You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 250

You Have Been Defended – Episode 250

I called Chief Secretary Bae and told him I wanted to meet in person to talk.

It was a story that could have been told over the phone, but I needed to use my ability on him.

Given the high probability that the eldest son of Hanyoung Group was the mastermind behind all these incidents, I needed a helper within Hanyoung Group.

The reason I suspected Seol Hyo-seok as the mastermind in the current situation is because he met with Kim Seong-woo.

However, Kim Seong-woo is not yet a card that can be revealed to the public.

Because Kim Seong-woo is the culprit I identified using the events of my previous life and my abilities, there is no way to explain it to others.

Unless Chief Secretary Bae publicly states that Seol Hyo-seok contacted the guards the day before, there is no basis to suspect the connection between Kim Seong-woo and Seol Hyo-seok.

Therefore, I needed Chief Secretary Bae.

I needed to make Chief Secretary Bae my ally.

No, to be precise, I needed to keep him as Seol Hyeong-seok’s man.

* * *

“Attorney Cha?”

Chief Secretary Bae, realizing the urgency of the situation, said he would send a car to the office.

Sure enough, a black sedan arrived in front of the office shortly after.

The car soon stopped at a quiet Han River bank.

There, a sedan of the same model that had arrived in advance was parked.

When I got out of the car, the rear window of the waiting sedan was lowered halfway.

It was Chief Secretary Bae.

“Get in.”

As soon as I got into the car, the man sitting in the driver’s seat got out.

He left the place with the driver of the car I had come in.

It seemed that Chief Secretary Bae had deliberately cleared the surroundings.

“You must have been busy today.”

In the quiet car, I was the first to speak.

It was to properly confirm whether he had intentionally not answered my calls.

“I was a little out of my mind trying to find out who ordered the guards. I didn’t even know you called.”

[Lie]

This is the first time the word ‘Lie’ has appeared above Chief Secretary Bae’s head.

“So, did you find out?”

“Not yet. I’ve just given the instructions.”

[Lie]

As expected.

Chief Secretary Bae had already confirmed who had given the instructions to the guards when I called him.

And the reason he came out to this place now was just to confirm how much I knew, and he had no intention of sharing the information he had.

“So, the person you said you found in the text message, Attorney Cha… who are you talking about? Are you talking about a witness?”

“I meant that I found out who ordered the guards.”

“Is that so? Who is it?”

“You already know.”

I lied to Lee Se-hwa that I had already been rude to Chief Secretary Bae, but from now on, it will no longer be a lie.

Because I’m going to poke and prod Chief Secretary Bae, who has become unreliable since Seol Hyeong-seok became a vegetable [in a vegetative state].

“…What do you mean I know?”

“You have already confirmed who ordered the guards to give false testimony yesterday, Chief Secretary.”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

[Lie]

“After confirming, you called me again to find out how I felt about that person and what I was going to do, to check one more time.”

“…Attorney Cha. I don’t know why you think that way. It’s not prudent to say things that are different from the truth so definitively.”

[Lie]

“I’ve been thinking about why Chief Secretary Bae did that while coming here. And I came to one conclusion.”

Chief Secretary Bae frowned and looked at me.

Judging by the fact that he didn’t stop me, he seemed curious about what I was going to say.

Perhaps, he thought he might find some hints in my words, so he decided to watch a little more.

“Chairman Seol is also old, so he must be thinking about the second generation of management. Waiting for Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok, who may not wake up, is too much of a judgment relying on uncertainty. So, Chief Secretary Bae, if you directly reveal the fault of CEO Seol Hyo-seok, you were worried that your position would be threatened when CEO Seol Hyo-seok takes over the management in the future, weren’t you?”

At my question, Chief Secretary Bae let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.

His laughter gradually changed from a sneer to a burst of laughter.

I looked at him without saying anything.

The reason I decided to turn Chief Secretary Bae inside out was not for any other reason.

It was to confirm whether he had really decided to go and stick with Seol Hyo-seok.

If that’s the case, I was going to warn him that since I had confirmed Seol Hyo-seok’s criminal facts, he would not be able to conceal them.

Anyway, Chief Secretary Bae doesn’t know that I don’t have any concrete evidence.

Conversely, if he was thinking of holding Seol Hyo-seok accountable, I was going to ask for full-fledged cooperation.

“Haha, yes…”

Chief Secretary Bae, who had stopped laughing, finally sighed and opened his mouth.

“It’s not that I didn’t think about that. That’s right. As Attorney Cha knows, I confirmed that CEO Seol met the guards.”

[Truth]

Chief Secretary Bae finally began to tell the truth.

“It was CEO Seol who met the guards. And what Attorney Cha thought was right was not only that. There was a bug in the chairman’s reception room.”

“I see.”

“The reason I didn’t answer Attorney Cha’s call was because I couldn’t decide how to handle this case. There is evidence that CEO Seol met the guards, but that is not evidence that CEO Seol made Executive Director Seol that way. I can only know that there is some kind of connection. But Attorney Cha seems to think that CEO Seol made Executive Director Seol that way. Did you find any other evidence?”

“I’m not sure if I should answer that now.”

“Anyway, Attorney Cha is not a Hanyoung person, so you will try to bring this case to the surface to reveal the innocence of the doctor in charge. But if that happens, CEO Seol will become a suspect in attempted murder. I can’t help but think about how big the repercussions will be for Hanyoung. I haven’t even reported it to the chairman yet because I’m worried about that. But I had no intention of burying this case as it is.”

[Truth]

It seems that Chief Secretary Bae was worried about whether to punish Seol Hyo-seok as a criminal or make it a family affair.

If it becomes a family affair, it will not be known externally, and Chairman Seol will conclude the case by giving Seol Hyo-seok some kind of penalty.

But if that happens, Dongjin’s innocence cannot be revealed.

Well, I might be able to make a separate deal with Chief Secretary Bae to make Kim Seong-woo an external criminal and conceal Seol Hyo-seok.

Then Dongjin’s innocence will be revealed, and Seol Hyo-seok will be spared from being a criminal externally, so both I and Chief Secretary Bae will achieve our goals.

But now that I know it was Seol Hyo-seok’s doing, I can’t just let the case be buried like this.

It’s not like I have to give up because I can’t reveal his wrongdoing.

“I understand what you’re saying. But making CEO Seol Hyo-seok’s wrongdoing a family affair may not be a good move for Chief Secretary either. Chief Secretary, you have been supporting Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok according to the chairman’s will to pass on the company to Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok, haven’t you? If Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok does not wake up even when the chairman passes away in the future, and CEO Seol Hyo-seok takes over Hanyoung, what will happen? Wouldn’t he try to purge Chief Secretary, who did not support him?”

It is common to compare the fight between the children of a chaebol [Korean conglomerate] family when the right to manage is passed on to the war of princes.

Personally, I don’t really like comparing them to ‘princes,’ but the fact is that the aspect appears similarly.

When the war of princes is over, a large-scale purge takes place.

It is to strengthen power by eliminating forces that did not support them and forces that were at odds with them.

If Seol Hyo-seok swallows Hanyoung whole, Chief Secretary Bae, who was on Seol Hyeong-seok’s side, is the number one target to be disposed of.

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better for me to turn to CEO Seol Hyo-seok now?”

Chief Secretary Bae asked back suspiciously.

“I happen to have a good card, too. It would be a better way to ask him to accept me in exchange for concealing what CEO Seol Hyo-seok did.”

At first glance, his words sound right.

But I don’t think Chief Secretary Bae is just someone who wants to survive.

Thinking about the hints I got from the conversation with Lee Se-hwa, Chief Secretary Bae had the ambition to be recognized as a meritorious person who put Seol Hyeong-seok on the ‘throne’ and take a seat.

Could such Chief Secretary Bae be satisfied by going under Seol Hyo-seok?

Isn’t it obvious that he won’t be fully trusted even if he goes under Seol Hyo-seok?

Seol Hyeong-seok is not dead yet.

Seol Hyo-seok will have the anxiety that his younger brother may wake up someday, and that anxiety will naturally melt into Chief Secretary Bae.

The distrust that Chief Secretary Bae may stab him in the back someday if Seol Hyeong-seok wakes up.

So, if Chief Secretary Bae goes under Seol Hyo-seok, he may be able to survive, but as a result, he will gradually be pushed out of the center of Hanyoung.

“Chief Secretary. Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok has not died yet. There are countless cases of people waking up from a vegetative state. If you’re lucky, he might wake up tomorrow.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“In preparation for when Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok wakes up again, Chief Secretary, you must take charge of Hanyoung.”

A strange light flashed in Chief Secretary Bae’s eyes.

It seemed I had hit the nail on the head.

The greed wriggling in Chief Secretary Bae’s stomach.

“If this case becomes known externally, CEO Seol Hyo-seok can never inherit the management rights of Hanyoung. Even if the chairman wants it, considering the future of Hanyoung, it doesn’t make sense to entrust Hanyoung to CEO Seol Hyo-seok, who even kills his brother for his own desires. As a result, we have to do CEO management if Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok doesn’t wake up.”

“…”

“If the chairman has to do CEO management anyway, he will want a reliable person to vacate the position when Executive Director Seol Hyeong-seok wakes up. Who would that be?”

Chief Secretary Bae groaned for a long time instead of answering.

“Are you still going to hide CEO Seol Hyo-seok’s wrongdoing?”