Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 440

442

As soon as Angela was rescued, Bart and the counter-terrorism team agents left immediately. Local police and firefighters, who were contacted and arrived at the scene, began to clean up the construction site, which had become a mess due to the battle, and preserve evidence. Angela was immediately taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance.

Although she was not injured, she needed a health check-up as she had been detained in captivity for several days.

Inside a hospital room, Beom-seok, under the guise of being her guardian, watched Angela, who was lying comfortably. He kept his mouth firmly shut, unsure how to handle the situation. If he revealed the truth that Theresa was the cause of this incident, he had no evidence. But if he lied, Angela could be in danger again.

At that moment, Angela looked at Beom-seok with affectionate eyes.

“Beom-seok, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I would have died.”

He didn’t know how many times he had heard this. Even good things can become annoying if you hear them repeatedly. However, he still looked at her with a kind expression.

‘This will definitely bring Angela’s faction’s votes to him,’ he thought. And there was also the matter of maintaining her favorability. Angela’s favorability had increased sharply due to this incident, but it was still slightly short of the maximum.

“Hahaha. It’s nothing. I couldn’t turn a blind eye when Madam Angela was in danger. I just did what was natural, so don’t worry too much about it.”

Angela smiled lightly and nodded. She was so grateful for his thoughtfulness. She took Beom-seok’s hand and thanked him again.

“No, really, thank you for today. If you need anything, please tell me. I’ll do anything for you.”

“Hmm. Then I have one request. Please support Avondale in the upcoming World Cup finals host city selection process. I’ll be satisfied with just that.”

Angela readily agreed. She could easily grant that much of a favor. She had already hinted to Vice President Lewis that she would support the Arkan region, but she had not made a definite promise to the competing region, Avondale. This was because she had expected Beom-seok might ask.

“Of course. I should definitely grant it.”

“Thank you. I’m relieved, thanks to you. We were falling far behind Arkan.”

Angela stared at Beom-seok with wide eyes. She had expected Avondale to fall behind significantly, but she didn’t realize he was worried about securing the support of her faction.

“Didn’t Theresa agree to support you? She should know about the relationship between me and Beom-seok.”

“Hehe. She did agree to support me.”

“But?”

“There’s a bit of a story I can’t tell.”

“What kind of story is it that you’re trying to hide from me?”

Beom-seok scratched his head. He was still debating whether to tell the truth.

If he spoke without evidence, he could be the one who gets hurt. From what he had gathered, Angela was wary of Theresa, but rumors said they had a very good relationship.

If the latter was true, then what he was about to say could be seen as an impure attempt to drive a wedge between a mother and daughter. Still, there was no guarantee that such an incident would not happen again, so it seemed better to speak up.

“Sigh~ Then I’ll tell you. Doesn’t Madam Angela find it strange that I’m here?”

“What? You love me, so of course you came to save me.”

‘Hey! You idiot! Is that all you can think of!’ Beom-seok thought to himself.

Beom-seok shook his head and answered with a serious expression.

“That’s not it. I mean, aren’t you curious how I knew you were kidnapped here? Not many people, even within the police, know about this operation.”

Angela nodded as if she finally understood. Now that she thought about it, it was strange.

“Yes, now that you mention it, it is. How did you know I was being held here?”

“That’s because I was the first to realize that Madam Angela had been kidnapped. And I was the one who reported it to the police.”

Angela slightly raised her upper body as if surprised.

“How?”

“I noticed it while talking to Theresa during the first round of voting for the World Cup finals host city selection.”

“With Theresa?”

“Yes. Didn’t I tell you before that there was a Black Society [criminal organization] spy among the Youth Business Federation members?”

“Yes, you did.”

“At the time, I didn’t have any evidence, so I didn’t specifically point anyone out, but I had an idea of who the culprit was.”

Angela jumped up from her seat.

“Don’t tell me that Theresa is a Black Society spy! And the one who kidnapped me?”

“Yes. Julian, the leader of the Dark Hyenas, and I think so. But I can’t say for sure because there’s no evidence.”

Angela frowned and trembled.

“I’ve been so lenient with her, and she’s finally caused such a situation… !”

“Did you know?”

“Isn’t it obvious whether I knew or not! She must have been after my wealth. I can’t forgive her!”

Beom-seok glanced sideways at her extreme reaction. Even though she was her daughter, it seemed strange that Angela was so easily swayed by others.

“Um, well, I told you there’s no evidence…”

“What do I need evidence for! The fact that you came here is enough. And while we’re on the subject, do you know how much she looks down on me and treats me like an idiot! And now she tried to kill me, I can’t stand it anymore!”

“But, but she’s your daughter, isn’t she? Please calm down, as I might be mistaken. Now is the time to calmly assess the situation.”

Now Beom-seok was defending Theresa. He was flustered by her extreme behavior.

There was nothing to gain from accusing Theresa of being the culprit without evidence. The reason Beom-seok had just told the truth was only to warn her, not to actively target Theresa.

She was a woman who hid herself so meticulously that rushing in recklessly would lead to a big loss.

Suddenly, Angela’s murderous gaze was fixed on the innocent hospital room ceiling.

“She’s not my daughter anymore.”

Beom-seok pounded his chest as if he was frustrated. She was so stubborn that he couldn’t reason with her. Anyway, having people like this around always made things that could be easily resolved face difficulties.

“Ah. Well, unless there’s evidence, I can’t just kick her out.”

“Really. She’s not my daughter.”

Beom-seok stared at him, unable to blink, as if he was taken aback.

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“I mean Theresa is not my biological daughter.”

And Angela began to tell her story.

In the past, she had wanted a child with exceptional talent, so she had obtained the genetic material of an individual from the Black Society who was said to gather only geniuses. This child’s name was Theresa. Although she was busy and didn’t give birth to her naturally, Angela was very satisfied with her black hair and bright eyes.

The talent she showed as she grew up year after year was astonishing. She surpassed geniuses from all over the world and received free modification surgery due to her academic performance, so it was needless to say.

However, Angela only thought she was amazing and never truly loved Theresa. This was because of an incident that happened when she was 13 years old.

“Ah. What happened then?”

“I received a call from the hospital where I had gone to give birth to Theresa.”

“What did they say?”

“13 years ago. They said that the babies had been switched due to a mistake at the hospital. Originally, her father had realized that the genetic information of his hospitalized child was completely different from his own and reported it to the police, and only then did the hospital begin to investigate the situation.”

“So?”

Upon hearing this news, Angela also secretly took Theresa’s hair and checked her genetic information after much deliberation. It was to confirm whether she was really her daughter. And as a result, it was confirmed that Theresa was definitely not her blood. The genetic information was completely different.

“So, I secretly investigated the man who was said to be her father and the child who was expected to be my daughter, and I became convinced that the children had been switched.”

“Then why is Theresa acting as Madam Angela’s daughter? Is it because of the 13 years of attachment?”

Angela glanced at Beom-seok. In fact, she had taken this action for a reason other than the 13 years of attachment.

Her biological daughter was so much like her that her grades were at the bottom. She had introduced Theresa to her acquaintances, boasting that she was originally a smart person, but if the truth were revealed, there would be no greater disgrace. So, Angela brought her biological daughter, whom the father had given a large sum of money, and adopted her as an adopted daughter, and closed her eyes and kept Theresa as her biological daughter.

“Th, that’s why I’ve raised her until now. But now that this has happened, I have to reveal the truth and kick her out right away.”

Beom-seok looked at Angela with a pathetic look. He had known that she had a naive side, but he didn’t know that she was so thoughtless. He couldn’t understand how she could make her biological daughter an adopted daughter for the sake of her reputation and regard Theresa, who was not even related to her, as her biological daughter.

But it was still necessary to keep Theresa as her biological daughter. If Angela kicked her out, he would never be able to catch that vixen’s tail. She would surely sense something and try to hide her identity thoroughly.

“That won’t do.”

“Why?”

“It’s been almost three years since I found out that Theresa is a spy, and I still haven’t been able to catch her tail. Even though I’ve mobilized all my intelligence.

If Madam Angela kicks her out like this, there may be no way to punish her. So, I think it’s best to keep an eye on Theresa’s actions while being careful.”

“But I can make Theresa pay the price. Don’t worry about that.”

Beom-seok shook his head. Theresa was not as foolish as the obtuse Angela.

Moreover, she even had the ability to know the future, albeit for only an hour. She would notice strange signs before problems arose and take corresponding measures, so she was not easy to deal with. Also, considering her age, she must have accumulated a considerable amount of wealth, which was also not insignificant.

If she had used her ability to know the future to day trade, she would have accumulated a lot of money by now.

“No. Theresa is not that easy to deal with. It’s obvious that she’s accumulated a huge amount of wealth, but that money is not being detected by our intelligence network. That means she’s a very cautious child, and if we rush in recklessly, we could get hurt badly.”

“Re, really?”

“So, don’t say anything else and just stay put. If Madam moves rashly, it could end up releasing Theresa into the open. I can handle Theresa’s affairs, so trust me and leave it to me.”

Angela had no choice but to listen to Beom-seok. He had the intelligence to rescue her from being kidnapped without anyone knowing, and he was being so careful, so she couldn’t act rashly.

“Th, then what should I do?”

“Use your illness as an excuse to stay in the hospital for a while. And contact MR Security to replace your bodyguards. And increase the number significantly.”

“Replace my bodyguards?”

“Yes. It’s possible that your current bodyguards have been bought off by Theresa. Our MR Security has a lot of trustworthy bodyguards.”

Angela seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. She thought it would be better to do so. She really didn’t want to experience this again.

“Yes. I understand. Then I’ll trust you and do that.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Beom-seok put Angela back in bed. It was still time for her to rest, but he was worried that he had said things that disturbed her too much. But Angela was relieved by this. Now she would always be careful of Theresa and increase the number of bodyguards, so the possibility of something like today happening again would be significantly reduced.

He stood up and said again.

“Madam Angela. Then I’ll be on my way. I’m worried about the second round of voting for the World Cup finals host city selection tomorrow. Everyone will probably be worried because I disappeared in the middle.”

“Ah. That’s right. Go in quickly.”

“Yes. Then I’m sorry, but I’ll excuse myself.”

Then Angela called out to Beom-seok, who was about to leave, with a urgent expression.

“Beom-seok. Please wait a moment.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Have you ever been to Richard’s faction?”

“No. Why?”

“They also decided to support the Arkan region this time, but maybe you can persuade them.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In fact, Richard’s faction had previously asked me for help closely. And at the time, I cooperated with that matter and agreed to receive support for an agenda later. If you mention my name, they will definitely support you.”

Beom-seok smiled brightly at those words. Richard’s faction also had a total of 3 votes. If he could persuade them, the probability of winning would increase that much. And if Avondale was selected as the host city for the finals, a whopping 600 million Krang [currency] of sponsorship would come in.

“Would you be okay with that?”

“Of course. You saved my life, so can’t I repay you this much? Please don’t feel burdened and accept it.”

“Yes. I understand. Then I won’t refuse and I’ll receive your help.”

After saying this, Beom-seok hurriedly left the hospital room. Since another person was going to persuade Richard’s faction, he needed to quickly get an assignment from the Bidding Committee. If he was persuaded by other people, 600 million Krang would disappear.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

The strong winds are still blowing, but the wind has subsided a lot. It seems like the typhoon is receding. But what I felt coming home in the evening was that Korean housewives are really amazing. In the middle of the typhoon, they came out with baskets and swept up the fallen ginkgo nuts on the floor. Hahaha.

Then everyone have a nice day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.