'I have to tell him today...'
She had intended to say that she would quit being the Simon's secretary as of today. Submitting her resignation meant ending this terrible one-sided love for Simon.
But foolishly, she couldn't reject him even at the last moment. Before she could say she was quitting, Simon had pounced on her.
Unlike Ellie, whose clothes were in disarray, Simon was in a perfect suit. Ellie looked at Simon with a completely disheveled face.
"You said you had something to say. Say it."
Simon finally asked. Ellie, barely suppressing the urge to burst into tears, continued speaking.
"Simon... if I quit... will you find another secretary?"
He frowned as if just hearing it irritated him. His pitch-black eyes looking down at her were so lofty that Ellie already felt a pang in her heart.
"I haven't thought about it. Are you planning to quit, Secretary Yeo?"
"..."
When Ellie didn't answer, Simon approached her and gently stroked her hair. His tender touch, as if dealing with a loved one, once again caused Ellie's heart to crumble.
He always played with Ellie's feelings this way. Whenever she made up her mind to leave his side, Simon would look at her with passionate eyes, as if he couldn't do without her.
When she first encountered that gaze, she thought Simon's feelings for her were love. But that was Ellie's complete misunderstanding and vain hope.
Simon does not love Ellie Yeo.
Of course, she couldn't blame him for not having feelings for her. She should have blamed herself for nurturing feelings for him despite knowing from the beginning that he was out of her reach.
Three years had passed like that. She had stayed by his side as both the secretary and sex partner of Simon, the Simon of SY Electronics, and now... she was trying to leave him.
"Don't quit. If the incentives are not enough, I'll give you more."
"That's not the issue..."
"Then what is?"
"I... I love you, Mr. Vice President..."
Simon's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected confession. Though it was just for a moment, Ellie was secretly pleased to have caught him off guard. Revealing the feelings she had kept hidden for three years seemed to have eased her heart a little.
"I believe this is sufficient reason for resignation. I'm sure you'd be uncomfortable... with a secretary harboring personal feelings for you, Mr. Vice President."
"Ellie Yeo."
Simon called Ellie's name in a low voice. Before he could gaze at her with those intense eyes again, Ellie steeled her heart.
"And... I'm getting married, Mr. Vice President."
It was time to end this hopeless love.
"I'm home."
Returning home after a grueling day, there was no one to welcome Ellie.
The house was dark. A dim light in the kitchen revealed Helen drinking whiskey on the rocks, one glass after another.
Helen Kim was Ellie's adoptive mother. She always drank like this as her deceased daughter's death anniversary approached—a sister Ellie had never known.
Ellie had tried to stop Helen many times out of concern, but each time, Helen would glare at her as if she wanted to kill her.
'How dare you try to act like a daughter! You're just a replacement for our Ellie!'
A replacement for her dead sister, Anna Yeo. There couldn't be a more perfect description for Ellie Yeo.
It was her father Kenneth Yeo's idea to adopt a new child to comfort Helen, who had stopped eating after losing her daughter. On the surface, it was to console Helen, but there was an ulterior motive.
A few days ago, Kenneth suddenly told Ellie that she had a marriage partner arranged for her long ago. Unlike the shocked Ellie, Kenneth laughed heartily.
Kenneth's grandfather, who ran a small but solid food company, was close friends with Isaac Jung, the former chairman of the Fortune Department Store Group. The two had promised to arrange a marriage between their children, and that promise had now passed down to Ellie's generation.
Originally, it was supposed to be her sister Anna Yeo's marriage. Now Ellie was taking her place.
Ellie couldn't rebel against her father's wishes. She merely responded weakly that she would do as he said. In a way, it might have been a form of rebellion against Simon.
She loved Simon desperately, but at the same time, she wanted to escape from him. She was so exhausted that she saw this marriage to someone she didn't even know as a refuge.
"Mother, please don't drink too much."
Ellie murmured softly before going up to her room and collapsing on the bed. She lay there curled up like a shrimp for a long time, not even changing her clothes.
'Congratulations on your marriage. I'll process your resignation letter by the end of this month.'
Simon's face, calmly uttering those words upon hearing about her marriage, flashed in her mind. She resented Simon's emotionless expression, as if Ellie Yeo's marriage meant nothing to him.
"Hic... sob..."
Finally, a pitiful cry escaped Ellie's lips.
She regretted ever loving Simon, but she was certain that even if she could turn back time, she would fall in love with him again.
It was an unusually long night.
***
The next day.
Simon immediately summoned Ellie to his office.
Ellie kept her head bowed like a criminal, trying to hide her face swollen from crying all night. Simon, perched on his desk, quietly looked down at her face.
"Did you cry all night?"
Ellie didn't bother to deny it. Anyone could tell she had cried herself to sleep.
Simon, who had approached Ellie, lightly flicked her soft cheek with his finger. His distinctive musk scent brushed past her nose.