THE BITCH CEO (Im Nayeon)

28

NAYEON'S POV (Part 1)

"It's now or never." I mumbled, taking a deep breath as I stepped out of my office.

I had woken up early, determined to prepare for today.

My morning started with reviewing the details of the project, going through every document and email like my life depended on it.

Breakfast? There wasn't time for that—just a single cup of coffee, bitter and lukewarm, to hold me over.

Three hours.

That's how long I spent reading and reviewing every document the secretary had delivered to my office yesterday.

I didn't want to spend another minute at the DeBourbon, enduring her endless questions.
This time, I'd be the one explaining the project and the plans.

No more unnecessary inquiries.

I would talk, and she must listen.

I wanted this over as quickly as possible.

Last night, I confronted Dad.

I was furious, so angry that I ended up sobbing uncontrollably in front of him.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, my emotions spilling over like a dam breaking.

And him? He just sat there, calm as ever, like a king on his throne, watching his daughter fall apart.

When I had nothing left to say, he stood up and embraced me.

That was all it took—I melted into his arms, my anger dissolving like sugar in water.

He never yells. He never gets mad at me. And that's why I can't hate him, even when I wanted to.

The only thing he said, his explanation for everything, was that he wanted me to get accustomed to working with Hans DeBourbon as my business partner.

It didn't make sense. It wasn't the answer I needed—or wanted.

But what's the point of dwelling on it now?

Here I was, already stepping into the driveway outside the IMC building, ready to be driven to what felt like hell.

I didn't even know where the DeBourbon building was here in SK.

Let the driver figure it out.

"Are the documents ready?" I asked my secretary, who was seated in the passenger seat next to the driver.

"Yes, CEO Im. They're in the compartment," she replied, nodding confidently.

I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes.

Planning major projects and flying across the world to meet with clients? 

That was second nature to me.

But delivering the documents to someone I had avoided was far more challenging than I had anticipated.

I hadn't even managed a decent night's sleep.

My thoughts had been halfway across the globe, somewhere over South Korea, replaying yesterday's events.

That kiss.

It had haunted me through the night and into today.

We'd done far more than just kiss before, but still, I wasn't used to it, not anymore.

For heaven's sake, our last kiss was two years ago.

Yet every time I thought about it, chills raced down my spine.