You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 254

It was good news that Seol Hyo-seok had been called in by the prosecution, but it was somewhat disappointing that he was only a witness, not a suspect.

Currently, Jin Su-yong has admitted to the deal with Seol Hyo-seok, but he has remained silent about the details of the deal.

‘It’s helpful enough that Seol Hyo-seok was called in by the prosecution, but…’

I can’t help but feel disappointed.

If Jin Su-yong had opened his mouth, Seol Hyo-seok could have been immediately arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder.

Seol Hyo-seok knows that, contrary to what I said to Kim Seong-woo through the wiretapping, I am doing my best to reveal Dongjin’s innocence.

So, he must be working behind the scenes to erase any evidence or silence any witnesses that might exist.

In that situation, if Seol Hyo-seok is arrested, wouldn’t it be possible to put a stop to that work to some extent?

‘If I proceed quickly, it’ll be fine.’

I just need to quickly control the situation before he erases any evidence or buys off even one more witness.

* * *

I heard from Sang-gil that Gu So-jeong was off today, so I called her.

As expected, it seems Seol Hyo-seok told Kim Seong-woo not to trust me, as Gu So-jeong didn’t answer my call.

She said she would be at work tomorrow, so I could go to the hospital then, but I couldn’t wait until then when I wanted to finish things quickly.

I went straight to Gu So-jeong’s house.

“……”

I rang the doorbell, but there was no answer from inside the house.

Even if I tried to see if anyone was there, the windows were covered with curtains, so there was no way to check.

So, I decided to just wait in front of the house.

I parked my car in front of the villa and waited for two hours.

‘That person is…’

A middle-aged woman with a shopping basket caught my eye as she entered the villa.

According to the information Tae-sik sent me, it was Gu So-jeong’s mother.

I got out of the car and quickly approached her.

“Hello.”

Gu So-jeong’s mother slowly turned her head and looked up at me.

“Ah, yes. But who are you?”

“Are you Gu So-jeong’s mother?”

“Yes, I am. Who are you?”

“Ah, I’m the son of a patient that Gu So-jeong was in charge of. I wanted to show my gratitude for taking good care of my father, but I was too busy to see him when he was discharged. So, I asked the hospital and found my way here.”

“Is that so?”

The guarded look disappeared from her face.

Young people would be furious, saying that hospitals wouldn’t give out that kind of information these days, but from a parent’s perspective, they can’t help but welcome a guest who came to thank their child.

“I called, but she didn’t answer, so I came here without warning. I’m sorry if I surprised you.”

“No, it’s okay. Is So-jeong not home?”

The mother tilted her head and went down the stairs.

“Would you like to come in and wait for a while? The house is a bit shabby, but…”

She smiled awkwardly, as if she was really embarrassed, and opened the door.

“So-jeong-ah!”

-Are you home?

As expected, she was inside.

Gu So-jeong’s voice, calling out to her mother from inside the house, could be heard.

“She was home? Come out here for a second!”

-Why!

“Come out here quickly!”

After a moment of grumbling, Gu So-jeong came to the front door.

And as soon as she saw me, her eyes widened, and she tried to close the door.

“Ms. Gu So-jeong.”

However, I was a little faster at grabbing the door than she was at closing it.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“Excuse me, lawyer. Isn’t this a bit much?”

“I think it’s a story that would be difficult to talk about in front of your mother.”

I said, gesturing towards the mother who was looking at me and Gu So-jeong with a bewildered expression.

Gu So-jeong seemed to hesitate for a moment, then sighed and put on her slippers.

“So-jeong-ah, what’s going on?”

“Mom, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“What’s going on!”

“It’s nothing. I’ve already made dinner, so just boil the stew. I’ll be right back.”

She closed the front door with her arms crossed, looking annoyed.

I followed her out of the villa.

Then, Gu So-jeong turned around and glared at me, lowering her voice.

“I have nothing to say to you, lawyer.”

“I do.”

“Is there any reason I should listen?”

“You’ll think you did well to listen once you hear it.”

“That won’t happen. Please leave now. And I hope this never happens again.”

I wanted to have a calm conversation in the car if possible, but if she’s going to be like this, I have no choice.

I took out several photos from my inside pocket and handed them to her.

“What is this?”

“Look at them.”

Gu So-jeong looked at me with suspicious eyes, then snatched the photos from me.

“……”

After checking the first photo, Gu So-jeong aggressively flipped through the next photo, and then the next.

I waited until she fully understood the situation.

“…W-what is this?”

“You’ve seen it, so you know.”

“W-why are you showing me pictures of Mr. Kim Seong-woo?”

Gu So-jeong was calmer than I thought.

Her response wasn’t bad for someone who had just learned about her fiancé’s affair.

“Aren’t you engaged to Mr. Kim Seong-woo?”

“Me? Who says I’m marrying Mr. Kim Seong-woo? No.”

[Lie]

I didn’t need to use my ability, but as expected, there were no exceptions.

Gu So-jeong fanned herself with her reddened face and avoided my gaze.

I handed her another bundle of photos.

These were photos of Gu So-jeong entering a dress shop with Kim Seong-woo arm in arm.

“Mr. Kim Seong-woo was quite cold to Gu So-jeong. Didn’t you think it was strange?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It means that Mr. Kim Seong-woo has no intention of marrying Gu So-jeong.”

“…I told you, we’re not getting married?”

“The woman in the photo is Seol Ye-ji, the daughter of Seol Jeong-ho, the chairman of Hanyoung Motors. I found out that CEO Seol Hyo-seok arranged the meeting with Mr. Kim Seong-woo.”

I said, handing her a document containing Seol Ye-ji’s profile.

I deliberately included all of Seol Ye-ji’s resume to stimulate Gu So-jeong’s inferiority complex.

“The scene in the photo is from a gathering of *chaebol* [conglomerate family] children hosted by CEO Seol Hyo-seok. I heard that Seol Ye-ji introduced Mr. Kim Seong-woo as her fiancé that day.”

Gu So-jeong shook her head with a blank face.

“That can’t be…”

“Then I think Gu So-jeong now has a reason to talk to me.”

I said, opening the driver’s side door of my parked car.

“Get in. We can’t keep talking here.”

Gu So-jeong eventually got into the passenger seat.

“CEO Seol Hyo-seok is currently under investigation by the prosecution.”

As soon as I started, Gu So-jeong, who had been looking ahead, quickly turned her head towards me.

“Ah, didn’t Mr. Kim Seong-woo tell you about this?”

“Why is CEO Seol Hyo-seok…”

“Why would he be?”

Kim Seong-woo did not inform Gu So-jeong that he was in a crisis.

This was probably because he was worried that Gu So-jeong might feel uneasy and make a mistake.

It was a welcome thing for me.

Knowing that Kim Seong-woo has another woman, if she also finds out that he hid the fact that Seol Hyo-seok was summoned, she will feel even more betrayed.

“I, I don’t know at all. It seems like there’s a problem with the company?”

It seems like she still wants to pretend she doesn’t know.

Why wouldn’t she?

Even if she was instigated by Kim Seong-woo, it was Gu So-jeong herself who injected the cephalosporin.

She can’t help but worry about the impact on herself if all the facts are revealed.

“Since you seem to want to keep pretending you don’t know, I’ll just tell you what I need. Ms. Gu So-jeong also knows that former director Jin Su-yong is currently in custody. That’s because he’s been doing illegal deals. And this time, as the details of Jin Su-yong’s illegal deal with CEO Seol Hyo-seok were revealed, CEO Seol Hyo-seok is attending as a witness for questioning.”

“Why is he a witness when the details of the deal have been revealed? Shouldn’t he be a suspect?”

Gu So-jeong reacted sharply.

“That’s because Jin Su-yong hasn’t confessed that CEO Seol Hyo-seok ordered the murder of Executive Director Seol Hyung-seok yet.”

I thought about lying and saying that everything was revealed and CEO Seol Hyo-seok was arrested to make her confess, but the prosecution doesn’t have much time to keep Seol Hyo-seok as a witness.

Even if I lied like that, it would be revealed soon, so I decided not to do anything that would damage my credibility.

“But since the causal relationship has been fully identified, it will be revealed soon. So, the deal occurred when Jin Su-yong accepted CEO Seol Hyo-seok’s request to kill Executive Director Seol Hyung-seok. But as Jin Su-yong was arrested, the deal was passed on to Mr. Kim Seong-woo.”

“……”

“Mr. Kim Seong-woo instigated Gu So-jeong to inject cephalosporin into Executive Director Seol Hyung-seok and frame Dongjin, right? He probably said that even if Gu So-jeong was reprimanded for that and had to leave the hospital, it wouldn’t matter since you’re getting married anyway.”

“…No, that’s not, that’s not it!”

[Lie]

“Is that so? Then, have you ever heard exactly why Mr. Kim Seong-woo accepted CEO Seol Hyo-seok’s terrible offer?”

“I, I told you, I never did? The Seol Hyung-seok patient’s case was just a mistake caused by Yang Dong-jin giving me the wrong order. What are you even talking about?”

“CEO Seol Hyo-seok promised Kim Seong-woo that he would arrange a marriage with his cousin, Seol Ye-ji, in return. And I heard that both families have met. It must have been a formal meeting between the families, right?”

“……”

“Gu So-jeong was a disposable card from the beginning. Gu So-jeong knows it well. Do you think Mr. Kim Seong-woo would choose Gu So-jeong over Seol Ye-ji, the daughter of a *chaebol*?”

Gu So-jeong bit her lip tightly.

Her hands were trembling.

When I looked at her hands, she put them inside her sleeves as if trying to hide them.

Gu So-jeong probably thought of Kim Seong-woo as a lifeline to escape her terrible poverty.

That’s why she couldn’t refuse Kim Seong-woo’s terrible offer.

If she refused, she would lose her love and the opportunity to escape poverty.

“That can’t be…”

Tears were dripping from Gu So-jeong’s bloodshot eyes.

“How could Seong-woo do this to me…”

She looked down at the photo of Kim Seong-woo with his arm around Seol Ye-ji’s waist.

Tears fell on it, and Gu So-jeong crumpled the photo in her hand.

“If your marriage preparations with Mr. Kim Seong-woo have progressed to the point where you’re looking at dresses, have you had a formal meeting between the families? No, have you even greeted his parents?”

“……”

She couldn’t say anything.

Until I met Gu So-jeong, I had worried about what would happen if Kim Seong-woo chose Gu So-jeong instead of Seol Ye-ji, although the possibility was almost non-existent.

But now I don’t have to worry about that.

Chairman Seol Jeong-ho and the director of Myungdae Hospital met each other and even had a formal meeting between the families, but Gu So-jeong has never even met the director, right?

Perhaps Gu So-jeong was feeling uneasy as the marriage progressed.

Kim Seong-woo wasn’t very affectionate to Gu So-jeong.

Also, I don’t know what excuse he made, but isn’t it strange that she hasn’t greeted his parents even though they’re looking at dresses?

“If Gu So-jeong confesses, I will make sure that she ends up with a suspended sentence. But you’ll have to accept being fired from Myungdae Hospital.”

I had talked to Chief Bae enough before coming to meet Gu So-jeong today.

If Gu So-jeong confesses, he said he would write a letter of no punishment for Gu So-jeong and help her end up with a suspended sentence.

Gu So-jeong committed this terrible act with only her marriage to Kim Seong-woo in mind.

She probably thought that even if she had to leave the hospital because of this incident, she could marry Kim Seong-woo and live as the wife of a doctor.

That’s what Kim Seong-woo would have said.

But the hope of living as the wife of a doctor whose father is the director of a large hospital was just a pipe dream.

Whether she goes this way or that way, all that’s left for Gu So-jeong is the end of her life as a nurse.

That alone would be enough punishment for Gu So-jeong, and Chairman Seol would think that it’s more important to catch Seol Hyo-seok and Kim Seong-woo, who planned the scheme, than Gu So-jeong, who was used as a tool.

And for Gu So-jeong, it would be better to take revenge directly on Kim Seong-woo since she’s already ruined.

Wouldn’t it be a win-win in many ways?

“Think about it carefully and contact me.”

I handed her my business card.

Gu So-jeong looked back and forth between me and the business card with a dazed face before getting out of the car.

As I watched her walk back with weak steps, I clicked my tongue.

The end of a person who tries to gain their own happiness from the misfortune of others is like this.