You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 346

Kim Chan-young said he would book a room at a hotel near the office to meet me there.

Since I hadn’t yet heard the full details of the situation, I couldn’t be certain if the relationship between Kim Hwa-young and Go Sang-jun was truly over.

However, if their relationship could be salvaged, I wanted to advise them to do so, depending on what I learned.

With the second trial fast approaching, we could postpone it, but the quickest way to free Kim Hwa-young was still a confession from the real culprit.

Even if we managed to quickly obtain evidence from that gangster-like gallery employee, a confession would be much faster.

Of course, the appearance of a fake culprit and the disruption it would cause to the investigation was unacceptable to me in principle.

If I were a prosecutor, I wouldn’t even consider it, but I’m a lawyer.

Therefore, to achieve our primary goal of ensuring Kim Hwa-young’s safety, I believed it was right to use even Go Sang-jun, whom I loathed, if necessary.

However, there had to be a reason why Kim Chan-young said it was definitely over.

“I need to tread carefully.”

“Do you think Chan-young will really try to maintain a good relationship with Go Sang-jun? Is that even possible?”

“It’s not impossible.”

“Go Sang-jun is finished with Kim Hwa-young, so how can Chan-young, who is Kim Hwa-young’s son, get along with Go Sang-jun?”

“It’s possible if Chan-young turns against Kim Hwa-young.”

“Do you think Chan-young is capable of that?”

“He might not actually turn against her, but he’ll pretend to. Until Go Sang-jun goes bankrupt.”

“That’ll be tough… Sigh, I don’t know what happened, but it would be good if they could at least get along until the fake culprit confesses…”

When working as a lawyer, we always consider the best-case scenario, the second-best, the worst, and the absolute worst.

We aim for the best, but if that doesn’t work, we go for the second best, and if that doesn’t work, we go for the worst, and if even that doesn’t work, we resort to the absolute worst choice.

We always aim for the best, but sometimes things go awry.

It’s unfortunate, but what can we do?

A lawyer is a professional who must always propose the best option within unpredictable situations.

I stood in front of the hotel room that Kim Chan-young had texted me and rang the doorbell. He came out and looked around.

After confirming that the empty hallway was devoid of even a housekeeping maid, he stepped aside to let me in.

Kim Hwa-young wasn’t in the room.

It seemed Kim Chan-young had come out alone.

“Where’s your mother?”

“I asked my uncle to take care of her.”

“Is your uncle trustworthy?”

“Yes. Not the uncle from Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals, but my other, older uncle. He’s been living alone since my aunt passed away last year, and he cares a lot about my mom. When Mom was an actress, he paid for my uncle’s wedding expenses and my cousins’ tuition. So he thinks of Mom as a benefactor. He’s been going to the hospital with her since her condition worsened.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Sigh… Well… Where should I start?”

Kim Chan-young ran his fingers through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut, looking troubled.

If his relationship with Go Sang-jun had ended so abruptly, it must have been something serious.

“It was when Mom and I went to Taekwang for the briefing.”

After thinking for a long time, Kim Chan-young finally began to speak.

* * *

5 hours ago.

-It’s been a while.

Because Kim Hwa-young extremely disliked being seen by others, the meeting was arranged in the innermost room of Taekwang headquarters.

Kim Hwa-young and Kim Chan-young, who had come up from the underground parking lot in the VIP elevator, avoided encountering anyone except the associate lawyer who came out to greet them until they arrived at the meeting room.

-Hello, Attorney Kim. How have you been?

Kim Hwa-young took off the baseball cap she had pulled down to cover her face and greeted Attorney Kim Yoon-hee.

-Oh, Madam. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? It’s all over now. Rest assured.

-It’s nothing. Thank you.

-Our Chan-young has been through a lot too.

-No, thank you for your hard work.

Perhaps because of Kim Chan-young, who had repeatedly told her to smile and brush off anything unpleasant until the fake culprit confessed and she was completely free, Kim Hwa-young smiled as if she had never had any complaints about the Taekwang lawyers.

-Well, please sit here… How would you like your tea? Would you like coffee like last time?

-No, just juice, please.

-I understand. Chan-young?

-I’ll have coffee.

-Attorney Lee, please prepare juice and coffee for our Madam and Chan-young.

-Yes, I understand.

-We’ll start the briefing when the drinks are ready. Please relax for a moment.

Kim Yoon-hee was one of the founders of Taekwang, but perhaps because of Go Sang-jun’s repeated requests, she came to the meeting room in advance to greet Kim Hwa-young.

Even though preparations weren’t complete, she smiled and looked after Kim Hwa-young, and didn’t forget to take care of Kim Chan-young.

Kim Yoon-hee had acted no differently during the first trial.

Even then, she had smiled gently, worried about Kim Hwa-young, and reassured them by saying that she was preparing diligently and not to worry.

-I’ll see you in 5 minutes.

As soon as Kim Yoon-hee left, Kim Hwa-young wiped the smile off her face.

-Mom, don’t forget what I said. Okay?

-Okay.

Kim Chan-young grabbed Kim Hwa-young’s hand and emphasized it once again.

If the fake culprit case goes well, Cha Joo-han can move on to the next stage.

I don’t know how he’s going to get the evidence from that gangster-like gallery employee, but since it’s his job, there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Kim Chan-young was planning to ask him to get the fake culprit to confess as soon as possible.

Of course, if Kim Yoon-hee received instructions from Go Sang-jun, she would also think that she shouldn’t waste time.

-Hmm?

At that moment, a vibration sound rang out.

Kim Chan-young checked his phone, but there were no notifications.

Then, Kim Hwa-young took out her phone from her handbag.

-Hello?

Kim Hwa-young got up from her seat and went out the door.

It was a habit that Kim Hwa-young had developed since she knew that Kim Chan-young disliked Go Sang-jun.

The person who mainly called her was Go Sang-jun, and she was worried that the sound of the call might leak out and be heard by Kim Chan-young.

[Is this Kim Hwa-young?]

-Yes, this is me. Who is this?

Just as she thought she had heard the voice somewhere before, the other person spoke.

[I don’t know if you remember, but I’m the Umi Gallery employee who went to hang the paintings at Mrs. Jo Yeon-dong’s house.]

-Ah, yes. What’s going on?

[Well, I thought you seemed a little unstable, so I talked to your son. But your son hasn’t said anything yet, so I’m calling to check if things are going well.]

-What are you talking about?

[Huh? I told your son about the real culprit and the evidence. Don’t you know?]

-Ah, I heard about it. If you’re going to talk about that, I’m hanging up. Where are you trying to scam me from?

[Scam? Haha, does your son say it’s a scam?]

-I know you’re trying to scam us out of money. It won’t change anything if you do that to me. I’m hanging up.

[Haha, geez… Your son is a fox, a fox.]

Kim Hwa-young, who was about to hang up, grabbed the phone again at the insulting words towards Kim Chan-young.

-What did you say just now?

[I showed your son the evidence photos, and your son admitted it too. Of course, as you said, I needed some money, so I asked for a favor. After all, I’m handing over evidence that Go Sang-jun’s two sons killed someone, so Go Sang-jun wouldn’t leave me alone…]

-What? Go Sang-jun’s two sons killed someone?

At the unexpected words, Kim Hwa-young interrupted the gallery employee and asked.

She hadn’t heard such a thing from Kim Chan-young.

The gallery employee pointed to someone among An-ga’s employees as the real culprit and showed a photo of that employee with the bleeding and collapsed butler.

However, when she checked, the photo was so obviously photoshopped that she threatened to leave if he was going to play with people’s anxious minds like this.

But where did Go Yoon-ho and Go Yoon-seok suddenly come from?

[Ah… You didn’t know? Your son didn’t say anything? I’m going crazy, really. Hahaha.]

-Hey, tell me in detail. Whose son?

[Go Yoon-ho and Go Yoon-seok. They were assaulting the butler, and the butler hit his head on a landscaping stone and died? You really didn’t know anything? I even showed your son that photo.]

-……That can’t be.

[I had to run away, so I asked for a high amount, and you didn’t give me an answer because you were worried. So I contacted you… Oh, I’m glad I contacted you. If I hadn’t contacted you, I would have kept waiting like an idiot, and you wouldn’t have known anything either. Right?]

The gallery employee said in a voice mixed with laughter.

With a feeling that her heart was plummeting, it started beating like crazy.

Kim Hwa-young put her hand on her chest, thinking that her heart might burst from beating too fast.

-How can I believe your words? My son didn’t say anything like that…

[Ask your son. Your son will know better. I even made a deal with him. I said I’d give you the evidence if you gave me the deposit first, but he said he couldn’t give it to me because he was afraid I’d take the money and run. Anyway, you might be acquitted in the second trial, so it’s not urgent. Your son is a complete fox, a fox.]

Kim Hwa-young covered her mouth with her trembling hands.

In her head, only the words Go Sang-jun had said to her since the incident, the expressions he had made in front of her, and his gestures came to mind.

He knew everything, but he wouldn’t be passing all the responsibility on to me, would he?

She hadn’t even mentioned Go Sang-jun during the investigation, in case it would harm him.

Even when the police made sarcastic remarks like, ‘Kim Hwa-young, you’ve made a lot of money,’ she kept her mouth shut.

Go Sang-jun said that only one employee was caught on CCTV, and that he seemed to be the real culprit, but he couldn’t find him no matter how hard he searched.

But after hearing what her son and Cha Joo-han said, that employee couldn’t be the culprit.

So she doubted again whether Go Sang-jun was really telling the truth.

But every time, she tried to believe Go Sang-jun, remembering the words he had said to her.

Go Sang-jun definitely did…

You can tell by the expression on his face when he speaks.

It was all sincere.

He said he was sorry for making her go through such a hard time because of him, and that if she just trusted him, he would solve everything.

He said that you are the only person he loves, and that he regrets not meeting you from the beginning, and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you when he retires from the front lines…

-Does, does that person know too?

[Who are you talking about?]

-Go Sang-jun… Does Go Sang-jun know! About Go Yoon-ho and Go Yoon-seok killing him, does he know!

[Are you yelling into a megaphone…]

-Answer me! Answer me! Does that person know? Does he know!

Kim Hwa-young shouted desperately, as if her throat would tear.

The silence of those few seconds until the gallery employee answered drove her crazy.

In that fleeting moment, dozens of thoughts flashed through her mind quickly.

-Mom!

And then, Kim Chan-young, who heard Kim Hwa-young’s voice, ran out of the room.

[You know. It’ll be on CCTV.]

-He said it wasn’t on CCTV…