A Genius Speaks with Money

Chapter 78

Siren sounds filled the house.

With urgent footsteps, the police burst into the living room.

“Do not move!”

“Put your hands up right now, I said put your hands up!”

Nam Jae-heon was still groaning while clutching his right wrist, and the dog barked and fled inside.

The hem of his blood-stained shirt looked hideous.

Choi Dong-ryeol was half-collapsed on the sofa, swaying and groaning in pain.

His face was swollen, the area around his eyes was bruised blue, and his lips were bleeding from burst capillaries.

His eyes had already lost focus as well.

“Save… please save me. I feel like I am going to die.”The police officers surrounded Nam Jae-heon as if to subdue him.

“I am arresting you as a criminal caught in the act. If you have any objections, make a statement later.”

Nam Jae-heon laughed hollowly.

He looked around the living room with bloodshot red eyes and muttered.

“Ha! This is all…. This is all…. because of that bastard.”

The secretary regained his senses and tried to handle the situation, but this was clear to anyone who saw it.

A police officer grabbed Nam Jae-heon’s arm and twisted it back.

With a click sound, handcuffs were fastened to his wrists.

The air in the living room sank heavily.

Choi Dong-ryeol’s wife, who opened her eyes late, saw the state of her collapsed husband and started screaming again.

That sound echoed throughout the entire house and spread sharply.

After a moment, Nam Jae-heon was led by the police past the entrance door and dragged outside.

Already at the villa entrance, the lights of the police cars blinked noisily.

Neighbors living nearby came out in groups of three or five and watched while whispering.

“Is that person not the president of Daehan Group?”

“Is he really being arrested?”

As gazes toward Nam Jae-heon poured in like stabs, he lowered his head.

When the rear seat door of the police car closed, Nam Jae-heon only then came to his senses.

About what he had done after losing his reason.

He raised his head and looked out the window, staring blankly at the scenery.

At one time, he thought he could control the world with his own hands….

Now, the world felt like an unfamiliar prison.

‘It is truly the end now.’

A bitter smile leaked from his mouth.

However, within that smile, anger and a desire for revenge were seething and still wriggling.

The news that President Nam Jae-heon was arrested as a criminal caught in the act for assault charges dominated the news in the Republic of Korea.

[Nam Jae-heon, President of Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Arrested for Assaulting Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol at His Residence]

[The Fall of a Third-Generation Chaebol. Internal Cracks in Daehan Group Begin in Earnest]

[Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol, Left in a Battered State, Currently Hospitalized]

[Even Choi Dong-ryeol’s Wife Fainted. A Violent Incident That Even Tore Down a Family]

Breaking news was repeated, and anchors from each broadcasting station delivered the shocking violent incident with heavy expressions.

SNS and portal site comment sections seethed with anger.

└ Since the person who is the president is in that state, the company is in that shape.

└ Choi Dong-ryeol did not do anything right either, but do you beat a person like that.

└ I heard the wife also fainted? Is that a human?

└ Send him to prison. You should not go easy on things like this.

Because of this incident, the entire Daehan Group was shaking.

Even Chairman Nam Kun-ho remained silent without being able to issue a personal statement.

The media repeatedly broadcasted the term owner risk.

***

A few days passed, and in a VIP ward of a large hospital in Seoul.

Various parts of Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol’s face, as he lay on the bed, were still bruised blue, and the area under his eyes was full of red marks from burst capillaries.

An IV was stuck in his arm, and bandages were stuck all over his forehead.

A nurse came in and spoke to him.

“Is there anywhere uncomfortable, patient?”

Choi Dong-ryeol barely shook his head in silence.

It was also uncomfortable to speak because his mouth was burst.

Moreover, he did not even have the strength to answer.

At that time, the ward door opened quietly.

The nurse’s gaze turned toward the door.

There, a white-haired man dressed in a stylish suit entered while quietly bowing his head.

The nurse bowed her head slightly and left the ward.

“My goodness…. What is this state.”

It was Lim Man-cheol, the chairman of Taeseong Heavy Industries and the younger brother of Chairman Lim Man-seok.

He walked with large strides, stared at Choi Dong-ryeol’s condition, and frowned.

After that, he sat in the chair next to the hospital bed and let out a long sigh.

“Tsk tsk. He made a person unusable. What kind of temperament is that? He is less like a bastard than a dog.”

Words barely came out of Choi Dong-ryeol’s mouth.

His expression was hard to read, but his gaze was full of gratitude.

“Thank… you for coming, Chairman.”

It was a mumbling sound, but it was not to the point where one could not distinguish the meaning.

Lim Man-cheol carefully grabbed Choi Dong-ryeol’s uninjured arm with one hand.

“When you suffer in such a state. How could I just watch? I heard even your wife fainted that night? Good grief.”

At those words, the corners of Choi Dong-ryeol’s eyes gradually turned red.

Lim Man-cheol glanced and observed his expression.

“I am sorry. I also did not know such a thing would happen.”

Choi Dong-ryeol wore a bitter smile.

“That son of a bitch originally had such a disposition. I should have stepped away sooner….”

At those words, Lim Man-cheol’s eyes flashed.

It was the words he had been waiting for.

Thinking this was the moment, Lim Man-cheol grabbed his hand and said.

“The whole country is seething with anger right now. What fault do you have? That guy is just a crazy person.”

“…….”

The hyena that captured the opportunity aimed for the gap and dug in.

“The truly bad one is that bastard who made you in this state.”

Lim Man-cheol spoke while bringing his body close to Choi Dong-ryeol.

“Come find me when you recover. I will help you.”

In those words, as if he were a savior, Choi Dong-ryeol repeatedly said the same thing toward Chairman Lim Man-cheol.

“Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Chairman.”

Already, Choi Dong-ryeol seemed to have completely fallen for Chairman Lim Man-cheol’s whispers.

Only then, having achieved his goal, he slowly stood up from his seat and spoke.

“I will send someone soon. Tell that person about anything that is difficult.”

Lim Man-cheol tapped the back of Choi Dong-ryeol’s hand a couple of times for a moment and then slowly left the ward.

Behind the sound of the ward door closing, Choi Dong-ryeol felt relieved and quietly closed his eyes.

A single line of tears flowed down from his eyes.

In fact, Choi Dong-ryeol had lived while trembling in anxiety all this time.

Daehan Group had been pressuring Choi Dong-ryeol and trying to pin everything on him.

Unless he was a fool, there was no way he would not know that.

However, no matter what he did, an exit did not appear, so he only stomped his feet in frustration.

He felt as if he had finally seen the light now that a savior appeared.

A few days passed since then, and Choi Dong-ryeol, who was sitting up leaning against the bed, still did not have the courage to face the mirror.

A swollen and bruised face, eyes with burst capillaries, and the corners of a mouth with stitches remaining.

He was still recovering, and the psychological scars remained deeper than the physical pain.

There was someone who came to visit him.

“Vice President Choi, I am Lawyer Baek Yu-jin. Would you like to have a brief interview regarding the mandate?”

The woman who opened the door and entered had her long straight hair tied back and possessed a fierce gaze and a sharp impression.

Moreover, her stiff way of speaking gave the feeling of a robot that had no emotions.

She handed a business card to Choi Dong-ryeol.

[Baek Yu-jin - Legal Advisor for HJ Partners]

Choi Dong-ryeol received the business card, and his face stiffened on the spot.

“HJ Partners?”

He stood up completely as if startled and moved his bruised lips.

“No, the person Chairman Lim Man-cheol said he would send…. is from HJ Partners? What on earth does this mean!”

He urgently looked for his cell phone and made a call to Chairman Lim Man-cheol.

“Chairman, you said you would send someone, but it is HJ Partners! How could you do this!”

His voice was heavily cracked and agitated.

Moreover, anger welled up, and he made the call impulsively without thinking.

However, the voice heard from the cell phone was sly and leisurely as always.

“Ho ho. Why are you so hasty? Anyone I send is my person. Are you in a position to choose someone right now?”

Choi Dong-ryeol was speechless.

“That… that is true, but still, how can you send someone from the HJ Partners side?”

“You. It seems you do not know who that woman is. Among the people I know, her skill is the best. If it is not such a person, no one can stop the current work.”

The words that followed hit Choi Dong-ryeol’s bone.

“Think cool-headedly. Are you even in a situation to afford lawyer fees right now? If not me, who will help you? Surely you are not thinking that Chairman Nam Kun-ho will help you, are you?”

In an instant, Choi Dong-ryeol’s lips trembled.

Chairman Lim Man-cheol’s words also made sense.

No, not a single part was wrong.

He ended the call and looked at the lawyer with a displeased expression.

Baek Yu-jin was looking at him with her gaze turned downward while standing.

In her cold gaze, not a single bit of mercy could be found.

“Now, make a decision. You just need to appoint me. And a lawyer cannot disclose a client's secrets. Because that is illegal.”

Choi Dong-ryeol wore an uncomfortable expression and asked toward Lawyer Baek Yu-jin.

“Can you really help me?”

“Rest assured and reveal everything. Then I will defend you. You just need to trust me entirely.”

From the confident tone, Choi Dong-ryeol felt a sense of relief for some reason.

He kept a quiet silence for a while, but the calculator in his head was running quickly.

Meanwhile, Baek Yu-jin waited without a hint of agitation, then picked up her bag that she had set down and moved her steps without a word.

Choi Dong-ryeol called out to stop her urgently.

“Where are you going!”

Lawyer Baek Yu-jin looked back and spat out a word.

“Why should I defend you when you do not trust me? I am a busy person.”

She turned her body again and walked toward the entrance, but the anxious Choi Dong-ryeol tried to catch her and fell from the bed.

Even when a thud was heard, Baek Yu-jin opened the door without minding it.

“Wa, wait… hey! When did I say I would not do it!”

At that sound, Lawyer Baek Yu-jin’s steps, as she was about to leave the ward, stopped.

Turning her body again and walking to the side of the man who was struggling unsightly on the floor, she said.

“Then will you contract with me?”

Choi Dong-ryeol answered while nodding his head diligently.

“I, I will. I will do it, the contract.”

The sweat formed on his forehead flowed down.

He roughly wiped it with the back of his hand and got up with Baek Yu-jin’s help.

Sitting on the bed again, Choi Dong-ryeol only opened his mouth after taking several breaths.

“…If I tell you everything, will you help me?”

“If it is the truth, I will help you. Because that is my job.”

Baek Yu-jin’s tone was as firm as her personality.

Such coldness rather reassured Choi Dong-ryeol’s heart.

He finally opened his mouth.

“It was since the Iraq construction business. In fact, even before that, I received reports to manipulate by omitting data. I also manipulated audit data, and as for the funds of overseas corporations… I laundered them several times.”

From the moment he started speaking, it poured out smoothly like a collapsed dam.

Choi Dong-ryeol was relentless.

He spoke in detail about the wrongdoings committed by President Nam Jae-heon all this time.

Baek Yu-jin never interrupted Choi Dong-ryeol’s words while listening to that.

Once a mouth that has been opened is braked, it closes again.

She did not intervene with a single word and merely listened while organizing it in her laptop quietly.

That appearance was like a machine without a hint of emotion.

Before long, having finished all the stories, Choi Dong-ryeol leaned back and let out a long breath as if exhausted.

Only then did Lawyer Baek Yu-jin close the laptop and stand up from her seat.

Choi Dong-ryeol asked her for water as if his throat were dry.

Lawyer Baek Yu-jin spoke while putting the laptop into her bag.

“I am a lawyer, not your secretary.”