I suspect there is some overthinking involved and that maybe this drama spends a lot of time chasing it’s own tail because it doesn’t really know any of it’s characters like it should. She isn’t some mastermind with a big scheme but only another cold CEO that exists to remind characters to fulfill their place in their little society. I don’t think she cared enough whether they were actual friends and she thought their inability to escape would always take them to this place, which should have happened 3 eps faster.

I’m not sure she thinks she has any control over whether they remain in the same orbit — she’s been trying to exert some influence over her granddaughter for quite a while now (or so it seems) and yet she largely seems to have been unsuccessful in that goal. As for what she wants to accomplish, I think part of it is definitely has something to do with getting Jung-kyung involved in the company. There also seems to be some unrevealed history between Jung-kyung’s mother and her grandmother. However, at the risk of sounding too idealistic, I think she might a simpler character than we think. That is, I think she might just be trying to meddle in a positive way. I think she really does care about Joon-young, for instance, although I think she dislikes the idea of him ending up with her granddaughter (although not because of some odd concern about status — I think she just views Joon-young’s personality as incompatible with her granddaughter’s, as illustrated by her concerns about Joon-young’s indecisiveness).