The Chaebol Family’s Youngest Daughter Doesn’t Hide Her Acting Skills - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 34

 

I hesitated when I spotted Park Secretary. The sound of footsteps on grass echoed softly in the quiet garden.

 

“…Ah, Miss.”

 

Noticing the presence, he stopped tending to the bushes and turned around. His face was full of bewilderment, as if caught doing something he shouldn’t be seen doing.

 

“Already finished with your meal…”

 

His gesture of rubbing his neck while pretending he wasn’t doing anything was quite obvious. He must have planned to finish tidying up while the Ju family was having their meal together.

 

Secretary Park Cheon-won was Uncle’s personal secretary. A loyal person who would carry out Uncle’s orders first and ask questions later.

 

Uncle wouldn’t have ordered him to trim the trumpet vines. Then was he staying here to clean up of his own volition?

 

“Why are you doing this here, Park Secretary?”

 

“Ah, well…”

 

I narrowed my eyes to gauge his true intentions. When our gazes met, he awkwardly turned his head to the side.

 

After hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth.

 

“I should clean up after the Vice Chairman.”

 

“Ah, clean up?”

 

Uncle had touched the trumpet vines in anger, but someone like Park Secretary would know what those flower bushes meant to Grandfather.

 

He stepped in to prevent the Uncle he serves from falling out of favor with Chairman Joo, his father. So Park Secretary still hasn’t turned away from Uncle yet.

 

Though he politely addressed me as ‘Miss,’ Park Secretary continued with his work while keeping me at his side.

 

Would he have been able to do other things if Aunt Jeong-hui had tried to talk to him?

 

‘No way.’

 

Since Park Secretary was someone with clear judgment, he definitely wouldn’t bow that low to me, whose position in this household was still ambiguous. He might have heard more about me separately from Uncle.

 

What was certain was that I wasn’t receiving treatment befitting the Ju family from him right now.

 

‘Though I don’t particularly want to be treated like a chaebol heir…’

 

If I was thinking of winning Park Secretary over to my side, I needed to at least change his perception of me. No one would switch to a master inferior to their original one.

 

I flashed him a relaxed smile. As if I knew what kind of image he had of me but didn’t care much about it.

 

“Still, thank you. I was going to clean it up myself… but since you’ve already done it all, there’s nothing left for me to fix.”

 

“You were going to, Miss?”

 

“I cherish this place as much as Chairman does.”

 

When I deliberately mentioned Grandfather, he immediately flinched.

 

‘So he was cleaning up here because of Grandfather, right, that’s it.’

 

“Ah, I didn’t tell Chairman about it. Uncle must have done it in the heat of the moment.”

 

It was true that I hadn’t said anything. I couldn’t rashly attack Uncle when I hadn’t properly established myself at Jaedamjae yet.

 

However, I wanted to convey to Park Secretary that I was a proper member of the Ju family with the right to go directly to Grandfather and tell him about Uncle’s misconduct I witnessed today.

 

Whether he understood that meaning, Park Secretary, who had been silent for a long time, slowly moved his lips.

 

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

 

Park Secretary bowed his head. He seemed to be referring to when he blocked my path when I visited Dongwoo Museum to get Grandmother’s script.

 

Well, I knew it was obviously Uncle’s order anyway, so I didn’t hold any particular grudge against Park Secretary.

 

I looked at him calmly and nodded.

 

“I’ll accept your apology. It wasn’t your will, that thing.”

 

“…!”

 

“Actually, I’ve known for a while. That Uncle finds me uncomfortable.”

 

“Ah, that’s…”

 

“How could his dead sister’s daughter be welcome? It’s not just any family, and succession fights are involved too.”

 

You, who have assisted Uncle closely all this time, would be able to roughly guess. That Uncle plans to turn away after just taking Mother’s shares from me.

 

“So I’m not entirely comfortable with him either.”

 

Through this conversation, I intended to assess Park Secretary’s state.

 

“Isn’t it hard for you under Uncle, Park Secretary?”

 

When I casually threw out the question, Park Secretary subtly caught his breath and answered briefly.

 

“…There’s nothing particularly difficult.”

 

A brief silence before producing an answer. I didn’t miss that gap.

 

Uncle, who planned to extract only the sweet benefits from his niece and then abandon her miserably.

 

Park Secretary, who endured and cleaned up after Uncle’s misdeeds, might have thought this while looking at me.

 

That I too would be destined to be abandoned like Ju Sae-i. So he would turn away first before that happened.

 

“Park Secretary would be the type to abandon before being abandoned, right?”

 

Sure enough. Ripples appeared in Park Secretary’s expression. After stiffening momentarily, he soon asked back.

 

“…Why do you say such things.”

 

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

 

Without giving Park Secretary a chance to interrupt, I continued in a tone deliberately painted with confidence.

 

“I’ve been preparing lately.”

 

Just as you prepared to turn your back after guessing the future of being abandoned by Uncle, I’m doing the same.

 

“…How could you know that.”

 

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

 

I whispered as if making a light joke.

 

“But you know what, Park Secretary.”

 

After glancing at Park Secretary’s frozen face, I took another step closer to him. And I murmured quietly.

 

“If it were me, I wouldn’t easily abandon someone like Park Secretary.”

 

Park Secretary’s eyebrows moved very slightly.

 

Though he tried to hide his reaction, my eyes didn’t miss it. I paused for a moment, then added in a low voice.

 

‘Let me throw this out now.’

 

The main reason I wanted to make Park Secretary my ally. That was precisely…

 

“I know what kind of things you’ve been collecting about Uncle.”

 

Secretary Park Cheon-won had turned away from Uncle and risked his life to blow the whistle.

 

The numerous materials he had gathered while under Uncle.

 

Though the important materials weren’t made public, minor evidence of abuse of power was spread around by influencers, causing Uncle to be criticized for a while.

 

‘I never heard what happened to Park Secretary after that incident.’

 

However, if he was the type to kill even me and Father, he wouldn’t have left Park Secretary alone.

 

“Those materials, will you be okay? It must be burdensome to hold onto them alone.”

 

“…!”

 

Park Secretary clutched his solar plexus as if momentarily breathless. I continued speaking calmly.

 

“Such materials become a burden if you meet the wrong master, but become decent weapons if you just meet the right master.”

 

“…Miss Sae-i.”

 

“If it were me, I think I could use what Park Secretary has collected much more valuably.”

 

Eyes trying hard to read my expression. In the brief silence, Park Secretary’s eyes gleamed.

 

‘Got it.’

 

I didn’t expect him to come over in one go. If Park Secretary had endured under Uncle for so long, he would make his decision after careful consideration.

 

For now, the priority was to plant the perception that I was someone worth coming over to.

 

That’s also why I brought up the future exposé. To convey that I had no intention of remaining as the stupid, weak, lowest-ranking member.

 

“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

 

Park Secretary ultimately didn’t give me an answer.

 

However, I clearly read the confused heart behind his pretense of composure.

 

For now, this was enough.

 

***

 

I headed to my quarters, leaving Park Secretary behind.

 

Throughout the walk, my stomach felt strangely heavy. It seemed I had gotten indigestion from briefly sharing a meal with Uncle.

 

Well, it was truly an impossible thing to do – picking up a spoon with the person who killed me right in front of me. It was even worse because I had to force myself to smile and eat as Grandfather kept glancing at me intermittently.

 

“Ugh…”

 

With a short sigh, I threw myself onto the bed. KakaoTalk messages I hadn’t checked yet were piled up on my phone. The sender was Dojehyeon.

 

The moment I pressed the screen to read the content, there was a knock on the door.

 

“Can we have a chat for a moment?”

 

Chills ran down my spine. The owner of the voice was my mortal enemy who killed me – Uncle.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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