Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 2

2. 1st Life as a Son-in-Law (2)

“Thank you, honey. I’ll really do better from now on. I love you.”

I muttered those insincere words, ended the call, and wore a rotten smile.

There’s no more need to do better.

Because as of today, I’m leaving that damn Shinseong Group’s Jang family.

If I go straight to Gimpo Airport and leave this country, I’ll live a lavish life as a jobless person until I die.

As I was shaking off my lingering attachment to this tiresome land, my smartphone rang.

“Hoo-.”

A sigh escaped me as I saw the caller ID. It was a call from someone among those tiresome Shinseong people whom I could never ignore.

“Yes, this is Lee Seongmin…”

[Stop being angry, Seongmin. It’s not like Suyeon’s behavior is new, is it?]

A gentle voice trying to appease me.

It was Jang Hayeon, Jang Suyeon’s older sister.

I didn’t know how she found out about what happened between us, but I had no intention of changing my mind after hearing her words.

“I’ve worked like a dog for 23 years. I turned my back on my own family, was pointed at by my mother’s side of the family, and treated my father-in-law like my own father. But all the credit went to my brothers-in-law. Don’t you know that?”

Jang Hayeon couldn’t say anything for a moment as I raised my voice, veins popping in my neck.

After I married Jang Suyeon, Jang Hogeon completely changed his attitude, which had been so affectionate, and treated me like a dog. Jang Suyeon was one thing, but Jang Hogeon’s changed attitude, whom I had followed like a father, was hell itself.

[I know. But you’ve come this far, what are you going to do?]

“It’s over now. I can’t take it anymore.”

Others might point fingers and tell me to act my age, but I was truly exhausted. Even though I was a son-in-law, an owner family member, I worked so hard that other executives were in awe, but this was all the treatment I got.

[······.]

I could hear nothing but her breathing from far away. There was no need to hesitate at this point, so I should ask about something I’ve never understood.

“Why aren’t you married yet?”

[Huh?]

“Who would think you’re fifty-two? You’re smart too, aren’t you? Why are you living with people saying you’re married to Korea Hotel?”

A beauty who wouldn’t be outshone even next to an actress, a talented woman who entered and graduated at the top of her class from Seoul University’s Business Administration department, two years ahead of me.

If it weren’t for the fact that she was Jang Hogeon’s illegitimate child, any decent family would have wanted her. But after breaking up with me, she relentlessly rejected any advances until she missed her chance to marry.

Thanks to that, she had been taking care of Korea Hotel without getting married even now that she was over fifty, and the media was spouting nonsense that she was crazy about work, that she was married to Korea Hotel.

As expected of that iron lady, the words she gave me were not the answer I wanted.

[Don’t joke around. Get some fresh air and come back quickly. Suyeon will be waiting. You know she can’t live without you, right?]

To think that she’s trying to appease me with words like that… She didn’t even raise her voice when she received the breakup notice decades ago, but I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Am I Shinseong’s hunting dog to you too? Am I Jang Suyeon’s pet?”

[Se, Seongmin…]

Since it’s come to this, I should go all the way. When else would I explode with what I’ve been suppressing for 23 years if not today? I won’t be seeing her again anyway.

I took a deep breath and said in a subdued voice.

“Do you know why I married Jang Suyeon?”

[Isn’t it because you wanted to take over Shinseong Group’s chairman’s office?]

“That’s right. I said I’d use Shinseong Group’s chairman’s office and have a bust of me made in the main building’s lobby, so I abandoned you and married Jang Suyeon. But that wasn’t the real reason.”

There was a reason I hadn’t told even Jang Hayeon, whom I had been close to like siblings since we were young until we broke up.

“To drive a stake into your heart.”

[What?]

“I hated you for telling me to throw away all my cars. You knew they were my parents’ keepsakes, didn’t you? If I were you, I wouldn’t have told you to sell the car even if I ended up in the hospital after a car accident. I would have told you to entrust it to grandfather instead, right?”

The car I inherited was a treasure that replaced my deceased parents. Even if I was hospitalized for months due to a traffic accident because of that car, you should never have told me to sell the car to someone else if you thought about the time we spent together.

After that day, a gap formed between us, and Jang Suyeon took advantage of that gap and started dating me, leading to this situation.

Either way, it’s all over. The money and power have disappeared like a mirage, and I’ve driven a stake into the heart of the woman I loved most.

Still, there was one last thing I wanted to say to her.

“It’s all over now. So don’t be pathetic and find a good man. Erase a guy like me from your memory.”

Jang Hayeon used to look at me with pity, as I was being treated coldly by Jang Hogeon and ignored by Jang Suyeon. I wondered if she had been living alone until now because of her pity and sympathy for me.

What a foolish person. If she had just gotten married, she could have resented me to her heart’s content, but because she didn’t get married and faced me in the same house every day, these words came out.

[Seongmin, I…]

“That’s enough. It’s too pathetic to start over now. Let’s stop.”

After saying that, I threw the phone away and stared blankly out the window.

Even after I hung up, the phone kept ringing as if she had more to say, but I couldn’t answer it. I, a piece of trash, had to disappear from her life so that she could be free.

“It’s all so futile, hyung [older brother/close male friend]. What’s left for me?”

Park Taejin said calmly to my lament with a sigh.

“You’re alive. Being alive is reason enough to live. It’s not over until it’s over.”

As he said, it wasn’t over yet. If I could just use my remaining wealth and this good brain to make money and stab Shinseong Group in the neck, I could do anything.

Looking at the road, a sign that read ‘Gimpo Airport’ came into view. Those four letters seemed to snap me out of my daze. But…

Bang!

A van following behind suddenly sped up and rammed into my Rolls Royce. The impact on my body was at a level that an ordinary van could never deliver, but there was no time to think about the reason.

“Kkeueueu…”

Thanks to the fact that the car was so big and sturdy and I was wearing a seatbelt, I wasn’t seriously injured, but I could only groan and barely let out a moan.

‘What about Park Taejin?’

Just as I was about to look at the driver’s seat with blurry eyes, I heard the sound of a door opening. Thinking it was a rescue, I looked to the side and saw men in black suits from head to toe.

“Keuheuhe… He’s still alive. The Madam will be pleased.”

The man who was grinning sinisterly at me pointed something black at me. What is that?

“Kkeueueu!”

With the sound of sparks flying, my consciousness gradually faded. Was freedom a bluebird to me? Damn it.

***

Slap!

“Hey! Wake up! Lee Seongmin!”

My cheek burned and I regained consciousness. At the same time, I felt a sense of restraint all over my body and had no strength. Had I been tied up with ropes and injected with anesthesia while I was unconscious?

“Eueueu…”

I moaned and opened my eyes, and I was dragged out of a darkly tinted car with Park Taejin, held by two men, one on each arm.

Looking around, it seemed like a huge logistics warehouse. After being taken out of the car, I frowned at the brightly lit lights hanging from the ceiling.

“Where is this…”

I was still not grasping the situation when a sharp voice struck my ear.

“It’s the Incheon warehouse, Lee Seongmin. You know it used to be Haedong Corporation’s warehouse, right?”

This voice… could it be?

I frantically looked around, and Jang Suyeon emerged from the dark shadows, her bodyguards behind her.

“Jang Suyeon?”

“Oh? Now you’re calling me by my name so casually?”

At Jang Suyeon’s gesture, the men surrounding Park Taejin and me began to punch and kick us.

“Argh! Argh!”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

“Ahahaha!”

The louder our screams, the more gleefully Jang Suyeon laughed.

Only after we were beaten to a pulp did Jang Suyeon signal the bodyguards to stop. The bodyguards forced us to kneel, grabbing our arms and pulling our hair back.

“I took this warehouse easily thanks to you. After you die, what should I build after tearing this down? An apartment? A building? A hotel? Ahahaha!”

I was already disoriented from the car accident and the beating, but her words ignited my anger.

The Incheon logistics warehouse was cherished by my great-grandfather and grandfather. That’s why I kept it in my name and only leased it to Shinseong Corporation at a low price, but she’s talking about selling it off piece by piece!

“Jang Suyeon…!”

Even though it was hard to open my eyes properly, swollen from the beating, I growled and shouted Jang Suyeon’s name. Jang Suyeon seemed pleased with my appearance, as she raised the corners of her mouth and looked down at me.

“Yes, it’s me, Jang Suyeon. The Jang Suyeon who used you as a hunting dog. Why didn’t you realize I was above you?”

“What?”

“I can find out anything I want easily. Traffic information, communication records… and even your true feelings.”

A chill ran down my spine. I was so careful that I even installed a location tracking prevention system used by foreign intelligence agencies on my smartphone?!

I was foolish for letting my emotions cloud my judgment and ruin things, but the word ‘true feelings’ that came out of Jang Suyeon’s mouth stabbed my heart.

Jang Suyeon saw the wavering in my eyes, raised her eyebrows, and held up her hand, palm open.

Slap!

“I paid you back twice for what happened at the restaurant. How is it?”

“You son of a…”

Even with the throbbing pain in my head, I glared at her with bloodshot eyes. Jang Suyeon put on a pitiful face and said sweetly.

“You’ve worked hard all this time. You reunited our family, filled the pockets of my brother and Minjae… and even filled the pockets of our soon-to-be-gone old man, right?”

At Jang Suyeon’s sarcastic voice, I snapped and lunged at her as if to devour her. No, I tried to lunge.

“Y-you…!”

My body, tied up and beaten, wouldn’t listen to me. Even as I gritted my teeth and glared, Jang Suyeon smirked at me.

“Do you know why I married you? I married you to use you as our family’s hunting dog. Yongjae Oppa [term for older brother used by females] told me that your weakness was cars, which made it even easier. Isn’t that right, Oppa?”

At the word ‘Oppa,’ both Park Taejin’s and my gaze turned to the back where Jang Suyeon was looking.

“Unnecessary chatter.”

A tall silhouette slowly emerged from the darkness as Jang Suyeon turned her head to speak. The owner of that silhouette was Jang Suyeon’s older brother and the hidden true culprit behind the Shinseong Motors incident, Jang Yongjae.

Jang Yongjae grabbed my chin and looked into my eyes with contempt.

“Don’t be too upset, brother-in-law. You’ve been wielding our family’s power all this time, right? Did you really think someone like you could?”

“You bastard…”

“I’ve prepared a gift as a token of appreciation.”

“A gift?”

“You can look forward to it.”

Jang Yongjae smiled, turned around, nodded at the bodyguards, and gestured towards me.

“Being targeted by Shinseong Group must be painful, right? I’ll make it easy for you now. Forever with Park Taejin. Hehehe.”

Jang Suyeon sneered at Jang Yongjae, who was laughing sinisterly.

“Oppa, you have to send Jang Hayeon too, right? What are you going to do with her?”

“Well? She’s still manageable for her age… I’ll send her to the Caribbean Sea, handle it as a disappearance, and sell her off. I’ll take all the shares. As for Go Seungju and Lee Myungjin, they have nothing, so I’ll just run them over with a truck, right?”

“You! You! You sons of bitches!”

I screamed at the two of them, who were treating the people most precious to me like toys, but that was all I could do. Not only me, but Park Taejin had been vomiting blood and gurgling since earlier. I also struggled, but I couldn’t overcome the strength of the large men.

Jang Suyeon looked down at me, sprawled on the floor and glaring, and said scornfully.

“You were my toy. A toy I took away because I didn’t want Jang Hayeon to have it.”

Jang Suyeon then showed me something she was holding. My eyes widened as I saw it. It was my phone, and Jang Hayeon’s contact information was on the screen.

“Jang Suyeon-!”

Jang Suyeon snorted as if my struggles were amusing. With a sneer full of ridicule, she said,

“Shall I let you hear what Jang Hayeon was babbling to you? I found out thanks to her call. What you were going to do, I mean.”

Jang Suyeon fiddled with my smartphone and pressed the voice message button.

“[Seongmin, why aren’t you answering the phone? Don’t go to the airport. Suyeon sent people to guard that side. Run away quickly. Quickly…!]”

My eyes welled up and my nose tingled at her sobbing voice. Why did I have to hear this voice, a voice that hadn’t lost its feelings for me, only when things had come to this point!

“This is why that bitch has to disappear from this world. There are many other reasons, too.”

Jang Suyeon took her cold gaze away from me and said to Jang Yongjae.

“Let’s finish this.”

“Okay.”

At Jang Yongjae’s signal, two of the bodyguards put on latex gloves, and the others stood Park Taejin and me up and forced us to kneel.

“W-what are you doing?”

“What do you think? I’m trying to end this tiresome 23 years. Hehe.”

With those words, Jang Suyeon turned around to leave, but called out to me one last time.

“Honey.”

“…”

“Beg me to save you. It’s no fun like this.”

Jang Suyeon laughed sharply as if she had no intention of hearing an answer and left the warehouse. The man wearing latex gloves raised his head, which had been deeply bowed towards the two people’s backs, and walked towards Park Taejin.

“Don’t resent me. I’m just doing what I was told.”

That bastard, who spoke coldly, grabbed Park Taejin’s head and chin. Could it be?

“Hyung [term for older brother or male friend]!”

I cried as I saw Park Taejin fall powerlessly to the floor with his neck twisted. He wasn’t someone who should have gone like that!

My wailing was short-lived, and the sensation of latex on my skin made my eyes close involuntarily. At the same time, my crotch became wet, and I heard giggling around me.

‘If only I could start over, if only I could go back to before everything went wrong…’

Futile wishes were repeated in my head as if to ignore the fear of death.

Only the voice announcing my execution was clear and chilling to me.

“Goodbye.”

Crack!