On their way back home, Sungyoon let Jimin drive . Meanwhile, he just stared at the waiver to disestablish Miyun’s maternity toward Shinhae .

  “It seems you’re in a good mood . ”


  “Of course . I’m ecstatic . This document is several hundred times more important than the copy of the contract . ”


  With the copy of the contract, Sungyoon could screw over Jaeho and regain his stolen technology . However, the waiver to disestablish maternity was more important to him . After all, Sungyoon always had a Shinhae-centric view .

  “It was worth it to pressure Lee Jaeho first . As soon as his business started to tank, I assumed he would break the deal with Lee Miyun’s father . He’s quite predictable . ”


  Jimin spoke as she drove .

  “Still, we were lucky . There was a chance that Lee Miyun didn’t have a copy of the contract . If she really hadn’t, she would have been like you in the past; she would have had to sell her body to pay off her debt”


  Jimin glanced at Sungyoon .

  “We acquired a weapon in the form of the copy of the contract . All the retaliation I’ve been carrying out against Lee Miyun ends right now . We gained everything we needed from her, and she knows that you’re no longer a pushover . The probability of her approaching you again is very low . ”


  However, that didn’t mean Miyun’s misfortune was at an end .

  “Lee Jaeho will get his revenge on her . It’ll take care of itself . ”


  Sungyoon and Jimin merely had to take a step back . They would remove themselves from the foul stench created by those two, who had fucked Sungyoon over in the past . They just had to stand on the sideline and watch Jaeho and Miyun fight in the dirty and foul mud .

  “Yeah . They’ll take care of each other by themselves . ”


  Sungyoon didn’t care what would happen to Miyun .

  “We just have to take back the technology you developed from him, Mr . Sungyoon . You poured in your blood, sweat, and tears to create it . It’ll be bad news on bad news for Lee Jaeho . His company is barely hanging on because of that technology . If it’s gone, Lee Jaeho will not be able to hold out, and it’ll be the end of Daesung Energy . ”


  Everything his ‘enemy’ had built would crumble like a sand castle . Of course, Sungyoon felt good about it .

  “Though, we have to make preparations . Jaeho might try to get his revenge on us . When you corner a dog, it might turn and bite . ”


  “I will protect Shinhae and you, Ms . Jimin . ”


  From Sungyoon’s perspective, he was just stating the obvious . However, the corners of Jimin’s mouth danced when she heard these words . She was put in the same boat as Shinhae . He had said he would protect both of them, and she was very happy about it .

  ‘Am I really this easy of a woman?’


  Even if this qualified her as one, she didn’t mind it .

  “You’re dependable . I look forward to it . However, it’ll take him a bit of time before he can move against us . ”


  When a red light came on, the car came to a stop . Jimin leaned against the handle and let out a pretty laugh as she looked at Sungyoon .

  “Are you ready to watch their misfortune?”


  ***

  After he was named as the president of Daesung Energy, Lee Jaeho had carried out numerous plans . However, he had never had it rough as it was now . He was constantly working to get his company back to normal, but his company’s state was worsening instead .

  He was barely sleeping three hours a day, and he sometimes took short naps to make up for his lack of sleep . His fit body unbefitting his age had disappeared now as he had lost a lot of weight in recent days .

  Tul-suhk!

  Jaeho dropped into his chair . No, it was more apt to say his body crumpled into the chair . He had the ambitions of making his company the best energy company in the world . However, his former ambitious self was nowhere to be seen . In its place was a middle-aged man downtrodden by life .

  ‘We somehow got over this hump using normal moonstones, but we’re short on the moonstones from the Great Labyrinth . We have to acquire those somehow . ’


  The world was facing a shortage of moonstones, and it was easier said than done .

  ‘What do I do about my investment in Gagarin·Yang city? Will I be able to recover some of it?’


  Even Jaeho knew there was no way that would happen . Even a portion of the investments were to be returned—China and Russia had built the Gagarin·Yang city—the priority would be Russian and Chinese companies .

  When Jaeho had become an investor, the city management had requested an incredible amount of money from him . On top of that, they had placed all kinds of restrictions on him as a foreign investor . He wasn’t naive enough to believe that they would be kind to him after such a disaster .

  Basically, he really had no answer right now .

  However, this wasn’t the end of his misfortune .

  Bbeeee!

  His intercom rang out .

  “What is it?”
-

  Secretary Kim is here .

  “Tell him to come in . ”


  Soon, Secretary Kim opened the door .

  “President!”


  “What? What’s wrong?”


  Jaeho could tell with a glance that his secretary was in despair, and he was taken aback by it . An ominous feeling grasped his heart .

  “Woo . . . Woo Sungyoon . . . !”


  As soon as Sungyoon’s name was mentioned, Jaeho’s face crumpled, and despair made its way to his face .

  “He sued us for the technology with which we process the moonstones from the Great Labyrinth!”


  In some ways, it was a death sentence for Jaeho .

  ***

  Dongin watched the headline story for the nine-o’clock news on the TV .

  “They really are relentless . ”


  He unconsciously mumbled those words, and it showed that he was impressed . The news featured a story on Sungyoon suing Daesung Energy .

  The relationship between Sungyoon and Jaeho had been delved into by an investigation discovery show before . It had made all of Korea interested in this topic . However, Sungyoon and Daesung Energy had been quiet up until now .

  The scandal had been fading from people’s memories when Sungyoon landed a body blow out of nowhere .

  ‘The fact that they are conducting such an aggressive campaign means they found concrete evidence . ’


  Sungyoon and Jimin had already attacked Daesung Energy by cutting off the supply of moonstones, but this attack was on a different level . This attack could end Daesung Energy for good .

  ‘This basically puts the nails in the coffin for Lee Jaeho . ’


  Jaeho’s father, Lee Hooyoung, wouldn’t forgive him for this scandal . And even if the Lee family wanted to bury it, they couldn’t . Korean conglomerates were very close to their subsidiaries, and one subsidiary going under meant the conglomerate would suffer massive damage .

  The entire Daesung group was now at risk .

  As the reason behind this mess, Jaeho wouldn’t be forgiven . Daesung group ran a tight ship .

  ‘Lee Jaeho should be burning with resentment right now . ’


  Dongin could imagine it .

  Up until now, Sungyoon garnered too much attention . Even Dongin couldn’t predict what would happen around Sungyoon; too many oddities were happening on the moon recently . So, Dongin couldn’t move against Sungyoon . However, this didn’t change the fact that Sungyoon was a thorn in his sides .

  Moreover, Dongin had a new uncertainty to worry about now .

  ‘Thankfully, that ‘bastard’ hasn’t approached Woo Sungyoon yet . . ’


  When he spoke to Jimin, he didn’t show any reaction to his words . He didn’t see any suspicious activities from Hyunwoo or Sungyoon .

  Of course, that bastard had experienced betrayal before, so he wouldn’t recklessly approach strangers .

  ’If the truth became known to the world thanks to that ‘bastard’ . . . . ’


  ‘I have to kill him before that happens . I have to find out how he got out of there . ’


  In many ways, the number of reasons he had to kill Sungyoon was increasing . However, Dongin couldn’t directly act .

  ‘If I can’t do it, I just need someone else to do it . I believe it is time for me to approach him . ’


  When he saw the despairing face of Jaeho on TV, a bloody smile appeared on Dongin’s face .

  ***

  “You should rest . ”


  It wasn’t an order . They were just three simple words . However, Jaeho felt the strength leave his body as soon as he heard those words .

  After saying those words, Hooyoung looked away from Jaeho . He didn’t tell Jaeho to leave and just ignored him . Jaeho felt the coldness from Hooyoung and moved his heavy feet to leave the room .

  ‘That’s it . ’


  He would never inherit the kingdom called Daesung . Moreover, he now had to worry about his name being struck out from the family register .

  Jaeho got in his car and headed home . He was ousted as the president of Daesung Energy; he was basically out of work . As soon as he returned home, he started drinking alcohol .

  As an idle hobby, he had collected expensive foreign liquor as the president of Daesung Energy . He no longer cared about their value and drank them all like water .

  “Fuckk!”


  Jaeho yelled out . He could barely pronounce his words . Thankfully, his family was residing in another house . This was a house he had reserved for his own use, so no one was harmed by his drunken antics .

  “Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”


  He cursed like a crazy man as he placed the bottle to his lips once again .

  “There’s nothing!”


  Crash!

  The empty bottle shattered on hitting the wall . Jaeho then took out a new bottle of hard liquor . How long had passed? Jaeho had fallen asleep from being too drunk . No, it was more apt to say that he had passed out .

  On the next day . . .

  His eyes opened when the sun was high up in the sky .

  “Ooh-ook!”


  His liver was screaming in pain from the abuse, and he could smell a foul stench around him . Moreover, he felt something sticky on his cheeks . Jaeho realized he had thrown up in his sleep, and his vomit was all over his face and hair . Thankfully, he hadn’t died from choking on his vomit .

  “Ooh-oop!”


  However, it seemed he wasn’t done yet . Jaeho quickly ran toward the restroom and gripped the toilet to throw up . He had emptied his stomach when he had thrown up in his sleep, so now he only vomitted bile and gastric fluid now . His insides were screaming at him .

  “Huhk! Huhk!”


  Jaeho took ragged breaths . He still felt as if his stomach was embroiled in a war . He searched for hangover cures and antacid for his stomach . After taking them, he lay down on the floor again . His face still smelled foul, but he didn’t feel like washing himself .

  The pain from his hangover clouded his mind, but his gloomy future kept revolving in his mind .

  ‘Shit! Why does the copy exist in the first place? Why did it show up right now?’


  When Jaeho had learned that Sungyoon had sued him, it had surprised him . However, he had quickly settled down .

  Sungyoon had no proof; Jaeho had made sure there would be none . So Jaeho wanted to use this opportunity to turn the table on Sungyoon and Jungbum . He planned on countersuing them for money or using the baseless accusation as leverage to solve the moonstone supply problem .

  However, his plans went down the drain when Jungbum produced the evidence . They had sent in the media a copy of the contract he had personally destroyed .

  It was a fatal weapon in the hands of Sungyoon and Jungbum . They used their massive reservoir of money to conduct a campaign against Jaeho and Daesung Energy .

  ‘Lee Miyun! That bitch!’


  Jaeho knew who had handed that document over to them . It was obvious .

  ‘I should have known this would happen!’


  Miyun was a conniving woman who only cared about money . Jaeho felt like an idiot for not thinking about the possibility of her possessing a copy of the contract . But there was no use crying over spilled milk .

  He walked toward the cabinet with his alcohol . Without even washing his face, he started drinking again .

  “You turned into a complete invalid . ”


  Jaeho jumped in surprise when a he heard a voice behind him . He quickly turned around and saw an unknown man with a hood over his face .

  “Who . . . who are you!”


  Jaeho took two steps backward as he yelled .

  “Is that really important?”


  The man’s voice was clearly distorted by some device, and it made him all the more suspicious . Jaeho moved further backward .

  “Hey . Don’t get spooked too much . I’m here to give you a tempting offer . ”


  The hooded man spoke as if he were the devil trying to entice a human .

  “Don’t you want revenge against Woo Sungyoon, who humiliated you in so many ways? Don’t you want revenge against Lee Miyun?”


  The only thing visible below the hood was a smiling mouth .

  Jaeho calmed himself .

  “.…… Revenge?”


  “Yes! Revenge! It’ll be against Lee Miyun, who handed over the copy of the contract! You can take revenge on Jungbum’s president, who helped Woo Sungyoon! You can make them feel a pain deeper than what you experienced!”


  Just listening to those words made him ecstastic, and Jaeho gulped .

  “B-but how……!”


  “I’ll help you . I have grievances against them too . ”


  Jaeho’s eyes shook, but he didn’t acquiesce immediately . He was a businessman to his bone, so he went over the pros and cons of this deal .

  “Hmm . Are you worried about it? I’m disappointed . Is that how shallow your sense of revenge is? Hey! You don’t have to worry about anything! It doesn’t matter if you succeed or fail! Your life is already a mess!”


  The hooded man cackled .

  “Do you have anything else to lose?”


  ‘Lose?’


  Jaeho asked that question to himself .

  ‘No . I have nothing else to lose . ’


  Jaeho found it ridiculous that he was hesitating over this decision . He had lost everything he treasured in this world, so how could his life get any worse? A dark expression flashed in Jaeho’s eyes .