novelraw Chapter 123: The Truth of the Rumor (6)
Chapter 123: The Truth of the Rumor (6)
Lim Do-hyun placed the documents, which were overflowing with corruption even with a rough glance, on the desk.
Then, looking at Managing Director Lee Tae-jun, he spoke.
“It is more than I expected, beyond my expectations.”
Lee Tae-jun asked as if he had been waiting.
“What are you going to do now?”
Lim Do-hyun was silent for a moment with his arms crossed.
After organizing his thoughts, he opened his mouth.
“I will hold an executive meeting soon. I shall set it off at that spot.”
“In the meeting room?”
“Yes. If I let it leak beforehand, Nuna might be able to prepare a countermeasure. But if it is right before the meeting, there won't even be time to refute. A beast driven into a corner has no choice but to struggle.”Lee Tae-jun’s face brightened even more as he burst into a mocking laugh.
“Haha, I see. As you said, President, that is how it should be done. She always acted all clean and said she only followed principles, but behind the scenes, she was filling her pockets just the same. Tsk tsk.”
He shook his head and let out a laugh mixed with ridicule.
“I am telling you, they put on a kind face and then siphon things off so meticulously like this behind our backs.”
Lim Do-hyun’s eyes flashed coldly.
“Now, Hye-seon Nuna is finished. I must firmly nail it down in this meeting. With the materials Director Lee prepared, no one will be able to deny it.”
Lee Tae-jun spoke with a confident expression.
“Yes, President. Everyone in the meeting room won't even be able to open their mouths. I feel so refreshed.”
***
Taeseong Group grand conference room.
All the executives were sitting around the long table.
Amidst the heavy and tense air, President Lim Hye-seon opened her mouth first.
“What kind of things President Lim Do-hyun has been up to. I will reveal everything in this spot today.”
The inside of the meeting room stirred.
The executives' gazes all shifted to President Lim Do-hyun, who was sitting on the opposite side.
However, Lim Do-hyun, the person in question, did not even budge.
Rather, the corners of his mouth rose crookedly, and he even burst into a snort.
“Haha. This is just absurd, really.”
He slowly leaned his body against the chair back and crossed his arms.
Then, he looked straight at Lim Hye-seon and wore a relaxed expression.
“Saying you will reveal it with your own mouth, you are truly brave. But President Lim Hye-seon, isn't the one who actually needs to reveal things on your side?”
Lim Hye-seon asked.
“What does that mean? Do not denounce a person with words that have no basis.”
Lim Do-hyun mockingly tapped the table with his finger in a relaxed manner.
“Denounce? I merely told the facts as they are. If you have properly seen the fund flow of Taeseong Department Store’s overseas subsidiary, the answer has already come out, has it not?”
A buzz began to break out among the executives.
“Overseas subsidiary funds?”
“Could it be that it was true then?”
“What on earth does this mean?”
Lim Hye-seon raised her voice even more clearly as if trying not to be shaken.
“I have operated the business fairly while putting Taeseong’s name on the line. Although there may be shortcomings, I have never committed corruption. I said in this spot today that I would reveal President Lim Do-hyun’s ugly inner side, but….”
Lim Do-hyun coldly cut her off.
“Ugly inner side?!”
He shouted while looking around the conference room.
“Executives, there will be much to see today. If you knew what our President Lim Hye-seon, who has only been babbling about principles all this time, has actually been doing.”
As Lim Do-hyun made a gesture, Managing Director Lee Tae-jun, who was sitting next to him, stood up from his seat as if he had been waiting.
Then, he delivered the materials he held to the executive board.
Lim Do-hyun narrowed his eyes and slowly glared at Lim Hye-seon.
“Now, I am truly looking forward to what you will say even after seeing this. I shall give you plenty of opportunities to make excuses.”
A smile certain of victory spread across his mouth.
One by one, the executives began to look at the materials handed over by Managing Director Lee Tae-jun.
Only the sound of rustling paper being flipped echoed throughout the meeting room.
In the coldly settled air, someone let out a low exclamation.
“I did receive this before coming into the meeting….”
“There is an instance where the same amount went out every quarter and then came back in.”
“What is this company here?”
The whispering of the executives only grew larger and larger.
Lim Hye-seon’s expression gradually hardened.
She caught her breath and raised her voice resolutely.
“Wait a moment, executives! How does the material you are seeing now appear?”
The meeting room momentarily became quiet at her shout.
However, Lim Do-hyun spoke with a sharp laugh.
“How does it appear? How else could it appear? It would be different if you made a plausible excuse. Is it not just full of corruption!”
He pressed down on the documents placed on the table with his finger.
“Now, look. Look at this remittance history. The same amount was repeatedly deposited into this account multiple times at one-month intervals. How can this be called a normal management activity?”
Complaints poured out along with exclamations among the executives.
“This makes no sense.”
“Anyone can see it was intentional.”
“How on earth are you managing the company?”
Lim Hye-seon spoke while trying to maintain her composure.
“Please do not have hasty misunderstandings.”
At that, Lim Do-hyun raised his voice even more.
“Misunderstandings? The evidence is already piled up like a mountain like this, so what misunderstanding are you talking about? There are copies of contracts here that even include the headquarters' board of directors' approval phrase and the signatures of executives.”
He held the documents up high and looked around the meeting room.
“Everyone, does this look like a simple error? In my view, it is an intentional concealment.”
Lim Do-hyun’s sharp gaze aimed directly at Lim Hye-seon.
The meeting room became so quiet that even the sound of breathing was cautious.
The heavy silence heightened the tension even further.
Lim Hye-seon maintained a calm appearance all the more and did not avoid his gaze until the end.
Lim Do-hyun made a final cynical smile and slowly threw out words.
“President Lim Hye-seon, now step down from that position!”
At that time, I, Hyunjun, who had been sitting quietly and just watching, raised my hand.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to me at the same time.
In the air frozen with tension, my voice echoed out.
“But it is a bit strange. President Lim Do-hyun, how on earth did you obtain this important material?”
The inside of the meeting room stirred.
Everyone knew well that such internal materials could not be obtained recklessly.
Lim Do-hyun slightly tilted his head back as if he had momentarily lost his words.
Managing Director Lee Tae-jun was at a loss with a flustered expression.
I continued to press while wearing a smile.
“Setting aside the fund flow, you have all these contracts and internal documents of the overseas subsidiary. These are materials that can absolutely never fall into one's hands through normal routes.”
My voice grew higher and higher.
“Executives, isn't it a bit strange? How President Lim Do-hyun got these materials into his hands. What was that process like? I wonder if he obtained them through fair procedures. Or if it was another illegal intervention.”
The gazes that were pressing Lim Hye-seon just a moment ago began to shift toward Lim Do-hyun this time.
Lim Do-hyun’s expression hardened at once.
He tried to force a smile, but tension was clearly evident.
He raised his voice and pushed me.
It was to the point where thin wrinkles on his forehead deepened.
“Do not cloud the point! Where does a young punk dare to blabber his mouth!”
“President Lim Do-hyun!”
This time, Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung, who had been quiet, shouted.
A person I had never seen raising his voice stood up with his hands on the desk.
With a cold gaze, he glared at Lim Do-hyun.
“Watch your words! No matter how young Representative Lim Hyunjun is, this is a public spot.”
Lim Do-kyung continued speaking while suppressing his surging anger.
“Representative Lim Hyunjun’s words also have a point. The reason we are all gathered in this spot is to verify the truth. Doesn't that include how these materials came out openly here?”
He turned his head and looked at the executives.
“These are things that are no different from company secrets. As you all know, if this is the truth, President Lim Hye-seon can also be handled according to formal procedures. However, if he raised suspicions by pushing things that are not even certain without even going through formal procedures, this also means there is a clear possibility of a procedural violation.”
In fact, no one could object to the words Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung said.
Lim Do-kyung leaned his body forward and looked at Lim Do-hyun.
“President Lim Do-hyun, answer. How did you get those materials in your hands? Is it correct that you were properly reported to and obtained them? Or did you siphon them off illegally?”
Lim Do-hyun bit his lip and could not spit out a single word.
As the tips of his fingers trembled, he lowered them under the table as if to hide them.
His expression, which had only been mockingly laughing comfortably until now, disappeared without a trace.
Instead, his face color was dyed ashen.
When only silence was circulating, anxious gazes were exchanged in the quiet meeting room.
“I shall give that answer instead.”
It was not Lim Do-hyun who broke the silence.
It was the same for Lim Hye-seon, who had been waiting for only this moment.
In her voice as she spat out words calmly, a power that no one could ignore was felt.
She slowly stood up from her seat and placed both hands on the table.
“The reason President Lim Do-hyun cannot answer is simple. Because they are not materials obtained through fair procedures.”
The gazes of the executives sitting in the meeting room all headed toward President Lim Hye-seon.
She continued speaking without being shaken.
“Those materials shown to you, their very source was obtained illegally. Furthermore, unfortunately, the materials are fabricated.”
A stir spread among the executives.
“Fabricated?!”
“Is that true?”
“Is there a basis for it being fabricated?”
Just then, the meeting room door opened and Senior Managing Director Jeong Seong-pil and Manager Bae Jeong-su entered inside.
A firm determination was set on the faces of the two people.
Senior Managing Director Jeong Seong-pil stepped forward and spoke.
“I shall prove that fact.”
The meeting room momentarily became quiet.
He played a recording file brought by Manager Bae Jeong-su.
The voice flowing out through the speaker was familiar.
[Manager Bae, touch up the Taeseong Department Store data a bit. Organize the fund flow of the overseas subsidiary and come back. And do not just do it as it appears. Touch it up well… you know what I mean, right?]
The executives who were in the meeting room inhaled at the same time.
The owner of the voice was none other than Managing Director Lee Tae-jun.
Managing Director Lee Tae-jun’s face turned white, and he was almost at the point of fainting.
Instantly, the meeting room became a shambles.
“What kind of act is this!”
“President Lim Do-hyun, try to make some kind of excuse!”
“Is there anyone here who doesn't know that Managing Director Lee Tae-jun is President Lim Do-hyun’s closest aide?!”
Senior Managing Director Jeong Seong-pil raised his voice.
“As you all have heard, there is no longer any room for doubt that these materials were fabricated. Manager Bae Jeong-su reported this fact directly to me, and I have just confirmed that evidence before you all.”
Lim Hye-seon delivered the final blow as if driving in a wedge.
“Now everything has become clear. President Lim Do-hyun is a person who acts as if he is for the company, but in fact, he will do anything to pull me down. Can you entrust Taeseong to such a person?!”
Lim Do-hyun could only move his lips slightly without being able to say anything.