A brief, heavy silence passed.

After deep contemplation, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Please don’t send me any materials related to the chairman’s office. I won’t look at them.”

Providing the documents while knowing it would hurt Cheonha Group, which she so desperately wanted to protect, would be too painful for Lee Je Guk.

Ha In judged that with a shred of conscience, it was right not to go that far.

“Why is that?”

Lee Je Guk couldn’t understand why Ha In was reacting this way.

She should have wanted the chairman’s office materials more than anyone else.

“If I’m going to find them, I’ll find them with my own hands. You should avoid anything that would hurt Cheonha Group.”

Lee Je Guk understood what Ha In meant.

It meant that if evidence related to the case came out of the chairman’s office, Cheonha Group would be hurt.

It wasn’t very strange for Hyun Baek Hap and Lee Hoe Jang, who were at each other’s throats, to share the same fate.

The price would affect Cheonha Group, and that would be left for Lee Je Guk to bear.

Ha In did not forget the promise she made with Lee Je Guk.

Her will to minimize the impact on Cheonha Group while proceeding with the investigation remained the same.

However, with corruption emerging the deeper they dug, it was unknown how far the situation would spread.

Ha In looked at Lee Je Guk with a worried expression.

“Has your relationship with Chairman Lee turned sour?”

Lee Je Guk’s relationship with Chairman Lee had soured long ago.

“Isn’t this what you wanted, Prosecutor Cheon Ha In?”

At Lee Je Guk’s direct expression, Ha In was at a loss for words. Lee Je Guk, feeling impatient, took another sip of tea.

“I feel sorry.”

Ha In spoke heavily.

“Is it the guilt of opening Pandora’s box or something like that?”

Ha In just slowly blinked her eyes without a word again.

“I’m not someone who wavers at someone’s words. I saw, experienced, and judged for myself.”

“No, it’s not like that.”

“If it’s not like that, then what is it?”

“Am I not using you, Director?”

Lee Je Guk also knew that Ha In had tried to use him. But Lee Je Guk was no fool.

Even if it was a 51% ratio, it was the attitude of a businessman to take action if it was profitable.

“You think you used me, but I’m neither idle enough nor pure enough to be used by someone.”

Ha In lost her words and only glanced back and forth. From the beginning, she knew he wasn’t an easy opponent, but she was curious about his true intentions in saying these things.

Even if he was with her under thorough calculation, she had nothing to say to him. From the start, they didn’t begin this to share their hearts.

“You will never suffer a loss. If I thought Prosecutor Cheon Ha In was someone who would dither, I wouldn’t have joined you in the first place.”

They had a common goal of eliminating Hyun Baek Hap. As long as that happened, it wasn’t 51%, but 100%.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Ha In looked straight at Lee Je Guk. Lee Je Guk knew it was the timing to speak his honest feelings.

“Still, I had hoped that my father would not be involved in this until the very end.”

It didn’t go as he wished. Lee Je Guk fell silent for a moment, cutting his words short.

Ha In also calmly thought for a moment. It was always an uncomfortable fact that the target to be brought down was someone’s one and only father.

“Hyun Baek Hap and Chairman Lee should be at odds as much as possible. The best case would be if Chairman Lee doesn’t know what Hyun Baek Hap has done. After everything has happened, he should find out then. That way, wouldn’t he be exempt even a little bit?”

Lee Je Guk knew well that Chairman Lee was a person who had no blood or tears in front of money. He thought it would be no exception in his relationship with Hyun Baek Hap. But even that belief was being shaken.

If it were before, he would have claimed Chairman Lee’s innocence, but now even that was difficult.

“Hoo…”

Lee Je Guk unintentionally let out a sigh, revealing his frustration.

He tried to pull Chairman Lee out of the quagmire, but it only felt like they were drifting apart.

Lee Je Guk got up from his seat, feeling like his weak heart would keep seeping out.

“Please continue the investigation well in the future as well, Prosecutor Cheon Ha In.”

Ha In’s gaze also followed Lee Je Guk up and then she soon rose to her feet.

“The tea was good too.”

Lee Je Guk abruptly left Ha In’s house.

His head was complicated the whole way home. He could only hope that Chairman Lee’s corruption would not be in the contents reported by the secretary’s office.

If only that happened, there would be no need to deliberately filter the information given to Ha In, and the reason for his current frustration would be clearly resolved.

Lee Je Guk drove around in a detour, avoiding the straight path home. The night when everyone was asleep made Lee Je Guk feel more suffocated and lonely.

It was even more bitter that there was no one to talk openly with about the matter on which the future of Cheonha Group depended.

* * *

Ha In felt uneasy after seeing Lee Je Guk’s lonely back. She especially wanted to take care of him today.

Suddenly, she shifted her gaze to where he had been.

The seat he had abruptly gotten up and left was neatly arranged.

He had even left the documents he was looking at tidily, not just leaving them in any way. Even the house slippers he had left behind were orderly.

Although his appearance was different, she thought that tormenting oneself was the same for both her and Lee Je Guk.

His image floated around in Ha In’s mind. The wound that burst at the end of his lips seemed to stab into Ha In’s heart.

The desire to take care of him kept welling up.

Was she the kind of person to keep someone in her heart and worry about them like this?

Ha In felt so unfamiliar with herself.

– Did you arrive well?

After agonizing and writing and erasing the text message several times, she pressed the send button. Even after pressing it herself, her face turned red.

Late at night, she sent him a text message under the pretext of checking on him.

It was nosiness she only allowed herself until his wound healed.

Putting down her cell phone, she looked over the documents she had shown Lee Je Guk once again. But strangely, her attention kept being drawn to her cell phone.

She felt like she would only be at ease after receiving a reply.

She wasn’t originally the type to care about staying in touch.

There was no family to contact and no one to check on her well-being. But she felt unfamiliar with herself, waiting for someone’s text.

Although her eyes were on the documents, all her attention was focused on her cell phone.

A short text tone rang out with a “ding”.

Ha In reflexively picked up her cell phone.

– Yes, I arrived well. Good night.

Even though she felt relieved, there was nothing suitable to continue the conversation he had ended.

Ha In wiggled her thumb a few times, then put down her cell phone and focused on the documents again.

* * *

Lee Je Guk, who went to work after staying up all night, expected the day to be tiring.

But when he saw the documents on his desk, he felt a chill down his spine.

It was a document Lee Je Guk was seeing for the first time.

It would be a lie to say he remembered everything because he had to approve so many things.

But he was roughly aware of the project promotion plans.

Cheonha Group had numerous subcontractors under its umbrella, and among them, there were about 10 small-scale factories.

Hyun Baek Hap was the manager there, and billions of won were being paid to those companies every month.

From there, the approval of executives, including Lee Je Guk, was required, so it was presumed to be for that reason.

The sound of flipping papers became a little rougher. He had to check who approved it.

Please, he desperately hoped it wasn’t Chairman Lee. At the same time, he knew he was harboring a foolish wish.

If not Lee Je Guk, there was no one who could pass this budget except Chairman Lee.

But as if mocking Lee Je Guk’s earnestness, Chairman Lee’s seal was brazenly stamped there.

Lee Je Guk didn’t want to believe it.

Chairman Lee was not on Lee Je Guk’s side, nor was he a businessman for the company. He was furious at the time he had been deceived.

If it turned out like this, would Hyun Baek Hap’s actions be considered legally using company money rather than embezzlement?

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and the secretary entered. Lee Je Guk, with a headache, raised his head, putting his hand on his forehead.

“Director.”

The secretary’s expression was not good. He called Lee Je Guk but said nothing.

Lee Je Guk lowered his hand from his forehead and calmly looked at the secretary.

“Yes, go ahead and speak.”

Even when told to speak, the secretary hesitated and couldn’t easily bring up the topic.

“Is there something going on?”

It was like a war zone where you never knew when or where a time bomb would drop.

“Well, the Chairman has proposed a motion to dismiss the CEO.”

“Ah, I see.”

Lee Je Guk gave a dry answer, feeling like he had been hit hard on the back of the head, and organized his thoughts.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what the secretary was saying. He just wondered what kind of situation this was.

Lee Je Guk, who had given up, didn’t ask again or tell him to double-check.

If he accepted that Chairman Lee had no paternal love for his son, that was the end of it.

“The Chairman said if you apologize for the previous incident, he will act as if it never happened.”

The story the secretary cautiously conveyed rather served as a reason why Lee Je Guk didn’t want to apologize.

“I guess Hyun Baek Hap’s tail is better than mine.”

Chairman Lee chose Hyun Baek Hap, not Lee Je Guk. Lee Je Guk remained silent for a moment to suppress his rising anger.

“What should we do… Director?”

The secretary spoke, gauging Lee Je Guk’s reaction.

“What can we do?”

Lee Je Guk got up from his seat. And he looked at his wristwatch.

“I have to attend the meeting.”

Lee Je Guk had no intention of putting up any struggle.

He didn’t want to forcibly hold onto his position.

He had pride in what he had achieved so far.

There wasn’t a single day when he had led Cheonha Group carelessly.

Just looking at the title of the next-generation businessman recognized by the world, it was evident. Nevertheless, if he was told to step down, he would step down.

He judged that he should behave as usual, as he always did, and wait for the vote on the dismissal motion.

Instead, if he didn’t lose in this vote, Chairman Lee and Hyun Baek Hap would have to be prepared to face the backlash.