fault with it.
Absolute perfection.
“Have you talked with that delinquent yet? That’s why I’ve been giving you more free time lately.”
Yeo Jaekyung flinched involuntarily at the mention of Seo Taejoo.
“Yes. I saw him yesterday, and I intend to continue meeting him regularly.”
“Good. Just don’t get too attached. Once he loses his usefulness, we’ll throw him away.”
At her daughter’s answer, Yeo Baekhwa smiled with deep satisfaction.
