Chapter 6

Sitting on the heavy leather sofa, Chae-eun sipped the coffee the chairman’s secretary brought her. The trophies and certificates filling the walls proudly displayed the prestige of VOUME Planning.

Her father, Chairman Kang Il-chan, approached slowly in a wheelchair instead of his usual massive office chair. In his hand was a thick contract packed with details.

At the bottom were two signatures. Cha Jae-oh and Kang Chae-eun.

“You actually pulled this off. I still can’t believe it.”

“Of course I did. With my skills, how could you survive without giving me this.”

She joked lightly but inside, she was still dazed. It was her first business meeting, and she had been half out of her mind while pushing the contract through. Until this contract physically arrived she wasn’t even sure it had really happened.

If nothing came she had planned to storm into J Group’s headquarters and raise hell, but instead the document arrived through their marketing team.

It bore Cha Jae-oh’s English-style cursive signature.

She was relieved he hadn’t come in person, yet strangely disappointed.

She told herself she was crazy for thinking anything, but she couldn’t stop the thoughts.

Her eyes carried a quiet pride.

VOUME Planning had collaborated with many major domestic companies but winning J Electronics’ campaign was a first.

The success of her very first business meeting was almost entirely thanks to her.

“Well done Director Kang. Of course you’ll be leading the project right.”

“We already talked about that. I know I’m the perfect fit.”

“You know how to boast and you’ve got guts. You finally fit the title of Director.”

The father and daughter burst out laughing at the same time.

“Is your leg any better?”

“If I were your age I’d recover in three days. It’s just this cursed age.”

“How long do you have to stay like this?”

“They say a month at least, but your dad isn’t a normal dad. Maybe a week.”

“So that’s who I take after. I wondered where I got my attitude from.”

She shook her head and lifted her coffee.

The intercom rang and Chairman Kang wheeled himself back toward his desk. Chae-eun half rose then sat back down.

“Yeah, let them in.”

As soon as he put down the receiver, there was a knock. Both of them turned toward the door.

They already knew who it was.

The man entering was her older brother, Executive Director Kang Tae-mu.

“Dad. Are you sure you should be discharged already.”

“Look at this big body. Three days is enough.”

“You’re getting older. You should stay under observation a bit longer.”

Family was disgusting.

He had lived like a delinquent until his mid twenties then suddenly started acting mature like he was reading off a script. Listening to his fake sounding voice made her gag at the empty air. Tae-mu shot her an annoyed glare.

“Why are you here?”

“None of your business.”

“When you see your great brother you say hello. That’s manners.”

“He has to be great for me to greet him. Wow unbelievable.”

Their father clicked his tongue while watching his two children snap at each other.

“Your sister accomplished something big.”

“What do you mean?”

“That brief J Electronics sent out. Our Chae-eun reeled it in.”

He lifted his lips proudly as he said it and looked at her. She smiled back then gave Tae-mu a smug stare.

“Kang Chae-eun did?”

“I totally misjudged her. I thought she only liked going out, but she can reel in a big catch too.”

“Dad. I don’t go out because I like going out. I like people.”

“If you like people so much, why haven’t you brought home a single guy.”

The sudden mention of men made her clamp her mouth shut like a scolded kid.

This had been a business won with her body as bait. No one knew, yet she felt mortified. Disgustingly mortified.

“Dad… why are we suddenly talking about men?”

“Well, because it’s time. How old are you now? Twenty seven already.”

“Twenty seven is still young. The problem is my brother.”

“Why am I getting dragged in? I’m dating someone.”

Tae-mu, who was even discussing marriage with a woman he met through one of their dad’s arranged dates, crossed his long legs and sat there with a superior expression.

She turned her head away because she hated looking at him.

“Anyway, you’ll be dispatched to J Electronics now so you’ll have a lot to prepare.”

“I’ll just do what I always do. I already have a concept in mind.”

She was nervous but she refused to show it in front of him. She crossed her arms proudly and answered.

Tae-mu cleared his throat and gulped down the water in front of him. Then he picked up the contract on the table and skimmed it with little interest.

“You only won one contract. Don’t ride your high horse. Maybe you just got lucky. What matters is what comes next.”

“In this industry luck is part of skill.”

Their father made a sound like he’d seen this fight a thousand times and praised her again.

She looked at her annoying brother and her lips twitched.

Lucky?

That night had been her body crashing into his. Nothing about that was luck. It was skill.

Sex skills… were also skills after all.

“If you mess up the outcome, VOUME’s reputation will tank.”

“You sound like you’re wishing for that.”

“No way.”

Their fake smiles both looked like they could shoot lasers at each other.

“Tae-mu, get out.”

“Why are you kicking me out? I came all this way concerned for my dad.”

“What all this way. You just took the elevator up a few floors.”

She grumbled.

“Be quiet. You little thing.”

“I need to talk to Chae-eun about the contract. Go.”

Hearing their father’s stern voice, Tae-mu suddenly looked uneasy. Still he bowed reluctantly and left the room.

“Why did you send him out? What did you want to say.”

“Chae-eun.”

Chairman Kang called her name in a low tone. She looked at him with wide eyes.

Her throat tightened. She swallowed and waited.

“I think I’ve failed to recognize your ability.”

“There are several trophies and certificates on that wall that I put there. You’re only realizing this now.”

She answered lightly, scratching her cheek with a faint smile because she felt shy. But his expression was serious.

“What are you trying to say with all this suspense?”

“I thought Tae-mu was the only one who could succeed me. He’s a man so I took it for granted. He’s the firstborn so I didn’t question it. But after seeing you land this contract, my mind changed.”

“Dad…”

“You should step into the management front line. If you prove your ability, the successor might not be Tae-mu. It might be you.”

“Me?”

She always believed her brother would take over. Even though she knew she was better in creative and strategic skill, she never once desired the successor’s seat.

But hearing it made her heart race.

“And to do that, you’ll need a fitting partner.”

“A partner. Are we talking about men again.”

“A perfect blind date came in.”

He smiled proudly. Normally she would have yelled that she hated blind dates but right now the word successor was ringing in her head.

“Marriage will secure your position. It’ll shut up any executives who want to nitpick. You’ll show them you’re no worse than your brother.”

His words filled her with courage. And the successor high made it worse.

She always thought of herself as a creative, emotional, artistic type.

But his push lit a fire in her ambition.

“I’ll do it.”

“What made you so obedient today?”

“I want to. People always say outdated things. That having a family is necessary to be socially stable.”

Since she couldn’t change society’s old beliefs she decided she would just follow them.

She never cared about marriage anyway, so it was easy to say yes.