TVS 06

One corner of Se-yeon’s lips curled upward slightly.

“I didn’t think you’d go through with it, but you actually did?”

“What… what do you mean?”

“Hmm…”

Se-yeon crossed her arms and leaned back against the chair, gently swinging her crossed leg.

As she did, she quietly studied Seo-ah’s flushed face.

Seo-ah, too, looked at her cousin with an unfamiliar feeling.

What could Unni be thinking right now?

Although Se-yeon’s gaze was fixed on her, it felt as though she were looking at something beyond Seo-ah.

Then, for just a moment, a sneer appeared at the corner of Se-yeon’s lips before disappearing.

What was that just now?

Unable to bear the uncertainty any longer, Seo-ah opened her mouth.

“Unni?”

At the sound of her voice, Se-yeon brought her gaze back to Seo-ah after having momentarily let it wander elsewhere.

“Ah, sorry. I was just trying to organize my thoughts.”

Se-yeon straightened her previously crooked posture and stared at Seo-ah.

Then her eyebrows slowly curved downward into a troubled expression.

“Don’t tell me the heir to Dong-ha Motors said that he didn’t know anything. He wouldn’t try to brush you off with such an obvious excuse unless he was deliberately disregarding you. Right?”

“……!”

Seo-ah’s gaze wavered.

Just as Se-yeon had said, Dong-ha had claimed that he had known absolutely nothing. He had merely said that he had followed his father’s orders when his father told him to get married.

But Seo-ah herself did not believe that Dong-ha had truly known nothing.

The circumstances were far too strange, and there was no reason for her to trust his words.

Wasn’t he the person who had deceived her and even entered into a fake marriage with her?

If anything, her distrust had only grown stronger. Nothing had actually been resolved.

While she was lost in confusion, Se-yeon brought up a name.

“Do you know someone named Kang Tae-kyung?”

“……Huh? Who?”

The name sounded strangely familiar.

Where had I heard it before?

“Kang Tae-kyung. He’s the Head of the Future Strategy Division at Taeyu Motors.”

“Taeyu? The company that supposedly sent my father’s company a unilateral notice terminating their contract…”

“That’s right. He’s the head of their Future Strategy Division.”

“……!”

Seo-ah’s hands began to tremble.

It was the very company she had heard about from Dong-ha as well.

“But why would he…?”

“I don’t know if what I’m about to tell you will be helpful, but there is a rumor.”

“A… rumor?”

“Yes.”

Afraid that the sound of her pounding heart might drown out Se-yeon’s voice, Seo-ah repeatedly swallowed dryly.

“Kang Tae-kyung is the second son of the Taeyu Group. He graduated from university overseas, and six years ago, he began receiving management training at Taeyu Motors.”

“Mm-hm…”

“But was it about four years ago? He was sent away to an overseas branch. It was a demotion because of financial problems.”

“Financial… problems?”

Se-yeon nodded slowly.

“Even if he is a third-generation chaebol heir, do you think Vice Chairman Kang Min-cheol would have just sat by while his son siphoned off company money to create a slush fund? He only covered it up by sending his son overseas because he was still his son.”

Seo-ah swallowed a stunned breath at the unbelievable story.

“But you know what they say—old habits die hard. Once he was overseas, there were no prying eyes and no one around to keep tabs on him. How comfortable do you think he must have been? He was looking around for something he could use to make money, and that’s when he spotted Wonjeon Electronics.”

Gasp.

At the mention of her father’s company, Seo-ah covered her mouth with both hands.

“His goal was to launder money through the overseas branch. So he pushed out a small company like Wonjeon Electronics and looked for another company to take its place. The purpose was probably a double contract, right? That would make it easier to siphon off the slush funds.”

Seo-ah failed to notice that what had begun as a mere rumor was gradually sounding more and more like an established truth.

“What other reason could there be for Dong-ha Motors to have been able to establish a partnership with Taeyu? It was a company that didn’t even have anyone capable of developing electric vehicles in the first place.”

Just what kind of job does Se-yeon have that she knows all these hidden details?

Seo-ah had always believed that her cousin worked at a small company in Seoul.

How much of what she’s saying should I believe—and how far?

Seo-ah’s eyes filled with confusion.