Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 170

170. Park Jeong-hwan and Three Fatal Flaws (3)

Park Jeong-hwan slapped Han Cheong-ho across the face.

“You robbed my vault?”

Slap.

“Filmed my wife?”

Slap.

“Dared to threaten me?”

Slap.

“Behind my back?”

Slap.

“And you used that to grow Cheongil [Cheongil Group, likely a large corporation]?”

Slap.

Park Jeong-hwan loosened his tie, agitated.

“Cigarette!”

Kim Jae-guk quickly offered him a cigarette.

As he lit it, Park Jeong-hwan spotted the lighter with the Blue House emblem rolling on the floor.

It had fallen there when he overturned the table earlier.

Seeing the pair of smoking accessories his father-in-law had left him, he felt a surge of anger.

He was even more enraged after reviewing the writing he had done in front of his father-in-law for the first time in a while.

“Don’t you know that toying with my wife is the same as toying with me?”

Park Jeong-hwan kicked Han Cheong-ho with his shoe.

Han Cheong-ho gritted his teeth and endured the beating before clinging to Park Jeong-hwan’s leg.

“Your Excellency, it’s not true! Absolutely not! It’s a frame-up! Slander!”

He wouldn’t admit his wrongdoing even if he died.

Admitting it might really mean his death.

“It wasn’t me! Even if the sky splits in two, it wasn’t me!”

Han Cheong-ho glared at Tae-soo instead.

“That bastard, Kang Tae-soo, robbed Your Excellency’s secret vault! I remember now! I have a witness!”

At Han Cheong-ho’s words, Park Jeong-hwan turned to Tae-soo.

“Is that true?”

“I know nothing about it.”

Tae-soo also flatly denied it.

Han Cheong-ho had to take the fall for this; they couldn’t afford to muddy the waters.

That’s why Han Cheong-ho was clinging on like that.

Han Cheong-ho quickly shouted.

“Call Chief of Staff Cha Gi-beom as a witness!”

“Gi-beom, come in!”

How did Tae-soo pick Cha Gi-beom as a witness to how he opened the vault?

Cha Gi-beom opened the VIP room door and entered.

The usually expressionless man entered the den of vipers without a change in demeanor and closed the door.

Cha Gi-beom glanced around at the chaotic scene.

Han Cheong-ho, prostrate before Park Jeong-hwan.

Park Jeong-hwan, disheveled with his tie undone, unlike his usual self.

Kim Jae-guk, standing next to Park Jeong-hwan, glaring at Han Cheong-ho as if he were a bug.

And Tae-soo, sitting casually in a chair with his legs crossed.

“Hmm?”

A silver lighter rolling on the floor caught his eye.

That object with the Blue House emblem emblazoned on it.

Wasn’t that the lighter Cha Gi-beom had carried around for years, using it to light the President’s cigarettes from time to time?

And now it was rolling carelessly on the floor.

Cha Gi-beom frowned slightly and said.

“Kang Tae-soo, your lighter management is terrible.”

“I returned it earlier.”

“Returned?”

Cha Gi-beom looked at Park Jeong-hwan.

Park Jeong-hwan was shaking off the leg Han Cheong-ho was clinging to.

Cha Gi-beom righted the table and picked up the lighter and cigarette case that had fallen on the floor, placing them back on the table.

Looking at the scattered photos on the floor, he understood how things were unfolding.

‘It seems the First Lady’s matter has been caught.’

Han Cheong-ho quickly said.

“Chief Cha, please answer. What did Kang Tae-soo hand you that day? What did he give you when he asked you to introduce him to His Excellency?”

All eyes were on Cha Gi-beom.

Han Cheong-ho had no one to trust but Cha Gi-beom.

“Didn’t you say that Kang Tae-soo, whose bank loans were all blocked, gave it to Chief Cha to plead with His Excellency? That if he handed this over, His Excellency would meet him!”

Park Jeong-hwan took a drag from his cigarette and shouted.

“Cha Gi-beom, answer truthfully! I won’t forgive you either if there are any lies!”

Cha Gi-beom guessed why Park Jeong-hwan was angry.

‘It was nothing to do with me anyway.’

So there was nothing to fear.

Cha Gi-beom replied bluntly.

“Kang Tae-soo handed over a single document regarding the 7th Mining Zone that day.”

Han Cheong-ho was overjoyed.

“See? I was right. Isn’t that the document that was in His Excellency’s secret vault?”

Indeed, the Japan-Korea agreement regarding the 7th Mining Zone was in the Japanese secret vault.

Park Jeong-hwan had been furious when he received a portion of the document from the Saudi Minister of Defense.

It was because he thought his flaws might have been exposed to the international community.

Tae-soo interrupted him.

“It’s a portion of the document that was handed to the Saudi Minister of Defense.”

“Your Excellency, did you see that? Kang Tae-soo admitted it. What could be more accurate as evidence that he robbed the vault?”

“Your Excellency, do you remember the document the Saudi Minister of Defense sent? After seeing that document, Your Excellency sent Han Cheong-ho to Japan. And Han Cheong-ho reported that there was nothing wrong with the vault.”

Han Cheong-ho had silenced the First Lady and made that report.

‘Looking back, that was a mistake. I should have told His Excellency the truth and taken responsibility for it…’

Han Cheong-ho shook his head.

‘If I had, he would have held me heavily responsible at the time. With Park Jeong-hwan’s temper, Cheongil would have been destroyed, and I would be rotting in jail.’

Even thinking about it again, he would have made the same choice.

Because he was Han Cheong-ho.

‘It was an unavoidable choice. I know too much about Park Jeong-hwan’s flaws, and I don’t have the ability to withstand his anger.’

All of this was because of Kang Tae-soo.

“Your Excellency, I gave Chief Cha a copied version of a portion of the report on the 7th Mining Zone that day. It was the next page of the document the Saudi Minister of Defense sent.”

What nonsense is this?

“A copy? Copied?”

Han Cheong-ho was hearing such words for the first time.

Because Park Jeong-hwan and Cha Gi-beom hadn’t told him properly.

Han Cheong-ho had been solving everything by jumping to conclusions.

Tae-soo asked Cha Gi-beom.

“Of course, you had the handwriting analyzed, right?”

Park Jeong-hwan answered.

“Of course. I ordered it.”

“Then it’s even easier to explain. Of course, it wouldn’t have been my handwriting.”

“Yes.”

Cha Gi-beom continued to answer.

“It was determined to be the handwriting of Secretary Song, the deceased head secretary of the Cheongil Group.”

“Th, that can’t be…!”

This couldn’t be happening.

“I wasn’t told that! Clearly, Kang Tae-soo about the 7th Mining Zone…!”

“Do I have to report even that to you?”

Cha Gi-beom glared coldly.

And he continued to speak to Park Jeong-hwan.

“Also, I received a partially damaged film from Kang Tae-soo.”

“Film? Are you talking about that?”

Kim Jae-guk pointed to the photos and film ash scattered on the floor.

It was the residue that Han Cheong-ho had burned thoroughly at the Geumsan Hotel to destroy the evidence.

Cha Gi-beom shook his head.

“No, it was damaged, but it was in much better condition.”

Tae-soo asked quietly.

“Did you develop the photos?”

“Yes.”

Han Cheong-ho held his breath at Cha Gi-beom’s words.

‘The damaged film that Cha Gi-beom received isn’t this?’

The situation was subtly different.

If Han Cheong-ho had checked it himself, he would have realized the problem immediately.

The problem started there.

It was also why Tae-soo was confident that Park Jeong-hwan would feel suspicious if Tae-soo received the item through Cha Gi-beom.

Tae-soo continued.

“The film was damaged, but it shouldn’t have been so damaged that you couldn’t develop the photos.”

“Yes.”

“You managed to develop it somehow, and you saw the photos, right?”

“Yes.”

Tae-soo reached into his pocket and took out a few photos.

“Is this it?”

It was the same as the developed photos.

Cha Gi-beom recognized them and nodded.

Han Cheong-ho and Park Jeong-hwan turned their heads simultaneously.

Han Cheong-ho screamed when he recognized the photos in Tae-soo’s hand.

“No!”

He tried to snatch the photos from Tae-soo’s hand, but Cha Gi-beom tripped Han Cheong-ho.

Thump, thump.

With a loud noise, Han Cheong-ho tumbled to the floor.

Park Jeong-hwan checked the photos.

“What is this?”

It wasn’t a photo of his wife.

The man shaking hands with Han Cheong-ho with a smile was someone Park Jeong-hwan knew.

It was Moon Se-gi, the attempted assassin of the President and the perpetrator of the First Lady’s assassination attempt.

Greatly angered, Park Jeong-hwan shouted thunderously.

“Han Cheong-ho!”

Han Cheong-ho’s expression was brutally distorted.

Park Jeong-hwan grabbed Han Cheong-ho by the collar.

“What business do you have meeting with an assassin!”

The third flaw related to Park Jeong-hwan was revealed.

Tae-soo resolved Park Jeong-hwan’s curiosity in one word.

“It’s because Han Cheong-ho has been plotting His Excellency’s assassination for a long time.”

The third flaw that Tae-soo had put forward for the safety of his family and himself.

The most terrifying flaw that Han Cheong-ho wanted to cover up no matter what.

It was the last flaw for which Secretary Song had only managed to obtain a single photo as proper evidence.

“Nonsense! Me meeting Moon Se-gi? It was a coincidence! What’s so wrong with that? Besides, that was more than two years ago! This is a frame-up!”

However, a single photo of Moon Se-gi and Han Cheong-ho in contact was not enough to prove the assassination plot.

It was a crude piece of evidence that had been buried like that.

It was also a flaw that Tae-soo couldn’t use immediately, and Han Cheong-ho had many loopholes to escape.

‘But I put several people behind Moon Se-gi after that and thoroughly collected evidence.’

Knowing Han Cheong-ho’s goals and methods, there was no way he wouldn’t investigate.

As a result, Tae-soo had to lie low for half a year.

Pretending to focus all his efforts on preparing for the launch of the Taeyang Group [Likely a large corporation], Tae-soo moved behind the scenes without arousing Han Cheong-ho’s suspicion.

“Cheongil Group contacted Moon Se-gi a total of five times.”

The remaining photos came out of Tae-soo’s hand in turn.

Photos of Secretary Park handing Moon Se-gi an ID and documents.

Photos of Secretary Park handing Moon Se-gi a bag of money.

Photos of Secretary Park handing Moon Se-gi something that looked like a weapon.

“This alone would have been enough to prove the connection between Cheongil Group and Moon Se-gi.”

“Secretary Park met him! I don’t know anything! How could I have known even that? What on earth was that big-headed bastard up to!”

Han Cheong-ho continued to deny it to the end.

The one who endures to the end wins.

‘The operation is starting.’

Han Cheong-ho had to endure desperately.

He would deny everything until Park Jeong-hwan died.

Everything would be resolved when Park Jeong-hwan died.

Because the dead can’t even speak.

“The Central Intelligence Agency interrogated Moon Se-gi, and the prosecution and police raided and dug up the entire assassination case! Now that Moon Se-gi has even been sentenced to death, you’re shifting all of that onto Cheongil!”

“You’re shifting it onto Secretary Park.”

Tae-soo said to Kim Jae-guk.

“What did Secretary Park say about this?”

“He confessed that Han Cheong-ho ordered everything.”

“No! It wasn’t me! Everything was done by Secretary Park! He’s shifting the blame onto me, that ungrateful bastard!”

Han Cheong-ho clung to Park Jeong-hwan’s leg again.

“It’s true! Your Excellency, please believe me! How can you drive a person into a corner like this several times without any conclusive evidence? All the while I’ve been to Your Excellency…!”

“I can’t stand to watch this anymore.”

Park Jeong-hwan turned to Kim Jae-guk.

“Drag this bastard out.”

“Yes.”

“Take him to the Central Intelligence Agency interrogation room.”

“Your Excellency! Your Excellency!”

Han Cheong-ho screamed as he was dragged away.

If he was thrown out like this, it would really be the end.

“Your Excellency, I’m innocent! Your Excellency! You can’t throw me out like this without proper evidence! All this time I’ve been to Your Excellency…!”

“Gag him and drag him away.”

Park Jeong-hwan said to Cha Gi-beom.

“Call Jeon Doo-ho!”

It was then.

The VIP room opened wide, and Jeon Doo-ho answered loudly.

It was because he had been waiting outside the door.

“Your Excellency, did you call for me?”