***
Chaeyoung ended up spending lots of time with Claire. Of course, the latter had already put back her disguise. After all, it was still day time. They didn't want others to have any suspicions.
Now, that Chaeyoung was already aware of Claire's struggles, Chaeyoung decided to cancel her trip to Luxembourg. She immediately asked, Jennie, to offer an apology to the Prime Minister's assistant, who sent the invitation.
However, no matter how much Chaeyoung asked Claire for more details, the latter was tight-lipped. She would not budge and would only say that Chaeyoung did not need to know more of those things.
For Claire, Chaeyoung was the most important person, more important than her own life. She did not want her to become more aware of the secrets that she had been keeping.
When Chaeyoung started asking about the Vercello Family, Claire just informed her that her grandmother was not aware that Claire was alive, so they were eyeing Chaeyoung right now. She also informed her daughter that every Matriarch of the Vercello family should marry the person that the elders wanted them to.
That piece of information made Chaeyoung and Lisa wonder if the Vercello Family had already made their move and sent someone for Chaeyoung. Of course, guessing things like that was useless, since no one was aware of the real competence of that family.
According to Claire, the Vercello Family was highly secretive about their rules and system. That was the main reason they could rule the underground in Western countries. Every criminal group in the West, be it big or small, respected and feared that family.
She had also told Chaeyoung that the Lee Family was the only family that could rival the Vercello Family's influence. In fact, in the black market, the Lee Family was known as 'the Vercello of the East'.
The Lee Family was also the reason the Vercello Family found it hard to spread their influence to the Eastern countries.
"So the Lee and Vercello Families…" Chaeyoung muttered. "Do you think my grandmother is aware that I am from the Lee Family?"
"I am not sure." She shrugged. "I honestly don't know anything, other than father knows, about the Vercello Family. When I was in the black market, working for the military, I was not able to find out anything about them. Their members, their headquarters, nothing. As if they don't exist at all."
"So... how do they make their presence known?" Lisa asked, pondering how she could find out more about that dangerous family.
"They usually use other gangs to do their dirty work. That's all I know." Claire answered. "Everyone knows that your grandmother is the current Matriarch, but no one has ever seen her. No one knows how she looks like."
"You mean, we don't even know if she is alive?" Chaeyoung asked, full of disbelief. An organization that was like a ghost. How was she supposed to know if she was already talking to one?
Claire stared at Chaeyoung, unable to answer her question. To be honest, she also did not know anything about her mother's organization.
"Don't tell me that you haven't seen grandmother once?" Chaeyoung asked.
In response, Claire shook her head. "Not even once… When I was in the military… no one knows my identity. Except for Henry Lee.. we uh… we have some history and he accidentally found out about it. He is a very smart person. He was able to put two and two together."
"Henry knows everything… wait what history??"
"Not the type that you are thinking." Claire instantly answered, not waiting for Chaeyoung to asked any more questions. "He is like my elder brother."
Chaeyoung let out a sigh of relief. At least, Henry did not have any relationship with her mother. Chaeyoung couldn't imagine how she would have reacted if she found out that her mother was once in love with the man, who was now trying to kill her daughter.
The trio continued talking about the Vercello and Lee Families until it was time to leave the office.
To avoid suspicion, Claire was still going to work as Long Die and would not stay with Chaeyoung. However, she would move into a secured apartment and have a lady bodyguard that would act as her sister. Everything was arranged by Lisa to make sure that the mother and daughter would stay safe.
Moreover, Lisa and Chaeyoung decided that they would move into a penthouse near Long Die's apartment. That was something they had already planned for so long, in fact, Lisa had already ordered her secretary to choose a potential penthouse that would suit them, the moment they arrived at the Country. So, this was not something suspicious at all.
After the mother and daughter's reunion, Chaeyoung and Long Die tried to spend most of their time, working on new projects and designs. This time, Chaeyoung wanted to help Jennie realize her potential. She knew that Jennie Kim was an artist in their past life, yet, in this life, she was just Chaeyoung's secretary.
Because of that, she wanted Jennie to focus on her art and have Long Die take care of some of her work. That way, Chaeyoung and Long Die could work closely together.
Chaeyoung decided to have Jennie make new clothes designs for their games. Since they had already established a little ground in the fashion world back in Korea, it was not hard for Chaeyoung and Jennie to do it again in Japan.
Art was something that Jennie was very confident about, so Chaeyoung's idea instantly made her ecstatic. Jennie was originally very hardworking, so it was not hard for her to follow Chaeyoung's plan.
"Alright, so these are dresses from the game. Basically, our target is young people." Chaeyoung stated while studying about the fashion industry.
"You are wrong. Not just young people play your games. Many housewives also love to play some games during their vacant times. Especially, games like this." Long Die interjected. "Maybe you should include them in your target market."
"I agree with Long Die, Chaeng." Jennie said.
"Alright… you two won." Chaeyoung smiled. "Now, why don't we celebrate and buy some doughnuts downstairs?" she beamed.
"As if that grim-looking bodyguard of yours would allow you to leave this place." Jennie's words instantly earned a raised eyebrow from both Chaeyoung and Long Die. Both of them instantly knew that Jennie was talking about Jin. However, the two chose to hide their smirks and act as if they did not hear her words.
"You are right. Why don't you just go downstairs and buy something sweet for me?" Chaeyoung said. "Maybe you can even ask Jin to accompany you."
"Why do I need him to accompany me?" Jennie asked. "Hmp, Long Die, why don't you accompany me instead?"
Chaeyoung stifled a laugh before nodding towards her mother. It would also be good to have Long Die bond with Jennie. Chaeyoung had already considered Jennie as one of her best friends, as the two knew each other since their high school years.
Sensing her signal, Long Die instantly got up and accompanied Jennie outside of Wang Empire's building.
The doughnut store was not that far from Wang Empire's building. The store had a little café where you could eat sweets and a little counter outside for the people, who only wanted to have take outs.
That café was one of the oldest establishments here in Japan and was known to have the best doughnuts and sweets in the capital.
The duo instantly arrived at the doughnut store, only to discover that there was a long line of customers, waiting for their orders. Seeing that, Long Die asked Jennie to stay in the line while she went to the restroom.
Jennie only nodded and went to the line for the take outs, while Long Die made her way to the restroom inside the café.
Long Die did not take a lot of time in the restroom. In fact, she only took less than five minutes. When she came back, Jennie was already talking to a handsome guy, who was about her age. She was currently laughing, obviously amused by the guy's words. For Long Die, that scene should have been totally normal since Jennie was also good-looking and really nice. However, what made her suspicious was the fact that the guy instantly left before Long Die could get closer to them.
"Who was that?" Long Die asked, the moment she arrived next to Jennie.
"A friend. We always see each other lining up in this doughnut store. Maybe… three times already." She answered. "Just now, he approached me and asked for my name and number."
"And you gave it to him?" Long Die asked.
"Yes… he is really nice. He is a foreigner as well… did you see his eyes? It's blue…" Long Die listened as Jennie continued talking about the guy. Seeing her excitement, Long Die just brush off the incident.
'Maybe, it was just a coincidence that the guy left when he noticed me approaching, she thought. After all, the guy seemed to also work nearby, just like Jennie.
At that point, Long Die was unaware that she was already feeling a little protective of Chaeyoung's friends. Of course, that was also because she was a mother. And mothers tend to sense danger when they see one.
Long Die did not think about what had happened with Jennie anymore, as the duo went back to Chaeyoung's office.
....
Days passed by and Chaeyoung continued working with both Jennie and Long Die. During these past few days, Long Die cooked some of Chaeyoung's favorites and put it in a lunchbox for Chaeyoung and Lisa's lunch.
With Long Die, living next to Chaeyoung, the atmosphere seemed harmonious, warm, and full of love. Even some of the employees observed that Chaeyoung seemed happier. Many assumed that it was just because of their company's success in the past few months. However, when the news that Chaeyoung refused Luxembourg's invite spread, many people couldn't help but make assumptions that Chaeyoung had already got the contract from Luxembourg. They thought that was the reason she didn't need to go to Luxembourg anymore.
Aside from that, Chaeyoung also decided to withdraw some of her big projects, making more people believe that she would be collaborating with Luxembourg's military soon. Of course, everyone in Wang Empire ignored those rumors.
In fact, the reason Chaeyoung withdrew from all of her big projects, was because of Claire's advice to stay low-key as much as possible. Making her name widely known would only attract the attention of more and more people, including both the Lee Family and Vercello Family's enemies.
Chaeyoung continued keeping silent about those assumptions and chose to limit her presence in the media. Although she knew that it was close to impossible, she was still trying her best to, at least, lessen her presence.
On that particular day, however, Chaeyoung received a visitor-a very important person from Luxembourg: the Secretary of Defense.
According to their intelligence, Chaeyoung was developing a drone that could be used for surveillance. As for the source of that news? No one knew…
No one knew if it was just an assumption, or the Military from Luxembourg got ahold of that information from someone from Chaeyoung's small team.
"Mr. Secretary, You can't possibly be planning to invite me to your country because of these rumors, right?" Chaeyoung asked as she crossed her right leg with her left. "These were all rumors without any evidence. If I had such a thing, I would have surely announced it to everyone. I would have surely organized an auction, to take bids for it and earn millions, if not billions of money."
"CEO Park, first of all, you don't need to be so formal with me, call me just Secretary Jia." He smiled amiably. "We know what you are capable of, and we have received information from an anonymous source about an Unidentified drone, flying above your building a few weeks ago. If this drone really exists, then… wouldn't it be better to have us backing you when the other organizations come knocking at your door?"
Chaeyoung instantly narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her, who was in his fifties. Just what was this guy talking? Were they planning to blackmail her into coming with them, or else they would release that news to the black market? "Are you threatening me and my company, Secretary Jia?"
"I am not." He answered. "But this information is bound to reach the ears of the people from the black market sooner than you think."
Chaeyoung deadpanned at his words. Not threatening? Did those people think that she was stupid? She knew how countries and some organizations worked. They would not stop until they got what they wanted.
"Secretary Jia," Chaeyoung made a deliberate pause. "I have already decided to back out from Luxembourg's offer. Many companies are vying for that position. I wonder why are you insisting on having me go with you to Luxembourg?"
"This is not…."
"This is about my safety…. I know what you are going to say. Now, if you think that a simple threat will work on me, then you should do better research. I don't get along well with threats. The people from the black market are not sophisticated enough to know these things. They will only get ahold of this information if you tell them." Chaeyoung stated directly, not wanting to sugarcoat her words.
"We both know that these threats stem from the fact that I declined the opportunity to go to Luxembourg. Now, can you please let me know, why are you so adamant about inviting me, when hundreds of companies in the Tech industry are interested in joining you?" she asked.
"I… " Secretary Jia stuttered while staring at Chaeyoung. He did not expect her to be this blunt in her words. "We think that only you have capabilities to create sophisticated programs, which can help us innovate our military system." He answered, after thinking the most reasonable thing that he could say. After all, it was the Prime Minister himself that asked him to fetch Chaeyoung.
Secretary Jia looked at Chaeyoung who was also staring at him intently, her gaze confident and intimidating. He waited for her answer yet, he heard nothing.
Seeing Chaeyoung stare at him, made the secretary uncomfortable. Just, who was this woman, and why would the Prime Minister personally ask him, a very important individual in the state, to see her?
"No." Chaeyoung's short answer somehow annoyed Secretary Jia. He was here with goodwill. This company was very lucky to get invited by the Secretary of Defense personally. Yet, Chaeyoung was still saying 'no'.
"CEO Park… This is…"
"I said 'No', Secretary Jia, and I will not change my mind. Thank you very much for your offer." Chaeyoung got up from her seat and proceeded towards the door, opening it. It was a clear sign that their conversation was over.
Secretary Jia gritted his teeth and walked towards the door. "I hope you will not regret this." He said before walking out of her office, without waiting for Chaeyoung to say anything else.
Chaeyoung raised an eyebrow at the Secretary's words. She couldn't help but wonder if the Secretary was going to actually release that secret information to the black market. However, Chaeyoung already had a backup plan for everything.
She had already predicted that those people would not stop bothering her. Not now, when her skills had already been made public.
When the Secretary left, Chaeyoung instantly talked to Long Die, to schedule a press conference about Wang Empire's new product 'Cosmos'.
'Cosmos' was like the junior version of 'Colossus', without all the sophistication that was useful to spy on someone from afar. Of course, Chaeyoung had included some of that features in 'Cosmos', but they were not comparable to what the 'Colossus' had.
For example the speed. Speed of 'Colossus' was 7,200 km/h, while 'Cosmos' only flew at 2400 km/h. For some people, that speed could be very impressive. It could even be considered top notch, yet for Chaeyoung, it was very low. However, Chaeyoung deliberately chose that speed to impress everyone. After all, she still needed to sell her products.
After the news was released, once again, Chaeyoung's invention surprised everyone. Although a surveillance drone was not something new, the specs of Chaeyoung's drones were something that no one was able to accomplish before.
Of course, that move instantly shocked the Secretary of Defense, who was still in Japan. He was full of hopes that Chaeyoung would encounter troubles, because of the news that he had released on the black market. They assumed that Chaeyoung was keeping it a secret, because of its special capabilities. But who would have thought that she would release the news, the moment he stepped out of her office?
Brilliant!
That was the only word that the Secretary of Defense could find to describe Chaeyoung's move. However, that brilliance was not necessarily good for his mission.
But what could he do? He could only grit his teeth while watching Chaeyoung on the news, answering some questions about her new invention. Secretary Jia was one of the few people trusted by Prime Minister. So, Prime Minister specifically tasked him to bring Chaeyoung to Luxembourg. Secretary Jia vowed to not fail the Prime Minister.
Watching Chaeyoung, only made him realize that his task would not be as easy as he thought it would be. The Secretary once again gritted his teeth as he dialed a number to activate his plan B and that was to involve Chaeyoung's friends.
Chaeyoung was very secretive when it came to her relationships, yet, everyone knew that her circle involved a few people that she had brought from Korea. That included Jeon Jungkook and Jennie Kim: the two most vulnerable people in her circle of friends.
The Secretary of Defense knew, although Chaeyoung looked tough on the outside, she had a soft spot to people, who were important to her. A good example of that was when her cousin had been shot instead of her. According to their research, Chaeyoung was the one, who personally killed the person, responsible for her cousin's wounds.
That situation clearly showed that Chaeyoung had a soft spot for people close to her. Just like how she was helping her friend to establish a name in the fashion industry.
Of course, the Secretary was not wrong in his assumptions. Chaeyoung was indeed soft when it came to her family and friends.
With these thoughts in mind, the Secretary of Defense asked for both Jungkook and Jennie's files, to see if he could exploit a weakness. He first looked at Jungkook's file and was disappointed when he didn't find anything.
Jungkook was like a clean slate. Of course, that was because Chaeyoung had deleted everything about him when she recruited him. Jungkook had no family nor vices that they could use against him.
Then, his eyes turned towards Jennie's file. Instantly, his eyes lit up. That woman's life was pitiful and complicated. There were many things in Jennie's life that he could exploit. The Secretary instantly called a few people to take care of his new plans. He then called the Prime Minister to let him know of his genius ways.
At that point, the Secretary of Defense did not even consider the possible changes that Chaeyoung could bring if she indeed set foot to Luxembourg. That was only because he was totally unaware of the truth. Of course, if he knew, then he would have never agreed to do that, no matter how much the Prime Minister asked him to.
Chaeyoung was unaware of the Secretary's plan. However, she already knew that they were just getting started, so she did not lower her guard. But what she had not expected was that the Secretary would use her friends to lure her to Luxembourg.
Chaeyoung continued working with Jennie on her designs. Since they had already established the game, it was not really hard to sell some merchandise related to their games. Especially the clothes, worn by the characters in games.
Because of that, Chaeyoung created a clothing line, just for Jennie's new designs. She even invested her personal money, to support the line.
That made Jennie Kim very happy. She always loved art, and it was almost surreal for her to have a clothing line, just to showcase what she loved the most.
After another month, Chaeyoung launched a clothing brand named 'GENTLE MONSTER'. It had a sophisticated chic style that instantly caught the eyes of many people in their early and late twenties. They also had a collection, which suited for mothers and teenagers.
Jennie's name instantly became a sensation. She was instantly dubbed as the brilliant designer behind Gentle Monster.
"What's wrong?" Chaeyoung asked Jennie. She noticed that Jennie was not as bubbly and as talkative that morning. It was very unusual. She instantly felt that something was not going well for her.
"It's nothing," she answered before she opened the door to Chaeyoung's office to let her enter.
"What's wrong?" Chaeyoung repeated her question, this time, she was looking straight into Jennie's eyes.
With a sigh, Jennie closed the door to Chaeyoung's office. She watched, as Chaeyoung took a seat at her office table, before following Chaeyoung to sit across her.
"It's my family..." she started, looking grimmer than she was just a little while ago. "The Main Kim Family wants us to visit them for the spring festival, which will take place in less than a month. I have already told my father that I can't go since I am very busy, but he still insists. Chaeng, those people abandoned us when my grandfather died. Why do they want to see us now?"
Chaeyoung just let out a sigh. Family matters were mostly very complicated. "So, are you planning to go?"
"I don't want to. But I think I have no choice."
"Where is the Main Branch of the Kim Family located?" Chaeyoung asked before sipping from the disposable coffee cup in her hands.
"Luxembourg," she answered. "Our family has not been in good terms with them for a long time. When my sister graduated and started looking for a job, she tried to ask for their help since they have good ties in Luxembourg, but they did not even call her back!"
"Maybe, they regret their actions now and want to make amends with your father." Chaeyoung answered nonchalantly. Luxembourg? The moment she heard that name, she instantly had a bad feeling about it. Could it be possible that those people were planning to use her friend?
Jennie Kim was considered a bystander in all those matters. She was not aware of anything and was innocent. Yet, if they insisted on using her, then Chaeyoung would not be merciful.
"I don't think so... Chaeng, you should know that my mother left my father for another man when my grandfather died. Because of this, no one from the main family showed up on my grandfather's funeral. They thought it was shameful to associate themselves to a family like ours." Jennie said. "I really don't want to go, ah."
"That will hurt your father, and you know that." Chaeyoung stated. "If your father is adamant about going, then you should go. It would make him happy. But if you notice that they want something else and are not really sincere about reconciling, then you should just leave with your family."
Jennie stared at Chaeyoung before slowly nodding. Chaeyoung was indeed reasonable. If she found out that they were up to no good, then she could just leave the country with her family. After all, the Main Kim Family was not the one supporting their small business in Korea. They also couldn't influence her and her sister's careers.
"Don't worry about them. I will help you if you encounter any problems in Luxembourg." Chaeyoung smiled at her, making Jennie feel comforted. That's right, Chaeyoung was also here to support her. There was no need to be afraid at all.
Jennie might not voice her opinion on Chaeyoung's issues, yet she was well aware that her friend was incredibly smart and courageous. And for some reason, Jennie absolutely trusted Chaeyoung too. It was something that Jennie had already embedded in her bones, something that she could not explain.
.....