A Madman in Love-Chapter 78

It wasn’t for no reason.

How much had she wanted to see him…

How much had she worried about him…

—Seo Jaehee looks like he’s been through hell. Why does he look so pale?

He really did.

His already small face looked even thinner.

His broad, strong shoulders seemed to sag.

Ah…

If only she could run to him and hold him.

If only she could do that…

Honk! Honk!

The blaring horn from the car behind snapped Suin out of her trance, pulling her gaze away from Jaehee’s face.

Only then did she register that the light had turned green.

She forced herself to look away.

She focused on driving, refusing to see him growing smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror.

First, she had to take care of this.

***

At Moon River, Suin and Moo Sehoon were able to retrieve the rest of the CCTV footage without much trouble.

The manager, understanding the gravity of the situation, acted swiftly. After all, Woo Ilhwa was a VVIP at Moon River.

"We’ll need to gather footage from other CCTVs and black boxes in the area that match his movements."

"Let’s split up and check separately."

"Alright."

Following the suspect’s usual commuting route, they visited various establishments late into the night, securing all available CCTV footage and vehicle black box recordings.

Afterward, they booked a suite in a nearby business hotel and began analyzing the videos in earnest.

The amount of data was overwhelming.

They spent the entire night searching for any signs of the suspect interacting with other people at Moon River.

Saturday passed, and then Sunday.

"Chief, you should rest a bit."

"I will."

But Suin barely left her chair. Except for brief trips to get coffee or use the restroom, she remained glued to her laptop.

She even slept with her head resting on the table.

"Chief, did you not sleep again?"

"I did. A little."

Moo Sehoon was starting to get genuinely concerned.

As a married man, he had gone home in the early morning hours and returned later in the day. But Suin hadn’t moved from her spot, and the bed in the hotel room hadn’t even been used.

Still, her concentration was incredible.

Ah—

Except when she was interrupted by a nosy little informant’s messages.

—Seo Jaehee came again.

—He doesn’t even know you didn’t go home last night. He’s just waiting, again.

—What are we supposed to do with all that desperation?

Mijoo, practically stationed at Café Lime, had been sending Suin reports on Jaehee’s movements every night.

Saturday.

Sunday.

—He came again today, right on time. Persistent, so persistent.

—What are we supposed to do with this obsessive love of his? Someone even gave him the nickname The Clingy One. How fitting.

Suin read the messages but didn’t reply.

But the weight of them settled heavily on her.

To regain her shattered concentration, she had to step outside for fresh air for a few minutes each time.

Not to indulge in emotions—just to clear her head.

Then, she went right back.

"Team Leader, have a sandwich."

"Thanks."

Moo Sehoon welcomed her as she returned to the hotel room, carrying dinner.

"We’ve got a problem."

Stretching, he groaned while unwrapping the sandwich.

"We’ve gone through almost all the footage, and we haven’t found anything."

"What about the private investigator?"

"The suspect has completely disappeared. He never had any real friends, ran away from home at nineteen, and hasn’t been in contact with his family for years."

"I see."

"What about you?"

Finishing his sandwich in just two bites, Moo Sehoon pressed the spacebar on his laptop.

The black box footage from a parked car near Moon River’s entrance began playing again.

Watching it out of the corner of her eye, Suin responded.

"Same here. I can’t find any signs of him making contact with anyone…"

"Contact? Do you have a lead?"

Moo Sehoon caught onto her words.

Suin had planned to wait until she had solid proof before mentioning it, but now she spoke.

"About ten days ago, Vice Chairman Kim Seoncheol visited Moon River while the chairwoman was there. He only stayed for about thirty minutes."

"So they met privately."

"Yes. The chairwoman has always kept Moon River as her personal retreat. She’s never invited anyone else there."

"Really?"

"Moon River isn’t some high-end bar; it’s just a small lounge. It’s highly unlikely that the vice chairman just happened to stop by."

"He must have been keeping tabs on the chairwoman. Those two have always been rivals…"

"Yes."

"Do you think he’s involved in this?"

"…"

Suin held her silence instead of answering.

Just then, something in the black box footage playing on Moo Sehoon’s laptop caught her eye.

"Wait a second."

She quickly pressed the spacebar to pause the video.

Bringing her own laptop over, she pulled up the Moon River entrance footage from around the same time.

Though the person’s face was obscured in the entrance footage, only showing the back of their head, their outfit matched perfectly with the individual in the black box video.

"Oh, it’s the same person."

In the black box footage, the person’s face was clearly visible.

"Do you know him?"

"Capture that frame and send it to my phone. I have somewhere to be."

Moo Sehoon asked, but Suin didn’t answer. She had no time to waste.

***

To win a battle, you need a powerful weapon.

That’s why Suin first returned to her office at Hyesung Group.

Unlocking a tightly secured drawer in her desk, she retrieved a set of confidential documents before heading straight to Vice Chairman Kim Seoncheol’s mansion.

The first words he spoke to her in the study were as unpleasant as ever.

"A mere secretary dares barge into my home? Where did you learn such insolence? Did Chairwoman Woo teach you this?"

"Thank you for opening the door for me."

Suin had no interest in dragging this out.

She got straight to the point.

"I don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll be brief."

"Go on, then."

"I have footage of Chairman Choi Gwangseon’s driver entering Moon River the day after you visited. Through him, you recruited an employee from the bar, didn’t you?"

"I have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Of course not. However—"

She knew that mere suspicion and entry footage weren’t enough to serve as concrete evidence.

That’s why her attack came from a different angle.

She silently placed the binder she had brought onto the table.

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Kim Seoncheol shot it a cold glare, as if he didn’t even want to touch it.

"What’s that?"

"See for yourself."

"Explain it with your own mouth."

"Understood."

At his sharp command, Suin sat down properly, maintaining perfect posture.

Despite his aggressive demeanor, she remained composed.

The real battle was about to begin.

"This contains records showing that under the pretense of supporting art students, Chairman Choi Gwangseon has illegally acquired 30,000 pyeong of land in Okcheon. The land is registered under your name."

"What?"

The redness in his face drained instantly, turning a sickly pale.

His throat bobbed as he hastily flipped open the binder.

As he skimmed through the undeniable evidence laid out in chronological order, his fingers trembled.

"You’ve been digging into me? Did Woo Ilhwa order this?"

"The chairwoman knows nothing about this. If she did, she would have already launched an internal investigation."

"Then?"

"It wasn’t intentional. Since Hyesung Group also contributed billions in donations, I reviewed the financial reports and came across irregularities. That’s when I started looking into it on my own."

"And?"

"I’ve kept it buried until now."

"Why?"

"As a contingency."

Suin lifted her eyes, which had been cast downward.

She met his sharp, snake-like gaze head-on and spoke without hesitation.

"You’ve always had your sights set on the chairwoman’s back. If you ever decided to make a real move and strike her down, I needed something to shield her. Since I have no power of my own, this was the only way to defend her."

"…"

Kim Seoncheol had no retort.

It was humiliating enough that a secretary he had always dismissed as insignificant had seen right through him.

"…"

Suin maintained eye contact with him for a moment before bowing her head respectfully.

"I trust you’ll take care of it."

***

A few hours later.

Back in the business hotel where she had been waiting, Suin received a message from Chairwoman Woo Ilhwa.

—Come to the chairman’s office.

The brief command was all she needed.

Suin immediately complied.

When she entered, the lighting in the office was dimmed.

Woo Ilhwa sat quietly in her executive chair, waiting.

She didn’t say anything when Suin approached—just gestured for her to come closer.

"Yes."

Standing in front of her without a word, Suin was suddenly pulled forward.

"Suin."

Woo Ilhwa gripped her hand tightly.

"I can’t do this without you."