You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 101

“……I really don’t want to use harsh words.”

Kang Min-jae gripped the edge of the desk with a bewildered expression.

“Go Jin-ah, seriously… you’re an incredibly crazy bitch.”

The moment the ring was first discovered in Ju Min-ji’s bag, he briefly considered that Go Jin-ah might have ordered the video to be taken.

But the reason he dismissed that option from his mind was that she had no reason to escalate things to this extent.

“The reason we thought it was Chairman Go Sang-kyung’s doing… or, more precisely, the reason Go Sang-kyung wouldn’t be harmed even if he did this. And the reason Go Jin-ah is trying to push through the divorce even though she knows Jung Young-joon is innocent. It all makes sense when you fit it together.”

The inevitable decline in Yangjin Group’s image and stock price that occurred as a result of the video issue.

It’s not just Chairman Go Sang-kyung who would be concerned about that.

Go Jin-ah, Go Sang-kyung’s only child and the heiress to Yangjin Group, also had enough reason to consider it.

However, Yangjin Group’s image wasn’t completely separated from Jung Young-joon and ridiculed.

The stock price decline did actually occur, but it didn’t cause any problems in acquiring the 24/7 convenience store, and it soon rebounded.

So, the reason she tried to quickly wrap up the case with an amicable divorce, even while suspecting that Jung Young-joon was being falsely accused, wasn’t because she was afraid that Go Sang-kyung would be revealed as the real culprit if the case dragged on.

She was afraid of being exposed herself.

As Kang Min-jae said, just as it made sense when we thought it was Go Sang-kyung’s doing, it also makes sense if it was Go Jin-ah’s doing.

It would be even better if we could find out why she escalated things to this extent.

“Jung Young-joon said from the beginning that Go Jin-ah wouldn’t listen to him. It seemed like she didn’t even want to try to believe him.”

“Yes. Of course… it’s because she orchestrated the whole thing.”

I ran my hand over my forehead.

Ju Min-ji, who is probably being investigated right now, will likely claim that she and Jo Hyun-seok are in a romantic relationship to protect Go Jin-ah.

Otherwise, Lee Ye-jin would have called us, insisting that she was denying everything on her end and demanding that we present any evidence we had immediately.

And because I told Lee Ye-jin that Ju Min-ji and Jo Hyun-seok were in a romantic relationship when I passed on the information, she will believe Ju Min-ji’s statement.

It will also take some time to analyze the black box footage, cell phones, and disks.

So, before the prosecution makes any more false moves, I need to tell them the truth I’ve uncovered first.

And all the focus had to be on Go Jin-ah.

Most likely, the Jo Hyun-seok list that the prosecution so desperately wanted was also likely to be with Go Jin-ah.

“Get Lee Ye-jin on the phone.”

“I think she’s being interrogated right now…….”

“Then Chief Oh will answer.”

Kang Min-jae sighed deeply as he dialed.

“How do we tell Jung Young-joon about this……? If he finds out before the prosecution reveals it, he might just ask us to bury it.”

I pondered Kang Min-jae’s words as I waited for the call to connect.

He’s right.

Jung Young-joon loves Go Jin-ah, so he was willing to put aside his own injustice and divorce her on her terms.

He changed his mind for the sake of his family.

But I think one of the reasons was definitely his hatred for Chairman Go Sang-kyung.

However, this time the opponent is not Chairman Go Sang-kyung, but Go Jin-ah herself.

It was obvious that Jung Young-joon would be shocked more than ever before.

But to cover up the real culprit?

That’s not going to work.

From the beginning, I took on this case because Jung Young-joon was the husband of Yangjin Group’s only heiress.

I took on this complicated case because I thought there would be something to gain in the process of moving towards my goal.

The affair between Go Jin-ah and Jo Hyun-seok may be the key to revealing the inside story of a huge injustice.

It doesn’t make sense to bury it because of Jung Young-joon’s ‘love’.

We need to find a way to tell Jung Young-joon about this, but the whole truth of the case must be revealed to the world.

To be optimistic, maybe Jung Young-joon will lose his affection for Go Jin-ah once he knows about her misdeeds and won’t try to protect her anymore.

-This is Chief Oh, from Prosecutor Cha’s office. Prosecutor Lee Ye-jin is being interrogated right now.

Just as I was about to give up and hang up, Chief Oh answered the phone.

-Should I tell her to call you as soon as the interrogation is over?

“No, I need to see her right away. I’m going to the Prosecutor’s Office now.”

-Is it urgent? We haven’t found anything new yet. The machines are still being analyzed…….”

“It’s urgent. Are you interrogating Ju Min-ji right now?”

-Yes, we are.

“Then it should be okay to pass it on to another prosecutor for a while.”

-It seems very urgent. First, I’ll pass on the message right away. And that the lawyer is coming to the Prosecutor’s Office now.”

“Thank you.”

I hung up the phone and put on the jacket hanging on the coat rack.

Kang Min-jae looked at me as if asking what he should do.

“Kang, I’m going to meet with Prosecutor Lee, so first, about that bag.”

“Yes. You mean Go Jin-ah’s bag?”

“Yes. Make sure that’s really the only bag like that.”

“I already have someone who knows a lot about luxury goods. I’m going to call that friend.”

“Someone who knows a lot? An expert?”

It doesn’t matter if they’re not an expert.

Either way, the prosecution can contact H company to confirm the answer about the bag.

The problem is if H company refuses to answer, but they won’t refuse since the matter is serious.

“I’ll go with you. I can make the call while we’re going.”

Kang Min-jae quickly grabbed the car keys and went ahead out of the office.

“Give me the keys. I’ll drive.”

“I can do it.”

“Just focus on that call.”

“Yes. It’s an honor. I even get to ride in the car that the lawyer drives.”

He smiled awkwardly and got into the passenger seat.

While I was driving towards the Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Kang continued the call.

“Jae-eun. It’s me, Kang Min-jae. Oh, have you been doing well? Ah, yeah. It’s been a while. Sorry for not contacting you. I’ve been so busy.”

For a while, they exchanged greetings.

Then, as soon as there was an opening, Kang got straight to the point.

“Did you see the Go Jin-ah article photo today? Ah, yeah? Did you see it?”

He smiled and gave me an okay sign, indicating that the conversation was going well.

I entered the office and looked for a parking space.

The cars were packed so tightly that it didn’t look like there was anywhere to park at first glance.

There is a notice that says to use public transportation because there is not enough parking space in the office, which is written on every summons that the prosecution sends to the accused and witnesses, but I know where there are empty spaces.

“Really? Oh, oh. I see. Yeah. Ah, I was just curious because the comments were going crazy. Oh, yeah. Let’s see each other next time. Yeah.”

As soon as the parking was finished, Kang Min-jae hung up the phone.

“It’s confirmed. It’s custom-made. If you order a custom-made item, it takes two months to arrive really quickly? So, the fashion show where the tassel design was first revealed was on March 2nd, and if you ordered it right before or after that, it would arrive to the customer as early as the end of April, probably in early May.”

Kang Min-jae quickly recited the information.

Jo Hyun-seok received the bag from the H company store at the end of April, so the timing is perfect.

“Is that reliable information? I’m going to share it with Prosecutor Lee now.”

“It’s confirmed. The person I just talked to receives a new item from H company every time it comes out. She said it was the first time she’d ever seen that bag. She said she called the H company manager as soon as the article photo came out because it was so pretty. But she was told it was custom-made.”

He stretched nonchalantly.

Receiving a new item every time it comes out from H company, which is famous as a high-priced brand even among luxury goods.

I don’t know who it is, but their asset scale must be considerable.

“Really?”

“Yes. Ah, ah, just……. It’s someone I know.”

Kang Min-jae added briefly, as if he was suddenly worried about me.

“Okay.”

“And I’m not very close to her.”

He seemed to be scolded for contacting her after so long, but is that not being very close?

“Okay.”

At that time, my cell phone rang.

The caller was Lee Ye-jin.

-Prosecutor Cha. It’s me. You said you had something urgent to tell me?

“I’m in the parking lot now.”

-Really? Should I get a visitor’s pass and come up here?

“I think it would be difficult if we ran into each other. Come into our car. Kang, what’s the car number?”

“It’s 8190.”

Soon after, Lee Ye-jin opened the back door of the car and came inside.

She was out of breath, as if she had been running, and leaned back against the backrest.

“Busy, busy. What is it? What’s so urgent that you wanted to see me?”

Instead of answering, Kang handed her the article printout that he had brought.

“What is this?”

“Ju Min-ji is not Jo Hyun-seok’s lover.”

“What? Then who is she? No, Ju Min-ji said she was Jo Hyun-seok’s lover? She said she didn’t know Jo Hyun-seok was that kind of person, and that they were just dating. She said she had nothing to do with Yangjin Group, and that she felt betrayed when she saw the article and thought Jo Hyun-seok had approached her on purpose. Well, I don’t believe it, but anyway…….”

Lee Ye-jin opened her eyes wide and unfolded the printout that Kang Min-jae had handed her.

Because the photo at the top was a full-body shot of Go Jin-ah, she looked at us before she even read the article properly.

“……Go Jin-ah?”

After looking through the comments under the article photo for a long time, she covered her mouth and said.

“Is this by any chance the bag that Jo Hyun-seok said he had custom-made when he was being interrogated, saying he was going to buy it for his lover?”

“Yes. We had someone follow Jo Hyun-seok as soon as he was released and confirmed it. We secured a photo of him coming out of the H company store with the bag. It’s confirmed when you see that bag being held by Go Jin-ah.”

“……That’s right. Well, the ring, Ju Min-ji didn’t see her wearing it, but Prosecutor Cha dropped it because she bumped into her.”

“Yes. I think she couldn’t wear that ring on a regular basis, so she left it with her secretary.”

Ju Min-ji is her personal secretary, who is always near her.

She must have left the ring with her, and only received the ring when she went to meet Jo Hyun-seok.

Because storing it at home or in the office would be risky in many ways.

“Wait a minute.”

At that time, Lee Ye-jin’s cell phone rang.

“Yes, Chief. I’m out meeting Prosecutor Cha right now. Yes. Yes, that’s right. Yes? Really?”

She answered the phone calmly, but then asked back in a voice that seemed to tear.

At the same time, she didn’t realize that this was inside a car, so she stood up abruptly and even hit her head on the ceiling.

“Ah, ouch……. No, I’m okay. Then I’ll go in now. I have to see it myself. Yes, Chief. Yes.”

Lee Ye-jin rubbed her head and hung up the phone.

When I looked at her, Lee Ye-jin seemed to hesitate for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Ha, I’m really sorry for running away, so I keep telling you. Jo Hyun-seok’s white Carnival [a type of minivan] 9932 was caught on Ju Min-ji’s car black box. Even all the women getting out of that car.”

“Jo Hyun-seok’s white Carnival?”

“It’s the car Jo Hyun-seok used to move around with women. It’s a ghost car, and when I traced it, it was scrapped, so I thought I wouldn’t be able to find anything with that……. Anyway, I have to go in.”

Jo Hyun-seok’s Carnival was caught on Ju Min-ji’s car.

That is the biggest evidence that Ju Min-ji was involved in Jo Hyun-seok’s sexual favors.

According to her statement, if she didn’t know that Jo Hyun-seok was doing such a thing and didn’t care, there would be no reason for Ju Min-ji to be with that car full of women, would there?

“Oh, did something else come out?”

Lee Ye-jin, who was about to get out of the car, stopped and answered the phone.

It seemed to be Chief Oh again.

“Yes, I’m about to go up now. Yes. ……Go Jin-ah?”