Chapter 804: The Manager’s Betrayal

Having spent his life managing Minister Yoon’s assets, he’d never experienced such a coercive atmosphere.

Both this man’s grandfather and father had been servants of Minister Yoon’s household.

Though the class system was abolished after the Joseon era and the Japanese colonial period, what could a Yangban who had lived as a servant do after leaving that household?

For them, leaving the side of Minister Yoon’s family, who were among the most prominent landowners in Gyeongsangbuk-do, wouldn’t have been welcome.

“You’re Chairman Jo Pan-deuk, right?”

At the mention of his name, Chairman Jo flinched. He seemed to instinctively grasp who was in charge of the situation.

What could possibly be the reason that he, who had been the Yoon family’s warehouse keeper for generations, would change his mind?

“Why on earth did you try to run? The director told me she would provide you with enough support to live comfortably even after liquidating the real estate.”

……

“Well, I guess human greed is such that even if you have a hundred things in hand, you’ll still feel cheated if you lose one… but that was never yours to begin with, was it?”

Perhaps, while managing the real estate in Gangnam, Chairman Jo had come to mistakenly believe it all belonged to him.

When Minister Yoon was at the center of power, he bought land under Chairman Jo’s name to avoid scrutiny. After retiring from politics, he missed the chance to transfer the titles because of the financial and real-name property systems implemented by the President who ended the military regime.

That’s how Chairman Jo ended up managing the real estate for longer than expected.

Even after Minister Yoon passed away from old age, Yoon Hyun-joo never asked to transfer the titles.

“If you have a mouth, say something. Do you know how shocked Director Yoon Hyun-joo was because of you? Aren’t you even sorry?”

Despite the harsh criticism, he kept his mouth shut. I needed to take a stronger approach.

“Manager Ma, please have the director come in.”

After Manager Ma left, I crossed my arms and looked down at him as if he were trash.

“This old man is Chairman Jo, who pays the most real estate tax in Gangnam?”

Nodding, Yoon Jae-ha said with a surprised expression.

“He doesn’t look like it at all. I’ve met so many rich people, but he doesn’t look like someone with a lot of greed.”

As Yoon Jae-ha said, the people who visited Yun & Jang were wealthy, mostly people who didn’t hide their desires.

Chairman Jo was completely different from the people Yoon Jae-ha, the heir to a law firm who dealt with such people, had seen.

“That’s probably why she didn’t suspect him.”

If he had spent money lavishly or boasted about his enormous wealth, the media or someone else would have shined a light on him.

However, he paid his taxes diligently without tax evasion or even tax reduction. He showed no signs of being someone who draws attention.

If people were to take a closer look, the origin of his wealth might have been exposed.

That’s why I couldn’t understand it even more. If he had been carelessly spending money, his greed would have been understandable.

Why would someone who had lived a life of restraint for decades make such a choice?

At that moment, Manager Ma, who had gone to bring Yoon Hyun-joo, entered with her.

She stood behind Manager Ma, silently staring at Chairman Jo.

Yoon Hyun-joo’s face, as she looked at the kneeling Chairman Jo, was etched with complicated emotions.

Chairman Jo, turning his head toward the sound of the door opening, seemed to see her face as well.

“Ah, Young Miss.”

Meeting Yoon Hyun-joo’s eyes, Chairman Jo crawled toward her like a dog.

“Young Miss. It’s all a misunderstanding. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but how could I ever betray you? It’s all a set-up.”

The sight of the old Chairman Jo groveling before Yoon Hyun-joo, who was just entering middle age, wasn’t pleasant.

“Uncle, why did you do this?”

However, Chairman Jo’s desperate excuses didn’t work on Yoon Hyun-joo.

Yoon Hyun-joo spoke casually to Chairman Jo, who was much older than her.

“A misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding could there be when you’re headed to Incheon Airport with the seal and certificate I asked you to bring?”

I could sense the hidden blade in her calm reaction.

I raised an eyebrow at her resolute demeanor, so different from when she first came to my office.

‘Unexpectedly, Chairman Jo’s betrayal might be a good thing for Yoon Hyun-joo.’

Before she learned of Chairman Jo’s betrayal, Yoon Hyun-joo had been indecisive and weak.

She said she would take over the management rights from her husband but refused to divorce him. She also sided with her cheating husband asking for him to be spared from jail time.

But that Yoon Hyun-joo seemed to have vanished.

Looking at her now, staring at Chairman Jo with a venomous gaze, it was clear that she had changed.

“Uncle, tell me. Why did you do it? I told you we would support you so that you could live comfortably even after liquidating the real estate in Gangnam. And you know very well that the assets held under other names aren’t only in Gangnam. There’s still land in Seoul and other parts of the metropolitan area. I told you I trusted you… why? Why are you doing this to me?”

Yoon Hyun-joo, who had been speaking calmly, eventually raised her voice in resentment.

Chairman Jo seemed bewildered and flustered at her outburst.

“Ah, Young Miss.”

Chairman Jo had watched Yoon Hyun-joo grow up and Yoon Hyun-joo had seen Chairman Jo as a trustworthy adult since she was a child.

They knew each other very well after all that time.

And during that long time, Chairman Jo had never seen Yoon Hyun-joo raise her voice at him even once.

“Jo Pan-deuk! Answer my question! Why?”

Yoon Hyun-joo’s tone grew increasingly fierce. She shook off Chairman Jo’s hands that were gripping her leg.

“Speak! Tell me!”

Chairman Jo didn’t answer, only staring blankly at Yoon Hyun-joo.

“You have nothing to say? Can’t you even say you’re sorry? Instead of making that pathetic excuse about a misunderstanding, just apologize!”

Yoon Hyun-joo shouted sharply. If I left her like this, she’d probably collapse.

I calmed down the agitated Yoon Hyun-joo.

“Director, take a deep breath first. You seem too worked up. Let’s talk more calmly while sitting down.”

Yoon Hyun-joo, panting for breath, took a deep breath and then nodded with difficulty.

“Thank you… if it weren’t for you Boss Kim, I would have been fooled like a fool and suffered.”

Yoon Hyun-joo thanked me with a weakened voice.

Yoon Jae-ha and I supported the staggering her to the sofa.

“Manager, drag him over here.”

Manager Ma dragged over the dazed Chairman Jo. He was completely out of it, not reacting even as he was being roughly pulled.

“Chairman Jo, there’s no point in talking any further. It’s obvious to anyone that you were caught trying to flee overseas with your owner’s assets. There’s no use denying it any longer. Now is your chance. The chance to beg for forgiveness from the director and tell the truth.”

Chairman Jo ignored my suggestion and just stared at Yoon Hyun-joo.

“It’d be easier if he just said he was sorry. But those guilty bastards never do. They never even know what they did wrong.”

I chuckled at Yoon Jae-ha’s mutterings and then asked Yoon Hyun-joo.

“Director, if you want, I can use force to make him talk. Would you like that?”

At my question, Yoon Hyun-joo, who had been looking at Chairman Jo, and Chairman Jo, who had been looking at her, both turned to look at me.

“The staff here are experts. Give us 30 minutes and we can make anyone talk. We can even make them confess to things they didn’t do. If you wish, Director, we will do just that.”

Yoon Hyun-joo hesitated, as if she was contemplating it. When she didn’t say no, Chairman Jo spoke up in a hurry.

“I, I was going to Incheon Airport to see my family. Don’t you know? My children are all living in the U.S. I was just going to see them for a bit and come back. It wasn’t some sudden thing. It was a plan I had made a long time ago…”

“Ha… Jo Pan-deuk, do I still look like a child to you? Do I look that stupid to you! Is that what you call an excuse?”

Birds of a feather flock together.

My time was too valuable to be watching such a ridiculous farce.

“If the director is unsure, I’ll do it my way. Manager Ma, find out everything Chairman Jo was thinking.”

At my instruction, Manager Ma called the subordinates guarding the door.

As the subordinates approached, Chairman Jo’s face turned pale.

As he was being dragged away with his arms held by the subordinates, Chairman Jo desperately called out to Yoon Hyun-joo.

“Young Miss! Young Miss! I was wrong about everything! Please save me! Young Miss!”

“Boss, let’s try to talk first…”

Surprisingly, that desperate cry worked on Yoon Hyun-joo.

I was going crazy. If she was going to be tough, she should be tough. If she was going to be lenient, she should be lenient.

She was someone I couldn’t understand at all. I eventually gave up trying to understand her.

I sighed, pressing my hand against my forehead.

“Manager, bring him back.”

At Manager Ma’s signal, the subordinates who had been dragging Chairman Jo threw him down in the same spot.

Before Chairman Jo could recover, I gave him a warning.

“Chairman Jo, this is your last chance because the director asked me to. If you say one more lie, you’ll be talking to those guys, not me. Do you understand?”

Chairman Jo swallowed hard and nodded frantically.

“Hand over the seal, certificate of seal impression and the documents you got from the bank.”

At that, the subordinates who had brought Chairman Jo handed over the related documents to Manager Ma.

I gave what Manager Ma handed over to Yoon Jae-ha.

“Check if there are any problems with the contract documents.”

“Got it.”

While Yoon Jae-ha was reviewing the documents, I began to talk with him again.

“Chairman Jo, now you will only tell the truth to my questions. If I think there is even a little bit of a lie mixed in… well, you can imagine what happens next.”

“Y-Yes, I understand.”

“No, I’m telling you not to just answer to try and get through the situation. I know more about you than you think, Chairman Jo. Think about why I was able to bring you here and answer.”

I questioned him in place of Yoon Hyun-joo.

“Where were you planning to run away with those documents?”

“…I was going to the U.S.”

The answer came immediately. As expected, you need to instill some fear in people to make them talk.

“The U.S.? Did you think we couldn’t catch you if you ran to the U.S.?”

“I was going to meet my family and go somewhere else.”

It was true that Chairman Jo’s children were all living in the U.S.

“What’s the reason you tried to run?”

……

There was no answer.

He hadn’t fully come to his senses yet. I raised an eyebrow and one of the subordinates grabbed the back of his neck.

Chairman Jo gasped in terror.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, answer my question right away. Why did you try to run?”

“Ah, I felt that it was unfair to only receive the money that the Young Miss had promised…”

Yoon Hyun-joo’s brow furrowed. She exploded in anger before Chairman Jo could even finish his sentence.

“What? Are you saying that now?”

I interrupted her and continued with my questions.

“Even if you run overseas you can’t immediately sell all the real estate. Who is it? Who is the person who encouraged you from the side, Chairman Jo? Who said they would help you sell or buy the real estate?”

“There’s no one like that.”

An immediate reply. However, it was strange that he gave an immediate reply.

People like to share the blame for their wrongdoings. It was an instinct to look for someone to pass the blame to.

But if he were to answer right away without thinking that, then there was clearly something there.

“You are still pulling tricks even after I gave you a chance. Did you think I wouldn’t know? I told you to only tell the truth, and do you know how many people are monitoring you for this?”

I clicked my tongue and exaggeratedly shook my head.

In reality, I don’t know anything. This was a bluff.

But it was starting to get annoying, doing this when there was an easier method.

“Let’s go easy. Who is it? The person behind you. It’s a question I’m asking because I want to hear it from your own mouth.”

Chairman Jo, who had been shifting his eyes, met Yoon Hyun-joo’s gaze.

Yoon Hyun-joo, who was already in shock, was looking at Chairman Jo with horrified eyes.

She probably wished it had been Chairman Jo’s own decision.

The person who had just popped up in Yoon Hyun-joo’s mind was probably the person who had instigated Chairman Jo.

After hesitating for a long time, Chairman Jo finally opened his mouth.

“It was your husband…”

Unable to listen any longer, Yoon Hyun-joo jumped up from her seat.

Approaching Chairman Jo, she raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

Slap!

The resounding slap echoed in the office.

Tears streamed down Yoon Hyun-joo’s face as she struck Chairman Jo.

As expected, the person who instigated Chairman Jo was Choi Woo-sik.