Chapter 188
Chapter 188
"I heard you've been buying up shares."
"......Uh...."
As we sat side by side in the reception room drinking tea, the man's words left me momentarily speechless.
Now that he mentioned it, I had done that. I'd put Team Leader Han Ga-ram on it, and since I'd never told her to stop afterward, she was probably still happily buying up shares to this day.
She was someone who genuinely loved moving large sums of money. A person truly devoted to money, so she was probably still thrilled whether the stock went up or down, right?
And if she'd kept buying all this time, we'd certainly built up a meaningful amount by now.
The thing was, I'd originally been accumulating those to rebel against Choi Na-kyung later.
Would it be okay to tell her to wrap it up soon?
"You did well."
But since the response was praise, it seemed I hadn't made any major mistake.
Of course, if this man had malicious intent, it would be a different story. But jumping straight to suspicion was also dangerous.
"Consistently buying back treasury stock has a positive long-term effect on the share price. Large-scale buying like yours is even more effective. Your reputation among the board and shareholders is quite good right now."
Was it?
I'd never actually spoken to anyone from the company, so I wouldn't know. I did know that the shares under Sara's name were the second largest block after Choi Na-kyung's, and that barring Choi Na-kyung deliberately handing things off to someone else, Sara would probably be the next owner of Yujin Group.
Not that we'd likely take an active hand in running the company even if we did end up in that position.
Most children of conglomerate heads supposedly receive training for that kind of thing from a young age, but Sara had never gotten that education. Same went for me, having grown up in an ordinary household.
So, rather than trying to do something ourselves, it'd be wiser to hire competent people and leave it to them separately.
Well...... the hard part was finding those 'competent' people in the first place.
"Is that so?"
Having nothing else to say, I figured I'd at least play along.
The problem was that Sara's so-called uncle sitting across from me looked deeply satisfied.
Was there a reason for me to be pleased with my answer just now?
Honestly, I wanted to consult Su-a...... but the only people in this room were me, this man called Ye In-hyeok who claimed to be Sara's uncle, and my personal maid, Yang Hye-in.
The man had actually wanted to speak with me alone, but honestly, if you asked who I trusted more between someone I'd met for the first time today and Yang Hye-in, I could only answer Yang Hye-in. At the very least, Yang Hye-in was sincerely helping Sara.
Ha-neul, So-hee, and Su-a couldn't come in.
In Su-a's case, she was directly tied to an entirely different company. The man seemed well aware of that fact, and he looked a bit surprised when he saw Su-a's face.
As for So-hee...... I'd had to push hard just to get Yang Hye-in to let her come along, so that couldn't be helped.
And Ha-neul's case was that the dispute instigated by Choi Na-kyung still hadn't been resolved.
......Ah, right. That.
"May I ask one question?"
"Certainly, go ahead. We have plenty of time."
We had plenty of time, but honestly, I wanted to wrap up this uncomfortable meeting as soon as possible.
No kidding.
Sara agreed with her entire consciousness.
In truth, Sara didn't like having this conversation at all...... but information was important. Whether what I heard today was accurate was something I could verify through Yang Hye-in later.
"Choi...... Mother. Would it be possible to know what it was she was pursuing?"
I'd almost called her Choi Na-kyung by name without thinking and quickly corrected myself. For now, the person sitting here was acting on Sara's behalf. Best to use the form of address Sara used.
Sara herself hadn't been using the word 'Mother' lately, but many older adults believe that no matter how horrible the parents, children should still treat them as parents. If this man was connected to the company, we'd be seeing each other many more times. Complicating things with a weird image would be trouble.
Many more times?
And Sara, who always acted boldly but whose true nature was that of an extreme introvert happiest sitting quietly in her room, read my thoughts and balked like that.
......You really do just say whatever pops into your head now.
Can't help it if it's true.
Well, I only said it because we both know well enough that we can bicker like this without genuinely getting angry at each other.
"Hmm......"
The man thought for a moment, then asked in return,
"Did you, by chance, hear about it?"
"I didn't hear about it directly."
Ha-neul still hadn't told me what had happened to her father. She hadn't shown any worrying signs since then......
But if I fell for that, there'd have been no reason for me to watch those game videos a streamer uploaded in my previous life.
Ha-neul was exactly like the game's protagonist. A kid with the kind of personality who'd swallow every bad thing happening to her rather than make her friends worry over nothing.
And if she'd inherited that personality from her parents, Ha-neul's parents might likewise not have told Ha-neul about what happened in the first place.
Jeez, that kid was trouble in so many ways.
Look who's talking.
......Well, when you put it that way, I don't have much to say.
"But from a few pieces of information, I could tell that Mother was...... pressuring some company or person."
Since I didn't know whether she'd pressured Ha-neul's father's company or Ha-neul's father directly, that was how I answered.
"I see."
And fortunately, this man seemed to know what I was talking about.
"That's a relief, then, that you already knew."
But the reply that came back was slightly different from what I'd expected.
"Excuse me?"
When I asked again, somewhat bewildered, the man let out a small sigh and spoke.
"In a way, that incident was what started it all—what led Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung...... your mother, to do those things."
"......Excuse me?"
Once again, I asked with a slightly blank expression.
*
......So, the target Choi Na-kyung had gone after was indeed the company where Ha-neul's father worked.
Ha-neul's father wasn't the company president, but he supposedly held an important, responsible position within the company. Not so critical that the company would collapse without him, just a slightly elevated management role.
And after learning that, Choi Na-kyung had been pressuring the company, which happened to have business ties with Yujin Group.
She seized on all sorts of pretexts, threatened lawsuits, and in the midst of it all, subtly pressured them to push Ha-neul's father out.
It was an act so petty it would make anyone's jaw drop into the stratosphere, but Choi Na-kyung did it without hesitation.
The problem was, Choi Na-kyung had already made a similar misstep before.
Back then, too, she'd tarnished the company's image, and one important supply chain had been completely lost, causing difficulties for Yujin Group in multiple ways.
That time, she'd gotten away with it under the excuse that she'd prioritized the company's interests over personal feelings...... but this time was different. Even if she won, the benefit to the company wasn't that great, and if the issue blew up for no good reason, it could seriously damage their image.
That was why the board of directors had stepped in themselves to pressure Choi Na-kyung, which led to the incident where she exploded, thinking she'd 'give up everything and take just Sara with her.'
......Well, I'd guessed as much when I heard the story from Su-a.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a story straight out of a makjang drama.
Though the creator did say he'd put in those makjang-drama-like elements when he made it.
"So...... in a sense, it's our fault, too. I'm sorry."
When the man offered his apology, directing his graying crown toward me, I quickly waved my hands.
"Ah, no...... it's fine."
Was this calculated, too?
Was Choi Na-kyung's opposition faction deliberately handing me this information to drive a wedge between Sara and Choi Na-kyung?
......Whether it was the former or the latter, it was to Sara's benefit for now.
"So...... did you come here today to tell me this?"
When I asked, the man straightened his back and looked at me directly.
"That is part of it. But there's one more thing to tell you."
"......What's the other thing?"
"Sara."
"Yes?"
When the man made a point of addressing me, sitting right in front of him, by name, I answered with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Your birthday's coming up soon, isn't it."
"It...... is?"
"So I was thinking, how about holding a small celebratory party around that time? You haven't been able to meet your blood relatives all this time because of Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung. How about attending that day, seeing people's faces properly, and exchanging greetings?"
The man wore a kindly smile as he added,
"Ah, and of course you may bring your friends along. It's a gathering to celebrate your birthday, after all. What about bringing the friends who came with you today as well?"
"......Uh...."
How to put it.
I was feeling acutely right now that even when I did nothing at all, things could somehow spiral into this.
"......Yes. I'll think about it."
"I do hope you'll consider it positively."
The man bowed his head toward me once more as he answered.