YDCF 34

Chapter – 34

I froze when I spotted Secretary Park. The sound of footsteps on the grass echoed faintly through the quiet garden.

“…Ah, Miss.”

Noticing my presence, he stopped tidying the bushes and turned around. His face was full of embarrassment, as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have.

“You’ve already had breakfast…”

He casually touched the back of his neck, pretending as if he hadn’t been doing anything. Pretty obvious. He probably planned to finish everything before the Joo family sat down to eat.

Secretary Park Cheol-won served as my uncle’s personal secretary—a loyal man who acted promptly on my uncle’s orders.

It wasn’t my uncle who had ordered him to tend to the trumpet vine. So was he here on his own accord, quietly taking care of it?

“What are you doing here, Secretary Park?”

“Oh, well…”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to gauge his thoughts. Our gazes met, and he turned his head awkwardly.

After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke.

“I have to tidy up for the Vice Chairman, too.”

“Ah, tidy up?”

Even though my uncle had lashed out in anger at the trumpet vine, someone like Secretary Park must have understood what that vine meant to my grandfather.

He must have stepped in to prevent my uncle from making a bad impression on my father, the Chairman. Could it be that he hasn’t completely turned away from my uncle yet?

Although he respectfully addressed me as “Miss,” Secretary Park returned to his work right next to me.

Would Aunt Jeong-hee have been able to interrupt him?

‘Of course not.’

Secretary Park is someone who knows how to distinguish situations. He wouldn’t bend so much for someone still in a precarious position in this family. Maybe he’s also heard additional stories about me from my uncle.

The one thing certain is that I wasn’t being treated like a member of the Joo family by him right now.

‘I don’t particularly want the treatment of a conglomerate heir anyway…’

If I wanted to bring him to my side, I’d first need to reshape his perception of me. No one willingly serves someone who’s a worse master than the one they used to serve.

I offered him a calm, confident smile. As if to say, “I know what you think of me, but I don’t really care.”

“Still, thank you. I was going to tidy up, but you’ve already done it, so there’s nothing more to fix.”

“You, Miss?”

“I care about this place as much as the Chairman does.”

Mentioning my grandfather on purpose, he flinched slightly.

‘Yep, he was tidying up because of Grandpa.’

“Oh, I didn’t tell the Chairman. He was probably just acting in anger.”

It was true—I hadn’t mentioned it. I wasn’t in a position to openly confront my uncle yet, not with the family still unsettled.

But I wanted Secretary Park to know something: I was a proper member of the Joo family, someone who had the right to confront my uncle for his reckless behavior.

After a long silence, he finally moved his lips.

“Last time, I blocked your way… I’m sorry.”

Secretary Park bowed his head. He was probably referring to the time I visited Dongwoo Hall to obtain my grandmother’s script.

I had no resentment toward him—it was obviously my uncle’s orders, not his own.

I met his gaze calmly and nodded.

“I’ll accept your apology. It wasn’t your choice anyway.”

“…!”

“In fact, I’ve known all along that my uncle finds me inconvenient.”

“Oh, that…”

“Where would a daughter of a deceased sister be welcome? Not in this family, especially with the succession battle in play.”

Given his proximity to my uncle, he must have guessed that my uncle planned to take only my mother’s share and then walk away.

“That’s why I’m not completely at ease with him either.”

I intended to gauge Secretary Park’s stance through this conversation.

“Secretary Park, isn’t it difficult working under my uncle?”

I asked casually. He took a subtle breath and answered shortly:

“…It’s not particularly difficult.”

A brief silence before he spoke. I didn’t let it pass.

My uncle, who would exploit me until there was nothing left and then discard me. Secretary Park, enduring my uncle’s abuse and cleaning up the mess, must have thought he, too, would eventually be abandoned like me. That’s why he would turn away first.

“You’d rather let go before being abandoned yourself, wouldn’t you, Secretary Park?”

Sure enough, a ripple crossed his expression. After stiffening for a moment, he asked:

“…Why would you say that?”

“You have to prepare for the future, Secretary Park.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, I continued in a voice layered with deliberate certainty:

“I’ve been preparing lately.”

Just as he expected to be abandoned by my uncle and was ready to turn his back, I was doing the same.

“…How so?”

“If you’re under someone who’s used to using and discarding people, your turn will come eventually. It’s just a matter of sooner or later.”

I whispered as if joking.

“But me, Secretary Park…”

I stepped closer, glancing at his frozen face, and murmured softly:

“I wouldn’t discard someone like you so easily.”

His eyebrows twitched slightly. He tried to hide it, but I noticed. I paused for a moment, then added in a low voice:

‘Time to throw it out here.’

The main reason I wanted Secretary Park on my side was this…

“I know what you’ve been keeping about my uncle.”

Park Cheol-won had turned away from my uncle, risking everything to become a whistleblower.

He had gathered countless materials under my uncle’s watch.

The important ones weren’t public, but minor evidence of abuse had spread through online platforms, and my uncle had been criticized for some time.

‘I haven’t heard what happened to Secretary Park after that.’

But someone who had killed my father and me wouldn’t have let him go unnoticed.

“Are those materials okay? It must be tough to carry them alone.”

“…!”

He clutched his chest, momentarily caught off guard. I continued calmly.

“Such materials can become a burden if you serve the wrong master. But if you serve the right one, they can become powerful weapons.”

“…Miss Sae-i.”

“I think I could make the things you’ve collected far more valuable.”

He tried to read my expression. In the brief silence, his eyes lit up.

‘Done.’

I didn’t expect him to side with me immediately. Someone who had endured so long under my uncle would think it through before deciding.

For now, it was enough to make him see me as someone worth joining.

That’s also why I hinted at the future revelation. To signal that I wouldn’t settle for being a weak, disposable subordinate.

“…Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Secretary Park didn’t give me a direct answer, but I could clearly see the turmoil hidden behind his composed expression. For now, this was enough.

Leaving Secretary Park behind, I headed back to my residence.

All the way there, my chest felt oddly tight. Probably from having briefly sat with my uncle at the table.

After all, it’s hard to eat while sitting across from someone who tried to kill you. With my grandfather occasionally glancing my way, I forced a smile while eating, which only made it worse.

“Ugh…”

I let out a short sigh and threw myself onto the bed. My phone had buzzed repeatedly with unread messages from Do Je-hyun.

Just as I was about to check them, there was a knock at the door.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

A chill ran down my spine. The voice belonged to my mortal enemy, the one who tried to kill me—my uncle.