XXV.

Wendy gulped as the woman she most feared, most dreaded to meet, stood right before her.

Through wide eyes, she observed that this woman, though quite aged, bore the same features as Irene, but sharper, edgier, as if each of her breath was tightly controlled. She wore not much jewellery, just a few diamonds here and there, but she exuded the aura of someone rich, one holding great opulence right on the palm of her hand. Wendy felt a shiver crawl down her spine.

So…

This was Chairwoman Bae in the flesh.

"Chai—Chairwoman Bae..." Wendy had managed to say, bowing curtly at the grandmother of the woman she had fallen for.

It would be a lie to say that Wendy wasn't scared. She felt like a helpless lamb in front of a famished lion, trapped within bars of steel, unable to escape and run away. Despite deciding how she was to gain courage and be resolute and to trust in Irene, matters of ill surprises were of a completely different matter, especially if it was Chairwoman Bae and especially after what Irene had just told her on the phone.

It was only ten minutes ago when it had happened.

Irene had phoned her, spouting something ridiculous about how she had revealed the truth to Director Kim.

“Are you insane?” Wendy had said, not surprised at all by how high her voice had risen. Of course, she thought Irene had gone insane. Revealing it all to Director Kim! That was her big plan? What would be the consequences of it? The thought of it all, of how it would affect Irene's future and position as a CEO, of how it would affect her company and of how it would affect her relationship with her grandmother.

“No, of course, I'm not insane.” Irene said through the phone. “Wendy, it’s ok—”

“It’s not. You can’t do this. You shouldn’t have done it. Everyone—everyone would… This is not how it’s supposed to go.”

“What about everyone, Wendy? Who cares about what anyone thinks? You didn’t before. Not in high school. If you want to be happy... if we want to be happy... You can't keep hiding us—our relationship—forever.”

“I have to come and see you. I—I'll talk to Director Kim. I’ll tell him that you didn’t mean what you said—that everything is—I’m not—I’m not ready for this, Irene.”

“Wendy..."

"This wasn't the plan—this shouldn't have been the plan."

Then Wendy had cut off the call, rushing to get her things, to get dressed and decent. How could Irene do this? Plucking the courage to lay out everything to a man of such importance? A man who had many connections in the business world? Just how...? Wendy felt the need to go there personally herself, to sort things out, even if she didn't know herself what she would say.

But before she could even get up and out of the hospital bed, Secretary Lee had knocked and come in, followed suit by the woman she had most feared and most dreaded to meet.

I’m not ready for this, Irene.

It echoed within her in mockery. Wendy didn’t have a plan. She wasn’t supposed to meet Chairwoman Bae like this. Was life full of unexpected occurrences? What was the point of planning if things never turned out the way they were supposed to happen?

There was a flat silence, the air stilling when Chairwoman Bae opened her lips to speak. “Wendy Son, I presume?"

Wendy had never thought she would hate the sound of her name. Chairwoman Bae had relayed each syllable with such weight, heavy with judgment that Wendy couldn't help but despise it. She felt the Chairwoman’s eyes study her, each and every bit of her and Wendy had never felt so exposed before. She was being read with such ease, out of her permission, like an open book that lay flatly on the ground.

The harsh tone carried on. “I sense nothing more but fear. Fear in your eyes, Wendy Son. In the way you stand, the way you present yourself. Are you this easily shaken? Just by my presence, you quiver in fear. And you expect me to entrust my only granddaughter to you? Well.”

Wendy wanted to speak but she didn’t know where to begin or what to say. The words were stuck in , forming a lump there that made it so hard to swallow. It felt difficult to form a coherent statement. Even the mere action of breathing itself felt constrained and laboured, yet what more of speaking? It felt like an impossible myth.

The chairwoman walked around Wendy with cautious steps, the lion examining the helpless lamb.

"Nexon Electronics. Potential? Yes. But not with you as their leader. One easily swallowed by fear cannot achieve success. It was no wonder that despite your qualifications, you have not gotten far but become my granddaughter’s personal assistant.”

Fear. Its presence was there, returning to Wendy's side, grappling her limbs securely to where they were. Chairwoman Bae had that with her tone of voice. One moment of speech and everything flashed before Wendy. Things from her past. The memories of being left behind. Of holding a massive responsibility at such a young age. All of the stress and burdens piling up in an unsurpassable mountain, too high to climb with such small feet and small hands. What was confidence when nothing in life felt certain?

The burden of keeping the jobs of thousands of her Korean employees who worked to provide for their families. The pressure and responsibility of managing a company she didn’t really want to have but ended up getting just so she could pay off her family’s debts, just so she could at least have something to show for as Ms. Bae’s girlfriend.

Wendy fought back tears. Life was a constant struggle. But Wendy had no choice but to fight through, even if she was held by choices she didn’t want to take. Studying hard for a scholarship and at the same time working to pay off her tuition and her family’s debts. Taking the responsibility of being the head of her father’s company. All she did for the sake of others and never for her. How could she not be swallowed by fear, by anxiety, right now? She wasn’t ready for this. It was all too much.

The memory of her father, so weak and so close to death’s door, replayed in her mind. Various drips connected to limbs that looked so frail that even a tiny touch could seemingly break them. Big machines whirring and whirring each day, trying to do the job of a body now dysfunctional.

Her father had beckoned her to come over with the small movement of a thin finger. Then he spoke of his final words. His final wish:

“Please…ensure…the company…great…success…Wendy…you’re all…I…have…”

The tone of a flatline had never sounded so threateningly deafening before. Everything was drowned out, all singled out by that one flatline that now echoed her dead father’s wish.

Wendy stared at her trembling hands.

“What can someone as weak as you possibly offer my granddaughter? Stability? I don't think so. Money? Well, she has a lot of that. Partnership? Not with your current... state."

Another memory flashed in Wendy’s mind. This time of Dr. Cho. Of her first