Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 227

227. 64th. Last All-in (4)

It was dawn on the day I was leaving for America.

I, with my luggage packed, stood facing Jang Hayeon at the door.

“I’ll be back.”

“Come back safe, honey.”

After a brief but heartfelt goodbye to Jang Hayeon, I left through the front door and the gate, and got into the limousine waiting outside. Before I knew it, we arrived at Gimpo Airport and boarded the Gulfstream private jet that headquarters had purchased last year.

“Hmm…”

Sitting at the table by the window and sipping whiskey, I couldn’t stop making noises of concern. Perhaps sensing my heavy mood, Seon Haecheol, who was sitting across from me, asked cautiously.

“You still haven’t told him?”

“No.”

I answered with a bitter smile and emptied the whiskey in my glass in one gulp.

“Haa… Even if Hayeon gave up on someone from the Shinseong Group’s Jang family and said she was with someone from the Haedong Group’s Lee family, her love for her father-in-law would be separate.”

“I suppose so. He’s still her father, no matter what.”

I nodded and took a sip of whiskey that had been refilled in the meantime.

“I have no idea how he’ll react when he finds out that Standard Capital, which has been draining the lifeblood of Shinseong Group that he cherishes so much, is my company.”

“He’ll be very surprised at first. Maybe even disappointed.”

Park Taejin’s words pierced my heart. He might ask why, with so much wealth, I didn’t peacefully take over Shinseong Group but instead tried to acquire it by draining his father’s lifeblood.

“I guess so?”

“But if the image of Madam I’ve seen is consistent with her inner self, she’ll eventually support you, Chairman, and accept your proposal.”

I blinked at Park Taejin’s unexpected answer, which had been wearing a bitter smile.

“Hyung?” [Older brother or close male friend]

“Sungmin, she’ll be disappointed and resentful that you’ve overthrown and brought down Shinseong Group according to your plan. But…”

Perhaps because it was the first time in a while that he had spoken informally, Park Taejin emptied the whiskey in his on-the-rocks glass.

“Hayeon can’t possibly refuse your proposal, knowing that the company is bound to fail. To Hayeon, Shinseong Group is like Chairman Jang Hogeon.”

I nodded at Park Taejin’s words.

Just as Jang Hogeon cares for the well-being of Shinseong Group as if it were his own body, Jang Hayeon’s feelings for Shinseong Group are similar to her love for Jang Hogeon.

Park Taejin added one last word to me as I nodded.

“I believe you were prepared for this to happen as well. The time to pass all the burdens on to others is over.”

With those words, Park Taejin sighed as if to shake off a heavy burden.

“I’m sorry, Chairman.”

“No, hyung. You always give me advice when you speak informally. With sincerity.”

Park Taejin, who had lowered his head, looked at me and smiled, and I smiled as well.

“Thank you. For making me realize what a real adult is now.”

Until now, I was just a child playing at being an adult, who had only grown older, bigger, made money, and started a family. After this business trip, I’ll have to become a real adult.

***

After arriving in New York, we checked on the business status of Standard Capital and went to Henry’s mansion with Claire. Upon arriving at the mansion, we sat on the sofa in the drawing room with Henry and Isaac, who had arrived earlier, and drank tea.

“After meeting you at the beginning of the year, I analyzed the subprime mortgage securities as you said, and it was quite a sight. A pie with a hundred pieces, each mixed with a different poison.”

“Uncle is right, Johnny. If we had put more emphasis on subprime mortgages as Johnny said, we would have been in trouble.”

During the meeting at the beginning of the year, I suggested to the two not to invest in subprime mortgage securities. At first, the two were puzzled, but looking at their expressions now, they seemed to be quite shocked as they investigated on their own.

“If this continues, the US real estate bubble will collapse in about 3 or 4 years at most. Until then, you two should keep your mortgage securities, whether subprime or prime, to a minimum.”

Henry nodded at my suggestion and gave a mischievous smile.

“So that’s why you left Morgan Stanley alone.”

“Shouldn’t we feed the Morgan bastards, who sprinkled ashes on my table, a nuclear bomb? How’s the request going, Isaac?”

Isaac smiled at my question, which was giving an eerie smile while facing Henry.

“The bait must have looked delicious, because that Jackson guy was very interested. I barely managed to stop him from wanting to meet right away, hehe.”

In the meantime, Isaac had contacted Jackson Pierpont Morgan at my request and offered to help broker the sale of Morgan Stanley. Judging by Isaac’s answer, he must have been quite eager.

“A bomb timer is ticking inside Morgan Stanley, but he’s desperate to buy it… It’s going to be fun, hehe.”

“Let’s let them enjoy it for about 3 or 4 years as you said, Johnny. In the meantime, we should focus on raw materials or the stock market as you suggested, so that we can look down from a higher place when the Morgan bastards go bankrupt, hoho.”

Following Henry’s laughter, Isaac also smiled.

“It would be fun if you bought Morgan Stanley back at a bargain price after that, haha.”

“That’s right. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of expression Jackson will have if we sell it at a high price and bring it back at a bargain price, hehe.”

Everyone sitting on the sofa with me laughed at the foolish Morgan bastards and drank tea.

***

A few days later.

Isaac greeted Jackson Pierpont Morgan at a quiet villa on the outskirts of New York.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Shouldn’t I come when Morgan Stanley is at stake?”

JP Morgan was absorbed into Chase Manhattan and disappeared, but even though Morgan Stanley was taken over by Standard Capital, it still bears its name.

For the Morgan family, who had been kicked out of Wall Street’s sunny land after being robbed of both companies, the sale of Morgan Stanley was an opportunity to set foot on sunny land once again. So Jackson had no choice but to come.

Jackson, who was drinking tea with a table between him and Isaac in the living room, asked Isaac.

“By the way… who is the representative of Standard Capital who is supposed to come today? Is it Claire, that fucking bitch?”

Isaac frowned at the curse word that came out of Jackson’s mouth.

“My, my… How long has it been since you were kicked out of Wall Street’s sunny land that you’ve become so informal?”

“Stop being sarcastic. I’m barely holding back from wanting to kill you too, Isaac.”

Jackson’s eyes flashed with murderous intent, but Isaac was not an easy man to deal with either.

“Try killing me, Jackson. The moment you kill me, our family’s bodyguards guarding this villa will cut off your head and soak it in ExxonMobil oil.”

While Jackson was having a staring contest with Isaac, who had spewed out harsh curse words, Jackson chuckled and lowered both hands.

“Let’s stop the war of nerves, Isaac. Anyway, who am I meeting today?”

“Come on out.”

Hearing Isaac’s shout, I opened the door and came out of the next room into the living room. I looked at Jackson and smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Jackson Pierpont Morgan. I don’t know if you remember me, hehe.”

“You, you?”

I lightly bowed to Jackson, who was stuttering with his mouth wide open and his eyes wide as if they would pop out.

“About 4 years ago? I saw you when you said you were going to get a loan with IT stocks… I’m ashamed of myself for not recognizing you as a member of the Morgan family by looking at your nose, hehe.”

Seeing me smile while bringing up the IT bubble collapse, Jackson jumped up from the sofa like a spring and rushed at me.

“You Fucking Son of a bitch! You ruined all my plans! Do you know that!”

I grabbed Jackson’s hands, which had grabbed my collar, with both of my hands and lightly removed them.

“Ugh!”

“I didn’t know you had learned such dog-like manners since you were kicked out of Wall Street’s sunny land?”

I put Jackson’s two hands, which I was holding, on his chest and pushed him away.

“Argh!”

“Johnny!”

I stepped on Jackson’s chest with my shoe, who had fallen on his butt, and looked down at Jackson’s face with cold eyes, regardless of Isaac’s shout.

“Haven’t you ever thought about the price of making unnecessary enemies? Because the enemies you made are my friends, I just helped my friends, Jackson.”

“Y-you…!”

It was ridiculous to see Jackson struggling to get up. After how long had passed, I smiled after confirming that the strength had been drained from Jackson’s eyes and body.

“Since it’s already happened, let’s end the rudeness here. I didn’t come here to fight anyway.”

I took my foot off his chest and held out my hand to Jackson, but Jackson slapped my hand away with the back of his hand and stood up on his own.

“You arrogant monkey. You’re just an agent!”

“Agent?”

“It can’t be more than a part of what you and your family have entrusted to Standard!”

I smiled at Jackson, who was shouting at me as I tilted my head.

“What a pity? I’m the owner of Standard Capital, who you think is an arrogant monkey and an agent?”

“Wh-what?”

“Standard Capital is my company. 90 percent of the shares, 500 billion dollars out of 600 billion dollars in operating funds, is the money of me, my family, and Haedong Group.”

Jackson’s mouth dropped open as I told him the truth about Standard Capital.

“I-is that true?”

I nodded with a nonchalant expression. Jackson’s expression crumpled miserably as Isaac nodded with a triumphant smile.

“This can’t be…”

“For your information, today’s Morgan Stanley sale conditions also include keeping my secret buried forever, Jackson. If you don’t keep it, Morgan Stanley will be my company forever.”

There are people who pay 1 billion won for a calligraphy work worth only 1 million won, saying that it was written by their ancestors. How much more would they pay for the only remaining company of the Morgan family?

Jackson, who was sitting on the sofa, snarled at me in a low voice but soon chuckled.

“Even if you do, the Shinseong Group you want has my dog leash on it. Have you forgotten?”

Jackson thinks he’s won, but now it was time to shatter that victor’s composure. I raised one corner of my mouth, snorted, sat across from Jackson, and crossed my legs.

“What a pity? If we just take Shinseong Electronics out of Shinseong Group, Shinseong Group will collapse?”

“Wh-what?”

“There’s a joke that Shinseong Group is divided into Shinseong Electronics and Shinseong Other. It’s a Korean pun, so you wouldn’t understand it, hehe.”

Isaac, who is studying Korean because he wants to have conversations in my country’s language, covered his mouth and chuckled, but Jackson frowned. I stopped laughing with Isaac.

“In simple terms, Shinseong Group without Shinseong Electronics is like a cream puff without custard. By now, the Shinseong Electronics shares purchased by several private equity funds would be being transferred to Standard Capital.”

“You’re saying those private equity funds were yours?”

“Yes. Even if you report this fact to the Korean government, all you’ll get is a fine for violating the Securities and Exchange Act…”

I trailed off and stared at Jackson, whose face was losing its color, with a stern expression.

“If I take Shinseong Electronics, I can pay off the money Shinseong Electronics borrowed from you. After taking Shinseong Electronics out of Shinseong Group with my own hands, what do you think I’ll do first?”

That guy’s mouth is not going to drop. I have no choice but to answer.

“If Shinseong Electronics is separated from Shinseong Group, the first thing I’ll do is relentlessly recover the money Shinseong Electronics lent to Shinseong Financial Group. Shinseong Financial Group will go bankrupt, and then we’ll just take the valuable assets of Shinseong Financial Group, just like Chase Manhattan sucked up only the valuable assets of JP Morgan in a P&A manner [Purchase and Assumption agreement, where a failing bank’s assets and liabilities are acquired by another].”

Perhaps boasting about my future plans and bringing up past events tore off the scab on that guy’s mentality. Jackson’s face, which had been turning white, was now red as if it would burst.

“Fuck You, bastard!”

Looking at him screaming and cursing, it seemed that invisible blood was flowing from the mentality where the scab had been torn off. But I was not satisfied with just removing the scab from that guy’s mentality.

“In that case, your family’s money lent to Shinseong Group will once again become waste paper, and you will once again be treated like a retard within the Morgan family. The next head of the family will be even further away. No, should you just give up altogether? Hehe.”

I finally dug into that guy’s mentality, which had torn off the scab, as much as I wanted, and chuckled, and Isaac stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. I’m sure he was shocked to see my crazy side with his own eyes…

Jackson’s rough breathing, which had been panting as he looked at me, subsided. Jackson, who had turned expressionless, sighed deeply.

“You’ve blocked everything without a single gap. As cruel as it gets.”

“I had a hard time blocking everything until I came here. Why did you get involved in someone else’s family feud? Even though you can’t win, hehe.”

I drank tea, showing off my ridicule, put down the glass, and rested my chin on my clasped hands.

“How is it? Are you going to wallow in the gutter until the end and lose everything? Or, are you going to hold my hand and take what you can get?”

Jackson’s fist, which was placed on the armrest of the sofa, trembled, but if he was a smart guy, he would know which choice was wise. I was still smiling and looking at Jackson.