Jaehoon sat in his car, the cool leather of the seats doing little to ease the tension building in his body. Jiwoo sat next to him, her eyes flickering nervously between him and the darkening city skyline. The weight of the documents Minwoo had given them earlier still pressed down on him, the details haunting him even now.
When they had left the Lee family estate, it had felt as if they were fleeing a world they could no longer understand—a world where his every move would be scrutinized, and every decision would have consequences far beyond his comprehension. Jiwoo had been quiet during the ride back, but he knew she was just as troubled as he was.
"Jaehoon," she began softly, her voice steady despite the turmoil she must have been feeling, "what are you thinking?"
He shifted in his seat, the question hanging in the air like a challenge. He had spent the last few hours turning over the contents of the envelope in his mind, but now that he was home, the papers seemed to burn in his hands.
“I don’t know,” he muttered. “I thought I was ready for this. But now, everything feels... off.” He paused, looking over at her, trying to read her expression. “Do you think we should have come back? Should we have just left?”
Jiwoo shook her head slowly. “You can’t just walk away from something like this, Jaehoon. Not after all of this...”
He exhaled sharply. He knew she was right. They had spent so many years scraping by, dreaming of a life without constant financial strain, without worrying about the next bill or the next loan. This was the chance to build something for Minseok and Haeun, to give them opportunities they could only imagine. But that didn’t make the decision any easier.
After a long silence, Jiwoo reached into her bag and pulled out the envelope. “You haven’t opened it yet,” she said, her tone thoughtful. “Maybe it’s time.”
Jaehoon nodded, swallowing hard as he took the envelope from her. The seal was still intact, the contents just as mysterious as they had been when Minwoo had handed it to him earlier. The urge to open it had been gnawing at him ever since they left the estate. But now, it felt like a step into the unknown—one that could change everything.
He tore open the seal, pulling out the sheets of paper within. At first, it seemed like a simple summary of financial transactions, much like what he had seen earlier. But as his eyes scanned the words, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. These were not normal transactions. Not at all.
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Jaehoon’s hand trembled slightly as he turned the page over, his mind racing to comprehend what he was seeing. There, in bold letters, was a list of recent financial transfers. Large sums of money—millions of won—had been moved into offshore accounts, with cryptic notations next to each one. Payments were listed under names Jaehoon didn’t recognize—names that didn’t appear to be connected to the business dealings of the Lee family at all. Some of the transactions included foreign entities, including corporations and shell companies with no clear connections to any of the Lee family ventures.
“What... is this?” Jiwoo whispered, her voice suddenly sharp with concern as she looked over his shoulder.
Jaehoon could barely speak, his mind trying to make sense of the staggering numbers. His stomach churned, and his heart raced. This wasn’t just a family fortune being managed. This was something far more dangerous, something that reeked of money laundering, illegal dealings, or perhaps even worse.
“These transactions...” Jaehoon said slowly, his voice shaking, “these aren’t legitimate. These are off-the-books.”
Jiwoo’s eyes widened as she read over the papers. “But why would they show you this? Why give you something this... dangerous?”
Jaehoon leaned back, feeling the weight of the information settling over him like a dark cloud. He had assumed the Lee family’s empire was built on power, influence, and corporate success, but now he was questioning everything. The wealth—was it earned legitimately, or had it been tainted by corruption? And if these transactions were part of the family’s operations, what would that mean for him?
“I don’t know,” Jaehoon said, his voice barely above a whisper. “But I think Minwoo knew what he was giving me. He wanted me to see this... to see how deep it all goes.”
Jiwoo looked at him, her face pale with realization. “You can’t trust them, Jaehoon. If they’re hiding this, what else are they hiding?”
He didn’t have an answer. The truth was, he was standing at the precipice of a legacy he hadn’t asked for, a legacy that now seemed tainted. But walking away meant giving up everything—everything he had ever dreamed of for his family’s future.
"I don’t know if I can do this, Jiwoo," he admitted, his voice breaking slightly. "I don’t know if I can be part of this."
Jiwoo reached out, her hand gripping his tightly. "We’ll figure it out, Jaehoon. Together. You don’t have to make this decision alone. We’ll face whatever comes next, but you need to trust your instincts. And right now, I’m telling you that something’s off."
Her words were like a lifeline, pulling him back from the edge of uncertainty. But even as he clung to her support, a gnawing doubt still lingered in his chest. The twist had come, the revelation he hadn’t been prepared for—the very foundation of the Lee family’s wealth had cracks in it. And it seemed that Jaehoon was about to inherit far more than he had bargained for.
As he stared at the papers, the gravity of the situation hit him hard. He wasn’t just inheriting wealth; he was inheriting a tangled web of deceit and corruption that could destroy everything he had built. And yet, no matter how much he feared it, he knew there was no going back now.
He had to make a choice. And that choice would define not only his future but the future of his family.