It was like cold water was splashed on Jessica's face. The sight of her father's name flashing on her phone brought her back to reality, particularly on her objective in this business conference. It took her quite a few rings before she finally gathered the courage to answer. "Hello, Mister Chairman," she greeted. It was one of the things her father imposed, which is to never address him as her father.

"How is everything going?" Chairman Jung asked.

"Everything is going well, Mister Chairman," she responded in a soft voice.

Her father noticed the uncertainty in her, "Why do you sound unsure? Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes. I believe I delivered my speeches without mistake, and those were well received by my fellow attendees."

"Good. Though, I have been reading the news and have not seen anything regarding you," the Chairman said back.

'With hundreds of participants and dozens of topics, he expects me to hit the headlines? It's like he's asking me to squeeze water from a stone,' she thought. Yet, she knew it is something she could never dare to say on her father outright.

"I expected a lot from you," the Chairman said. "Did I make the wrong decision to send you there alone?"

"I'm sorry, Mister Chairman. I will continue to do my best on the remainder of the conference."

The Chairman sighed, "Remember, you are a Jung. I don't want people to think I have a substandard daughter. Never bring disgrace to my name."

"Yes, Mister Chairman."

"Have the obnoxious woman from ZT Group badgered you?"

"N-no," she lied. "But we exchanged greetings. That was all."

The Chairman mocked a laugh as if irritated, "Probably she thought highly of herself again. She probably didn't see you as a threat."

She only responded a silence. She knew if she'd say more, her father might notice their relationship evolved expeditiously in just two days.

"Are you proving her right? That, you are not a threat to her?" the Chairman continued. "Don't ever forget the reason why you took over. It will be a big embarrassment for me if I will retake the position."

"Yes, Mister Chairman. I always keep it in mind."

"That is all. Do not forget the management meeting tonight with our U.S. investors. I am expecting three-hundred percent of your effort there."

"Yes, Mister Chairman."

Her father hung up the call without even bidding goodbye. That mere short call with her father made Jessica's energy to be drained entirely. The pressure was back again, which she had lost since she started to get closer to Taeyeon.

The reason she was promoted recently was all because of Kim Taeyeon. With the name of her 'lover' starting to dominate their industry line for the past few years, Chairman Jung's competency as a CEO had been challenged. Since Taeyeon took over her family company, new innovations have been brought into the industry. In her sixth year, ZT Group had successfully overthrown Eclare from the top in terms of profits and assets. The media speculated that Eclare's magic was beginning to fade, alleged to be due to the Chairman's age.

As a result, he decided to step down and had Jessica take over the role of CEO, just to show the public that Eclare is also taking heights on giving fresh new ideas to the industry. Yet for Jessica, it was all just a frontal act. It was still her father, who is in control of the whole business operations.

Nonetheless, she had no choice but to abide. So, she had to prove herself here so her father would no longer be in her shadow. Yet, she felt it would take a long time before that will happen. Perhaps, it wouldn't happen at all.

She received another call, this time, was from her best friend and Chief Operations Officer of Eclare, Sunny Lee. "I am sorry I forgot to call to warn you about the Chairman," Sunny quickly said as soon as Jessica answered.

"It's alright, Sunny. The Chairman didn't lash out on me that much," she responded. Yet, she sighed softly, which Sunny still heard.

"Sounds to me it went bad. What was it this time?"

"He was just asking how it is going and expected me to have hit the headlines, but I didn't."

Sunny chuckled, "He must be looking only at Seoul Daily, his favorite news site. Girl, I tell you, you are being feasted by other broadcast companies right now."

Jessica got confused, "Wait. What are you talking about? If that would be from other news sites, definitely my father would have seen it too."

"Oh. Sorry. My bad. It was mainly entertainment news."

"Entertainment?"

Sunny ignored her and just continued, "Oh. There is one from an international news site too, but it was only a photo."

"What is it about?"

"It's more about you and Taeyeon Kim of ZT Group being together. There were some photographs of you two conversing and one from the restaurant too. I can send you the links."

Jessica suddenly felt nervous, "H-how does it look?"

"What do you mean how it looked? Is there supposed to be a way to look at it?"

"I mean, does it look... weird?"

"Jess, I am still not getting it."

She closed her eyes and sighed, "How do you find it? Like what do you feel when you look at those?"

"Okay. I think I know now what you meant. Yes. Girl, this Taeyeon looks like a ."

'What?' She was ridiculed of her best friend's observation. "What do you mean exactly?"

"She looks like a fake plastic doll who just pretends of wanting to be close to you. There. , for short."

"Oh. I see," she responded. Though, she just realized she never told Sunny about her secret admiration about Taeyeon. Sunny might be her best friend since she started working in Eclare, but she never dared to tell her of her feelings for Taeyeon. It was all because ZT is their direct rival. Hence, she kept her feelings only to herself.

This reaction of Sunny got her curious, though. If that's how another person sees Taeyeon's actions towards her, then it could be a hint of the truth. The truth about Taeyeon's feelings for her. 'What if this is all just a lie?' she thought.

"Jessica?" Sunny called, which snapped her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I am. Sorry about that. I was just thinking about the topics to be discussed later."

"I see. Anyway, she looks pretty."

"Yeah, she is."

"But you're prettier. Don't worry."

Jessica chuckled, "It's not like I'm competing on that."

"Well, I still find you prettier. If we're gonna throw out a poll over the internet, definitely you'll win."

"Stop it. This is not the time for you to joke around."

"Come on, bestie. I'm just trying to lighten up your mood. Oh. I have to go now, though. Just keep your guard up, okay? I heard of so many nasty rum