Lucas, noticing the halt in Hyun Seo’s slow but steady pace, turned around.
“Manager, what are you doing? Hurry up.”
Despite Lucas’s gentle smile, Hyun Seo couldn’t shake off his frozen expression. If he could, he would have turned around and run away right then.
“Okay.”
Nevertheless, Hyun Seo moved his heavy legs forward. He knew better than anyone how important this was to GLP’s Korean branch.
“But, CEO Yu.”
“Hmm?”
Hyun Seo hesitated before asking Lucas, who had turned to look at him.
“SH Cosmetics, is it a subsidiary of Jinseong Group?”
“Yes, why?”
Hyun Seo, trying not to let Lucas see his shaking eyes, tapped him on the back and said,
“Nothing. Let’s just go in.”
Lucas was soon seen going through the door that the factory manager had opened for him and greeting the people inside.
“Director Chae, nice to meet you.”
Hyun Seo, a step or two behind Lucas, watched their interaction. It felt strange to see Lucas speaking to her exhusband, Do Ha, as if he knew him.
“Nice to see you again, CEO Yu.”
It seemed that Do Ha, like Hyun Seo, had not anticipated this encounter. His demeanor clearly indicated that he had not yet seen her.
“Ah, I should introduce our Songhwagung Manager to Director Chae.”
When Lucas turned and stepped aside to introduce Hyun Seo, hidden behind him, they came fully into each other’s view.
Do Ha, maintaining the friendly expression he had when greeting Lucas, saw the woman revealed behind him.
Instantly, his formerly polite gaze froze over.
Do Ha widened his eyes. An unbelievable sight was unfolding before him.
Was it a mirage?
The woman who seemed like a mirage on the day they parted was standing there, quite like a mirage.
A woman he could never find, such that the lie that it wasn’t Hyun Seo but someone who looked like her seemed more believable.
However, looking at the woman’s expression now, she could only be Hyun Seo.
Lucas, completely oblivious to the sudden tension, added with a smile,
“This is Hyun Seo, our manager who oversees Songhwagung so well.”
Hearing the three letters of the name Hyun Seo through someone else’s introduction seemed to snap him back to reality.
It was really Hyun Seo.
The woman who was no longer his wife but once was, Hyun Seo.
The woman he had been desperately searching for.
His mind was in complete chaos.
Time had passed while he had people searching for her in Korea and even in Taiwan.
Had she been operating under a different name?
GLP, with companies in America and Taiwan, among others. The main center of Songhwagung was said to be in Taiwan.
So, had she been connected with GLP since three years ago?
Lucas’s hearty voice continued the introductions in the chilling atmosphere, like cold water had been splashed over it.
“Manager Lee, this is Do Ha Chae, the CEO of SH Cosmetics.”
Hyun Seo just looked up at Do Ha, not knowing what to say, and kept her mouth shut.
As the silence stretched unusually long for an introduction time, a hint of puzzlement colored Lucas’s expression as he looked at Hyun Seo.
Hyun Seo, who had been in a daze, eventually came a step closer to Do Ha and extended her hand, opening her mouth first.
“I am Hyun Seo.”
Do Ha, with a blank expression, stared straight at Hyun Seo who was offering a handshake. She was introducing herself as a complete stranger to him.
She seemed to have decided to act as a stranger to her exhusband.
It was a moment when she could tell that her new role in her social life, where she was in charge, was much more important than her past relationship with her exhusband.
There would be nothing to gain from revealing their awkward relationship in front of them. Do Ha tried hard to accept her decision as reasonable.
However, he couldn’t help but feel a pang in his chest when he had to act as a stranger in front of her.
“…I’m Do Ha Chae.”
Hyun Seo stared at Do Ha, who pretended not to know her, without blinking.
Should he be glad that she was pretending not to know?
He took her hand, which she had extended for a handshake. As soon as he was engulfed in his large, warm hand, she felt him holding her hand tightly. His grip, which could be felt even with a little force, was still the same.
Do Ha held onto her hand a bit longer than a typical handshake, which made Hyun Seo feel flustered.
However, she pulled her hand away with a slight twist, without any expression.
After that, their gazes shifted away from each other for a moment as they exchanged greetings with the other employees.
Soon, everyone took their seats guided by the factory worker.
The awkward air flowing in the conference room was only between the two of them; the other people were all smiles.
They were brimming with positive energy from their expectations of the business they were going to do together.
While the conversations of the other people were going back and forth, Hyun Seo, who was sitting next to Lucas, was just listening to the conversation with a calm face.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
