You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 109

You Have Been Defended – Episode 109

“44 billion in property division? Attorney Cha, are you out of your mind? Ms. Go Jin-ah and Mr. Jung Young-joon have only been married for seven years. How do you come up with 40 billion?”

Attorney Lee Young-jae shouted, jumping up.

Even though Attorney Lee Young-jae was one of the people deceived by Go Jin-ah, he seemed to be taking her side quite diligently.

I found out that he has handled many high-profile divorce cases.

If he has handled such divorces numerous times, it seemed like he wouldn’t be shaken by ordinary matters.

But why is he foaming at the mouth so much at 44 billion?

“I knew that Go Jin-ah was holding the fact that she was the real culprit who filmed Mr. Jung Young-joon’s video over you, but I didn’t know she had hidden the fact that she illegally created 100 billion in slush funds [undisclosed or illicit money] this time. It’s surprising that you don’t even check the news about your client. It seems like your associate is a bit lazy……”

The associate sitting next to Attorney Lee Young-jae distorted his expression.

“Attorney Cha. Are you being sarcastic right now?”

“No. Didn’t Go Jin-ah hide the 100 billion she acquired after the marriage and get indicted for tax evasion this time?”

“……That’s right.”

“Go Jin-ah submitted data to the prosecution proving that it was not an illegally created slush fund. That’s why she was only indicted for tax evasion, right?”

“So?”

“The data shows that the funds were created after her marriage to Jung Young-joon. Then, isn’t it natural to assume that it is property jointly acquired with Jung Young-joon?”

When the 100 billion in slush funds was revealed to the world and they had to create data for the prosecution, they probably tried to set the timing of the fund’s creation to before the marriage with Jung Young-joon.

Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a big loss since even that 100 billion would have to be included in the property division?

But to make it look legal, it was impossible to launder it to an earlier time, so they reluctantly said it was funds created after the marriage.

Therefore, foaming at the mouth at 40 billion like that is just acting.

It would be good if they didn’t know, but if they did, oh well.

That’s probably what they were thinking.

“Why aren’t you answering? Could it be that the money was made by buying Yangjin Group’s stock when it plummeted due to the illegal sex video issue and then selling it recently? If so, it might not be considered property accumulated through the joint efforts of Jung Young-joon……”

Lee Young-jae made a displeased sound and cleared his throat.

It’s me, not Lee Young-jae, who should be showing displeasure.

Even if I’m not a divorce specialist, shouldn’t he have at least looked up the precedents?

“That is absolutely not true. It’s exactly as the data shows. Attorney Cha, you should refrain from making unfounded statements.”

[False]

I smiled slightly as I saw the word floating above Lee Young-jae’s head.

Go Jin-ah seems to have a good asset manager.

Go Jin-ah herself probably didn’t even think that Yangjin Group’s stock price would plummet when her criminal facts were revealed.

Nevertheless, she only held the massive stake for a couple of months before the stock price plummeted and then sold it.

It must have been quite a waste.

Since Go Sang-kyung will pass on the controlling stake to his only heiress anyway, she probably didn’t have much attachment to it.

Even if you scrape together the company’s shares on the market, it’s not easy to gather even 1 or 2%.

“I see. I misunderstood.”

I’m not interested in the source of the money anyway.

That she made a profit by taking advantage of the rise and fall of the stock price was just one of the possibilities I considered.

Besides that, I thought it could be embezzled money or property donated by Go Sang-kyung.

Embezzlement aside, if it was donated by Go Sang-kyung, she wouldn’t have had to divide it with Jung Young-joon.

Well, in that case, she would have to pay a huge gift tax, so it’s better to divide it.

Either way, dividing that slush fund with Jung Young-joon was the best option they could choose.

“I asked if you were out of your mind for insisting that the 100 billion should also be subject to property division. I was wondering if there was another reason.”

“……”

“Now, let’s summarize. We have to divide the property excluding the tax on that 100 billion. That’s how we got 44 billion. No objections, right?”

“It’s difficult to give you a definite answer yet. I need to check with Go Jin-ah.”

“Then do it now.”

Lee Young-jae let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.

“Now?”

“You can check by phone. Ah! Maybe she’s waiting in the CEO’s office right now. Then you can take a short break and go discuss it with Go Jin-ah.”

“Attorney Cha. You keep trying to test us, and it’s very unpleasant. Go Jin-ah didn’t come to the office.”

[False]

“Haha, is that so.”

“Are you laughing at us now?”

“No. I was just trying to smooth over my rudeness with a laugh.”

Did I provoke them too much?

They openly revealed their hostility towards me through their expressions.

I hate Taekwang people from birth, so there was nothing new to feel wronged about.

“Then, call her. Now.”

“……Let’s stop here today and discuss it again with time. There’s still plenty of time. And Go Jin-ah is also a bit chaotic because she’s facing trial, as you know.”

“Attorney Lee Young-jae. It’s already almost August. Almost two months have passed since Go Jin-ah was revealed as the real culprit. I think we have waited long enough for Go Jin-ah, who is being investigated by the prosecution and preparing for trial. I hope you will also consider our client’s position, who is not only suffering from betrayal because his wife broke faith, but also suffering social damage.”

Lee Young-jae frowned at those words.

Because I gave him back the words he said on the day he first contacted us.

He must remember it too.

“Attorney Cha! Enough is enough! Enough!”

The co-counsel sitting across from me shouted.

“What do you mean enough is enough? Isn’t it true that Mr. Jung Young-joon has been waiting for a long time?”

“……This guy,”

“We receive calls several times a day asking how the divorce is progressing. It’s probably the same for Taekwang. We have been waiting for Go Jin-ah’s sake until now, but if you keep putting the brakes on a fair division of property, we will have no choice but to reveal that the divorce is not going smoothly. We can’t keep saying that we are still in the negotiation stage forever.”

“……”

“Also, it seems that it would be good for Go Jin-ah to take a reflective attitude in many ways to restore her image. Anyway, we are not making unreasonable demands. It’s a very common-sense line.”

Anyway, since they said they had to get permission from Go Jin-ah, there was no point in wasting time arguing here any longer.

“Let’s finish here today as you said, and meet again next week after discussing it thoroughly with Go Jin-ah. We want to finalize the divorce before Go Jin-ah’s trial begins.”

I got up from my seat.

After bowing, I left the conference room.

Until the moment the door closed, I felt hot gazes that seemed to burn my back.

-That, that rude bastard! He thinks he can look down on his seniors just because he’s a lawyer! What class is he! Huh?!

As soon as the door closed, I heard the lawyer’s voice bursting with anger from inside the conference room.

It seemed to be the lawyer who told me to be moderate.

The associate lawyers glanced at me over the partition.

He seems to trust the soundproofing of the conference room too much.

* * *

Perhaps Go Jin-ah was afraid that we would leak the word that she was not reflecting and was not trying to do a reasonable level of property division, so she soon accepted the 44 billion property division.

And she also agreed to pay an additional 3 billion in alimony and damages.

Of course, since they were foaming at the mouth even at 44 billion, it is true that there were quite a few difficulties in getting 3 billion.

But the important thing is that we finished the agreement before her trial began, as originally planned.

I don’t think I was able to extract 47 billion won thanks to my great work.

When the criminal trial begins, it is important to emphasize that Go Jin-ah is reflecting, and the fact that she paid a lot of alimony is quite taken into account.

It’s the same principle as Lee Hyuk-min doing volunteer work at various welfare organizations before the trial in the previous case.

Maybe that’s why she couldn’t refuse any longer.

Anyway, we soon submitted an application for consensual divorce to the family court.

And in the blink of an eye, the one-month deliberation period passed, and the divorce confirmation date was approaching.

“…….”

The divorce was finalized in an instant.

In court, all procedures were completed by checking the documents and asking the two people about their intention to divorce.

It probably didn’t even take 5 minutes.

“Jin-ah.”

Just as I was about to leave the courtroom, Jung Young-joon called out to Go Jin-ah, who was walking ahead.

Go Jin-ah stopped walking for a moment and turned around.

This was the first time I had seen Go Jin-ah in person while proceeding with this divorce, and she looked much thinner than she did on screen.

“…….”

“Let me ask you just one thing. Since it’s all over anyway, just tell me honestly.”

Jung Young-joon had a very calm face.

No emotion could be read on his face.

If he was deliberately trying, I would want to tell him that he was doing very well, and if it wasn’t acting, I would also want to tell him that he was doing very well.

“Why did you start to hate me?”

“……Why are you asking that now?”

“I know that you didn’t not love me from the beginning. That wouldn’t have been the case. But I want to know when you wanted to get a divorce so much that you made me like this.”

Go Jin-ah sighed deeply.

After thinking for a moment, she swept back the hair that had fallen down her face.

“I started to lose affection for you when you drank the water in the bowl for washing your hands in an important place. At that time, I was just too embarrassed, but after that, everything you did annoyed me.”

“…….”

“Then, I gradually thought that you and I were people from different worlds, and you seemed stupid because you couldn’t properly integrate into my world. So I gradually started to hate you.”

As she answered in a low voice, she seemed to realize something at that moment.

Perhaps she read a sense of anxiety that if she said these words to Jung Young-joon, he might harbor resentment and make statements that would be unfavorable to her.

And Jung Young-joon, who had lived with her for 7 years, seemed to read that feeling as well.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of saying it anywhere. Even when I go to your trial as a witness, I will only talk about that case.”

“I feel sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“…….”

“Anyway, you are the heiress of Yangjin Group, so you will suffer for a while even though you ruined my life. You will go back to your original life and live like a princess, living in luxury.”

Jung Young-joon raised his head and looked at Go Jin-ah.

“While you are alive……. Yes, live well. You will live well even if I don’t want you to.”

“Yes, you too,”

Before Go Jin-ah could finish speaking, Jung Young-joon cut her off.

“But, I hope you go to hell when you die.”

Jung Young-joon passed by Go Jin-ah as he was.

To Jung Young-joon, who had never blamed Go Jin-ah even once, that curse, which was so common, felt heavy.

She stared at Jung Young-joon for a long time.

But Jung Young-joon didn’t look back.

“…….”

I am an agnostic.

I have never had a religion, nor have I ever believed in the existence of God.

But the fact that I, who had already died once, received a second life and gained superpowers, clearly means that there is a God or something similar somewhere.

If so, maybe there is also a hell.

The place where Go Jin-ah should go.