“Mr. Ki, I apologize. This person is not in their right mind right now due to excitement. We actually came to apologize.”

Oh Sung Jin, overwhelmed by Dae Un’s momentum, lowered himself even more.

“Go ahead and do it.”

“Pardon?”

“The apology! You said you came to apologize.”

Dae Un casually draped his arm over the back of the sofa.

“Ah, not you, madam. You’re an accomplice. You don’t apologize, just face the judgment of the law.”

“Accomplice? What do you mean accomplice!”

A flustered Shin Myeong Hwa asked as if it made no sense.

Now Oh Sung Jin and Shin Myeong Hwa’s attention shifted from Dae Un’s thug-like attitude to his intentions.

“I told you to sit down. Well, if you want to listen standing up, suit yourself.”

Shin Myeong Hwa and Oh Sung Jin robotically did as they were told.

“The car used in the crime, the villa used in the crime, they’re all yours, madam. When people thought I was in India, I was actually hiding in a hotel owned by Pyeongan Group, which Oh Myeong Se used like his own home. I was watching Oh Myeong Se. But on the day of the crime, Oh Myeong Se shook off me and my bodyguards who were watching him and slipped out of the hotel.”

This was news to Ga Eul as well. She and the boss had been avoiding mentioning that day’s events until now. She had been planning to ask properly when the boss returned, but now she was hearing it.

“How was that possible? Of course, there was help from an accomplice. A hotel maid smuggled Oh Myeong Se out hidden in a laundry cart. That maid confessed. Said Mrs. Shin Myeong Hwa ordered her to do it.”

Ga Eul glanced at Shin Myeong Hwa. Her face had turned as white as a sheet. Beside her, Oh Sung Jin was looking at his wife’s face with a dazed expression.

“Don’t distort things. Myeong Se said someone was watching him, and he was anxious, so he needed to secretly leave the hotel. I just told the maid to help Myeong Se.”

“I see. So you lent him the car and the crime scene too. The car Oh Myeong Se left the hotel in that day was owned by you, Mrs. Shin. That’s why my bodyguards who were only watching Oh Myeong Se’s car believed he was still in the hotel.”

“……”

“I wondered where he went in that car, and it turns out he went to a villa owned by you, Mrs. Shin. That’s where Han Ga Eul and the bodyguard were being held captive.”

“I, I didn’t know. I didn’t know Myeong Se would use that place like that.”

“That excuse doesn’t work when that place was used as Oh Myeong Se’s crime scene for too long, madam. Have you heard, Mr. Oh Sung Jin, that the ones who set fire to my convenience store were laborers from Pyeongan Construction? Is this a family crime syndicate or what?”

“Ki Dae Un, watch your words! I’m holding back only out of respect for Chairman Ki of Shinhwa Group. If you keep this up, I won’t hold back anymore!”

“Oh my, how scary. Madam, are you going to hit me too? Then don’t hold back, go ahead and hit me. What pose should I take to get hit? What pose would look best on CCTV?”

Dae Un’s mockery was so irritating that even Ga Eul, who was watching, felt like slapping him a few times.

“Han Ga Eul, you’ll sue too, right? What happened to you earlier should have been well captured. Let’s spread it nicely in the media. Oh Myeong Se kidnaps and his mother assaults.”

Sensing that things were heading in an irreparable direction, President Oh Sung Jin stood up and bowed to Ki Dae Un.

“Mr. Ki, I’m sorry. This person is not in their right mind because of Myeong Se. We’ll apologize formally later.”

“I’m not the one who needs an apology though.”

Dae Un nodded his chin towards Ga Eul.

“Ga Eul, I’m sorry. I’m too ashamed to face you. I raised my son wrong. We’ll leave for today and talk again when things are calmer.”

President Oh bowed to Ga Eul as well. With President Oh bowing to her, Ga Eul had nothing more to say. Not that she would cover up Oh Myeong Se’s crimes though.

As Oh Sung Jin was about to leave with Shin Myeong Hwa, Dae Un called out to Oh Sung Jin.

“President Oh, you’re in quite a pitiful situation. Have a seat. As an apology for my rude behavior, I’ll give you a valuable tip. You listen well too, madam.”

Still acting like a hooligan towards Shin Myeong Hwa, Dae Un arrogantly raised his chin.

“Find the person who instigated Oh Myeong Se to commit the crime. Oh Myeong Se’s enemy is inside Pyeongan Group.”

Oh Sung Jin and his wife looked at Dae Un as if they didn’t understand what he was saying.

“Let’s be honest. Do you really believe Oh Myeong Se planned and controlled every step of this crime? Is Oh Myeong Se that meticulous and thorough a person? I watched the entire process of the crime from the hotel. Because reports were coming to me in real-time.”

Only then did Oh Sung Jin and Shin Myeong Hwa start to listen seriously to Dae Un’s words.

“First, a report came in that someone had set fire to my convenience store. It seems that was done to disperse the security team. Next, Ga Eul was kidnapped. Originally, two bodyguards were supposed to guard Ga Eul, but that morning one bodyguard called in sick. There was no replacement.”

Ga Eul knew about that too, having heard it from Jung Mi O.

“When I found out Ga Eul had been kidnapped, I checked if Oh Myeong Se was in his hotel room. They said he hadn’t left the hotel since coming up from the nightclub at dawn. I also checked on Oh Myeong Se’s gang who had attacked my office. I received a report that they were staying home. At that time, they were actually on their way to Mrs. Shin’s villa with the kidnapped Ga Eul.”

Dae Un paused and looked at Oh Sung Jin and his wife as if asking what they thought.

“As Oh Myeong Se’s parents, tell me. After hearing all this, do you really think Oh Myeong Se came up with all those plans, prepared, and executed them?”

“Then, someone to Myeong Se……”

“Could Oh Myeong Se have bribed the bodyguards with his own power? Would the bodyguards have been bribed just with money? They could potentially never work in that industry again if things went wrong. Is Oh Myeong Se someone the bodyguards would trust enough to risk their futures?”

“Who on earth instigated Myeong Se to commit this crime?”

“That’s something you should think about yourself.”

“Please, Mr. Ki, tell us.”

“I returned from India today, you know. I had nothing to do for 7 hours on the plane, so I did some thinking.”

Ki Dae Un tapped his temple with his finger. To Ga Eul, it seemed like he was deliberately dragging out the time. To build up Oh Sung Jin and his wife’s anticipation.

“Oh Myeong Se’s plan was originally destined to fail. Even if he thought he was being clever, his opponent was Ki Dae Un after all.”

“Pfft!”

A puff of air escaped Ga Eul’s mouth. Ga Eul lowered her head, receiving glares from all three people.

“Oh Myeong Se committed his crime with many people watching. Even if the crime succeeded, it was only a matter of time before he was caught, wasn’t it? So Oh Myeong Se’s downfall was predetermined. Only an idiot like Oh Myeong Se didn’t realize that.”

Oh Sung Jin let out a sigh. Shin Myeong Hwa started dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Shall I tell you one more scary thing?”

He’s getting excited, he’s really getting into it. Ga Eul, watching from the side, inwardly sneered. Unaware of this, Dae Un lowered his voice.

“The instigator led me and the police to Mrs. Shin’s villa. Knowing that we would track Oh Myeong Se. Oh Myeong Se went to his crime scene with a tail. In the end, he led me and the police to the sexual assault evidence in the villa’s basement with his own feet.”

Oh Sung Jin and Shin Myeong Hwa were completely dumbfounded.

“So the person who instigated Myeong Se……”

“I’m disappointed, President. To think I have to spoon-feed you like this. First, someone who would know that Oh Myeong Se was preparing to commit a crime against me and Han Ga Eul. Second, someone who would know about the sexual assault evidence video in Mrs. Shin’s villa basement. Third, someone with enough money and power to bribe a security company. Who could it be?”

“They would need to be close to Myeong Se. It could be someone from the family.”

“Fourth, someone who wants to get rid of Oh Myeong Se. Who would benefit most if Oh Myeong Se disappeared?”

“Oh Sung Bin!”

Shin Myeong Hwa, who had been called ‘madam’ by Dae Un until just now, answered confidently. Ga Eul thought that if she weren’t the victim, Shin Myeong Hwa would have pointed to ‘Han Ga Eul’ first.

“There’s one more person.”

“There’s more?”

Oh Sung Jin showed his limitations. Dae Un didn’t miss the chance to point it out.

“Fifth, someone who can exert influence on Oh Myeong Se to carry out the plan they’ve set up! But is Oh Sung Bin such a person? Would Oh Myeong Se, the son of Chairman Oh’s mistress and in competition with Oh Sung Bin, have committed a crime after listening to Oh Sung Bin?”

“Then, who on earth could it be? Someone Myeong Se trusts and follows.”

“Isn’t there Park Kyu Jae, Oh Myeong Hui’s husband?”

“What? How could Brother-in-law Park… Isn’t Brother-in-law Park just Myeong Se’s brother-in-law?”

“Mr. Oh, is there anyone else besides Park Kyu Jae who perfectly fits the five conditions I just mentioned?”

“Oh… my… god… Brother-in-law Park……”

Ga Eul witnessed that a person’s face could indeed turn pale. The two people with pale faces stood up from their seats, barely managing a perfunctory greeting before staggering out of the office.

They must feel like they’ve lost both their son and son-in-law at once.

Ki Dae Un watched this with a triumphant grin.

“Boss, do you really think Park Kyu Jae instigated Oh Myeong Se? Those two seem to have become convinced. What if Park Kyu Jae didn’t manipulate Oh Myeong Se? What if someone else did it, or if Oh Myeong Se planned all of this on his own?”

“Who knows.”

Dae Un blurted out, still grinning.

“Pardon?”

“Do I have any reason to help those two? What’s important isn’t what the truth is. What’s important is what those two believe. Anyway, I’ve achieved my goal. I’ve sown the seeds of internal strife. Those two will now grind their teeth at the mention of Park Kyu Jae. In other words, there’s no chance they’ll join hands with Ji Hong now.”

“That’s too irresponsible, isn’t it?”

“Who said to believe my words? It’s up to them whether to believe or not. Think about it, what would happen if Oh Sung Jin and Shin Myeong Hwa mobilized even Ji Hong Group’s power to save Oh Myeong Se? I just wanted to cut off that possibility. As long as they suspect Park Kyu Jae, they won’t seek help from Ji Hong.”

At that moment, Ga Eul made a decision. Not to become enemies with the boss.

Dae Un was thinking of going up to the second floor to look for the SD card Ga Eul had been watching.

“Did you get back the laptop and SD card that the police took?”

So he asked, pretending not to know even though he knew they had been returned.

“Yes, I got them back.”

Ga Eul replied formally as she opened her desk drawer. Then she took out an envelope with ‘Law Firm APEC’ printed on it.

Dae Un reached out to take it. Ga Eul also held out the envelope to him. But as if she had a change of heart midway, she pulled back the envelope and said,

“Boss, you said you had something to tell me when you got back from India, right? Can’t you tell me that now? I want to hear it now.”

After finishing her words, Ga Eul stared directly at Dae Un. Meeting Ga Eul’s eyes head-on, Dae Un tensed up. He hadn’t even seen the SD card yet. He hadn’t even discovered the cause that made Ga Eul distance herself from him, yet he had to face Ga Eul.

In his business dealings, he had never faced an opponent unprepared. He always thoroughly analyzed the situation and prepared for all possible scenarios. That was Dae Un’s secret to success.

But now, Dae Un had to face the most important person to him without any preparation.