You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 332

“What was your relationship with Yoon Seong-hee like? According to your son, it seems Yoon Seong-hee and her children knew about you and your son.”

Kim Hwa-young took a shaky breath and fanned her face.

Kim Chan-young brought her a tissue from the hotel bathroom, and Kim Hwa-young wiped away her tears, saying,

“I know. …How could I not? When I first got pregnant with Chan-young, I went to their house and made a scene.”

Kang Min-jae, who had brought three cups of tea and placed them on the table, looked at her with a bewildered expression.

*If she went to their house and made a scene when she was pregnant with Kim Chan-young, there’s a high probability that the pregnancy wasn’t her choice.*

“You may or may not know, but I was a top actress back then, and he was the vice president. It was a long time ago. I met the wrong agency head back then, and I was being forced into sexual favors, with my weakness being held against me.”

As Kim Hwa-young spoke with difficulty, Kim Chan-young patted her shoulder.

It seemed that Kim Chan-young already knew this.

*Since adultery is not established if the spouse did not encourage it, I thought she was also at fault as the other woman.*

Even when Kim Chan-young spoke of her as a one-sided victim, I thought it was just because she was her mother and couldn’t judge objectively.

But if there was such a story, the situation changes.

“Then Chan-young came along, and I found out about it later. Chan-young… this poor child, was hiding inside me. Until the very end, holding her breath…”

*It seems she’s talking about pregnancy denial.*

Pregnancy denial involves symptoms that are hard to believe just by hearing about them.

Even while pregnant, there are periods until the due date, and the belly doesn’t swell.

Sometimes, there are cases where teenagers suddenly give birth after feeling the urge to defecate and going to the bathroom, leading to panic and infanticide.

Fortunately, Kim Hwa-young seems to have found out about Kim Chan-young’s existence before giving birth.

“My baby, my poor baby…”

Kim Hwa-young hugged Kim Chan-young and shed tears.

“Chan-young, are you okay with hearing this?”

Kang Min-jae said, looking at Kim Chan-young, who was comforting her mother with a sigh.

“There’s nothing I don’t know. Go Sang-jun told me directly. Go Sang-jun told Mom to erase me, and Mom went all the way to their house to make a scene to protect me. He said it would have been a waste if I had been erased back then. Isn’t it ridiculous?”

Kim Chan-young said with a sneer.

Whether Go Sang-jun said it sober or drunk, I think it would have been a very violent story for Kim Chan-young.

“When I broke into their house, I saw all their children. Yoon Seong-hee collapsed at the news that her husband had a child outside. And I cried there too, and eventually my water broke. So I went straight to the hospital… and Chan-young was born.”

I’ve seen cases where chaebols [large Korean conglomerates] openly kept mistresses and illegitimate children, but I thought Go Sang-jun would have hidden it as much as possible, so I wondered why even the main family members knew about it.

If there were such circumstances, the main family’s children would have been surprised.

I don’t really want to sympathize, but it must have been quite a shock to Go Sang-jun’s children as well.

The story about the original sin he mentioned also seems to be due to this incident.

“Yoon Seong-hee tried to send me and Chan-young abroad. I think she was planning to sell me to a brothel and send Chan-young abroad for adoption. Fortunately, Go Sang-jun found out first and saved me… After that, he kept wanting to meet me, and I didn’t want to… but I felt like Yoon Seong-hee would try to kill me at any time if I didn’t get his help. So, I lived as he told me to. I’ve been living only looking at him until now…”

Kim Hwa-young took a slow breath and tried to stop crying.

“And… most of all, about ten days before the butler disappeared, Yoon Seong-hee barged into the hideout.”

“Mom! Why didn’t you tell me!”

Kim Chan-young shouted, and Kim Hwa-young trembled, looking shrunken.

“…I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

“Ha, seriously… How long is that woman going to be so desperate to get rid of Mom? It’s her husband’s fault for not managing things properly; how long is she going to keep doing this!”

“Chan-young.”

As Kang Min-jae calmed Kim Chan-young, Kim Chan-young couldn’t control her anger and stood up abruptly.

She headed to the window, holding her forehead and sighing as if frustrated.

“I guess she didn’t know that I had a luxurious mansion under my name, and that we were having secret meetings there. So she came there, turned everything upside down, and beat me…”

“If the incident happened ten days before the incident, it’s reasonable to suspect Yoon Seong-hee.”

The relationship between the legal wife and the mistress can’t be good, but I didn’t know it would be this bad.

And the incident with Yoon Seong-hee that Kim Hwa-young mentioned also seems to be something Kim Chan-young knew about from before, except for the recent overturning of the hideout, so it’s hard to see it as a distorted perception.

In this situation, it’s understandable that Kim Hwa-young suspects Yoon Seong-hee.

If Yoon Seong-hee wanted to get rid of Kim Hwa-young that much, it’s possible that she framed Kim Hwa-young as the murderer.

If Yoon Seong-hee did it, Go Sang-jun, who checked the CCTV, would have noticed.

He might have gotten a confession from Yoon Seong-hee based on this.

So he couldn’t present Yoon Seong-hee as the real culprit and didn’t tell Kim Hwa-young about it.

But there are still questions.

First, why did Go Sang-jun leave the CCTV footage of Kim Hwa-young entering the hideout?

Second, why didn’t he remove the body?

“…Lawyer.”

Kim Chan-young, who was looking out the window, turned to me and said.

“Yoon Seong-hee might have deliberately left the CCTV of Mom entering the house and put the body back. I’ve been thinking about it assuming Yoon Seong-hee is the culprit, and it doesn’t make sense otherwise. Go Sang-jun bribed the person in charge of the CCTV and body disposal to do such a thing and deliberately framed Mom as the butler’s murderer.”

If what Kim Chan-young said is true, it certainly fits.

And if this is true, Go Sang-jun has no reason not to help Kim Hwa-young.

The incident happened in his house.

He can control all the CCTV, and there are many people in that house whom he can present as a fake culprit.

Since there are already many people residing there, it wouldn’t be difficult to recruit one of them.

If she lied about being the only one at home at the time because she was afraid of being framed, everything is resolved.

Was Go Sang-jun thinking the same thing?

As I expected, he hadn’t prepared a fake culprit by the first trial, so he was planning to give a fake culprit at the second trial and save Kim Hwa-young?

“Madam.”

After thinking carefully, I opened my mouth.

“…Yes.”

“What is the situation you want the most? Is it for you to clear your name, or for the real culprit to be revealed? That real culprit may not be Yoon Seong-hee. Of course, Yoon Seong-hee is the most suspicious right now, but we have to think about the worst-case scenario.”

At my question, Kim Hwa-young looked at Kim Chan-young.

Maybe she can’t think of what she wants herself.

Or even if she does, she wants to do whatever her son wants the most.

“You have to say what you want the most.”

“Mom, do what you want. I don’t care.”

Kim Chan-young said, sitting on the armrest where Kim Hwa-young’s arm was resting.

Then Kim Hwa-young began to bite her lip.

She seemed to feel anxious.

“I…”

If Yoon Seong-hee is the real culprit, it would be a good opportunity for me if I could reveal it.

I was wondering where to start poking around Wooshin, and if I could touch Go Sang-jun’s wife, there would be nothing better than this.

I hate the fake culprit being punished for a crime they didn’t commit, and I hate the real culprit hiding behind them.

But this is Kim Hwa-young’s case.

I can’t drive it as I want, and I shouldn’t drive it.

“I… I don’t want to be a murderer.”

Kim Hwa-young said, closing her eyes tightly.

The answer is out here.

In this situation, it’s better to leave it to Go Sang-jun until at least the second trial.

Even if Go Sang-jun has no intention of saving Kim Hwa-young, and nothing comes out even at the second trial, there’s still a way.

Listening to Kim Hwa-young, it seems she still needs Go Sang-jun.

I want to tell her to get away from him, but unfortunately, I can’t take responsibility for her, so I shouldn’t say anything rash.

“Madam, if Yoon Seong-hee is the culprit, Go Sang-jun will help you. Like he told your son, he’ll even put up a fake culprit. It won’t be difficult for Go Sang-jun to put up a fake culprit. The probability of failure is the lowest.

But I can’t make a fake culprit. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I will either find the real culprit who killed Park Sang-eun, or prove that you didn’t kill Park Sang-eun and prove your innocence. But this method has a possibility of failure.”

“…Lawyer, are you saying you’re giving up on the case?”

Kim Chan-young asked, widening her eyes.

“I want to take it. Chan-young, you know that.”

“Then why are you saying that?”

“I’m talking about the way to achieve what the client wants most, rather than my own greed.”

“…What if, what if Yoon Seong-hee isn’t the culprit! No, even if Yoon Seong-hee is the culprit, what if Go Sang-jun has no intention of saving Mom!”

“Whether it’s the third trial, the appeal, or the next one, I can take it from then on.”

Kim Chan-young looked at me as if she had lost her words.

“If we appeal, Mom has to go to jail. She has to be tried in jail!”

“But if I take the case from now on, Go Sang-jun might be stimulated. He might even drive Mom to her death.”

“Still…”

“If an appeal is needed, I’ll write the appeal brief. Not all defendants have to go through the appeal in custody. You can get bail [temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial, sometimes subject to conditions such as the lodging of a sum of money as guarantee].”

“…Lawyer.”

“I’m talking for Mom’s sake right now. I wouldn’t say this if I wanted to do it according to my greed. Do you think it’s difficult for me to elicit the reaction I want?”

Kim Chan-young tried to say something but soon closed her mouth.

She seemed to want to end the situation in the first trial without going to the appeal, thinking about Kim Hwa-young’s mental health.

I also think that’s the best, but it doesn’t mean everything will be solved just because I take the case.

Just because I haven’t failed so far doesn’t mean I won’t fail in the future.

It’s not that I don’t have confidence, but I have to think realistically because it’s someone else’s life at stake.

Even if I don’t like it, I can’t recklessly step in and say I’ll solve it in a situation where there’s nothing.

Even if I don’t take the case, I’m going to find out who the real culprit who killed the butler is on a personal level.

Then, when I find the real culprit, I can check the will of Kim Chan-young and Kim Hwa-young and join in.

“I’m too anxious to leave Mom’s future to Go Sang-jun. I, I can’t see through that human being. He says he wants to save Mom a hundred or a thousand times, but I don’t know what he’s thinking inside!”

Kim Chan-young shouted.

And then, suddenly, a not-so-bad trick flashed through my head.

“If you can know Go Sang-jun’s thoughts, would it be okay then?”