I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 178

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 178
Mark’s nagging continued even after we arrived home.
“Sung-guk, honestly, you don’t actually know if that John Khan person is really in that kind of relationship with Ashley Holmes or not!”
[Ah, how can I tell him I know this for certain? I can’t exactly say I investigated everything in my previous life….]
Mark paced back and forth across the living room.
“Honestly, Sung-guk. Sung-guk, are you even listening to me right now?”
“Yeah… I’m listening.”
In truth, I was only half-listening.
“Sung-guk, I think we reacted too sensitively to Ashley Holmes.”
“Mark, you were the one who liked her when she was going on about 007 and all that. Think about it rationally. Does Ashley Holmes’s story actually make sense?”
“That’s why I agreed with you in the first place. The science magazine said you could test for over 250 diseases from just a few drops of blood, but honestly, that’s the part that seemed most suspicious. The more you listen to Ashley Holmes, the more everything sounds possible in the future. It was the same today. Not now, but someday in the future, she says. That’s like a six-year-old saying they’ll become President of the United States when they grow up.”
[Mark really isn’t your average person!]
I nodded in agreement.
“Mark, exactly. If you’re going to claim something will happen in the future, you need to show at least some concrete facts, right? But Ashley Holmes just shows up with some shoddy diagnostic kit and this blood analysis machine called BloodTherapy and glosses over everything. The data itself is honestly pretty suspicious.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true….”
Mark looked at me again.
“But isn’t saying John Khan is Ashley Holmes’s lover a bit of a wild guess?”
“Mark, just wait and see.”
I crossed my arms.
Everyone will find out eventually, even if they don’t know now.
And what’s certain is that Ashley Holmes and John Khan are about to have a massive fight right now.
[When a man starts getting jealous, it’s terrifying.]
I smiled faintly.
* * *
John Khan paced in front of the sofa.
Ashley Holmes, sitting on the sofa, brought her hand to her temple and pretended to be exhausted.
“John, I’m going to bed now.”
“Ashley… you’re not lying to me about anything?”
“What are you talking about? I’m not lying to you about anything. Why are you like this all of a sudden? I’m so tired today. The party, convincing investors. I’m doing everything myself.”
As Ashley’s brow furrowed, John Khan glanced at her cautiously.
But he felt like he couldn’t hold back from saying this.
“No… Ashley, don’t take this the wrong way.”
“Just say it. John, I want to get some sleep now. What exactly is your problem?”
“It’s just… I think you’re being too friendly with the investors.”
The moment Ashley heard those words, she looked at John with an expression of disbelief.
“John, they’re people who invested in BloodTherapy, so of course I’m being friendly with them. If you’re going to nitpick about something pointless like this, let’s just break up.”
As Ashley stood up, John quickly grabbed her shoulder.
“Are you saying you’re going to use me and throw me away? Do you know how much money I’ve put into BloodTherapy!”
“John… are you trying to bind me with that pittance of money?”
“No, that’s not what I meant….”
John Khan’s confidence faltered slightly at Ashley Holmes’s composed demeanor.
Ashley noticed and quickly moved to reassure him.
“John… I think of BloodTherapy as something we built together, you and I. But we’re still in the early stages, aren’t we? And investors will obviously be drawn to a blonde Stanford graduate like me.”
Ashley Holmes took John Khan’s hand.
“John, I was simply being cordial with the investors from a business perspective.”
“Ah, I understand.”
“But… John. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Did someone tell you something?”
“That guy from the East. The handsome one.”
“Sung-guk?”
“Yeah. Anyway… I’m just worried about you.”
“Don’t worry about that. BloodTherapy is just getting started.”
“Okay.”
John Khan had already grown accustomed to Ashley Holmes, and he nodded obediently.
“I’m going to head to bed now. John, for the party next week, we can’t just throw together something cheap like today. I’d like us to host something bigger… that’s fine, right?”
“Sure… I’ll take care of the funding.”
“Thanks, John.”
As Ashley Holmes left, she sent a message to someone.
– Should we grab dinner together?
* * *
The doorbell rang loudly.
Just as I was growing tired of Mark’s nagging, I quickly checked the intercom.
Jeon Tae-guk’s face filled the screen.
I never thought Jeon Tae-guk would come to my rescue.
I hurried to open the door and greeted him warmly.
“Tae-guk, welcome!”
“Sung-guk, what’s going on? Why are you greeting me so enthusiastically?”
“I guess I’m just happy to see you after running into each other at the party.”
I made an excuse.
“Tae-guk, but what brings you here at this hour?”
“I was curious because you and Mark disappeared from the party earlier….”
So Jeon Tae-guk did have some perceptiveness after all….
I approached the subject carefully.
“Tae-guk, what do you think about BloodTherapy?”
“Hmm… well, it’s a company that understands what everyone wants. But that’s not why I came here….”
Jeon Tae-guk bypassed me and approached Mark directly. Then he asked Mark seriously.
“Mark, when you were dating Lim Mi-mi, you were the one who made the first move, right?”
“Tae-guk, why are you suddenly asking that?”
“Well… I’m thinking of sending Ashley a message asking her to grab dinner with me.”
“Tae-guk, are you interested in Ashley?”
Mark stepped back in surprise.
Jeon Tae-guk nodded slightly, his characteristic arrogance etched across his face.
“Well, I’ll marry whoever Father chooses for me back home. But since I’m here in the United States, I thought it might be nice to meet more diverse women, and I figured Father might turn a blind eye to me dating someone as promising as Ashley Holmes….”
I shook my head behind him in disbelief.
[So that’s how Jeon Tae-guk operates….]
The greatest flaw of someone with a minus hand is conducting business while emotionally entangled.
Right now, Jeon Tae-guk was doing something stupid—attempting to invest in Ashley Holmes just to pursue her.
Mark also looked at Jeon Tae-guk with an uncomfortable expression.
“Tae-guk, I understand you’re interested in Ashley… but wouldn’t it be better to get to know people first?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just… that woman Ashley is too kind to everyone, you know? People who are kind to everyone usually hide something.”
Mark chose his words carefully.
Jeon Tae-guk scratched his forehead.
“Hmm…. Isn’t this because you’re dating that stiff Lim Mi-mi from North Korea?”
Just then, Lim Mi-mi walked through the door.
“I heard that, Jeon Tae-guk. My feelings are hurt.”
“Well, I wasn’t saying it for you to hear. Don’t misunderstand. But isn’t it bad for Sung-guk, who’s still a minor, that you two are dating and living in the same house?”
“Tae-guk, Mark and I are genuinely just good housemates.”
“Mark, you should ask Sung-guk about that. Sung-guk, are you really okay with it?”
“I don’t mind. I’ll be heading back to Korea soon anyway.”
“Why Korea?”
“It’s Lunar New Year. I need to see my family.”
[But before that, I need to destroy Ashley Holmes….]
Just then, I noticed a message notification on my phone.
Who could it be?
The moment I checked the message, my brow furrowed. It was from Ashley Holmes.
– Should we grab dinner?
I thought for a moment before replying.
– Pizza okay?
The response came immediately.
– I love Hawaiian pizza.
[Ashley, that kind of trick only works on kids like Tae-guk or Jerry.]
Ashley Holmes had definitely dug through my FaceNote profile to learn about me.
Tae-guk glanced at me as I exchanged messages.
“Sung-guk, who are you talking to?”
“Ashley Holmes seems interested in me.”
I showed Tae-guk the message Ashley Holmes had sent.
[Jeon Tae-guk, this is the last lifeline I’m throwing you. Whether you grab it or not is your choice.]
Jeon Tae-guk’s expression turned deadly serious as he looked at me.
“Sung-guk, that’s your misunderstanding. Ashley Holmes knows you’re a minor!”
“I know. Of course….”
I held my tongue.
“Sung-guk, everyone’s going to like you—I’m going to prove that’s pure delusion on your part!”
Jeon Tae-guk threw a petulant tantrum and headed back to his own home.
“Sung-guk, from what I can see, you keep provoking Jeon Tae-guk… Why are you doing that?”
“I know that family well.”
Jeon Tae-guk would likely have someone tailing Ashley Holmes immediately to begin a background investigation.
Of course, he’d start by trying to determine whether Ashley Holmes had genuine interest in me, but inevitably he’d end up uncovering the complicated details of her private life.
“But Sung-guk, now that I think about it… isn’t it awkward living in the same house with me and Lim Mi-mi?”
“As long as you two are comfortable with it. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
[They’ll figure out the tension between them soon enough, won’t they?]
I shrugged my shoulders.
* * *
Jeon Tae-guk contacted Secretary Yang.
Young Secretary Yang had already left his position, so Young Secretary Yang’s father was handling Jeon Tae-guk’s affairs for the time being.
Soon Secretary Yang’s voice came through.
– Young Master, what can I do for you?
“I’d like to ask you to look into something.”
– Anything at all.
“There’s a woman named Ashley Holmes at BloodTherapy. Could you investigate her private life for me?”
– Understood.
Secretary Yang didn’t bother asking for reasons, as expected.
This was an unspoken rule of the Samjeon Group.
When the royal family gave an order, you obeyed—no questions asked.
Jeon Tae-guk replayed what Sung-guk and Mark had said.
If Ashley Holmes had tried to seduce him into securing investment, he was prepared to destroy her completely.
‘How dare she toy with me, Jeon Tae-guk, heir to the Samjeon Group?’
* * *
Seven in the evening.
I arrived at the Pizza Restaurant right on time.
Ashley Holmes was already there, having ordered a generous amount of Hawaiian pizza.
She waved at me.
“Sung-guk, you made it.”
“I was planning to pay for the pizza.”
“Who says men always have to pay?”
[I don’t want to be indebted to you, Ashley. Stop getting the wrong idea.]
But handing over money now would have felt awkward.
I ate pizza while waiting for Ashley to reveal her true purpose.
Throughout the meal, Ashley talked about how passionate she was about BloodTherapy.
I ate three slices of pizza, then loudly gulped down my cola and looked directly at Ashley.
“Ashley, let’s drop the pointless talk. I’d like you to tell me the real reason you wanted to meet today.”
“I’m not the kind of man who falls for your kindness.”
I wiped my hands on a napkin.
Ashley Holmes flashed a smile like an advertisement model, her teeth gleaming.
“Sung-guk, what exactly are you trying to gain by saying such things to John? Are you feeling competitive with me?”
“I don’t feel competitive with a con artist, Ashley.”
Ashley Holmes’s blue eyes turned cold.
“Ashley, I know you’re trying to use me to catch Bill Gates and Charlie Jobs.”
“I don’t need that anymore. Jerry Chang has made me a massive investment.”
Jerry Chang had stepped back from Yahoo, but with his remaining stake and his successful investments over the years, he likely possessed considerable capital.
“Ashley. In that case, you should say he invested in BloodTherapy, not that he invested in you.”
“It’s the same thing.”
[Is that so? Then if BloodTherapy collapses, you collapse too, don’t you, Ashley?]
Crunch. Crunch.
I swallowed the last of the ice.
Just then, the evening news came on the small television in the pizza restaurant.
– John Khan of GK Investment Firm is under investigation for embezzling company funds. What’s even more shocking is that John Khan is in a romantic relationship with Ashley Holmes, the founder of BloodTherapy and the so-called second Charlie Jobs.
Photos of Ashley Holmes and John Khan entering and leaving the same house appeared one after another.
[Samjeon’s intelligence network really is impressive. But I didn’t expect them to go public with this so quickly. Jeon Tae-guk really is a fool.]
Ashley Holmes fell silent for a moment, her gaze fixed on the news.
I stared at Ashley Holmes’s large blue eyes with a cold expression.
[Ashley, how could you commit fraud using people’s lives as collateral?]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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