The takeover

Once inside the house, she was received by the house staff.

"Welcome home Miss," the head maid said, "It's been a long time" the head maid smiled at her happily, and Ha Eun smiled back.

"Where is Mr. Oh?" Ha Eun asked. The head maid widened her eyes and then looked down; she looked so upset even Ha Eun noticed.

"He's in his study," the head maid answered. Ha Eun nodded, then quickly headed to the study.

The head maid was indeed upset because Ha Eun never acted like she was part of the family. Since she was little she was detached; after all, she jumped from foster family to foster family and was beaten many times, but she thought that after a few years of being treated with respect and being given everything, she would smile at least once, but all she ever gave were fake smiles, and it got even worse when the Madame of the house came, and she with her daughter belittled her.

If the house staff were just a little bit braver and stood up for Ha Eun, maybe she wouldn't have left home, and she would have accepted this family as her own, but they were all more scared of getting fired than seeing a little girl get hurt. The head maid felt saddened because she felt she had no right to apologize to Ha Eun for everything she went through in this house as a child.

Ha Eun went upstairs, heading towards Mr. Oh's office, but she was stopped by her stepmother, Ji Hyun, who was in the living area, reading a book. Ha Eun wanted to pass by as quickly and silently as possible, but Ji Hyun saw her and quickly said, "Well if it isn't the disappointment."

It made Ha Eun angry how Ji Hyun found flaws in everything she did. Ha Eun was, in fact, a great President that made sure her employees had enough rest and a good work environment. She was even in magazines as the youngest President and most acclaimed President in South Korea. Not to mention that she was also a woman. Yet, Ji Hyun called her a disappointment.

After she had grown, she found out Ji Hyun belittled her because she was far better than her stepsister, Ji Su. Mr. Oh even chose Ha Eun as his successor without giving it a second thought. Ji Su and Ji Seok were also his children. Well, stepchildren. Yet he didn't even think they would make good Presidents.

"You know, just because you have a mouth doesn't mean you have to use it," Ha Eun said.

Suddenly, Ha Eun saw Ji Su sitting up from the sofa.

"How dare you speak to my mother that way?!" Ji Su yelled.

"Oh, I didn't realize Satan's spawn was here," Ha Eun said with a surprised yet smug expression.

Ji Su stood up, infuriated. She walked quickly over to Ha Eun. Ha Eun could tell Ji Su was planning on slapping her. Ha Eun knew if she just stood there and accepted the slap, the conversation would end quicker, and she would be able to leave the house sooner, but she was already an adult and, this time, she could fight back. So, when Ji Su's hand was getting closer to her cheek, Ha Eun grabbed her wrist and looked at Ji Su.

"Wow, did I hurt your feelings?" Ha Eun asked her, acting surprised. She obviously knew she didn't; she had just hurt her pride. As Ha Eun was busy holding Ji Su, she didn't notice Ji Hyun until it was too late. Ji Hyun had slapped her.

"You disgraceful child! If it isn't enough taking my daughter's place as President of the company, now you dare insult us in our own home!" Ji Hyun added, "You don't deserve to be called an Oh," as if that would hurt Ha Eun's feelings. Although she was in the family registry, she had never accepted the last name Oh.

"I think both of you have forgotten…I couldn't care less about what either of you think," Ha Eun let go of Ji Su's wrist and walked out of the room.

Ji Hyun looked furious. She didn't like the fact that Ha Eun no longer cowered in front of her but now talked back. Ji Hyun thought that she had gone too easy on Ha Eun. If she had been a little stricter, maybe Ha Eun wouldn't be so full of herself, and Ji Su or Ji Seok would be President of the Company right now.

….

Ha Eun knocked on Mr. Oh's office. He asked who it was, "It's me," Ha Eun answered. She suddenly heard shuffling and clattering; then she heard an 'ow!' Soon after, Mr. Oh opened the door.

"Ha Eun, what a pleasant surprise. Please come in!" he said with a smile. He noticed her reddened cheek and asked, "What happened to your face?"

"Don't worry about it," she said. She didn't want to stay long, so as she entered the room, she said, "I'm here to let you know that I'm planning a takeover." She sat down on the sofa, crossing her right leg over her left, then looking at Mr. Oh directly in the eyes.

Mr. Oh was taken aback by this.

"Which company?" he asked as he sat down on the sofa opposite her.

"Chung Company," Ha Eun said. As the President of the company, Ha Eun didn't need to ask anyone for permission on her plans to expand Oh Group. But the fact of the matter was that Mr. Oh and Mr. Chung had been friends for a long time.

She felt she had an obligation to let Mr. Oh know. And as she expected, he didn't seem happy about the news. He looked rather sad.

"Can I ask why?" Mr. Oh asked.

Ha Eun didn't know if she should tell Mr. Oh the truth since she didn't have enough evidence to put Woo Yeon behind bars, but, thanks to her new secretary, she had enough evidence against the Chung Company for a takeover.

She didn't want to lie to Mr. Oh but couldn't tell him the truth either. Would he even believe her if she told the truth? "I know the Ohs have been friends with the Chungs for years, but…"

Mr. Oh suddenly raised his hand at her to stop her from talking, "I understand," he said, "Do what you must. I'll support you no matter what." Ha Eun was taken aback by his support. He didn't even let her explain her reason as to why she wanted to do the takeover, even though he asked her for it.

"But Mr. Chung is your friend; rather than merging the two companies like the two of you always wanted, a takeover would mean his business and all his assets will…"

"I know," Mr. Oh talked over her. He got up from the sofa and headed towards his desk. He opened one of the drawers, then took out a key from his pocket, there was a hidden drawer behind that one that required a key to open.

Inside, there was only a binder. He handed it to Ha Eun and inside were documents on the Chung Group. It was evidence on all the bad things that they have done, such as bribery, embezzlement, wrongful termination of employees, harassment, blackmail, dealings with the black market, and much more.

Some of these she already had as evidence for a takeover, but there was much more evidence that her people never found.

"Why do you have all this?" Ha Eun asked.

Mr. Oh looked at her with a saddened expression, "It's true Woo Yeon's father, Min Sik, and I are friends but, over the years he changed. No, he was always the same. I was the one that chose to remain blind."

Ha Eun didn't know where Mr. Oh was going with this.

"Min Sik was always a charming person, but he was greedy. He always wanted more power and money that he would even go through illegally to get. I would always help him get out of trouble, but rather than learning from his mistakes, he kept on committing them. I started to keep track of all the wrongs he had committed in hopes of one day stopping him. But I could never bring myself to do it."

"If you don't want to ruin your friendship with him, why are you giving me this?" Ha Eun asked.

Without giving it a second thought, Mr. Oh answered, "Because I love you." Ha Eun was shocked by this and was sure that it showed on her face, but she tried to hide it to the best of her abilities. Mr. Oh gave Ha Eun a saddened smile.

"You are my most important treasure, and no friendship could amount to a father's love for his daughter."

Ha Eun had never heard those words come out of his mouth before. Not to her, not to anyone. She thought back on all the times that she talked with Mr. Oh. He was never rude to her; he never hurt her; he always contacted her first and invited her to family gatherings. She was the one that always pushed him away.

"Well, with this, I'll be able to do the takeover sooner than I expected. I'll be going now," Ha Eun said as she stood up and headed for the door. Mr. Oh opened the door for her.

Once outside, Mr. Oh started to close the door, but Ha Eun stopped him and did something she had never done. She wrapped her arms around Mr. Oh and said, "Thank you…dad."

She hurried outside before Mr. Oh could say anything. And she didn't even bother to say anything to her stepmother and stepsister, who were still in the same room she confronted them in.

A smile formed across Mr. Oh's face as he heard her footsteps receding. It was the first time she ever called him dad. He had thought for sure; she would never call him that and had given up on waiting for the day to hear that word coming out of her mouth.

In the car, Ha Eun felt very overwhelmed by what she had just done. She wasn't one for showing affection; Chang Wook was the one that did that, and she just followed along. This was the first time she ever called him 'dad', and she didn't know how to feel about it.

"Why am I being such a kid about this?!" she yelled.

Jin Hyeok, sitting next to her, dropped his phone as he jumped out of his seat at her sudden yell. The two looked at each other surprised; after a few seconds, they chuckled.

Jin Hyeok quickly cleared his throat and asked, "Is something bothering you, Madame?"

"Nothing major; it's just that I've been going through a lot of firsts today," Ha Eun said. Jin Hyeok didn't understand what she meant by this, "Just like it's my first time seeing you smile."

Ji Hyeok cleared his throat, "I apologize for showing such an unprofessional expression."

Ha Eun chuckled, "I'm not saying I don't like it; I'm saying you should do it more often."

"Well…you should do so as well, Madame," he said. Ha Eun didn't understand what he meant by this, "Since I met you, I have never seen you give anyone an honest smile. You should do it more often."

Ha Eun stared at him blankly, then turned her head to look out the window, "I can't. Not when I know I hurt him."

Jin Hyeok knew she was talking about Chang Wook. He also knew how much he meant to her. She's worked endlessly to try and get Chung Woo Yeon to pay for his crimes while also taking care of her family's company. All sorts of rumors flew around her that she was mean and overworked everyone, even when articles were written about her saying differently. Like many, he actually believed the rumors rather than the articles posted in professional magazines and newspapers since he had never actually talked to her until recently, but now he sees how wrong those rumors were. She cares a lot more than she leads on and has the qualities of a great leader. Mr. Oh wasn't wrong for choosing her as the President instead of one of his other two children.

Ha Eun gave Jin Hyeok the binder that she got from Mr. Oh and told him to prepare the contract. Jin Hyeok was surprised when he read all the evil things the Chung Group had done.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Jin Hyeok said as he read everything in the binder.

"I need the contract made in 2 days. Can you do it?" Ha Eun asked him. He looked over at her. With this information, rather than a contract, this was more like blackmail.

"Are you sure you want to do things like this?" he asked Ha Eun. It was true she always did things the legal way, and she always made contracts with companies that would be beneficial for both groups, but, this was the first time she did something that was solely for personal gain and revenge.

"This is the only way I can get my husband back," Ha Eun said. Jin Hyeok didn't want to ask any more questions because Ha Eun didn't seem to be in the mood to answer, so he decided to remain silent.

...

2 days later

Ha Eun was in Mr. Chung's office. She didn't want anyone to know of her plans to go to Chung Company, so she made sure that Jin Hyeok would fill her schedule with anything else and acted just as she always did. When it was time for lunch, she was driven to Chung Company, and even though she should have made an appointment, as a President herself, she has certain privileges.

She entered the office and sat on the sofa, with Jin Hyeok standing behind her. Chung Min Sik entered the office; he was sweating a bit. It seemed he ran from wherever he was as soon as he heard the news that I was waiting for him in his office.

"Ha Eun, what a pleasant surprise!" he said with a smile. Ha Eun never had any problems with him; in reality, they hardly ever talked, but she couldn't bring herself to smile or greet him properly because he not only did illegal things but was also the father of the psychopathic Woo Yeon.

"Please, sit down, Mr. President," Ha Eun said as she pointed to the sofa in front of her. Mr. Chung felt slightly offended by her lack of manners but also worried because she was practically glaring at him. He wondered if he had done anything wrong.

Ji Hyeok handed her the binder, and she threw it on the coffee table.

"You've done a lot of bad things, Mr. Chung," she told him. He took the binder, and his face turned white as a sheet when he saw all the information about what his company had done over the years.

"How did you…?"

Before he could finish his question, Ha Eun asked him, "What shall we do about this?"

"What is the meaning of this Ha Eun?!" he asked angrily, but behind that expression, he was scared, "I have never touched the Oh company and never had any intention to. Does Gyu Tae know about this?" Ha Eun nodded.

She felt sorry for Mr. Chung. It's true; he's never touched their company or planned on taking over, he has been friends with Mr. Oh for years, yet here his daughter was, threatening him and trying to take over the company he worked so hard to build.

"I'm not one for small talk, so let's get straight to business. We can do this one of two ways. You either hand over your company, or I turn this in. The police and every major news company will have a field day with all of this. You'll lose everything overnight and could face major jail time."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked her. He no longer looked angry; now, he just looked confused.

"You know what? I'll make you a deal," she said. Mr. Chung was all ears, "I'll let you keep your position as President until the day you retire; under one circumstance, you'll send Woo Yeon away to another country, and he's never allowed to come back here again."

Mr. Chung was taken aback by this. This deal she was suggesting didn't benefit him in any way. She was basically blackmailing him and doing a takeover without actually taking over.

"But Woo Yeon is my successor. Who will I give my company to when I retire?" Mr. Chung asked.

"You will also sign a contract stating that your successor will be my child, and you will hand over all your assets to them," Ha Eun said.

"You don't have a child," Mr. Chung said.

"Deal?" Ha Eun asked.

"Hey!" Mr. Chung yelled as he stood up. "You…you must be joking!" he pointed at Ha Eun. "If I do that, I'll be broke!"

"Don't worry; I'll ensure you continue living in luxury. Unlike other Presidents, I tend to keep my promises," Ha Eun smiled, but her face quickly turned serious, "But, of course, if you don't agree, you'll end up broke and in jail. I'm giving you a pretty fair deal if you ask me."

Mr. Chung sighed, wondering what the hell Woo Yeon did to her. But if he was to keep his position and social standing, he had no choice but to do as Ha Eun said. He grabbed a pen and signed the contract Ha Eun handed him.

While he was signing, Ha Eun grinned, feeling victorious.