The Baby Seizes Fortune - Chapter 45

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 45

 

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[Haeryeong Resort Fire Case, Resort Side Wins First Trial]

 

The resort side won the first trial in court. The top-tier law firm representing the case obtained a ruling from the court that limited the resort’s responsibility.

 

The law firm in question is a legal office established by National Party member Gi Seung-cheol, and some in political and legal circles are raising suspicions that “political connections may have influenced the trial results.”

 

Representative Gi has been criticized for continuously putting forward the ‘student responsibility theory’ to increase his political attention. He has been gaining popularity on some community sites by repeatedly making statements like “We must not appeal only to emotions” and “The responsible party must be clearly identified.”

 

The parents flocked to National Assembly member Gi Seung-cheol’s office, and I was there too.

 

He stood on the stairs in front of the lobby, and we were one step below him.

 

That was when I first saw Gi Seung-cheol.

 

He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses and glanced down below.

 

His gaze seemed to scan only the form of the crowd without looking at people.

 

Though voices calling for an apology echoed, he seemed to perceive it as mere noise, his face bizarrely calm.

 

Watching Seungcheol enter without a single word of response, the parents tried to grab him.

 

But security immediately stretched out their arms to block the way, and though the parents’ desperate cries reached up the stairs, Seungcheol ignored us like air and went inside.

 

That was the end.

 

The lawyer’s advice was heard that the second and third trials would likely yield no significant results either.

 

My parents, who had been struggling for two years, were already exhausted, and both their eyes were hollow.

 

“Dad and Mom have to live separately now. You should also start preparing for independence.”

 

On the day before college admission, I heard my parents’ powerless voices.

 

“We’ll pay for your first semester tuition.”

 

I was accepted to S University.

 

“I’ll fight now.”

 

The end of my voice trembled pathetically.

 

“Now I’ll somehow find evidence…”

 

“Let’s stop…”

 

The area under Mother’s eyes looking back at me was pitch black. I couldn’t say anything more to such a mother.

 

That’s how our family was dismantled.

 

I entered the dormitory and devoted myself to studying.

 

Even so, I often couldn’t let go of my older sister’s case.

 

Every weekend I searched for related case records and sometimes walked around the resort where the fire had occurred.

 

It wasn’t just because of longing for my older sister.

 

Whether we were really sisters or not, my older sister and I didn’t match in temperament from one to ten, so we weren’t very close.

 

But my older sister shouldn’t have died like that.

 

The other seniors too were people who shouldn’t have ended their short lives in such a way.

 

Of course, there were no results.

 

With so much time having passed already, there couldn’t be any related evidence or materials remaining.

 

But I persistently dug through those traces.

 

One day, I was sitting alone by the seaside where Haeryeong Resort was visible.

 

I was leaning against a tree, feeling the sea breeze that mixed warmth and coldness.

 

Then, a man’s voice was heard.

 

“Does coming here put your mind at ease? Or do you come because your mind feels uncomfortable if you don’t?”

 

I looked up in surprise, and there I saw Gi Seung-cheol standing while looking at the distant sea.

 

With his stiff suit and National Assembly member badge, he was definitely the arrogant and cold Gi Seung-cheol I had seen before.

 

Seeing me glaring at him hostilely with raised eyebrows, he chuckled.

 

“I hear you attend S University, you must be smart.”

 

Had he done a background check on me, who frequently came here to stir things up?

 

To him suddenly speaking informally, I asked.

 

“Why did you do it?”

 

“What did I do.”

 

“Knowing how much pain we were in. Why. Why did you have to go that far?”

 

Why did he take the lead in throwing stones at us?

 

Why did he have to trample us so cruelly?

 

Was that his justice?

 

I know that everyone has different ideologies and justice.

 

But we innocent ones were in so much pain.

 

“Because you didn’t educate the kids properly.”

 

At that moment, Seungcheol’s voice pierced my ears.

 

He took out a cigarette from his jacket pocket and put it in his mouth as he spoke.

 

“Really, who told those little brats to secretly smoke in the bathroom.”

 

Rather than anger, chills ran down my spine.

 

“If they had just studied diligently like students should, that wouldn’t have happened. Right.”

 

The sound of a lighter flint striking was heard with a click.

 

“Getting themselves killed.”

 

I stared blankly at Seungcheol.

 

His eyes as he inhaled the smoke were cold without a trace of emotion.

 

Did this person even have a human heart?

 

As disgust surged and I was about to turn away, something suddenly made my heart lurch.

 

“Who told them to secretly smoke in the bathroom—”

 

Bathroom.

 

No, they said the initial ignition point was near some room door. The lighter was even found in the hallway.

 

Well, they could have smoked in the bathroom.

 

But sparks could have fallen near the door while moving.

 

They could have dropped the lighter in the hallway.

 

However, the fact that they ‘smoked in the bathroom’ was something no one knew.

 

No media had reported it.

 

Bathroom, bathroom, I repeated it for a while then asked him.

 

“How do you know it was the bathroom?”

 

His gaze, which had been exhaling smoke with a “hoo,” smoothly turned toward me.

 

The man soon pulled up one corner of his mouth in a smirk.

 

My heart was pounding.

 

He then took one step, two steps toward me.

 

When the shadow from his tall height fell over my body, he whispered to me with his mouth that smelled of cigarettes.

 

“Adults originally know a lot. More than kids.”

 

“…”

 

“So wander around moderately. I’m saying this out of concern. You’re like a daughter to me, okay?”

 

The words that finally came contained a clear threat.

 

I looked at him with trembling eyes.

 

His clear, pitch-black pupils contained arrogance.

 

“Your father seems to be sick.”

 

For a moment, my fingertips trembled with a start.

 

Dad is sick?

 

Soon he raised his hand and patted my shoulder encouragingly, then walked behind me.

 

I felt disgusted.

 

He was no longer visible in my sight, but the acrid cigarette smell remained full at the tip of my nose.

 

He knows. Something, some unknown truth, that thing I want to find but cannot find, he has it.

 

A strong intuition pierced through me, but there was nothing I could do immediately.

 

I couldn’t sleep for several days. I confirmed the fact that Dad had liver cancer, and for several months I walked that beach again.

 

And I finally closed my older sister’s file.

 

So that incident was a record of devastating loss and defeat.

 

* * *

 

“…You need to be careful if you see that man again. Understand?”

 

At my words, Junho nodded with a bewildered expression.

 

“Yeah… he did seem kind of intimidating. But how do you know that man, Chaea…”

 

“We’re here!”

 

Just then, the car stopped in front of the dinner venue, and Seok-min opened the door for us.

 

Junho stopped what he was saying and got out of the car with me.

 

Ding-

 

A status window appeared at the same time.

 

[Special Quest ‘Guardian’s Growth’ Stage 3: Act as the mood maker at today’s dinner gathering.]

 

[Quest Reward: Ability Points (+70)]

 

It was Junho’s growth quest that had appeared after a while.

 

‘This shouldn’t require much effort. Because Junho is loved by everyone these days.’

 

Right, sometimes there should be easy ones like this.

 

Soon we entered the restaurant.

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