"I knew Father was cold, but he's harsher than I thought."

When Jeong-eun Lee spoke while picking up a piece of fruit, Suk-ja Chu, who'd been nudging the fruit toward her, shook her head.

"Cold? If anything, there's something rather lacking about it."

"Lacking? Mom. Stepping down from Head is enough — what's lacking about it?"

"In the end, didn't he go to president of Ilhyeon Securities? Ilhyeon Securities is a major front-line affiliate within the group — if you're going to punish someone, you ought to do it properly."

"Our mom knows the one but not the two."

Jeong-eun picked up a piece of fruit, put it in her mouth, and spoke as she chewed.

"Mom. It's because Dad sent Kim to Ilhyeon Securities that I said he's cold. Not just for taking him down from Restructuring Head."

"You're saying it's cold because he sent him to Ilhyeon Securities?"

Jeong-eun tapped the plate with her fork and said,

"Do you even know what state Ilhyeon Securities is in right now?"

"Are you saying there's some problem with Ilhyeon Securities?"

"Listen well."

Jeong-eun set the fork down on the plate and said,

"Do you think people have money in their pockets right now? You know too, Mom, that everyone's run off their feet just trying to get by. Frankly, people's pockets are so dry that if they've got anything invested, they have to pull it out and spend it right away. If the stock market were even any good, maybe — but watch the news. Our country's stocks have hit rock bottom again, and everyone's going on about whether it's all going under or not."

Jeong-eun shook her head and leaned back into the sofa.

And, looking at Suk-ja, who was still sitting in the same posture, she gave a wry smile and said,

"He sent him to a place brimming with filthy water like that, so that's why I'm saying he's cold. Now do you understand why I said such a thing?"

If it was as Jeong-eun said, then Tak-hyeon's decision was, if anything, tightening a noose around Seong-ho's…