Chapter 7

Upon returning home, all phones of the Hwang family group started buzzing erratically. Taeyeon and Leo all pulled out their phones to look at the commotion that was going on in the family group chat. Taeyeon couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he knew exactly what was happening. Leo couldn’t help but just shrug his shoulders dismissively. 

[Hwang Group]
Madam Hwang: 11:11 Group took down their offer!
Siwon: What?! I haven’t even gotten a chance to meet with them!
Madam Hwang: Call them immediately! We need this partnership

Walter: Hurry up Siwon and call them!
Siwon: They aren’t picking up!

Walter: Keep calling!
Siwon: I have been put on hold!

Madam Hwang: What’s happening?!
Siwon: They refuse to meet with me. 

Madam Hwang: Everyone meet at the estate now! 

Reading the latest text, Taeyeon and Leo simultaneously let out a groan of annoyance. They had just an interesting day and now Madam Hwang wants to hold, yet another family meeting. However, despite not wanting to go to the meeting, Taeyeon could not wait to see the faces of those three when Tiffany announces that she made the partnership with 11:11. 

“Do we have to go?” Groaned Leo as he threw himself onto the couch. 

The question earned him a slap on the shoulder. “Yes! We have to go! We are still part of the Hwang family and we are relying on this group for our pensions!” Elissa spat. “C’mon, get ready to go to the estate. 

“All you care about is money…” scoffed Leo as he got up to head to their bedroom. 

Elissa’s face turned a darker shade of red when she overheard what Leo was mumbling about. “OF COURSE I CARE ABOUT MONEY! MONEY IS THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. FREEDOM AND FOR OUR OWN HEALTH!” 

Taeyeon couldn’t help but let out a sigh as he pulled out his phone to dial his wife’s phone. 

It didn’t take long for her to answer his call. 

“Hello?”

“TIffany! How did your meeting go?” Taeyeon asked in a hush tone. 

“It went great!” Tiffany said in a happy tone. It made Taeyeon smile. This was definitely going to be a boost of confidence for his wife. 

“Did you see the family group chat?” Taeyeon asked cautiously. 

There was a pause. Tiffany was probably checking her messages. “Oh my. You were right, grandma would freak out!”

“Let’s see how desperate Madam Hwang is for the partnership. There must be a reason behind her desperation. I’ll give you the cue to when you should announce it” Taeyeon spoke. 

If there was something Tiffany knew very well, it was to trust Taeyeon. She knew very well that Taeyeon’s words and actions were carefully thought out of. He was very good at keeping himself from making a fool of himself, but also carried himself quite differently. He was calculative and didn’t let anyone’s insult deter him. She knew following him was a good and wise choice. 

“I will,”

“Will you be needing a ride?”

“I am okay, I will take a Taxi”

“Very well then, I will see you at the estate” Taeyeon said. He said his goodbyes and hung up the phone. Slipping it into his pocket, he grabbed the car keys and called out for his in-laws. The married couple stopped arguing and followed after Taeyeon. They couldn’t be late to the family meeting. 

The drive to the family estate was quiet. Neither husband nor wife wanted to say anything to each other. They both sat in the back seat with their arms crossed and both staring out the window. Taeyeon couldn’t help but scoff to himself at the sight. He drove the fastest way to the estate. He was excited to see the look on the family’s face when Tiffany announces that she got the partnership. They’d probably piss themselves. 

When they arrived, Taeyeon parked the car and they all hopped out. They all looked at the house before taking a deep breath. Two of them were worried, while one was excited to see the events unfold. Their fate was in his hands now. 

“You guys are finally here!” Yelled Madam Hwang as she motioned them to enter the family room. 

“We need to figure out a way to make 11:11 to reconsider their options before announcing it in just one day!” Madam Hwang snarled. “As you guys know, our company has not been doing so well these past couple of years. We need to get on 11:11 group to help put in a good word on our behalf. This will help bring our family to the elite status!”

“How are we going to do that?!” Walter wailed pathetically. He saw the family bank records, and it wasn’t looking so good for them. If they didn’t pull in anymore jobs, it’s going to start looking really bad soon. 

Siwon stood up and began to speak, “Grandma, I will go to their office first thing tomorrow morning. Maybe I can ask Yul-shi to help put in a good word for us,” 

“And what exactly are you going to do? Beg?” Leo couldn’t help but jab. He was always annoyed by his nephew’s know it all personality. 

“I will try to reason with him first. He has not even given all his options a chance to prove themselves to them. How can they know that the company they chose is the right fit, if they didn’t look at what everyone else had to offer. Sometimes Business deals are like this. Who can give me the best offer with the best price. That’s what partnerships and deals go by. They should give us  another chance. I volunteer to go tomorrow” 

“Really? You’ll go first thing in the morning?” Madam Hwang asked eyes twinkling at the thought of another possibility. 

Siwon nodded earnestly with a big confident smile across his face. 

“Thank you,” 

A voice spoke up. The voice was rather bored of this topic. Although she didn’t really need to rely on the money of the Hwang family, since her own husband has his own company. She still wanted her son Siwon to be considered when inheritance comes out. However, Siwon definitely had the capabilities to persuade, but what if him alone was not enough? An idea crossed her mind, “Son, I think you would do a great job, but this seems a bit different. Maybe if we-“

Before Siwon’s mother could finish her sentence, Taeyeon gave Tiffany the signal. Taeyeon didn’t want the family to think of his company in a erted way. 

“There’s no reason to beg or persuade 11:11 group for a partnership” Tiffany spoke up loud and clear. Causing all eyes in the room to look at her. 

Tiffany’s courage quickly depleted as she slowly cowered back down to her seat. Madam Hwang’s face grew dark at what her granddaughter had just said. She stood up in anger and started yelling, “Do you know why we need this partnership with 11:11?!” 

“We’re going broke!” Wailed Walter, earning him a slap from his mother. 

Heaving out a sigh, Madam continued “If we do not get this partnership with 11:11 Group we will be in a really tight financial situation. Plus, if we get the public to see that we are working with them, everyone is going to want to work ith us!” 

“We don’t need to beg because I am the one, that got the partnership with 11:11 Group” Tiffany said somewhat confidently. 

Everyone looked at Tiffany wish a look of surprise before scoffing in disbelief. “Yeah right! You?! Get the contract with 11:11 Group? That’s impossible!” Siwon mocked. 

Taeyeon sat in his seat, hands clenching by his side. He wanted to wipe that smirk off of his cousin-in-law’s face. Does he know whose wife he is mocking?!

“Let’s make a bet right now. If Tiffany actually got this partnership, you have to beg Tiffany for mercy and forgiveness. If she didn’t, I will beg on my knees on how much of a pathetic son-in-law I am” Taeyeon said with a slight smirk. 

Siwon’s head snapped toward’s Taeyeon. He his lower lip as he looked at him with disbelief. Did this pathetic son-in-law just bet on his family’s future? He has the audacity to make such bet? He’s just asking to lose anyways, because there was no way in hell would Tiffany ever be able to get that partnership. 

“Fine,” Siwon said confidently with a smirk. “If Tiffany really does have this partnership with 11:11, I will get down on my knees and beg for belittling your wife”

“Mom! Are you really going to let Taeyeon make that kind of bet?” Walter yelled in disbelief. 

Leo rolled his eyes, “If you think my daughter isn’t worthy enough to get such partnership, shouldn’t you be confident too?” 

Walter scoffed at his brother, completely ignoring his remark. “Whatever, fine. Make this bet,” 

Taeyeon smirked in his seat and reached out to Tiffany’s hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Show them,”

Taking a deep breath, Tiffany reached for her work bag and handed them the contract. “Here is a contract from Mr. Kim Heechul himself,” she said with slight confidence. 

Everyone’s eyes widened when Tiffany pulled out the leather folder containing the contract. Madam Hwang quickly grabbed the contract and flipped through it. She read the beginning and the price. 11:11 Group was willing to pay them 50 million dollars for this partnership. With a five percent profit share of the hotel upon completion. This was the ticket they needed to make their company prosper. 

“How did this…?” Madam Hwang started completely confused to how Tiffany was able to attain such contract. Truthfully she wasn’t sure if she should be happy or angry. Angry because Tiffany went behind their backs to get this partnership. Madam Hwang really wanted Siwon to handle the project himself. 

“I met with them this morning. Mr Kim Heechul really liked my proposals,” 

Tiffany’s older cousin Jung Eum spoke up as she looked at the contract with a suspicious look. “Wow Stephanie, you really are going to be this shallow and fake a contract with 11:11? Do you think you’d earn our respect by conveniently showing a contract?” She scoffed. 

Tiffany’s face turned red in both embarrassment and in anger. Her husband sat in his seat angry, clenching his jaws. He pulled his phone out and sent a text to Heechul regarding the partnership. 

Before anyone could continue their jabs on Taeyeon’s wife, their phones started ringing from many people congratulating them on the partnership. Everyone’s eyes furrowed in confusion as the looked at the 11:11 group web page. They announced the partnership. Their partnership with their Stephanie Hwang of the Hwang Group. They even complimented her on her previous works. 

All eyes looked at Tiffany in disbelief. This was not possible. How could it possibly?

“How did you?”

“I asked to meet with Mr. Kim Heechul and they let me through. Then Kim Heechul complimented me on my work. Actually the owner complimented me on my work apparently” Tiffany said nonchalantly. 

Taeyeon smiled. It was true, he complimented his wife’s work a lot to Heechul. He wanted Heechul to know what his wife was capable of and he agreed to his keen eye. 

“Yeah right, the chairman really complimented you. I doubt that” Siwon butted. 

Just in time, Heechul called Tiffany. Everyone went quiet at the sound of Tiffany’s phone ringing. Showing everyone who was calling her, their eyes all widened in surprise. There was no way that Heechul would be calling her. 

“Put it on speaker!” Ordered Madam Hwang. 

Answering the phone, Tiffany quickly said, “Hello Chairman Kim”

Heechul’s voice echoed through the speaker, “Hello Miss Stephanie. I am just checking in that you have read through the contract,”

Smirking at her family she spoke, “Yes, I read through the contract. I am actually discussing the contract with my family at this moment. Please say hello to the head of the family, my grandmother,”

“Madam Hwang? Hello Madam, I hope the contract is to your liking. 11:11 Group is excited to work with your brilliant architect and designer, Stephanie. You are lucky to have her in your company!” Heechul’s voice echoed through the speakers. 

Everyone couldn’t believe what they were hearing. The co-chairman was actually complimenting Stephanie Hwang. What in the world is happening? 

Leo leaned towards Taeyeon and smirked, “Guess Siwon is going to have to beg for our Tiffany’s forgiveness”

Taeyeon chuckled, “You are absolutely correct dad” 

The phone conversation went on a bit longer. Madam Hwang had invited Kim Heechul to a banquet for the contract signing. They were going to invite the press and people to join them on this wondrous occasion. They were going to tell the world that they were now backed by the Kim Family. 

When the phone conversation ended, Leo spoke with a sly smile on his face, “So Siwon, shall you start begging for forgiveness from my daughter?” 

All eyes turned to Siwon as his face turned pale white. “Oh c’mon, we-we were just joking!”

“No, no, no. You do not go back on your word. You should save face and do as you agreed to bet” Leo pushed looking at his nephew with a stern look. 

“C’mon Leo, don’t be like that” Walter spoke up. 

Leo stood up and pointed at Walter accusingly, “You have always looked down at our family. And looked down on my daughter. You didn’t think my daughter could do such thing, yet here we are. He made a bet and he should go on his word”

No one else butted in. All their eyes were on Siwon who stood awkwardly with sweat forming on his forehead. He did not want to get on his knees. He didn’t want to look like a fool in front of his family, and this was all because of the good for nothing son-in-law of the Hwang family. 

Siwon couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh. He walked towards his cousin and got down on his knees to beg for forgiveness. 

Taeyeon couldn’t help himself but carefully pull out his phone to record Siwon begging for forgiveness from his wife. 

“Tiffany, Stephanie… please forgive me for my foolishness and doubt towards your ability” he grumbled almost inaudibly. 

“What did you say young man?!” Pushed Leo; clearly entertained by the sight. 

“Stephanie, please forgive me for my foolishness and doubt towards your ability! I apologize for looking down on you!” Siwon said louder, sounding a little forced. 

“That’s much better,” Leo said leaning back in his seat to enjoy the sight of Siwon’s embarrassment.