“Hmm, Ha-yeon, judging by what you’ve been doing lately, it seems like you’re trying to take over Daehwa Trading.... Since there’s no direct successor anyway, how about this uncle of yours takes half of Daehwa Group? Seems fair, doesn’t it?”
When I first heard that, the thought that crossed my mind was:
‘Is he insane?’
...Hmm, that’s a bit rude, even if it’s about my uncle.
I felt a twinge of guilt and changed my line of thought slightly.
Maybe he is insane?
Or... Alzheimer’s?
“...Honestly, Uncle, don’t you feel even a little ashamed saying that? You weren’t like this before, were you? You used to plot things quietly in secret—why the sudden bluntness....”
So I let my thoughts slip out impulsively. For someone who had always been subtle, probing cautiously, never stating his true intentions outright, this was weird.
“Hahaha, it seems like you plan to hand the group down to your nephews anyway, so let me handle the rest. You’ll divide the companies eventually, so wouldn’t it be better for me to get mine early and get used to it?”
“...”
Absurd.
Completely absurd.
But at the same time, oddly persuasive.
I have no heirs. Well, to be exact, I don’t intend to have children.
Of course... no one would actually believe me. Anyone with even a bit of historical knowledge would know that any “temporary truce” offered by someone in power is just a stalling tactic.
Even if they believed the proposal, they wouldn’t trust me. Human nature is like that.
The richest chaebol heiress in Korea, the notoriously decadent Yoo Ha-yeon, claiming she won’t have any relationships with men for decades? No one in their right mind would take that seriously.
Even I can’t be sure of that. How can I know what I’ll do in a few decades? I can’t even keep promises I made ten years ago.
‘From Yoo Jin-ha’s perspective, this must be nerve-wracking. My “I’m not interested in men” talk probably just sounds like, “I’m too busy to bother right now, but I might have kids later”....’
So maybe he wants to lock things in now, while he can?
It’s not unreasonable. As long as I don’t break my word, it doesn’t really matter to him.
‘But I could break it.’
I have no idea how I’ll behave in a few decades.
One thing I am sure of, though, is that I’ll still be alive, perfectly intact, decades from now—unless there’s some freak accident.
Which means I could very well remain chairwoman of Daehwa Group for the rest of my life. Sorry, nieces and nephews, but this aunt of yours is a little greedy.
Shameless as it is, I haven’t exactly made any public “vow of chastity.”
So I was curious.
“...How did you even find out? That I’m planning to hand the group over to my nephews?”
“I saw the way you treat your uncle’s children and grandchildren, even though you never talk to your father. I heard you even played matchmaker for Seon-a recently.... It’d be strange not to notice.”
“No one else has figured it out from that.”
Yoo Jin-ha smiled slightly.
“I’m glad you told me that.”
“...”
Hmm, okay.
Makes sense, I suppose. I’ve been making it pretty obvious that I don’t want to marry. A perceptive person who isn’t overly conservative about sex could have noticed.
Ahem.
“Then... can’t you just leave it alone? If you already know I’m serious?”
“...But you only spend time with his kids.”
Ah.
So that’s what this is about.
He’s sulking because I don’t play with his children. Seriously?
I shook my head and flopped into the chair beside me.
“You know, Uncle, we were never exactly close. Hanging out with Ji-won or Ho-jun would’ve been... awkward.”
“Well, true. My kids aren’t as sharp as Seon-jun.”
...Was that a jab at Yoo Jin-seok, too?
I glanced at him cautiously. Just how much does this man know?
‘Should I just ask him outright?’
After all, we’d already dropped the pretense. So I went straight for it.
“So what do you want, Uncle?”
“Exactly what I said. If the group’s going to be split among the nephews anyway, it’s better to organize it beforehand. You don’t want to see the family tearing itself apart, do you?”
Hmm.
He’s not wrong. Among the third-generation heirs alone, excluding me, there are seven others. By the time we reach the fourth generation, there’ll be at least ten.
If we don’t manage things properly, the group will inevitably fracture in the next generation. There’s plenty of precedent for that.
‘But does he really need to be the one to manage it...?’
It doesn’t really [N O V E L I G H T] matter. My position is solid enough now that this kind of thing won’t shake me.
Still, I don’t exactly trust him. It’s like reincarnating in late 19th-century Austria and finding out your neighbor kid is named Adolf—you’d feel a bit uneasy hanging out with him.
“...You’re not doing this because you don’t trust me, are you? Afraid I’ll promise to share power with my nephews and then back out later?”
“That’s part of it. You know how it is—when a young woman says she won’t marry, or an old man says he won’t live long, neither is exactly trustworthy. Besides, our family has... let’s call it a ‘tendency’ toward sudden love marriages.”
So... pretty common, then.
I thought fast, recalling an old excuse I’d prepared for this exact scenario. It was humiliating, but easy enough to say.
“It’s fine. I’m infertile. The kind of thing you’re worried about won’t happen.”
“...”
His ears flushed bright red. I fanned myself casually and turned my head.
“What? It happens. I tested it multiple times, and nothing worked.”
Of course, that was a blatant lie. I’m perfectly healthy—probably could have triplets without a problem.
But he has no reason not to believe me. Especially with all the rumors about my supposedly wild sex life floating around; it makes sense he’d buy it.
Yoo Jin-ha swallowed hard, eyes twitching as if the revelation genuinely shocked him.
“Maybe I got beaten too hard back in the day.... Uncle, you really should’ve kept a closer eye on your younger brother.”
“...I’m sorry, Ha-yeon.”
“Oh, you don’t have to look so guilty. It’s all in the past. Besides, we were never that close, right?”
“...True. But we weren’t exactly mortal enemies either.”
I suppose.
Though honestly, he probably never considered me competition. When I was younger, it would’ve been insane to view a parentless little girl as a rival. Later, I just became too big to compete with.
“Hmm....”
Deep in thought, Yoo Jin-ha sat down across from me, closing his eyes briefly.
I looked at him with a mix of pride and slight embarrassment—after all, I’d just told him a major “secret.”
“So... do you believe me now?”
“...I do. But can I ask you something?”
“Of course. Why hesitate now?”
He gave me a doubtful, almost suspicious look.
“...So. Is it that you actually want to be Chairwoman of Daehwa Group, Ha-yeon?”
His question made me respond a bit sharply.
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
It was impulsive, but I had already decided it didn’t matter if I admitted it.
Yoo Jin-ha’s expression grew strange as he rubbed his mouth with his right hand, as if caught off guard.
“Ha-yeon, let me put it this way—if tomorrow DJ suddenly announced he was quitting the presidential race to become a county governor in Sinan... or that he’d just spend his days fishing in his hometown, what would you think?”
“...That someone’s blackmailing him?”
“Exactly. That’s how I feel right now.”
He nodded lightly and looked me in the eye. I’ve grown tall enough that we’re almost at eye level now.
His face was marked by clear confusion.
“Alpha Fund—that’s yours, isn’t it? I don’t know how you did it, but... well, I decided not to care. Still, you shocked me this time. What I thought was just a bird flying beside me turned out to be a rocket.”
“...Wait, how do you know about that?”
“It’s not exactly a secret anymore. You’re not even trying to hide it these days. Someone like you, who can’t stand being under others, choosing to start from the bottom at Daehwa Securities? That alone gave it away. You must’ve thought it wouldn’t matter even if someone figured it out, right?”
Clap.
I snapped my fingers lightly and shook my head.
“Phew, yes. Exactly. At that point, they couldn’t stop me even if they wanted to.”
Honestly, this man should’ve been a politician, not a chaebol executive.
“I see. So I never considered this. Daehwa Group’s chairwoman... I thought you’d aim for something far higher.”
“...I assumed you’d know.”
Ah.
I realized what Yoo Jin-ha had misunderstood.
He must’ve thought the position of Daehwa Group’s chairwoman wasn’t even on my radar.
“I mean, why bother with Daehwa Group when you’re already Alpha Fund’s CEO? You’re even setting up an investment bank. I thought you had zero interest in Daehwa....”
He looked genuinely puzzled now.
But... Grandfather told me not to step outside the Daehwa Group’s sphere.
I’m a good granddaughter. And a good granddaughter listens to her grandfather first.