14. Mrs Lee

At the penthouse of the hotel in America where Mrs Lee lodged.

A wine glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other, she stood in front of the big window silently watching the city lights.

"Any news from Korea?" She asked Mr Han her personal assistant when she heard him enter.

"We've received several invitations for this week, but I already notified them of your absence. Madam Ahn is also hosting her annual sorority party for the members of phoenix community.... I just thought you should know " Mr Han said.

Mrs Lee scoffed, took a drag of her cigarette and puffed, "It's been more than fifteen years since I refused to be the leader of the phoenix community, how is it that you've not moved on from that"

"I'm just giving you news from Korea, but you also haven't given a reason why you rejected the offer"

Mrs Lee laughed." You must be really curious to be asking me for a reason after fifteen years." she said sarcastically and dropped the cigarette butt on the ashtray. "Ahn Haera promotes values like good sportsmanship, righteous management, Sisterhood, Women lifting women, Friendly neighborhood, Trust, Religion and all that, but I'd betray a person in a heartbeat if it benefits my interest. I don't believe in such fickleness but her beliefs are what will benefit the women of the phoenix community. So does that answer your question"

" You trust her values but you don't believe in them, so that's why you sent Ruby to live with Madam Ahn when she was in highschool, She still thinks you didn't care about finding her when she ran away. " Mr Han said.

" Enough of that" she said. she wasn't interested in talks about her methods of child training. "How did the discussion Minho had with Ruby about the Mayoral elections go".

"Miss Ruby has chosen to support candidate three just like you predicted, seems like Miss Ruby is becoming more and more like you "

" She still has a long way to go, it would've been disappointing if she is any less. And is the meeting going well? "

" That's the problem, he's insisting on meeting with you or the chairman, He keeps saying he doesn't have anything to discuss with a child" Mr Han said.

Mrs Lee scoffed and clicked her tongue . " tsk tsk tsk, He's being too proud for someone who needs my money for his campaign"

" Should I sort it out for Miss Ruby.... "

" She shouldn't be in that position if she can't even deal with a rookie politician. Don't interfere, I'd like to see what Ruby is capable of"

" I think she's capable of a lot. Simwon corporation's headquarters is under investigation for embezzlement of funds for private use which includes political sponsoring by the prosecution, this has greatly affected candidate one and public opinions aren't exactly favourable, he'd lose more if he decides to remain in the race. Candidate two is already off the grid, his corruption as chief of Prosecution has being exposed, he covered up cases and accepted bribes. All these are happening thanks to an anonymous tip off from Miss Ruby" Mr Han said.

" That's a very careless move she has made, let's make sure she doesn't get swallowed up by vengeful politicians, you know what I mean right? "

"I understand Ma'am. One more thing, Jang Yohan has invited you to dinner this weekend again, He's showing a lot of interest".

Mrs Lee smirked," Of course he is, not when I have what he wants. Should I go or not"

" I think you should meet him this time, that's why you came to America anyway" Mr Han said.

"He doesn't know that, well I'll just meet up with him since I have nothing else to do anyway". She said and refilled her wine glass and took a sip. "This wine just gets better with every sip, but I'm not getting drunk. Do we have something stronger? "

" No ma'am, that's the last bottle" Mr Han said and immediately regretted lying, Mrs Lee would obviously see through his lies.

Mrs Lee laughed hysterically, " Mr Han"

" Yes Chairwoman" Mr Han responded with a bow.

" Why did you leave my father to come work for me after I got married"

" I didn't want to work for your brother" Mr Han said.

Mrs Lee sighed." Alright goodnight I'm tired now" She said and turned back to face the window.

Mr Han understood that he was no longer needed, bowed and left.

"My brother, I haven't heard about him in a while" She said to herself.

She had worked her ass off to prove that she would make a better leader for her father's company than her brother, there in the company she met Mr Han who was faithful to her father, but harboured feelings for her. Finally, on that horrible day her father betrayed her by marrying her off and putting her younger brother in charge of all she had worked hard for leaving her with hurtful words like, "As a woman, you should just settle down and love the family you will create, leave the men to worry about the business". Those words remained her motivation to prove her father wrong and to her surprise, her husband was against the idea of keeping women at home instead he believed that everyone should contribute in any way to make ends meet. To top it all, he employed Mr Han as her assistant and gave her a position as a director, this pushed her motivation harder and to exact revenge she slowly started buying all of her father's subsidiary companies, until her mother came to beg her.

"I'm going to kill myself if my own daughter ends up killing her father and making her own brother and herself orphans" her mother had said.

"He didn't consider the consequences when he married me off, but I'm sure he didn't expect the husband he handpicked for me to give me so much power, I'm not going to stop until he understands that there is no difference between a girl and a boy"

" Do you think your father does not know that you make a better leader than your brother?, but his pride will not let him give in to the demands of his daughter. You know I always blamed myself for being so soft and letting your brother take after me and you after your father, but what can I do when things have already turned out this way. your father's health is slowly deteriorating but he won't let himself get treated because he can't handle the fact that the daughter he abandoned is slowly crushing him, so please stop here" she said and pleaded on her knees.

Putting her mother in consideration she left her father's companies alone and never made any contacts with them, except for her husband who occasionally invited them or sent the kids to their home during weekends or holidays.