The Regressed Chaebol Grandson Finds It Hard to Forgive - Chapter 62
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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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Episode 62. The Crown Prince
“Why do I feel so unsettled today?”
Ju Mi-ju had finished her morning yoga routine early, received a massage, and returned home as usual.
She sat on the sofa with a bottle of mineral water in hand.
But the sense of foreboding she’d felt while moving around wouldn’t fade.
She had always possessed an unusually sharp intuition since adolescence.
It had been confirmed even at the famous shaman’s house she visited with her mother in her twenties.
The shaman at the time had marveled at her innate talent, saying it was extraordinary.
She had said that as a descendant born into a position of power, that gift must never be suppressed.
Otherwise, there was a high likelihood she would become possessed by a spirit.
She had said that only by wielding power and living without restraint could a spirit be kept at bay.
After that day, her mother allowed Ju Mi-ju to do as she pleased.
In reality, it was as good as being cast out from the household.
She spent her days planted in clubs, and eventually enrolled in a private American university where graduation could be bought with money.
Whether by innate fortune, she met a good man, built a family, and had intelligent children.
Those around her envied her, but Ju Mi-ju herself was not satisfied with marriage.
Her relationship with her husband had grown distant after giving birth to their second child.
By now, they had long been a couple in name only.
They acknowledged each other’s separate lives and took lovers.
Neither husband nor wife had any intention of divorcing.
It would tarnish their social standing and the honor of both family groups.
The Korean Airlines incident!
Ju Mi-ju had experienced firsthand the terror of the media because of that affair.
It had been the catalyst for her stepping down from all her official titles and settling into the role of homemaker.
The fundamental characteristic of descendants of the Korean Group: poor intellect.
Fortunately, despite being a stepson, her son had a sharp mind and maintained excellent grades.
He was a sophomore at Cheonghwa High School and never lost his position as 1st Place School-Wide.
He was the only grandson through her that Chairman Ju Dong-myung took particular interest in.
Ju Mi-ju had staked her life on securing a solid future for her son Lee Jung-jun.
But then an unexpected situation erupted.
The unprecedented appearance of a perfect-score student at Cheonghwa High School.
“Damn it! What does a beggar’s grades matter!”
Even if they succeeded, their best bet would be settling into middle-class professions like judge, prosecutor, or doctor.
No matter how brilliant their mind or excellent their grades, they could never join South Korea’s upper class overnight.
Wealth and prestige were not things one could obtain in a single day.
And yet Sa Bae-ja dared?
People spoke of human rights now, the world had grown lax, but Sa Bae-ja was of a station practically no different from slavery in ages past.
“Is the matter being handled or not? Can’t you do better than this? ……Wasting time on one beggar kid!”
Ju Mi-ju, who had lived her entire life with impatience, was thoroughly irritated.
She should have received word that the Sa Bae-ja matter was resolved before classes started on Monday morning.
Raa-sha~ ♪ Lo-ya~ ♬
Just then, her elegant smartphone ringtone chimed.
“Perfect timing~”
A smile bloomed on Ju Mi-ju’s face when the dean’s number appeared on the screen.
“I was waiting for the dean to call…….”
-Madam! C-catastrophe! A disaster has occurred!!
Dean Wang Jin-deok’s unexpected opening words made the smile vanish from Ju Mi-ju’s lips.
“W-what disaster?”
Ju Mi-ju asked back, still maintaining her composure.
But her instinctive intuition was sounding an alarm.
Something terrible had happened.
-Teacher Lee Jang-yong has…… been expelled from the school!
“Pardon? Teacher Lee?”
It was shocking news.
Lee Jang-yong was Cheonghwa’s pride.
He was a mathematical genius who under normal circumstances would never be dismissed.
That was precisely why he had been deployed as the ace in this Sa Bae-ja matter.
-He had a mathematics competition with the Sa Bae-ja student and couldn’t solve it.
“What??”
-And that’s not even the main problem…….
“What else? What other problem!”
-It’s…… Lee Jung-jun…….
Dean Wang Jin-deok trailed off mid-sentence.
“Why our Jung-jun? What happened to him?”
At the mention of her son’s name, Ju Mi-ju’s eyebrows twitched upward.
All her dreams and hopes rested on her son Lee Jung-jun.
She harbored a monstrous desire to seize the Doa Daily News and the Korean Group in her grasp and become their supreme leader.
-Jung-jun assaulted Teacher Lee Jang-yong. In front of other students, he…… assaulted him…….
“W-what?”
Lee Jung-jun was her son—normally emotionless, maintaining an icy coldness.
There was no way her son, more calculating than her husband and with a faster-turning mind, would do such a thing.
-Crucially, that Sa Bae-ja…… was not Sa Bae-ja.
“What kind of nonsense is that!!”
Ju Mi-ju erupted in fury and shouted her rebuttal.
-That Sa Bae-ja…… is a member of the Hareum Group family.
“W-what? H-Hareum??”
At that response, Ju Mi-ju’s mind went blank and her vision darkened.
She had touched the wrong person.
The premonition she’d felt right after finishing yoga had been correct.
The Korean Group was formidable, but in history and tradition they were outmatched by Hareum.
Hareum was a company that had endured for a hundred years.
Currently, it had persisted unchanged as a chaebol for five generations—a genuine family-run conglomerate.
Had the group not fractured, it would confidently rank among the top five conglomerates.
If Sa Bae-ja was a member of the Hareum Group family…….
“Are you certain?”
-The principal confirmed it himself. Jo & Zhang attorneys came to the school. We clearly heard them calling him “Young Master.”
“Ah…….”
A moan escaped from between Ju Mi-ju’s parted lips.
Sa Bae-ja’s hidden identity was the grandson of the Hareum chairman?
If this was true, the entire situation unraveled.
“So what’s the conclusion…….”
-The perfect score has been processed.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Ju Mi-ju shrieked, grasping her hair with one hand.
Crash!
She hurled the smartphone she was holding onto the marble floor, and fragments scattered in all directions.
“Of all companies, why Hareum! Hareeeeum!!”
Chairman Ha Cheol-gon of the Hareum Group was known in the industry as a man of ice water for blood.
Despite his benevolent appearance, if something displeased him, he would eliminate it before him without hesitation or mercy.
Even Chairman Ju Dong-myung, her own father, feared Chairman Ha.
“Damn it! This dog-eat-dog world! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!!”
Crash crash crash!
Ju Mi-ju, having lost all reason, hurled whatever came to hand onto the floor, screaming.
She had to release the stress this way immediately.
If she didn’t regain control of her emotions, she feared she would kill someone.
“Uhhhhh……. Hahahahahah.”
A brief span of time passed like this.
“I won’t end it like this! My son…… I will absolutely make him Cheonghwa’s number one! Hareum bloodline, that all? I’ll destroy it!!”
* * *
Sting.
A sudden eerie sensation made my body shudder.
It felt like someone was cursing me with tremendous force.
That was understandable.
What happened this morning was something the old me could never have imagined.
It all started when that bastard Lee Jang-yong forced the issue and picked a fight from the beginning.
In the end, he was forced to his knees.
He was hastily expelled from the school under the pretext of damaging the Cheonghwa Foundation’s reputation.
I’d made a serious mark with the principal.
I had made a grave error before the Cheonghwa students, myself included.
He probably figured he could make a decent living on the outside, but he was mistaken.
Because his talent had been stolen through my handshake, he could no longer even solve advanced mathematics.
At best, he might work as a middle school instructor.
And more than anything, this is Gangnam.
If word of what happened at the school spreads, no one will hire him.
Even now, rumors must be flying everywhere.
On top of that, Jo & Zhang will go after Lee Jang-yong.
One should not give a wicked person who shows no remorse and refuses to repent a second chance at life in the world.
The chaotic morning affair had quieted down.
“…….”
But if there was another problem…….
Everyone was watching my every move!
Not just the students, but the teachers as well were treating me with caution.
The direct lineage of House Ha!
While nothing had been officially confirmed, everyone had enough sense to read between the lines.
And that was exactly what I intended.
I resolved it cleanly in one go, without dragging things out messily.
I had set the existence of the Hareum Group and my grandfather the chairman as my perfect backdrop.
Before the regression, I wouldn’t have pissed in the direction of the Hareum Group, but things were different now.
I intended to use my true identity and background to demonstrate my capabilities.
Hareum was a formidable enterprise.
Even now, money was accumulating in my account and expanding my resources, but it wasn’t enough.
This incident had become a turning point, solidifying my position within Cheonghwa.
Now no one would dare challenge me recklessly.
My blood is the lineage of House Ha, though I’d prefer not to acknowledge it.
‘If I don’t grow stronger, I’ll be the one who suffers.’
What was certain was that Hareum had destroyed my family.
They couldn’t stand to see us living ordinary lives.
If they’d simply left us alone, I would never have harbored resentment.
There would have been no reason to begin this second life with such venom.
Ding-dong-dang~ ♬
Fourth period had ended.
Despite the major incident that morning, Cheonghwa rolled on without issue.
“Enjoy your lunch.”
“Thank you!”
The history teacher gave a brief farewell and hurried out of the classroom.
Throughout the period, he never met my eyes, even when looking straight ahead.
That was the standing of a Crown Prince from the Hareum Group.
An invisible class divide that the general public would never perceive.
It could be felt most distinctly here at Cheonghwa.
Tap, tap.
The other students quietly slipped out of the classroom without fanfare.
Even Oh Kwang-jun, bearing a complex expression, disappeared without much reaction.
“…….”
An enforced peace had descended upon the classroom, unbidden.
“Ha Tae-woong…….”
It was Lee Hyo-ju, who had remained in the classroom.
“Yes?”
Lee Hyo-ju turned her head and fixed me with a steady gaze.
“Are you really from House Ha?”
She asked, as if she needed confirmation.
“Probably.”
“Probably? What kind of answer is that.”
My answer was something that required understanding the family circumstances entangled with House Ha.
I was indeed a member of House Ha, but as a member of the Fallen Lineage, I could not openly wield House Ha’s power.
I was in a position where I still could not call my grandfather grandfather.
“If you knew, it would get complicated.”
“What?”
Lee Hyo-ju treated me comfortably after having seen me a few times.
Without any sense of reluctance, Lee Hyo-ju’s eyes lit up refreshingly.
Her gaze was kind, as always.
Just then.
“Senior Ha Tae-woong~”
A voice filled with familiarity called out to me.
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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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