The sounds of heels gradually rose in the ears of the people sitting in the meeting room.
The door opened.
A beautiful young woman with long legs and a hot body walked in wearing a light black dress.
Her black hair fell on her shoulders.
Her exquisite facial feature gave a sense of cold and graceful temperament.
She was twenty-three years old.
The daughter of the man sitting on the chairman's seat.
An old man who couldn't keep his proud eyes from leaving her.
He smiled warmly as he welcomed her into the meeting.
She walked in with papers in her hand in front of the stakeholders and directors.
She faced the chairman.
And with a direct and soft presentation, she began the meeting regarding ideas that may be the new focus of the company from here on out as they will enter the french market.
Which is new to them, and of course a big step for the company.
The woman came up with brilliant ideas that left the watchers in awe.
This amount of work and research she put in front of them was worthy of them blindly following her plans.
And this was done by a young woman with no more than two years of experience in the company.
It was obvious in the amount of effort she put in that the opportunity given by the chairman wasn't wasted.
The chairman turned to look at his eldest son and his other daughter who were sitting a few seats away with a sigh.
They clutched their teeth quietly.
The meeting concluded after a few hours.
The research done by the young beauty was ideas with a minimal amount of raw data that could serve as a basis for the company to place it under a new project.
Now it needed more data before fully investing in it.
The chairman concluded the meeting by giving Ari, the young woman, the project for the expansion towards the french market with the new product.
Soo family was a company that stood at the tenth rank in Korea.
And the product which Ari was in charge of was named Haneul-ui Ramyon. A quick meal that should be affordable by the masses at convenience stores.
She had to come up with a new recipe as the last one the company tried failed in its first attempt.
The reason for that is the unfamiliarity with korean spices and the first product being too spicy for the french market to truly enjoy even with the help from a french company.
The chairman left first accompanied by Ari, leaving the others to discuss and his two other children staring awkwardly.
Ari was the youngest, the daughter of his second wife, but he was very proud of her even if not so much of her mother.
He married her to get help from her family.
But who knew they would turn their claws at him?
He was glad Ari didn't turn out like that nor like her other two siblings, who only knew how to enjoy the luxuries of their positions and money.
She was the only one who also truly cared for him and took care of him.
And right now they both walked toward his office alongside his two bodyguards.
She helped him up to his chair.
"Ah, what would I do without you," said the chairman with a heavy sigh.
"Hehe," she giggled. the cold and confident posture disappeared.
Now she was but his little daughter.
She then brought him a cup of water from the bodyguards before closing the door on them.
She watched him with a warm smile.
"My dear, when will you ease this old man's heart and take bodyguards with you?"
"Dad..." her smile disappeared.
"I know you don't like the idea of having men following you but, I am worried about your safety. How about just two, or just one, huh?"
He has been trying to persuade her for a few days now.
What could make a chairman of a company scared for the safety of his daughter?
The company was ranked tenth in Korea.
It wasn't merely a food company.
From a series of restaurants, stores, and many more. All were under the name of Soo.
In this world, companies were passed as family heritage.
That was why the companies had family names attached to them.
The name alone showed off the strength and power of the entire family or its members.
The bigger the company the harder the downfall if they get swallowed by another.
How can that happen you ask?
Anything!
The bigger the company the darker its tyranny was.
There exist even families with control and armies far stronger than a nation's.
Their tyranny was never properly displayed to the public eye. But the populace still knew not to mess with them.
As long as they followed the general rules and kept it all under the dark the nations did nothing, for these families were the biggest economical revenue for them, even if some were true mafias and gangsters.
The chairman knew and lived through many kidnappings and murder attempts back in his day.
Even if it was sometimes from his own family.
Or from his second wife, Ari's mother, whose family now seems set on taking over his company.
But that didn't stop the chairman, Soo Jin, from thriving and loving his daughter and treating her like one, even giving her such opportunities as she didn't side with them.
But he was still afraid of his wife's schemes, her family and his which were ruthless, and the many other competitors.
He truly regretted marrying into Ari's family. Back then he needed masters to guard him against the attempts.
And that was Ari's family.
A family of martial artists.
Now they wish to swallow his business.
Still, he got a beautiful daughter now.
It was enough even if the whole world turned against him.
Ari still doesn't truly know of the effect martial masters have in this world. There were many hidden things from the commoners.
And it can be said that families and nations across the world monopolized these strong people to work under them and even worked on bringing them up.
And the prestige of martial families only kept growing stronger.
They were even the true weapons of nations since nuclear bombings were banned.
Humans that brought their bodies to the extreme.
Specialized in warfare.
Ari still hasn't seen much of the supernatural humans that live around her but she knew of their existence.
Her mother was one of them after all.
The matriarch of her family.
And who was to say that even her siblings wouldn't be the ones to dispose of her or her father?
They both knew of their intentions.
And it has long been known how much they coveted the seat.
Ari could only give in at the end.
If it could put her father at ease she would do anything.
And with the extension of the new product who was to say she won't run into worse families in another foreign country? That is, if she was safe enough in this one.
"Alright, dad. Then just one. Just a competent one," she said with a sigh.
The chairman smiled happily and opened his arms for his daughter to jump in shyly.
"I just want you to be safe. There are many bad things in the world that I don't wish for you to experience."
"I know dad. I know. I will do whatever you ask." She hugged him warmly with a gentle smile.
"Alright, you go on and focus on the project with the french family. I shall make it so that you can have your bodyguard with you before your leave this afternoon."
"No, I want to meet them first."
"What do you mean?"
"I also want to take part in choosing him."
"Or you trying to take this opportunity to find a handsome fella, hmm?"
Ari turned red and punched her dad lightly. "Dad!"
"I mean if he is going to be around you all the time he has got to be a bit good-looking hmm?"
Ari's ears also turned red and she couldn't punch anymore.
She froze in place.
He started laughing until he coughed.
"Ha, you will kill your dad."
She jumped and started patting his back worriedly.
"Ha, you will kill me," he was still laughing.
"Stop laughing and drink dad," she said pouting as she put the water in front of him.
This fun side of the chairman was only shown to his close friend and his beautiful daughter.
A lonely man who had been abandoned by his family.
The true Soo family, the mammoth that was ranked tenth. Soo Jin was abandoned with only little of the family power being the third and youngest son. But even that, was far beyond what commoners could dream of.
And the person he considers a true brother was his best friend who was his bodyguard back then.
"Alright alright, then make time in a few. I will call your uncle to finalize the recruitment notice. I hope he brings one of his disciples among the recruits."
Ari looked at her father suspiciously. It seemed like he already made preparations with his best friend for her to get a bodyguard, he only had to persuade her.
She smiled, her father had put a lot of thought into this.
"Well, It has been a while since I saw uncle too."