So That Was That Kind of Phone Number...
"Hey, you've been trying to deceive people ever since you brought up that contract..."
"Bullshit. Where does a bitch with nothing but big tits get off—"
"Tits? Hey! Have you said your piece? You little bitch!"
Naturally, she didn't believe it. Eunbyul then searched for 'Seongjeong Construction' in the search bar of site N, entered the homepage, tapped on the 'Chairman's Greeting' section, and shoved it right in front of Jia's eyes.
"I'm Eunbyul! My dad is Eun Seongmin! Happy now?"
"You're trying so hard to fabricate this, aren't you? If you were really that well-off, Master would have known..."
"I kept it a secret! A secret! I don't want to struggle to become rich like you, and I prefer living quietly, pretending I don't have anything!"
The two female cats were hissing at each other loudly enough for the neighbors to hear, but since he was out for a walk, he remained oblivious.
"What makes you think I'd believe you just because you went to one website? If you don't have it, just say you don't."
"Want to see my bankbook?"
Eunbyul then opened the S* Bank app and showed her one of her accounts. Below the product name, labeled 'VIP Free Installment Savings,' was the balance.
"I know you just photoshopped that, you know."
"...?"
"It's obvious the numbers don't add up. If you're going to use a synthesis tool, at least do it properly..."
Jia's reaction was understandable. That account held about ten times the money Jia had lost while playing the stock market. To be exact, 543,722,681,364 won. Still not believing it, Eunbyul showed the transaction history of the savings account with a resentful expression.
"Hey, look. The interest is 12,233,760,330 won. That's what's left after taxes."
"Stop lying. How could you get 12.2 billion won in interest..."
"Because there's 500 billion won in the account!!!!"
Even when she said it, Jia didn't believe her. No, she couldn't. Jia thought to herself that even with her own 70 billion won, she still had to work, so if she had 500 billion, she would never work a day in her life. She was about to ask why Eunbyul was still working at the company if she had that much money, but she brushed it off, thinking it was all a lie anyway.
"Where did you get 500 billion won?"
"I got it from my dad. Unlike you."
"What does your dad do?"
"He's the chairman of a construction company, the chairman!!!!"
Jia picked up her phone and searched for 'Seongjeong Construction.' Below the site, she saw the company information pop up alongside a chart.
"...Hey, the company is worth 13 trillion won, so why do you have 500 billion..."
"Even if I liquidated all of that, it would only be about 4% of the shares."
"4... 4%..."
Jia still thought she couldn't believe it. She felt that if she believed this, she would be admitting defeat. While she was scrolling up and down the site meaninglessly, thinking she could never trust this vixen, she heard the sound of the front door passcode being entered. Jia, without thinking, quickly said,
"Master, that vixen over there was saying some strange things."
"...Master, sigh... What is it?"
Eunbyul quickly stepped forward to cover Jia's mouth, but,
"No, that vixen says her dad is the chairman of some company. Doesn't that make no sense?"
Since she couldn't stop her from speaking, Eunbyul dropped her arms and looked at him.
"That is, Senior. So..."
"...?"
While that was happening, Jia quickly shoved her phone in front of his eyes. Jia wanted only one thing: for this lie to be exposed by him, and for Eunbyul to be dragged through the mud once again. The more she ruined her image, the less likely Eunbyul would be able to stay by his side.
"This cunning bitch was lying about being rich!"
"I mean, if you don't have it, just say you don't. Why pretend to have it and make such a big deal out of it?"
"Master, you find this vixen pathetic too, right? Should I kick her out right now? If you just say the word..."
"Wait."
The company logo caught his eye—a company he had seen many times. He snatched the phone from Jia as if grabbing it, examined the site, confirmed that the chairman was Eun Seongmin, focused on the surname 'Eun,' and then looked at Eunbyul, who was sitting on the sofa looking at him with worried eyes.
Eun Seongmin, Eunbyul, Eun...
"You, this..."
As he did, he recalled what the Seongjeong Chairman had said in the past.
"Both of my daughters are far removed from the construction business."
Remembering that, he asked Eunbyul.
"Do you happen to have a younger sister? Or an older sister?"
"A younger sister... yes."
It felt like he had been hit in the head with a hammer. He then looked into Eunbyul's past. She lived in an expensive apartment complex, money didn't seem to be a priority, and she felt like she was working at the company just for fun. She loved her work, did a lot of it, and even sought out tasks that didn't pay well. Eunbyul often said she wasn't obsessed with success and only wanted to make him shine brighter.
Then he asked,
"...By any chance, your father's phone number..."
"It's 011-6587-2329."
"....Ah, ....So that was that kind of phone number...."
Jia, who was looking back and forth between him and Eunbyul, unable to hide her embarrassment at the unexpected situation, tugged slightly on his sleeve.
"Um, Master, that liar..."
"Ah... Liar, ah..."
Once again, Jia had ruined her own life.
"...."
He couldn't close his gaping mouth. Eunbyul continued with a worried expression,
"Senior, knowing that doesn't change anything."
"....No, I mean...."
"...I don't do anything weird. I'm not that kind of person who uses money to... you know. I would never use that kind of blackmail, Senior."
"...."
That wasn't the problem.
"Senior, the contract I wrote was a joke. A total joke. It was just so fun to see you flustered."
"You found it... fun..."
He couldn't say a word, wondering what on earth he had been doing until now. Jia couldn't even sit on a chair. While he sat at the dining table, opened an expensive bottle of wine, and personally filled Eunbyul's glass, he hadn't told Jia to sit down.
"You found it fun, you say?"
"....No, never mind. Just... drink. Yeah."
"Senior, this is a very expensive wine, though. I have a decent eye for these things. My dad loves wine..."
"Right, he... loves wine."
It had to be that way. In the Seonyu New Town consortium he had momentarily forgotten about, his construction affiliates had saved a total of 800 to 900 billion won in estimated costs related to the work Seongjeong was handling. In other words, the father of this cute, pretty woman in front of him had essentially thrown 900 billion won at his company and run away.
"...."
And he had tasted the breasts of such a woman. A lot, at that... He had almost done much more than that, too.
"Is your father doing well...?"
"Yes, Senior. Actually..."
Eunbyul said with her own mouth that she became a secretary thanks to her dad. However, instead of thinking of it as an unfair personnel move, he nodded and listened attentively. Seeing that, Jia felt like her heart was being torn apart.
"Master, how long do you intend to believe that crazy vixen's words..."
"Shut up, you slutty bitch. What kind of rudeness are you committing?"
"...?"
Jia had tried to interject, but she looked quite pitiful as she collapsed and slumped down as if she had hit a stone wall.
"This is too expensive, I like the cheap stuff too! Like the 20,000 or 30,000 won ones?"
"No. I can't let something like that pass your lips."
He had heard there were two daughters in that house. And his father's words flashed through his mind: 'Seongmin comes over every week and begs me, saying, "Brother, please, just give my first daughter and your son a chance..."'
"If there's a younger sister, then you're the first daughter..."
"Yes. That's right. My sister's name is also one syllable. Eunseol. ...Don't you think my name is prettier?"
"Yes. It is... No, that's... yeah."
To summarize: if, back in the winter when she was 25, he had just said "wait a little while" when Seo Jia asked him to marry her, he wouldn't just be free of this 'divorcee' title; he could have spent happy times calling that kind Chairman Eun 'Father' or 'Father-in-law.' On top of that, Eunbyul—yes, objectively speaking, Eunbyul was quite pretty. No, she was beautiful.
He could have seen a pretty baby who looked like Eunbyul early on, and the joy of coming home to that would have been a great pleasure. And if he had failed in business, how much energy would he have gotten from having a wife who supported and comforted him at home? As he thought that, he looked at Jia,
"....Master, that..."
"The more I think about it, the more of an eyesore you become. Hey, if you hadn't pressured me to get married...!"
Jia knew instinctively. If she said anything to him now, she would be grabbed by the scruff of her neck and thrown out the front door. So she just stayed quiet.
"...Haa..."
But she realized that too late. Right. Inheritance would eventually go to those two daughters, so he couldn't avoid meeting them given the demand to acquire the company. He should have figured it out sooner. Thinking he had wasted too much time, he looked at Eunbyul,
"Ah... what do I do about this..."
"Why? Is something wrong? With my father..."
No. That's not it. I mean...