“My mother’s side is all in the legal profession. Great-grandfather, grandmother and grandfather, and even my mother. They’ve been running a law firm for three generations.”
“Yeah.”
“The law firm is based in the U.S., but when they handle international disputes, they occasionally take on legal consultation or responses for overseas companies. That’s why they took on Sovereign Resort’s major tax evasion case 26 years ago.”
Kang Siwon already knew that part. According to an article he’d read before, Sovereign had apparently been driven to the brink of collapse at the time. However, the situation reversed when the global law firm M&W took on their representation.
The defense team argued there had been procedural issues and challenged the validity of key evidence. Honestly, in Kang Siwon’s opinion, Sovereign had committed acts even worse than those charges, not less. In any case, Sovereign managed to overcome the crisis thanks to M&W.
“Back then, my mother was a novice lawyer who had just started building her career. She became famous for spearheading Chairman Li’s defense strategy, but there’s a little-known fact behind it.”
“…”
“My mother was in a romantic relationship with Chairman Li at the time.”
Ray Jun said with a bitter smile.
“Even my mother now doesn’t know what she found appealing about a divorced man with a child, thirteen years her senior at that. It’s probably the one blemish she’d like to erase from her otherwise perfect life.”
“…”
“Neither my mother nor Chairman Li wanted marriage. But by the time they learned about the pregnancy, it was already past the point where an abortion was possible, so they drew up a contract.”
Li Yong shall have no need to bear parental rights, support obligations, custody, or any other legal responsibilities as the biological father of the biological child with Elisa Morrow.
Elisa Morrow shall faithfully provide all legal assistance and cooperation necessary to prove the innocence of the case entrusted to her by Li Yong.
Ray Jun recited the clauses. His voice was as indifferent as a judge reading a verdict in court.
“Of course, this contract wasn’t one-sidedly disadvantageous to my mother. ‘Li Yong shall bequeath 15% of Sovereign Resort’s shares to the biological child that Elisa Morrow is pregnant with at the time of contract signing, in the year that biological child turns twenty-five.’ That was the compensation for my mother accepting all of it.”
“…”
“Just as that romance was the worst mistake of my mother’s life, this contract must have been the worst mistake of Chairman Li’s life. No matter how much my mother saved him from crisis and shouldered the responsibility of child-rearing entirely on her own, 15% of the shares isn’t light. Perhaps Chairman Li was briefly possessed by something back then?”
Ray Jun continued with a cynical laugh.
“It was probably only possible because Sovereign Resort’s prestige wasn’t what it is now back in those days. Or perhaps Chairman Li temporarily lost his judgment after being swept up in various scandals and personal affairs.”
“I see…”
It was someone else’s family matter, so Kang Siwon found it difficult to react. Separately from that, the story he’d just heard wasn’t actually new.
He’d already known that Ray Jun was entitled to inherit 15% of Chairman Li’s shares. And given that he was Chairman Li’s illegitimate child, it was natural to deduce that his mother and Chairman Li had been involved.
Yet hearing it directly from Ray Jun’s mouth brought on a strange emotion. Especially since Ray Jun himself seemed to have no regrets about his past.
“Um, but…”
However, this wasn’t the answer to the question he’d asked. Still, it was difficult to point that out rashly in this atmosphere, so he only watched Ray Jun’s reaction, and he continued his story.
“Earlier I said ‘Chairman Li seemed to have been possessed by something,’ right? That was before he stamped the contract. Not long after, Chairman Li came to his senses and wanted to back out of the contract. But his counterpart wasn’t just anyone—she was a lawyer from M&W. He couldn’t overturn contract terms that had already been documented, so there was only one method left.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“To prevent the child from reaching twenty-five years old.”
“…”
In that moment, Kang Siwon didn’t know what to say. If he’d been promised shares but lived under threat, was that really a good thing?
“It wasn’t just Chairman Li’s decision alone. The directors around him instigated it.”
“That’s…”
“Ah, you don’t need to feel too sorry. As you can see, I grew up well enough in my own way. I also grew up in the U.S., not Macau, and my mother’s family wasn’t so easy to deal with either.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“But there was one really dangerous moment. Not for me, but for my mother. Or rather, I should say ‘both of us.'”
A chilling look flashed across Ray Jun’s face for an instant. Even though champagne-colored light was falling from above, his face seemed to hold shadow rather than light.
“Just before my mother, nine months pregnant, was about to leave Macau, a large truck crashed into the car she was riding in.”
“What?!”
“The official cause was the truck driver falling asleep at the wheel. But according to my mother’s investigation, that driver was originally Director Zhang’s personal secretary.”
“…Director Zhang? By any chance, the Director Zhang I know?”
“If you mean the bastard who died of a heart attack, that’s right. Anyway, that driver was a severe gambling addict, so after squandering all his wealth at Sovereign Casino and still not being satisfied, he even embezzled Director Zhang’s personal funds. So he would have been an easy target for Director Zhang to manipulate.”
“Right. Gambling addicts are always the problem.”
Just hearing about it was so sickening and disgusting it made his teeth grind. Ray Jun stared at Kang Siwon quietly, then said.
“Do you believe me, Siwon?”
“What are you suddenly saying when we were talking fine? Did you lie about something?”
“No, it’s all true. But it’s not really a story that’s easy to believe. That’s probably why the police didn’t even care about the connection between Director Zhang and the truck driver.”
“I believe you.”
After answering, it somehow felt like he’d confessed to believing in Ray Jun. That wasn’t what he meant, so Kang Siwon added more so he wouldn’t misunderstand.
“I was also someone who spent nine months at Sovereign Resort. That place is more than capable of such things.”
In a way, Sovereign Resort was an organization more rotten than even the Baeksa Faction. The scale of black money flowing through it was larger, and the scale of crimes committed was far greater. The internal circumstances probably weren’t much different 26 years ago either.
“I’m glad.”
Ray Jun grinned broadly. Despite being a cunning fox, that expression alone looked as innocent as a boy’s. Well, he wouldn’t have been tainted by the world from the very beginning either. Perhaps if Sovereign hadn’t tried to kill him, he might have grown into an upstanding young man.
He’d only thought of him as some rich young master, but to think he’d suffered such hardships even before being born.
“…”
He steeled his heart, feeling sympathy welling up. In truth, with 4.8 billion in debt himself, he wasn’t in a position to pity Ray Jun. However, the thought crossed his mind that if he’d been chased by threats since childhood, perhaps it was only natural that his sensitivity hadn’t formed properly.
Then, Ray Jun asked.
“Is your curiosity satisfied? You wanted to know what grudge I held against the Sovereign directors.”
“Yeah.”
“Was it a sufficient answer?”
Kang Siwon nodded. The answer was more than sufficient. If they’d tried to kill his pregnant mother by hitting her with a truck, it would be stranger to have no grudge after experiencing such a thing. Even the most Buddha-like person would be filled with a desire for revenge.
“Anything else you’re curious about? Feel free to ask. You can still ask me one more question.”
“I’m good for now. I heard everything I wanted to know.”
If Ray Jun’s words were true, Zhang Weiren had attempted to murder Ray Jun and his mother 26 years ago.
Of course, it was a past matter that had been concluded long ago, and it wasn’t an officially proven incident. Even so, since Ray Jun sincerely believed it, it was more than acceptable as a motive.
If the Zhang Weiren death case were reinvestigated, he wasn’t sure how disadvantageous this would be for Ray Jun. However, he thought he understood why Li Hou had acted so confident.
“True, I told you everything even though you didn’t ask. It was just one question, but I spilled too much. This way I’m at a loss.”
“I didn’t press you for it.”
“I know. But to explain one thing, I had to talk about what happened before. Well, it’s fine. Since I answered so sincerely, I just need to receive compensation befitting that.”
Ray Jun said with a light laugh. At his suddenly brightened atmosphere, Kang Siwon’s fine hairs stood on end. The thing he’d wanted to avoid had come right up to his nose.
“Siwon, now it’s your turn to give me compensation.”
