You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 99

You Have Been Defended – Episode 99

The discussion with the opposing counsel at Taekwang didn’t last long.

I simply asked them to wait until I secured evidence proving Jung Young-joon’s innocence. Frustrated, they tried to persuade me why a negotiated divorce was necessary.

From the start, I had no intention of listening to them, so I brushed them off.

The meeting ended after I said, ‘If the divorce is so urgent, file a lawsuit.’

At those words, the opposing counsel stormed out of the room, visibly agitated.

Probably, after we left Taekwang’s office, they complained to Yoon Won-hyung about how unreasonable I was.

On our way back, we called Jung Young-joon.

It was to quickly confirm the owner of the ring I had encountered.

Jung Young-joon said the house was empty, suggesting we talk there. We went straight to his place.

“Wearing glasses, wavy hair around shoulder length, a high-pitched voice, and this tall… What else did you say?”

“A large mole near the mouth.”

Upon hearing about the mole, Jung Young-joon immediately said, without hesitation, “It’s Secretary Jin-ah. Joo Min-ji, the secretary.”

But the answer was unexpected.

Go Jin-ah’s secretary?

The woman who was Jo Hyun-seok’s lover and present when the video was taken wasn’t Go Sang-kyung’s subordinate, but Go Jin-ah’s?

“You mean Go Jin-ah’s secretary? Not Chairman Go Sang-kyung’s secretary?”

“Yes, it’s Secretary Jin-ah. But why suddenly Secretary Joo…”

Jung Young-joon asked, looking anxious.

I didn’t answer immediately.

If Joo Min-ji was Go Jin-ah’s secretary, there were more scenarios to consider.

And all of them were extremely bad.

“I… I remembered because you asked if she was the chairman’s secretary. Originally, she was in the chairman’s secretariat. But two years ago, Jin-ah’s personal secretary resigned, and they were looking for a replacement. The chairman said she was capable and sent Secretary Joo to Jin-ah. I heard she was under the chairman for about six years…”

Jung Young-joon added hastily.

I could tell from Kang Min-jae’s distorted expression that he believed Joo Min-ji had to be connected to Go Sang-kyung.

I looked at Jung Young-joon, who kept watching my reaction, and asked, “Chairman Go Sang-kyung said Secretary Joo was a capable person?”

“Yes. I was at the meeting where he introduced Secretary Joo to Jin-ah. I’m sure.”

“Then, after Secretary Joo started working as Go Jin-ah’s personal secretary, what was their relationship like?”

“Um, at first, Jin-ah didn’t really like Secretary Joo. Jin-ah thought the chairman had assigned Secretary Joo to monitor her. So, she intentionally excluded her from work.”

“Why did Go Jin-ah think that way?”

“Secretary Joo was once caught reporting Jin-ah’s every move to the chairman. Jin-ah was very displeased. One day, she ran to the chairman’s study, saying she would settle things with him. I remember she came back a few hours later and said she had resolved it well somehow.”

“And after that, Secretary Joo continued to assist Go Jin-ah?”

“Yes. But even after that, Jin-ah often referred to Secretary Joo as the chairman’s mole.”

Today’s meeting was scheduled to be between lawyers only, excluding the parties involved.

So, Go Jin-ah and Jung Young-joon didn’t come to Taekwang.

The reason Joo Min-ji was there was probably because Go Jin-ah sent her to quickly check the situation and report back.

If Go Jin-ah’s personal secretary, who should be by her side all day, came to Taekwang alone, it meant she had permission.

But at that time, the person Joo Min-ji was reporting to was Go Sang-kyung, not Go Jin-ah.

“Kang, Attorney.”

“Yes?”

“After I left to wash my hands, when did the opposing counsel arrive in the conference room?”

“Not long after you left, maybe about 2 minutes?”

The time I ran into Joo Min-ji after leaving the conference room was probably around then.

At that time, Joo Min-ji called the other party ‘Chairman’ and said, ‘We are now entering discussions.’

If we roughly match the time, it means that what I heard was a call made right after the legal team departed for the conference room.

She reported to Go Sang-kyung before Go Jin-ah.

‘It means she is closer to Go Sang-kyung’s subordinate than Go Jin-ah’s.’

Assuming the worst-case scenario, Go Jin-ah might have instructed Joo Min-ji to film Jung Young-joon’s sex video.

But right now, it seems more reasonable to assume that it was done under Go Sang-kyung’s instructions rather than Go Jin-ah’s.

If Go Jin-ah simply wanted a divorce, there was no need to escalate things this far.

The reason Jung Young-joon is refusing the divorce is largely because he wants to clear up Go Jin-ah’s misunderstanding.

If Go Jin-ah sincerely wanted a divorce, he would have likely granted it without clinging on for long.

“Attorney Kang, is Secretary Joo involved in the case?”

Jung Young-joon, unable to bear the silence, asked.

“Yes, but it’s not a situation where we can draw a definite conclusion yet. I’ll contact you immediately if something becomes clear or if a new issue arises.”

The only concrete evidence I have right now is two things.

That the videographers were Jo Hyun-seok and Joo Min-ji.

And that Joo Min-ji is Chairman Go Sang-kyung’s person.

But that’s still not enough.

Because I can’t prove that Joo Min-ji received a mission from Go Sang-kyung to frame Jung Young-joon.

Of course, if I met Joo Min-ji and used my ability [presumably a supernatural or unique skill], my personal curiosity would disappear.

But what I need now is evidence.

If Jo Hyun-seok and Joo Min-ji falsely testify that they had been enjoying such sex parties with Jung Young-joon from before, everything will be useless.

Jung Young-joon would just become a man who played around with his wife’s secretary.

I need to find evidence that Joo Min-ji received orders from Go Sang-kyung.

The fastest way to find that evidence is…

“Search and seizure.”

“Yes?”

Kang Min-jae, who had been quietly concentrating on driving, turned his head towards me.

“We need to search and seize Joo Min-ji’s belongings.”

“…We’re not the prosecution; how can we do a search and seizure?”

“The prosecution exists.”

I found Lee Ye-jin’s phone number and called.

The phone rang for a long time.

-This is Lee Ye-jin’s phone.

It was Chief Oh who answered.

“Chief, this is Cha Joo-han.”

-Yes, Attorney. I was going to let it go since the prosecutor is away, but I answered because it was your call. What’s going on?

“I’d like to see you and your senior right now.”

-Right now? Is it urgent?

“It’s urgent for me, but it’ll probably be even more urgent for both of you.”

-…Is it about Jo Hyun-seok?

“Yes.”

-It seems you’ve found something out.

Chief Oh’s voice sounded a bit excited.

-Um… The prosecutor is in the middle of an interrogation right now. I’ll pass on your message for now.

“If she’s in an important interrogation, it’s not a matter of life and death, so please tell her to meet after she finishes her schedule.”

-Okay. I’ll contact you again.

Joo Min-ji probably doesn’t suspect she’s being suspected at all.

If there’s evidence left, it’ll still be there tomorrow.

If she was going to destroy the evidence, she should have done it a long time ago.

There’s no need to rush since meeting Lee Ye-jin right now won’t immediately lead to a search and seizure.

“So, your idea is to share the fact that Jo Hyun-seok’s lover is Go Jin-ah’s secretary with Lee Ye-jin, and then publicize that Jo Hyun-seok is also connected to the Yangjin Group? And that’s why you’re doing a search and seizure.”

I nodded.

“But will a search warrant for Joo Min-ji be issued?”

“The public opinion about Jo Hyun-seok is very bad right now, and the search of his house didn’t yield anything significant. But it was recently reported in the news that he bragged about his money when he appeared at the prosecutor’s office.”

“That’s right, wasn’t it?”

“According to the article the day before yesterday, Jo Hyun-seok, now a convicted criminal, is leisurely buying luxury goods, which has caused public outrage. Also, it was revealed that the prosecution had investigated his known lover as a witness, but there were no results. So, there’s a lot of criticism about the prosecution’s investigative capabilities.”

“I saw it. Lee Ye-jin is really sly. She gave us good information and only told us what was decided to be released. Annoying.”

That’s true.

Not long after Lee Ye-jin and I had a conversation at my house, all the information she gave us was released to the media.

She didn’t give us any information that was only circulating internally.

But we quickly obtained information that Jo Hyun-seok was trying to give his lover a luxury bag, so it wasn’t too disappointing.

In this situation, where we’ve already found Jo Hyun-seok’s lover through the ring, I don’t know if that information will be used meaningfully.

“Anyway, the prosecution thinks that the college student they called as a witness is Jo Hyun-seok’s real lover.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I’m going to tell them that the lover was a smokescreen.”

“Ah. So, there must be a reason why he had to hide his lover, even by putting up a smokescreen, so it becomes very suspicious.”

“That’s right. But the hidden lover happens to be a subordinate of the Yangjin Group’s owner family. It smells fishy. They can start an internal investigation. Even if a search warrant doesn’t come out, they can make her voluntarily submit her phone or hard drive. But the prosecution is getting a lot of flak right now, so I think they’ll somehow get a search warrant.”

In 2011, the laws regarding search and seizure were partially revised.

It was limited to cases where there were circumstances that the suspect had committed a crime and it could be acknowledged that it was related to the case.

But now it’s 2009.

If necessary for a criminal investigation, a search and seizure can be conducted with a warrant issued by a judge.

The conditions for search and seizure are more lenient.

It means that if Lee Ye-jin persuades the judge well, she can proceed with the search and seizure.