IMFOBO | CH 28 | Let’s Go, Honey

Eun-cho wanted to tell him that she was overheating because he was so close, to just get away from her. But with his gaze locked on her face, she couldn’t open her mouth.

“Why are you being so stubborn?”

His low voice scratched powerfully at her ear.

Tae-san leaned even closer to Eun-cho, who didn’t answer.

Could there have been alcohol in that peach champagne?

It shouldn’t have made her drunk—it was practically just juice—but she felt her neck and ears burning up.

He’d only taken one step closer, but Tae-san’s shadow loomed so large it felt like she was about to be devoured.

It wasn’t his usual arrogant look. There was a heat in his gaze that she couldn’t meet, so Eun-cho turned her head away.

She’d been standing firm, holding on for dear life, but it felt like she was finally about to crumble. She just wanted to escape this situation.

“Just a sec, I need to use the restroom.”

Surely he wouldn’t follow her into the bathroom. Eun-cho pushed past him and all but ran into the restroom.

If she could, she’d splash cold water on her face to cool it down, but with makeup on, even that was difficult.

“Lee Eun-cho.”

Then she felt a sharp presence behind her.

It was Mrs. Jung, her face filled with anger, having followed her in.

Arms crossed tightly, she looked incredibly threatening.

She must have been watching me the whole time.

She probably followed her the second she got up. She must have been waiting for this moment, when Eun-cho was alone without Ryu Tae-san as her shield.

“Is there something you wanted?”

“I have so many grievances with you, I couldn’t just stand by.”

Since the inauguration ceremony wasn’t over yet, it was just Mrs. Jung and Eun-cho in the restroom.

What kind of things will she say this time to rile me up? Eun-cho sighed before they even started talking.

“So you’re having the time of your life, huh? You think this spot is yours now that Yuri’s gone? Don’t get the wrong idea.”

Right away with the accusations.

This woman has a real problem with delusions.

She still couldn’t accept that her husband had another family before they started theirs. That’s why she treated her, the product of that family, like a bastard.

“It seems like I’ve finally become a useful child to my father. He even introduced me to Chairman Ryu as his daughter.”

“Who’s the daughter? My daughter is the only one!”

It all started because her father introduced her as “his daughter” in front of Chairman Ryu.

She purposefully poked at that sore spot, and it was quite a sight to see her explode like that.

Plus, Chairman Ryu had even mentioned “his wife,” so Mrs. Jung, who had a huge complex about Eun-cho’s mother, was probably losing her mind.

There’s no way to win against someone who’s dead.

To Mrs. Jung, Eun-cho’s mother was an opponent she could never catch up to, no matter how hard she tried.

She had no idea why her animosity towards her mother was so great.

“Why didn’t you say that in front of my father earlier?”

“You really…! How dare you!”

“Or you could’ve told Chairman Ryu that you’re the only ‘wife’.”

How can she be so transparent?

She was smiling so hard her lips were trembling in front of her father and Chairman Ryu, but she came to her to vent her anger.

“You’re just like your mother. You’re shameless, just like her.”

“How much money do you need this time? I’m so sick and tired of the Go family.”

When she was younger, Mrs. Jung seemed like a formidable person when she was acting violently.

She hadn’t met her many times, but she was always scared and afraid of her, because she would change completely when they were alone and say terrible things.

Now that I see it, she’s smaller than me.

What was she so afraid of back then?

Even in the hall just now, she shrunk back from Mrs. Jung’s force, like she always did.

Eun-cho straightened her back on purpose.

She didn’t want to be wronged anymore without having done anything wrong.

“My husband only needs you for a little while. He doesn’t think of you as a daughter. If he really thought of you as a daughter, would he have let you wander around outside?”

“Same here, lady.”

Her temples throbbed as she started to realize she was getting angry.

Eun-cho wanted to end this tiring conversation.

A short tinnitus was constantly ringing in her ears like a warning sound.

“What? Lady?”

“I won’t bother saying goodbye since you wouldn’t want it.”

Eun-cho turned around, speaking calmly.

She refused to be treated like a beggar who had received charity, let alone being treated like a bastard.

“How much more are you going to squeeze out of him, using Ryu Tae-san as a front?”

See, even if you give them a little gap, they treat you like a beggar and a thief.

“Isn’t it enough that you’ve been taking child support all this time?”

Child support?

Eun-cho stopped in her tracks, ready to ignore her and turn around.

According to her grandmother and aunt, her father had never sent her any child support.

Her aunt was always saying that she didn’t have enough money and that it was too hard to raise Tae-hee and her alone.

“Child support?”

“All the while you were growing up, he paid monthly child support, university tuition, and even the deposit for your apartment. That shameless Go Hwa-ran even took business funds over and over again. Don’t tell me you’re going to play dumb and pretend you didn’t know?”

Her breath caught in her throat.

Had her aunt been taking the child support all along and pretending she hadn’t received it?

University tuition, apartment deposit, and even business funds?

It was like an onion, peeling away layers and layers of rotten skin.

“Ugh…”

Why had her father kept his mouth shut about all this, even though he knew?

He hadn’t even made a single excuse when she went to him to get the child support in a lump sum.

Eun-cho bit down hard on the soft flesh inside her mouth.

Even as she criticized him for being a hypocrite, she wanted to believe in her father in the corner of her heart.

Even though she knew it was a hope that would crumble every time.

Whether it was then, when she didn’t know anything, or now when she knew everything.

Gosh, this is such a hopeless crush.

He even made it so that she couldn’t just hate him.

“If you have even a shred of conscience, don’t even think about acting like it’s a big deal that you got my husband a mere president’s seat.”

“…”

“Compared to what you’ve taken all this time, it’s just a drop in the ocean, right?”

How was she supposed to accept this double standard, where he kept his mouth shut about child support but didn’t hesitate to sell his daughter for his own success?

“Should I be offering congratulations for securing a position that might not even last a few years—all at the cost of your own daughter?”

Mrs. Jung trembled at her sharply pointed words.

She didn’t think even a bit about the wounds she had inflicted.

It seemed like the conversation would just go around in circles, no matter what she said.

Since they weren’t trying to listen to each other, there was no way the conversation could move forward.

“That brazen girl. It’s obvious since she grew up in the Go family.”

She was the kind of person who would never realize that the bad karma she was making with her mouth would return to her daughter.

Euncho refused to waste another word on someone so utterly beneath her and stepped out of the restroom.

And then she stopped abruptly.

“…”

Ryu Tae-san was standing just three steps away.

His head tilted to the side.

Did he hear everything?

She’d been caught at her lowest by the person she least wanted to show it to.

She closed her burning eyelids tightly.

Before her swaying body could fall to the floor, Tae-san caught her.

Like this man said, it was becoming a habit to fall into his arms again.

“Listen carefully, Lee Eun-cho.”

“…”

“If someone hits you once, you hit them ten times. Don’t think about the consequences.”

In other words, don’t get pushed around.

Eun-cho felt reassured when she saw Ryu Tae-san scowling as he coldly recited the words, his face angrier than hers.

This man is being extremely sincere.

It really felt like Tae-san would take care of everything, even if she recklessly caused trouble without thinking about the consequences.

When she thought about that, she smiled without realizing it.

“You’re smiling now?”

“Is it because you’re saying something so serious in front of the women’s restroom?”

Eun-cho stood up straight, fighting off her dizziness.

Tae-san frowned as if he didn’t like the fact that Eun-cho was trying to solve things on her own until the end, rather than relying on him.

Just then, Mrs. Jung was coming out of the restroom and stopped for a moment when she recognized Tae-san’s face.

It was no wonder she was surprised, having just unleashed all her anger and then running into Tae-san.

Tae-san walked towards Mrs. Jung with long strides.

“Mrs. Jung?”

“Oh, I didn’t expect to see Managing Director Ryu here.”

Mrs. Jung responded with an awkward smile to his polite address.

Tae-san took out a money clip from his inner pocket.

He grabbed a few crisp, neatly ironed bills and handed them to Mrs. Jung.

“Please take care of the restroom cleaning. It seems like flies keep gathering because it’s not being cleaned properly.”

So he was talking about her when he said cleaning lady?

Tae-san smiled to the end, kindly pressing the bills into Mrs. Jung’s frozen hand.

Mrs. Jung, who had been treated like a cleaning lady and a fly in an instant, was shocked and dumbfounded.

“I’m a professional at throwing money around. Don’t try to show off your money in front of me.”

“Managing Director Ryu, what is this…?!”

“I can’t tolerate anyone damaging what’s mine. Keep that in mind.”

His last words were cold, without a trace of a smile.

He turned back to Eun-cho.

Eun-cho watched him ruthlessly suppress his opponent like a gangster and thought.

Oh, that man is on my side.

Ridiculously.

“Let’s go, honey.”

Maybe it’s okay to trust him, just a little.