Chapter 198
Synchronize?
“Brother.”
Yu Geon-min, who was sipping his drink, stared blankly at Park Gyeong-seok as he carefully sat down beside him, then spoke.
“Brother-in-law, what are you doing here?”
“I came because I was worried about you.”
After his wife’s sudden death, Yu Geon-min set aside all his work to investigate the case. He was convinced his wife would not have taken her own life, desperately clinging to the belief that she wouldn’t have left him like that, so he tenaciously pursued the case.
“I just can’t see a way forward... Could it have been an insider?”
“Brother.”
“Maybe if I dig into the information of the servants who quit, something will come up?”
“Brother.”
Park Gyeong-seok cut off his self-deprecating muttering. He had pretended to help while scattering the evidence, fearing Yu Geon-min might get close to the truth, but Yu Geon-min was grateful to Park Gyeong-seok for staying by his side even when everyone else told him to give up.
“Let’s give up now.”
“....”
“We keep searching, but no evidence is turning up, is it? It seems the police are also about to close the case as a suicide.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Yu Geon-min shook his head vehemently, denying it. Lee Hui-seo’s death couldn’t be a suicide. He had to believe someone had murdered her, or he himself would fall apart.
“Brother.”
“I said no....”
“You have to think about the children, too.”
What was Park Gyeong-seok thinking as he tried to stop him? He must have been on edge, knowing that his crime would be perfect only if I quickly backed off.
Using my sons, my greatest weakness, to urge me to give up until the very end... what did he think of me as I collapsed and cried? Did he mock me, thinking, ‘That bastard finally gave up, I was so sick of it’?
“Brother.”
Returning to the present, Yu Geon-min collected himself and looked up. Beside him was Chairman Yu’s eldest son-in-law, Lee Yeong-taek.
“If it’s too difficult, you don’t have to watch....”
“I’m fine.”
Yu Geon-min shook his head slightly. He looked terrible, having gone through so much in just a few days. In fact, everyone in Chairman Yu’s family looked haggard. Through the one-way mirror, he could see Park Gyeong-seok with his head bowed and Chairman Yu taking a seat.
“...Why did you do it?”
Park Gyeong-seok didn’t answer Chairman Yu’s question right away.
A lot had happened in the meantime. The materials Hwang Seung-jun had steadily gathered became the crucial evidence. The data from Min Seong-cheol sealed the deal, and Park Gyeong-won and Yang Hong-sik had confessed to their crimes and were awaiting trial.
“Father, Father-in-law.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Chairman Yu turned his head sharply, as if being called that by Park Gyeong-seok was a disgrace. Park Gyeong-seok lowered his head and let out a dark, sinister laugh.
“I worked hard.”
“....”
“To be acknowledged by you, I... I did so much....”
Park Gyeong-seok had tried. He tried to get in the good graces of Chairman Yu, who disapproved of him. But the Chairman’s contemptuous gaze never faded.
“This is all your fault.”
“Mine?”
“If you hadn’t discriminated against me, none of this would have happened!”
“So you planned a murder over that?!”
Chairman Yu was more generous to his eldest son-in-law, Lee Yeong-taek, than to him. Of course he was; Lee Yeong-taek came from a family of legal professionals.
That’s why he felt a sense of kinship with Lee Hui-seo. She was beneath him, just a pretty face from the entertainment industry, so she would surely be treated no differently than him. He planned to approach her by playing on their shared plight. With a bit of a dark ulterior motive.
[It’s all thanks to our daughter-in-law.]
[Right, I had something to give you. Let’s see... a stake in Juseong Trading....]
But Lee Hui-seo was different. He found it pathetic how they doted on her just for giving birth to a genius grandson. Moreover, the words she casually threw out contained a business sense he had never considered. That’s why Chairman Yu and Park Geum-ju cherished her.
[How about you start your own business while you’re at it?]
The person he thought was beneath him turned out to be a diamond in the rough, and he couldn’t stand watching her succeed and gain recognition. So he killed her and took it all. And then he packaged it as his own achievement.
[By the way, I wonder if our dear CEO knows.]
[The second child saw me. He looks like he’ll be the spitting image of our Hui-seo once he’s a little older.]
His heart sank when he heard Min Seong-cheol’s words. But the only witness couldn’t remember properly due to trauma and had seizures. So he thought the secret would be buried forever. Until he heard the news that Yu Yeon-seo was suddenly debuting in the entertainment industry.
[Yeon-seo, I need to interfere with him.]
[How should I do it?]
[Spread rumors. Malicious ones.]
He ordered them to stop the boy from following in his mother’s footsteps, no matter how extreme the measures. It was an order given out of preemptive fear that he might regain his memories.
After that, he took pleasure in watching her legacy, the one with a face so similar to Lee Hui-seo’s, get trampled by the media.
[It’s been a while.]
[Hello.]
When his nephew, who had been in critical condition after a car accident, miraculously regained consciousness, he had felt a strange sensation. Should he have known then? That Yu Yeon-seo had recovered his memories and was uncovering the truth of the case?
“You’re the one who made a mistake.”
“Yes! That’s why I accepted a man like you as my son-in-law!”
When Chairman Yu first met Park Gyeong-seok, he had read the ugly ambition to use his youngest daughter—the apple of his eye—as a stepping stone for success. But he couldn’t stop it. Because his daughter loved him.
So he treated him even more harshly. ‘I can give my daughter everything, but not you. Getting rid of that hidden ambition inside you comes first.’ He never knew that would turn into poison.
“Accepting you was my biggest mistake! Yes, I admit it!”
“Chairman.”
“But to say it’s my fault? Nonsense!”
“Chairman. Please calm down. It’s not good for your health.”
Park Sang-hyeong, who was standing behind him, whispered to Chairman Yu. But the Chairman, his face and neck flushed red, didn’t stop his furious shouting. He pointed at Park Gyeong-seok and yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Hui-seo, that child died because of you! Because of your rotten inferiority complex! Your sense of inadequacy!”
As the Juseong family’s Cinderella Man, Park Gyeong-seok had gained much more than he ever had in his unremarkable days as an ordinary employee. But he ruined everything. His two grandsons lost their birth mother, and his beautiful youngest daughter collapsed from shock. Even his granddaughter and youngest grandson, who suddenly became the children of a criminal, were holed up at home.
After fuming for a while, Chairman Yu grew exhausted and staggered. Park Sang-hyeong and Baek Seo-jun supported him.
“The divorce with Seon-yeong will be processed. It won’t change, no matter how much you refuse.”
“....”
“You’ll live inside a narrow cage for the rest of your life. I’ll use all my connections and wealth to keep you locked up there forever. Not just you, but your parents and all your relatives! I’ll make you feel like living is hell.”
The collapsed Yu Yeon-seo had yet to wake up. It was Yu Yeon-seo who had started uncovering the truth of Lee Hui-seo’s death. Through Yu Eun-ho, the Chairman had heard the full story of why his two grandsons had rushed out to catch Park Gyeong-seok.
[Why didn’t you tell me! Why did you two handle it on your own...!]
[But, Grandfather... would anything have changed if we told you?]
[That’s...!]
Even Chairman Yu couldn’t say for sure. Carrying the weight of a massive conglomerate like Juseong, his life as ‘Chairman Yu’ had almost always come first.
Would his second son-in-law, whom he knew to be vile but lacking in nerve, have orchestrated such a thing? He would never have even suspected it. Without concrete evidence, he might have even suggested they handle it quietly among themselves.
That incident was a full 24 years ago. He thought everyone would be fine after so much time had passed. He had assumed that his son and grandsons, who shared his blood, weren’t so weak.
Having learned management under such a grandfather, Yu Eun-ho had a vague idea of what his grandfather would think. That’s why he kept it a secret until the very end.
[Yeon-seo... says he sees Mom.]
[What?]
[Just as she was when she passed away. He still recalls the memory of guiding Min Seong-cheol and hears auditory hallucinations telling him it’s his fault. Even though it’s not.]
He said he’d been thinking that way for a long time.
[We had to catch him. We had to put an end to it with our own hands.]
The voice of his eldest grandson, speaking as if forcing out the words, echoed in his ears. Chairman Yu felt a heat rise to his eyes. At least when dealing with those boys, he should have lived not as ‘Chairman Yu’ but simply as their grandfather, Yu Chang-ho. He realized that far too late.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
The weary Chairman left the room without a second thought.
“Hehe....”
Left behind, Park Gyeong-seok chuckled self-deprecatingly before breaking into loud laughter. He looked as if he had completely lost his mind.
Lee Yeong-taek and Yu Geon-min, who had heard everything, silently fell in step behind Chairman Yu.
“...What should we do?”
“You heard everything, didn’t you? Don’t let him off easy.”
“Understood.”
Lee Yeong-taek nodded with a grim face. Chairman Yu then turned to his son, who was wiping away tears.
“Are you alright?”
“...No.”
How could he be? Yu Geon-min squeezed his eyes shut. He felt betrayed by Park Gyeong-seok, and rage welled up inside him. The regret of ‘what if I hadn’t given up then and had investigated the case more tenaciously?’ consumed his thoughts.
“I think... I need to rest.”
“Alright.”
Yu Geon-min headed to the car, supported by his secretary. Chairman Yu let out a small sigh.
Turn on the TV, and it was filled with news about Juseong. Newspaper articles, online communities, and even passersby were all talking about Juseong. The stock price temporarily dropped, and the news spread not only domestically but also abroad.
“Um... Chairman.”
“Hm?”
“Yeon-seo, is he okay?”
Chairman Yu paused and gazed at Baek Seo-jun. The son of the police commissioner and a friend of his eldest grandson. He’d heard the investigation had progressed quickly thanks to Baek Seo-jun’s active help....
“I haven’t been able to contact him, and I heard only family is allowed to visit.”
“...He’ll wake up soon.”
He was sleeping as if dead, but that was for the best. He must have suffered so much; the rest should be left to the adults.
“Right, you’re Eun-ho’s friend?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“My boys... have they been suspicious of that man for a long time?”
Baek Seo-jun wondered how to answer before finally speaking.
“I’m not in a position to say. I just... lent a small hand, that’s all.”
A loyal friend, too. He was starting to like him more and more. He was relieved that his grandson had made such a good friend amidst all the chaos. Chairman Yu patted his shoulder.
“Thank you. Please bear with us a little longer. I’ll have a meal with your father sometime.”
“Take care, sir.”
After Baek Seo-jun saw them off, Chairman Yu and Lee Yeong-taek got into the car. Lee Yeong-taek kept his mouth shut, not wanting to disturb the troubled Chairman.
It was Chairman Yu who broke the silence first.
“...If you have any complaints about me, speak up.”
“Not at all, Father-in-law.”
His way of treating people was a little flawed, but Chairman Yu had still treated him reasonably well as a son-in-law. Besides, killing someone just because you felt a little discriminated against was a separate issue entirely.
“I should probably just retire soon....”
Chairman Yu closed his eyes.
And at that moment, Yu Yeon-seo finally opened his eyes in his hospital bed.
“This... piece of trash body.”
His first words were high praise for his own physical form. He picked up his phone from the small table beside the bed. The battery was dead; it wouldn’t even turn on.
“Beta?”
<Yes, Master.>
“How long has it been this time?”
<One week.>
Pretty long. Is that why my body feels so refreshed? Yu Yeon-seo sat up without difficulty and stretched. Normally, there would have been aftereffects, but his body felt unusually light.
“What happened while I was out?”
<They said they wouldn’t let him get away with it.>
Grandfather? Or Father? Either way, that one phrase was enough. He finally let out a breath, as if relieved.
<...Master.>
“What?”
<The final memory synchronization remains. Would you like to synchronize?>
After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded.
“...Yes.”