Even though Lim Do-hyun kicked the door and left, no one cared about that.

The directors, who were eyeing each other just a moment ago, now all turned their gaze toward Lim Hye-seon at once.

“Congratulations, Chairman Lim.”

“I look forward to working with you.”

The meeting room was full of voices praising Lim Hye-seon here and there.

Some people even asked for a handshake with her, playing up to her.

This was not just about showing courtesy but was closer to maneuvering to preoccupy the new power first.

Unlike at first, the word anxiety could not be found in their expressions.

Lim Hye-seon responded while making eye contact one by one without losing her smile.

“I also look forward to working with you.”

Her tone was consistently soft, but behind it, a solid wall that could not be easily broken was felt.

At that time, Lim Do-kyung approached me.

His face was full of shadows that looked somewhat complicated.

“You worked hard.”

The meaning contained in the first word muttered low was not just simple encouragement.

I knew what he meant by those words.

Lim Do-kyung looked around for a moment and then brought his face close to mine.

He whispered in a low voice that only I could hear.

“As you know, Do-hyun is not a guy who will just back down.”

His gaze glanced at the exit where the door was closed.

“He will think he lost today, but soon he will try to take it back by any means.”

Lim Do-kyung tapped my shoulder a couple of times.

I answered.

“Probably so. Do not worry too much.”

My voice was very calm, but my gaze looked firmer than anyone's.

Lim Do-kyung showed a sign of being relieved at that answer and added one last word.

“If you let your guard down, that guy will not miss a gap. Be extra careful from today on.”

After giving cautionary words to his son, he regained his composure.

After that, he left the spot.

I sat quietly in the chair and caught my breath while thinking about what the upcoming waves would be.

After Lim Hye-seon finished celebratory greetings with the other directors, Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo quietly approached her.

“Interim Chairman, I will escort you to the Chairman's office.”

I also followed Lim Hye-seon out of the meeting room with him.

Leaving the heavy air of the meeting room behind, our footsteps walking down the hallway became significantly lighter.

Upon arriving at the Chairman's office, Kang Cheol-woo closed the door.

Only then did Lim Hye-seon sit on the sofa and smile slightly.

That gaze was different from the bright smile seen in the meeting room a moment ago.

She opened her mouth calmly.

“Hyunjun.”

“Yes, Aunt.”

Lim Hye-seon looked at me for a while and then let out a light breath.

“To be honest, I also knew how competent you were. But I did not know you would know how to look ahead and move this much.”

I only smiled without saying anything.

Lim Hye-seon recalled what happened in the meeting room.

“Passing the interim chairmanship to me today was not impulsive either, right?”

I nodded.

“I told you before the meeting. My uncle would clearly go against my grandfather's will because I am young. To block that flow, I thought it would be best for you to take charge of the chairmanship for the time being.”

The edges of Lim Hye-seon's eyes slowly relaxed, and admiration was revealed in her expression as is.

“You gave me a heads-up in advance, but to be honest, I did not believe half of it. But watching all those situations flow as you said, I feel as if I did not know you too well.”

Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo also nodded quietly by the side.

“Representative Lim had already predicted it before the meeting. Today is the result of things flowing as predicted.”

Lim Hye-seon took a sip of the tea placed in front of her.

“The ability to look ahead is an ability, but resolving it naturally according to the situation is not something just anyone does. It must be a great strength to this country that you are still young.”

I smiled gently.

“While you hold the position, Aunt, I will prepare more firmly. So that this time, no one can covet it.”

At those words, Lim Hye-seon closed her mouth for a moment and only nodded.

This time, I drank the tea and put it down.

A heavy energy rose from deep within my pupils.

“Aunt, my uncle has already drawn his sword against my grandfather.”

At that single word, Lim Hye-seon's gaze changed subtly.

I caught my breath and continued speaking.

“Now there is nothing he cannot do. He will use any means to regain power. Because he has already discarded all justifications and dignity.”

Even Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo, who usually has no change in expression, quietly frowned.

Lim Hye-seon clenched her lips firmly.

She knew better than anyone what those words meant.

I added in an even lower voice.

“To block that, we must also make our minds firm. The moment we let our guard down, he will bite and hang onto that gap.”

I stopped speaking for a moment and looked alternately at my aunt and Kang Cheol-woo.

“While you take charge of the interim chairmanship, Aunt, I will block those gaps from the outside.”

Lim Hye-seon looked at me and nodded slowly.

Both their expressions were full of firm determination.

“Then I should also prepare more firmly.”

Lim Hye-seon's firm voice remained like a lingering sound in the Chairman's office.

I rose from my seat and bowed my head briefly to my aunt and Kang Cheol-woo.

“Then I shall be going. I have many things to prepare.”

“You worked hard today, Hyunjun. Go carefully.”

“You worked hard.”

***

HJ Partners office.

Sunlight was stretching long at the window, but the air felt somewhat heavy.

When I opened the door and entered, I encountered Choi Seo-jun who was waiting for me.

“Representative, you came earlier than I thought.”

“Yes, it ended more easily than expected. More than that, how is Assistant Manager Moon Jong-beom?”

“It seems more hospitalization is needed for now. They said rehabilitation will take quite some time.”

I moved my steps to the meeting room without a word.

Thick folders were piled up on the table.

It was materials gathered by the core personnel of HJ Partners over several weeks.

Choi Seo-jun picked up one of them and opened it.

“Representative, if you look here, it is the Sahara Investment-related records we found when we first tracked the Iraq refinery project.”

I narrowed my eyes while turning the pages.

“It was a place we discovered in the initial stage of the project.”

The conversation the two were having was cut off.

It was because someone knocked on the meeting room door.

Choi Seo-jun sent a gaze with eyes full of vigilance, but the person who entered had a fairly bright expression.

“Hello. I am Jeong Seong-pil.”

I slowly rose from my seat.

Jeong Seong-pil is the Senior Managing Director of Taeseong Construction's International Business Division.

He is a veteran who has hardened his bones in the field and is a figure with deep trust within the company for his inner-strength-behind-outer-gentleness personality and thorough principle-ism.

When he was in charge of the project at Taeseong Construction, I thought of him as just a competent manager.

But after communicating with him over the past few months, I thought differently.

While I was digging into the opaque fund flow of the Iraq refinery project, the first person I reached out to was precisely Jeong Seong-pil.

From then on, the two of us tracked President Lim Do-hyun's corruption under the surface and gathered scattered pieces one by one like fitting a puzzle.

Jeong Seong-pil came inside while closing the door and put down a thick bag full of documents.

“I investigated what you asked as quietly as possible. So that no one could suspect no matter who looks.”

I nodded and said.

“You worked hard, Senior Managing Director. Since you came to this spot, it seems the preparation has ended.”

Jeong Seong-pil's gaze momentarily became sharp.

“Yes, I can now clearly tell you about the link between Sahara Investment and Taeseong Construction.”

Choi Seo-jun caught his breath and sat in the seat next to me.

The air in the meeting room became even heavier.

It was time for what had been trapped only in darkness to be dragged out to the world.

Jeong Seong-pil took out a thick folder from the bag and placed it on the table.

On the front, it was written in bold letters like this.

[Sahara Investment]

“I organized it myself.”

He pushed the folder in front of me.

I slowly turned the pages and checked.

On the first page, a photo of a man was published largely.

Thick eyebrows, an exotic face, and a well-groomed beard.

Below the photo, these words were written.

[Amin Zakaria - Representative of Sahara Investment]

Jeong Seong-pil's voice echoed low.

“He is a figure mainly active in Iraq and Kuwait. He has influence encompassing both political and financial circles within Iraq. On the surface, he looks like a legitimate investment firm, but in reality... .”

I opened the next page.

There was a complicatedly entangled fund flow.

Three names in bold letters particularly caught my eye.

[Amin Zakaria (Representative of Sahara Investment)]

[Yoon Sang-pil (Middle broker, person from Managing Director Lee Tae-jun's in-laws)]

[Faisal al-Hamidi (Vice Minister under the Iraqi Ministry of Oil)]

Jeong Seong-pil continued.

“What this arrow means is simple. When funds flow to Amin Zakaria through Yoon Sang-pil, it is then transferred back to Vice Minister Hamidi. In this process, contract conditions change advantageously and bidding is concentrated on specific companies.”

I pointed with my fingertip at the materials and turned the pages.

There, step-by-step remittance details, overseas paper company accounts, dates, and amounts were recorded in detail.

Even the hotel where Vice Minister Hamidi stayed and the expensive jewelry purchased all this time were written.

“Senior Managing Director, is all this true?”

“The remittance details and hotel payment records are all originals. The overseas account tracking is details obtained through the person who was in charge of this at Taeseong.”

Choi Seo-jun bit his teeth beside me.

“Yoon Sang-pil was indeed President Lim Do-hyun's line after all.”

Jeong Seong-pil nodded.

“That is correct. As long as this link is not broken, President Lim Do-hyun will exploit it in this form at any time.”

I looked away from the materials for a moment and looked at Jeong Seong-pil.

My gaze was full of certainty rather than surprise.

“Good. Now what we have to do is break this link.”

The air in the meeting room sank even heavier.

Although I had been expecting it all this time, it could not be compared with checking it directly.

I began to roll in my head what the method would be to untie the knot that had become as tangled as it could be.

I asked Jeong Seong-pil.

“What happened to the thing I asked you to look into a while ago?”

In fact, there was something I had recently asked Jeong Seong-pil for separately.

It was precisely the trace of money leaving the secret account held by President Lim Do-hyun.

Jeong Seong-pil seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon took out a sealed document envelope from the bag.

“This is it.”

I received the envelope and narrowed my brows.

“Are you sure?”

Jeong Seong-pil nodded his head firmly and said.

“Yes, while tracking President Lim Do-hyun's secret account as requested, there was an account in a tax haven via Hong Kong, not domestic. I confirmed where the money went at the time a certain amount was withdrawn from there.”

I wore a bitter smile as if I had already expected it.

“If so... .”