Just as Chairman Kang Daeho was about to make a call, the door burst open again, this time with more force.
Madam Han Sora, tall and elegant in her cream silk robe, strode in with an expression that could cut glass. Her heels clicked sharply on the marble floor as she took one sweeping glance at the wrecked room before her gaze locked onto her husband.
"Daehoya! What is the meaning of this? Again?!" she snapped, arms folded across her chest. "You're indulging her again, aren't you?"
Jiwon winced slightly but quickly masked it with a pout as she sank onto her velvet chaise lounge.
"Eomma… don't say that," she said in a sugary voice, swaying her head slightly and tucking her hair behind her ear. "Appa just understands me."
"Understands?" Sora scoffed, turning fully on her husband. "This girl throws tantrums every time something doesn't go her way, and you go running to grant her every ridiculous wish. Did you even ask why she's this angry?"
"I know exactly why," Daeho replied smoothly, not at all fazed. "And I'll get her what she wants. She's my only daughter, Sora. I have two sons and they'll inherit the business. But she's the apple of my eye. She gets what she wants, no matter what it is."
"Unbelievable," Sora muttered, throwing up her hands. "You're spoiling her rotten. One day, she'll go too far and it'll be on your head."
"She's perfect just the way she is," Daeho countered proudly, walking over to stroke his daughter's hair. "So strong. So determined. Just like her father."
Jiwon batted her lashes. "Eomma, don't be so mean. You're going to make me cry."
Sora gave her a look of disbelief, but Jiwon only smiled cutely, tilting her head and tugging playfully on her robe sleeve like a child begging for candy.
Daeho chuckled. "See? How can I say no to that face?"
Sora shook her head and sighed deeply. "God help us when she finally decides to do something serious."
"I have decided, Eomma," Jiwon said sweetly but with an edge in her voice. "I've decided to go after Minji. And I always, always get what I want."
After Madam Han Sora left the room, still muttering about spoiled children and useless husbands, and Chairman Kang Daeho returned to his study to prepare for his board meeting, Jiwon finally had her silence back.
But she didn't waste it.
She sat at the center of her bed, legs crossed, tapping her manicured nails on her phone as she scrolled through Minji's fan pages, articles, and fancams. Her eyes burned with possessiveness every time she saw that girl beside him. That blurry side profile, the mole behind the ear, it was burned into her mind now.
Just before 10 a.m., a knock came at the door.
"Come in," she called with a bored sigh, expecting one of the maids.
Instead, it was one of her father's trusted men, Mr. Baek, holding a black envelope, thick and secured. He bowed deeply.
"Miss Kang. Your request. All verified and gathered by our private surveillance and cyber team."
Her eyes glittered. She snatched the envelope and dismissed him without a word.
As the door shut behind him, Jiwon tore it open with shaking fingers, her breathing speeding up. Inside was a detailed dossier:
Name: Hana Yoon (윤하나)
Age: 24
Profession: Amateur artist
Family: mother -father -lives in Busan elder brother -in Seoul
Recent Movements: Last seen with Minji at Lakeside Estates
Background: No known criminal records. Middle-class. Ordinary.
Jiwon's lips curled as she scanned the pages, then tossed them aside with a sneer. "Ordinary," she scoffed, standing and walking to the full-length mirror. "So plain. So forgettable."
She held her phone up and compared her own selfie from the previous night with the snapshot of Hana in the file. "You think you can stand next to Minji looking like that?"
She stared at her reflection, jaw tightening with every second.
"No. I've waited too long. I've watched him silently for months, ever since that night."
Her eyes flicked toward the drawer of her vanity, the one she hadn't opened since that fateful private party. Inside was a small, forgotten favor card signed by Minji himself, when they'd been introduced for barely five minutes during the networking segment. That smile. That voice. That moment when he bowed and said her name. It had lived in her mind every day since.
She slammed the drawer shut.
"I warned him with my eyes that night," she whispered darkly. "He should've known better."
She stood, heels clicking as she walked toward the glass windows that stretched across her room. The city glittered below her. Everything was beneath her. But not him. Not yet.
"I'm Kang Jiwon. Daughter of Kang Daeho, chairman of K Group, one of the top five conglomerates in Korea. And no one takes what's mine."
Her voice was cold now and void of all sweetness.
"Enjoy your little fairytale, Hana Yoon. I'm going to burn it down."