Former Mastermind To Chaebol Son-in-Law Chapter 50

Are You Out Hunting?

Due to the sudden brake, Tae Ju-ha and Heo Yu-rim were thrown forward and caught by their seatbelts, leaving them disoriented.

At the sa ti, the security guard in the driver's seat turned to look at them.

"CEO! Secretary Heo! Are you alright?"

Still shaking off the shock, Tae Ju-ha asked in order to grasp the situation.

"What happened?"

"A car in front suddenly cut in, so I had to stop. I'll check the situation and handle it quickly."

By then, the doors of the car in front had opened, and a group of n poured out.

Among them, Tae Ju-ha spotted a neatly dressed man.

"Manager Ahn Min-gi..."

At that mont, Heo Yu-rim was startled to hear the na.

"The one who's CEO Kang Do-young's secretary, that Ahn Min-gi?"

"That's right. Now I see why that car blocked our way."

The man called Ahn Min-gi slowly approached with a sly smile, then gently knocked on the car's rear window and spoke politely.

Knock, knock, knock—

"CEO Tae Ju-ha. CEO Kang Do-young would like to see you. For reference, we hope you don't make a noisy scene."

anwhile, security guards from Tae Ju-ha's side also got out of the car following behind them.

Two groups of n, facing off and occupying a lane, radiated a tense atmosphere.

Watching the scene, Tae Ju-ha looked at Ahn Min-gi's face through the glass.

Even before her marriage, it had always been like this. He would orchestrate troubleso situations, cornering her into seeing Kang Do-young by making it impossible to refuse.

Just like now...

"CEO, you're not actually going to go with them, are you? You could end up in another scandal."

They were blocking the end section of a four-lane road.

Cars stacked up behind were blaring their horns and shouting curses as they drove past.

However, there was no way Ahn Min-gi would quietly step aside.

If anything, he would escalate the commotion and cause even more trouble.

In that case, Tae Ju-ha would have no choice but to accept needless reputational damage.

"But..."

Two years ago, her decision to marry, which had seed nonsensical, wasn't just for the position of CEO at Taeshin Asset Managent.

A large part was to escape Kang Do-young, KQ Group's only successor, who was obsessed with her.

She was worried even at Chairman Kang Cheon-gyu's autobiography launch party in New York, as Do-young almost made a scene, but since then he had been quiet—until now.

Of course, Heo Yu-rim, who'd heard about that relationship in New York, was even more concerned.

"Let's call the police first."

"That's no good. We both know exactly how Kang Do-young will react."

Even if the police got involved, it would just beco another corporate power struggle.

In such a case, KQ Group's legitimate heir Kang Do-young would have the upper hand over Tae Ju-ha, as Taeshin Group's illegitimate daughter.

"Then what will you do? Will you really go with them?"

"I'll step out and—"

Screech—

Before she could finish, another car squeezed in between her vehicle and Ahn Min-gi's, stopping abruptly.

The sudden braking forced the n in front to scatter to avoid being hit.

The tension grew as the n circled the new car.

Then, the rear door and both front doors opened, and In-hyuk, Hong Yu-geon, and Van Hester erged.

"Trying to pick up a married woman in the middle of a Seoul street?"

In-hyuk murmured quietly.

anwhile, Ahn Min-gi instantly recognized him and, brow furrowed, moved away from Tae Ju-ha's car, approaching quickly.

"CEO Kang Do-young wishes to see Tae Ju-ha—"

"And who are you to take soone away like this?"

Cut off mid-sentence, Ahn Min-gi's expression beca even colder.

"... I am KQ Group Executive Vice President Kang Do-young's secretary, Ahn Min-gi."

"Oh, a secretary? So this is KQ Group! I thought you were so kind of gangster—!"

He purposely raised his voice so everyone nearby could hear.

Passersby's attention focused even more on the commotion.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Can't you tell? I'm exposing KQ Group's use of gangsters to stir up trouble right here in the middle of the road."

"You really want to see how far this goes?"

Ahn Min-gi's brow knit tighter.

As the n stationed around prepared to move in on In-hyuk, Hong Yu-geon and Van Hester blocked their approach.

In-hyuk, erasing the smirk from his face, stepped closer to Ahn Min-gi and spoke softly.

"Stop this here and go tell Kang Do-young: Instead of taking it out on innocent people over the LifeStar incident, he should focus on cleaning up the ss. If he keeps overreaching, he might lose even what he thinks is secure."

One of the n, perhaps prompted by his words, tried to grab In-hyuk's shoulder.

"I don't recall allowing you to touch ."

In an instant, In-hyuk snatched the man's wrist, twisted it, and slamd it down towards the ground.

"Aaagh—!"

Everyone was shocked.

The n from KQ Group were seasoned security—ex-military, police, rcenary backgrounds.

Normally, they would have no trouble taking down several civilians.

But In-hyuk had brought one to his knees in a flash.

No one nearby even registered what happened before the man hit the ground.

"Are you all not going back to your car? Or do you want to see this guy get his arms twisted behind his back for the crowd?"

At those words, the man's arm was forced even further back, drawing more screams.

"Aaagh—!"

The crowd's attention was drawn even tighter still.

Ahn Min-gi seed to make a decision and signaled the security guards.

Understanding his signal, they swiftly returned to their vehicle.

In-hyuk, still gripping the man's arm, hoisted and pushed him towards the car.

"You all get in the car and go back. And don't forget a single word of the ssage I passed on."

Soon Ahn Min-gi, the man whose arm had been grabbed, and the other guards got in their car and drove off.

Hong Yu-geon clicked his tongue at In-hyuk's side.

"What the... are they just running away like that?"

"Why, were you hoping for a real fight?"

"I just... no, I wanted to see how much skill you still have hidden, Division Director."

Not long ago, Hong Yu-geon had helped In-hyuk raid UID's safehouse.

He'd had to pull out early in less than favorable circumstances, but his curiosity about In-hyuk only deepened.

"Save the nonsense, the situation's resolved—get in the car."

With that, In-hyuk headed for the back seat, while Hong Yu-geon tilted his head.

"Aren't you going to see your wife?"

"I'll see her at ho anyway. Ah, you guys sort things out quickly. If this drags on, the police might show up."

He was speaking to the TSS security guards who had gotten out to protect Tae Ju-ha.

After that, In-hyuk, Hong Yu-geon, and Van Hester climbed into their car and drove off.

.

.

.

About thirty minutes later.

Ahn Min-gi arrived at the outskirts of Itaewon, not far from where he'd t Tae Ju-ha.

On one side of the road, up a hill, were high-end shops and old houses lined up.

He passed through a white iron gate and entered. Inside, Kang Do-young, who'd given him the order, was sitting alone in a darkened living room with whiskey.

"Where's Ju-ha? Why'd you co back alone?"

"I'm sorry..."

Swoosh—Thud, crash!

The glass in Kang Do-young's hand flew at Ahn Min-gi, hit him in the chest, then shattered on the floor.

"Were you rusty from being away so long? Or did you get bold and start disobeying ?"

Indeed, Ahn Min-gi had just returned from a stint as head of KQ Distribution's German branch.

Normally, to succeed in overseas postings, non-locals from headquarters take the lead—but that wasn't true for Ahn Min-gi.

While he was Kang Do-young's secretary, he not only failed to stop his boss's dirty work but actively helped, prompting Chairman Kang Cheon-gyu to banish him.

"No, CEO."

"Then what? I brought you back, you should do even better than before!"

"I was fetching Tae Ju-ha when... Kang In-hyuk intervened."

"What? Kang In-hyuk?"

At that, Ahn Min-gi gave a rundown of the earlier events. Kang Do-young's face twisted with rage.

"... The commotion drew more attention than expected, so we had no choice but to back off. I believe Kang In-hyuk orchestrated that outco."

"That bastard... He's been unloading worthless companies on at high prices. There's nothing I like about him..."

Recently, the agency LifeStar had been rocked by a drug scandal involving IGNES, a boy group acquired during the buyout. He hadn't been unaware of the issue.

Even after acquiring the company, he kept it quiet while IGNES's fa skyrocketed.

But secrets never last forever, and eventually, the paparazzi reported on it.

"..."

While Ahn Min-gi fell silent, Kang Do-young poured a fresh drink, brow deeply furrowed.

"You said Kang In-hyuk made a scene so you had no choice? When did you ever handle things so delicately? No matter who's around, all you had to do was bring Tae Ju-ha."

"My handling was lacking. I'm sorry."

"Does sorry fix it? Do you know why I brought you back? To work together again! Even before you went to Europe, you did well. Why are you like this? Do you want to make go crazy!?"

Ahn Min-gi showed no response to the annoyed sarcasm.

He knew better than anyone that this was just how Kang Do-young was.

However, today's failure caught even Ahn Min-gi by surprise.

He knew Tae Ju-ha's temperant well—if he had made things just difficult enough, she would have co quietly, but the outco was different.

He had also looked into her husband, Kang In-hyuk.

Lately, he was an up-and-coming star at Taeshin Asset Managent, but there was much to doubt about whether it was all down to his own skills.

"... If I may ask, CEO, what do you think of Kang In-hyuk?"

"Kang In-hyuk? Why?"

"He had a ssage for you. He said you should focus on cleaning up after the incident at LifeStar. If you cause trouble needlessly, you might lose even what you think you're holding on to."

There were other details, but he only related the most essential part.

Kang Do-young looked even more annoyed as he replied.

"You think I need to give thought to the guy who stabbed in the back?"

When the trouble broke out at LifeStar, Kang Do-young had wanted to grab Kang In-hyuk by the collar, but his mother, Jeon Hae-in, stopped him, insisting that he first contain the financial losses.

Ahn Min-gi knew all this well.

"From the surface, he tried to defuse the crisis with light-hearted behavior, but... he seed out of the ordinary."

"Are you laying the groundwork for a complint?"

"It's not praise. I'm advising you to be even more cautious. This LifeStar incident may not be just a coincidence."

Kang Do-young thought for a while, then knocked back his whiskey.

"If it's not a coincidence, then what? Are you saying Kang In-hyuk handed over people who'd cause problems, on purpose? Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Before acquiring LifeStar, he had done thorough due diligence—yet the IGNES drug case had remained buried, only to surface as their popularity soared and the paparazzi followed.

Back then, he could have bought off the journalists, but popularity brought even more scrutiny, and with the obvious signs of drug use, the story beca irresistible for the press.

"I know CEO is ticulous. But considering his ssage, it suggests he knows about sothing else in addition to this incident. That ans he might know about another problem related to you."

"Another problem? What other problem?"

"I don't know the details yet. I'll investigate and report back."

Kang Do-young's mind was a tangle. The obsession with seeing Tae Ju-ha right away faded as he slumped on the sofa.

"Haaa—Do what you want. But be careful—if my father finds out, it could get troubleso."

"I'll keep that in mind."

With that answer, Ahn Min-gi left with a determined look on his face.