Episode 196
Wang Jin-mi, as described by Baek In-hwi, was a sinister, dangerous, and unreadable woman. Kim Min-sik, with his years of experience, knew that the best way to deal with such a person was to be unpredictable and keep them off balance.
And although he didn’t know how many men were waiting inside the restaurant, his side currently outnumbered them 32 to 6, including himself and Yong-seok. He was confident they wouldn’t make a move.
He shouted again, “Hey! Mrs. Wang! I want to talk to you!”
Everyone looked at him, dumbfounded, and then the door opened, and a beautiful woman with an innocent demeanor emerged, smiling. It was Wang Jin-mi. The guards, startled by her appearance, immediately surrounded her. Kim Min-sik, certain it was her, smiled at Yong-seok. “Tell them we can’t go in because those men are insisting on searching us……”
“Do you speak English?” Wang Jin-mi asked in fluent English, interrupting him.
Kim Min-sik, surprised, smiled. “English is my specialty.” He had spent years studying English diligently to keep up with his younger colleagues at the bank. His English was fluent. “Someone was calling for me so insistently, I had to come out. What can I do for you?”
“Those men are blocking the entrance, saying they have to search us.”
She tilted her head, her eyes wide with innocence. “Why don’t you just let them search you?” She looked like an angel, but he remembered Baek In-hwi’s warning: – She’s a dangerous woman. Be careful.
He smirked. “We’re carrying firearms.” Everyone gasped, but he continued calmly, “We need to be able to protect ourselves. If you can overlook this minor detail, we can proceed with the meeting.” If she didn’t need anything from him, she wouldn’t have revealed that she knew about his connection to Wang Jin-hee. And she had chosen a specific location for their meeting. It meant she had something to gain from him. She stared at him intently and then burst into laughter. “Hohohoho, you’re a bold one.”
He chuckled. “I’m a bit of a loose cannon. Hehehe.”
“Alright, come in.” Her bodyguards were surprised and tried to dissuade her, but she was adamant.
“She said it’s fine, but her bodyguards are protesting. They’re saying they can’t trust thugs like us,” Yong-seok translated.
“Thugs? I guess that’s how they see us.” Her bodyguards were professionals from a powerful political family, while he and Yong-seok were the associates of Baek In-hwi, the suspected money launderer for a triad. It was understandable that they were concerned about her safety. They sighed and then glared at them, saying something in Chinese.
“What did they say?”
“They’re warning us to behave ourselves. They won’t hesitate to act if we try anything funny.”
He smiled. “They’re cautious. Tell them not to worry.” He watched her re-enter the restaurant and muttered, “I have a feeling this is going to be a productive meeting.”
Kim Min-sik and Wang Jin-mi sat facing each other at the center table, with dozens of bodyguards on each side, glaring at each other. “Thank you for your generosity. By the way, this feels like a scene from a mafia movie,” Kim Min-sik said.
“Does it?” she said with a smile.
“Yes. Anyway, I’m Kim Min-sik.”
She nodded. “I know. Baek In-hwi’s right-hand man.”
“Thank you. So you acknowledge that I’m qualified to speak on his behalf?”
She smiled. “Of course. You even had a private meeting with the Korean president, representing Baek In-hwi.”
“Good. I’m ready to talk. Let’s get straight to the point.” He smirked. “How did you know that he’s working with Wang Jin-hee?”
She smiled. “Getting straight to the point, I see?”
“Yes. We can’t continue unless this is resolved.”
She looked at him for a moment. “I also have a question. Why are you betraying Wang Jin-hee and siding with me?”
“You should answer my question first…”
“No, I won’t answer anything until I hear your reason.” She cut him off firmly, and he chuckled. “This conversation isn’t going anywhere.”
Just as the atmosphere was turning tense, she smiled brightly. “Bear with me. How can I trust you and reveal my secrets without knowing your true intentions?” Her smile was disarming, easing the tension in the room. ‘She’s a bewitching woman,’ he thought, slightly flustered. “Fine,” he said. “The reason is simple.” He smirked. “It’s more profitable. And your father-in-law is a very powerful man in China.”
She laughed. “You’re so blunt.”
“I’m just being honest. We’re all about profit. And in China, a powerful backer is always a valuable asset. So, I’ll ask again, how did you know? Just tell me, and I’ll be your man. Anything you need, men, money, muscle… we have everything except for political connections. And you have that. What do you say?” He smiled.
“Is that all?”
“Of course. I joined forces with Wang Jin-hee because I thought she could become the chairman of Haixin Group. But…” He looked at her. “…a better option has appeared. Installing a puppet chairman is one thing, but the spoils from dismantling Haixin Group are much more tempting. As someone who has already destroyed and devoured Daehoo Group, I’m naturally more interested in that.”
“Is that so? Hohoho.”
“So, have I convinced you of our sincerity?”
She nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell you.” She took a sip of her tea. “Did you know, Mr. Kim…”
“Yes?”
“…that Jin-hee has been building a secret company and cultivating her own network of supporters?”
Kim Min-sik’s heart sank. ‘She knows about that too?’
Wang Jin-hee had been secretly preparing for the succession battle for years, building her own power base, independent of Park Sol or Baek In-hwi. It was her foundation. And Wang Jin-mi knew about it.
“Jin-hee was still in high school when she started this. Even if she’s the chairman’s daughter, how could a high school student, busy with her studies and preparing for college, have the time and resources to build such a network? And how could she maintain it while studying abroad for years? People change when they’re away from home. But her network kept growing. There’s no such thing as a self-sustaining organization.”
Kim Min-sik’s eyes widened. “D-don’t tell me…”
“That’s right! Those who are supposedly Jin-hee’s supporters are actually my people. And I learned about your involvement through them.”
He was shocked. “You used your sister…?”
“Used? I just nudged her in the right direction, provided some support. Thanks to me, she was able to dream, at least for a while, of becoming the chairman.”
She smirked.
“It was all thanks to those informants that Jin-hee trusted and told about Baek In-hwi. Even the mad dog, Kim Min-sik, was taken by surprise,” she said, a hint of pride in her voice. “So you instigated conflict within Haixin Group by manipulating your sister, and now you’re planning to use that to destroy the company?”
“That’s right. Wang Hao, Wang Chen, Jin-hee… they’re all willing to do anything for that position. For example, the hundreds of billions of won Wang Hao wasted on that fake energy project, thanks to you and Jin-hee… what do you think happened to that money?”
“……”
She smiled. “He covered it up by manipulating the accounts. It wasn’t a legitimate expense. And that’s not all. All their failed projects, all their losses, they’ve been covering them up. My father demands perfection from his successors. He won’t tolerate any blemishes on their records.” She rested her chin on her hand, a seductive glint in her eyes.
“They’re desperate to hide their failures, manipulating the accounts, creating fake successes. They might get away with it a few times, but what if it’s dozens, hundreds of times? And what if the amounts involved are hundreds of billions, trillions of won? They can hide it, of course. They’re Haixin Group, a 40 trillion won company. But what if I have all the information?”
He understood her plan. “So Wang Jin-hee’s supporters have been collecting that information.”
She smiled brightly. “Exactly! It’s only natural to use their mistakes against them in a succession battle. Of course, Jin-hee wouldn’t expose them publicly. It would damage Haixin Group’s reputation. But what if her supporters are actually my people?” She laughed. “They’ll leak the information, whether Jin-hee wants them to or not. And then there will be an investigation. And that kind of accounting fraud… you can lose your company in China. And in some cases…” She burst into laughter. “…the chairman can even be executed! Ohohohohoho!”
Her father was the chairman of Haixin Group.
And she was talking about his execution with glee.
“This is China. They don’t handle these things like other countries. They don’t try to salvage the company, they just devour it. Haixin Group will be a feast for the politicians and the other corporations. They’ll seize the assets, eliminate a competitor… Haixin Group will be dismantled.”
Her eyes gleamed with madness. “And if they try to use their connections to survive? I’ll beg my father-in-law to crush them. I’ll tear them apart!” Her resentment, fueled by the forced marriage and her lover’s disappearance, had consumed her, turning her into a vengeful fury.
“It’s all Haixin Group’s fault. If it weren’t for them, none of this would have happened.” She believed that Haixin Group was responsible for all her misfortunes, the root of all evil. If only she had been born into an ordinary family, if only her father had been an ordinary man… The radiant beauty who had lit up the room with her smile was gone, replaced by a vengeful harpy.
Kim Min-sik, intimidated by her intensity, her madness, thought, ‘She has nothing left.’ He had at least managed to protect his family. But she had nothing. A loveless marriage, a family she hated… It had driven her insane. She muttered something under her breath, then seemed to realize she had been lost in thought. “Oh, I apologize. I got carried away. Hohoho.” The harpy transformed back into a beautiful woman. “Anyway, does that answer your question? How I knew about you and Jin-hee?”
“Yes, I understand. Perfectly.”
She smiled. “Then shall we begin our conversation?”