Chapter 25
The Lioness of Youngdo Group.
Before that, she was Seo Hye-won, the illustrious daughter of Eunmyeong Construction.
Born the third child of a great family, raised with noble treatment, and taught to embody noblesse oblige as her basic virtue, she nevertheless carried one massive stain on her otherwise pristine life.
[This is my son.]
She had always worried about her overly cheerful and frivolous daughter, but her life of flawless dignity shattered in vain when this man appeared.
[Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Anything.]
A man who looked exactly like her husband.
Problems like this existed everywhere. Even her uncle had once thrown society into scandal with something similar. But she never imagined it would become her problem.
There were those who comforted her to her face but mocked her behind her back. Anger she could not express piled up inside her. Onto the greenhouse flower that was her life, a burning coal had dropped, setting it aflame—yet she could not show it.
Seo Hye-won had to endure.
“It will eat away at me, but what can I do? I’ll just understand.”
“Is there more?”
The vulgar gossip beyond the curtain did not make Hye-won flinch.
She remained as calm as a quiet sea, while Eun-se turned pale white. We, too, hesitated over whether to let go of the curtain we were holding.
“Honestly, if the daughter had done her job, would an illegitimate child have climbed up so high? Even if he’s a son, still. The kid can’t do a thing, so of course it turned out that way.”
“I heard the same. Didn’t he cause trouble again recently? They said it was chaos cleaning it up.”
“Exactly. That’s why all the Youngdo shareholders keep looking only at Executive Director Ha. Look at how the stock rose the moment he got promoted. You know what that means.”
It meant: Youngdo Group belongs to Ha Yoon-jae.
No one had forgotten, but everyone knew this truth. A shallow laugh followed, along with light footsteps.
“Even Executive Director Ha is pitiful. Always cleaning up someone else’s mess.”
“Such a waste. If only his background were proper.”
“Oh please, don’t pretend you’re the only one who regrets it. If we’d known he’d marry a woman like that, we would’ve at least tried! Everyone’s regretting it. Didn’t Mrs. Yang say so the other day…”
Hye-won, clearly unwilling to hear more, turned her body.
She already saw Eun-se trembling with her head bowed, but instead of comforting, she simply said:
“Let’s go.”
If there was no intention to fight, it was better to pretend not to hear.
Seo Hye-won had lived her entire life that way—elegant, proud, untouchable. She turned away completely, as if she truly hadn’t heard a thing, when a clear voice stopped her.
“Please wait here, Mother. Eun-se.”
We smiled brightly at them, though our words had been whispered too low for those inside to hear.
“There’s no need for you to see this.”
“Hey, what are you doing…”
Flutter!
Before she could finish, we had pulled back the curtain and stepped inside.
The refined women inside immediately fell silent, their conversation cut off by the sound of our arrival.
“This line over here…”
“Oh, I was just saying I’m interested in…”
Their pretense of ignorance, just like Hye-won’s, was ridiculous. Adjusting the glasses slipping down our nose, we suddenly poked our head forward.
“Ladies.”
“Oh my goodness!”
“Kyaa!”
They knew someone had come, but never imagined a face would suddenly appear right in front of them. Their shrieks filled the room.
We calmly straightened up.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Allow me to correct it.”
Taking deliberate steps toward them, we made them retreat all the way to the wall. Conveniently, their voices would no longer carry out through the curtain.
“W-who are you?”
“Well, you can figure that out from what we say next.”
We brushed aside introductions and scanned them closely. Then, lowering our voice, we got to the point.
“You said ‘cleaning up messes.’”
That single phrase revealed we’d heard everything outside. Our eyes curved prettily behind the glasses.
“Is that really how you’d describe a brother helping his younger sibling?”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“What’s wrong with this person? Thug? Where’s the manager? Manager, come here!”
“Move aside right now! What do you think you’re—”
“Then how should we describe someone who caused a scandal over a mistress, got shipped off to an overseas branch as an excuse, and still kept a lover after marriage?”
Ssshhh—
Like cold water doused over them, silence froze the room.
One woman on the left turned pale, covering her mouth, stammering.
“H-how do you know that…”
“Mrs. Kang!”
Bingo.
Of course, we had no way of knowing their family affairs. We had simply thrown out one of the most common gossip tropes in this circle—and one of them had taken the bait.
Amused, we smiled even more brightly at their flustered faces.
“Wh-what nonsense are you spouting!”
“Do you even know who we are? How dare you!”
“Exactly.”
Like fish already caught on the line, they dangled helplessly as we shrugged casually.
“Why do you insist on drawing conclusions from half-seen, half-heard scraps, ladies?”
“……”
“Since you know your children’s affairs well enough… shall we play dirty together?”
The eyes, thought to be gentle, suddenly gleamed icy blue. The sharp aura that swept through the room made one woman glare.
“What do you want?”
At least one of them had some sense.
We dropped the pretense and folded our hands behind our back.
“Do you really have to ask?”
Pointing briefly toward the curtain, we answered.
“An apology.”
The women’s sudden apology left Hye-won and Eun-se visibly shaken, unable to keep up their calm.
Especially Hye-won—she clearly recognized those faces.
“See you at the next gathering.”
She added coldly. The women, teary-eyed and mumbling excuses, finally slunk away.
What happened next was none of our concern.
Right on cue—or perhaps planned to perfection—the personal shopper and collection session began.
Listening to the kind explanation, Hye-won examined the handbags nonchalantly before asking without looking at us:
“How did you do it?”
Even she couldn’t have known what had happened beyond the curtain.
With a slightly troubled expression, we answered:
“I just explained the truth, cleared a misunderstanding. I may have gotten carried away emotionally.”
“You rushed a little, didn’t you?”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it with Mother there.”
“No need to apologize.”
For the first time, Hye-won met our eyes directly—the same woman who had kept a blank expression even while being insulted earlier.
Her clear brown eyes studied us intently as she murmured:
“You surprised me.”
“Pardon?”
“The daughter-in-law I knew wasn’t this warm, couldn’t smile, couldn’t even speak up. But today, you stepped forward and resolved matters. I didn’t expect such strength.”
“……”
“Though maybe I’m presumptuous, saying that after only a few meetings.”
Our throat grew dry, our neatly folded hands fidgeted slightly. Of course, she couldn’t imagine the difference in us, but still, it felt like she’d seen through us.
We forced a small smile.
“I’m simply doing my best.”
As though we had revealed a sliver of our true self.
But Hye-won pressed no further. Instead, she gestured toward the display.
“Choose something you like.”
“No, I…”
“Take it.”
Her tone, firm yet kind, carried no room for refusal. She patted our shoulder warmly.
“If you receive, you must give in return, my dear.”
She meant she wouldn’t owe us a debt.
‘No wonder they call her a lioness.’
We gave up resisting and nodded.
“Yes, Mother. Thank you.”
“Get home safely.”
At the end of this turbulent day, we bid farewell. Just as she was about to step into her car, Hye-won paused.
“Wait.”
She dismissed her chauffeur for a moment, then turned to us.
“Don’t try too hard.”
It seemed out of context after a goodbye, but we stayed silent, waiting.
“Executive Director Ha doesn’t want that, and neither do I. You already know that, don’t you?”
She gripped the car door, hesitating in thought, then stepped closer.
“I won’t treat you clumsily from now on. Clearly, you’re not someone that would work on.”
It sounded like a short reflection on the newly realized Ju Ae-jeong.
We responded with an awkward smile, but Hye-won leaned in, whispering softly:
“No one in this family believes you began this with good intentions. So don’t waste your effort.”
Her unwavering eyes pierced through as she added:
“No matter how hard you try, being second… means exactly that.”
As though she were speaking of her own marriage.
For once, we were at a loss for words. Without waiting, Hye-won turned and stepped into her car.
Eun-se, still lingering outside, bowed reflexively as Hye-won entered, startled at herself before hurrying into the car as well.
In her hand was the handbag we had gifted her.
As the car drove away, we touched our chin, murmuring softly:
“Second place.”
Turning over Hye-won’s weighty words, we muttered seriously:
“Not the two-hundredth?”
Are you not giving me too much credit, Madam?
