FTC Chapter 1(Part 5)

The Mare Group’s embezzlement records spanned over twenty years. In South Korea, the company ranked among the top five in influence, whether by market size, reputation, or sheer power.

And yet, he was settling for marriage?

“Personally, I would’ve asked for at least ten billion won. Maybe even thirty. Seems about right for evidence that valuable.”

Jaebin remained silent.

“You knew, didn’t you? That my mother was preparing for the elections.”

What was lurking beneath the surface of this sham of a marriage?

Seoyeon studied his face carefully, determined not to miss a single shift in his expression.

Shadows flickered across his features, shifting with the city lights outside.

Then, he turned to her.

“I do like money.”

A slow, chilling smirk spread across his lips.

“But this… is worth more than just a few billion.”

Seoyeon’s breath hitched.

Hadn’t she always believed that everything in this world revolved around money?

“Speak plainly. Stop dodging.”

Jaebin suddenly reached out, taking her wrist in his grasp.

Seoyeon’s eyes widened.

“This,” he murmured, his voice quiet yet absolute.

“…I need this.”

Her pulse quickened.

“The Mare heiress.”

His grip was gentle. And yet—her arm wouldn’t move.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t pull away—she simply couldn’t move at all.

His eyes, unwavering, locked onto hers.

And in that moment, Seoyeon realized something.

This man—he might be even worse than her mother.

Her chest rose and fell in small, shallow breaths.

He still hadn’t let go.

His lips moved again, voice dangerously quiet.

“The Hunting Dog That Killed Mare Group’s Prey.”

 

“…”

 

“What if that hunting dog one day bites the hand?”

 

Would you let it live?

 

That was his question to Seoyeon. She kept her lips tightly sealed. There wasn’t a single ripple in his calm, dark eyes.

 

Seoyeon yanked her hand away. Jaebin, who had been gripping it firmly without the slightest tremor, finally loosened his hold. The car had already entered a quiet residential neighborhood. Her gaze shimmered in the darkness, and her lips parted.

 

“You’d kill it.”

 

“…”

 

“So it never bites again.”

 

“Then what about me?”

 

She swallowed hard.

 

“Should I just… stay still?”

 

Seoyeon’s lips trembled.

 

Woo Jaebin—the hunting dog that had spent eight years disposing of Mare Group’s filth, killing without hesitation. A dog that would now be discarded by its master. No—one that already had been, left to die but somehow surviving.

 

“…You’re using me as a shield.”

 

Seoyeon’s voice trembled low. His words echoed in her ears. Hunting dog. Nameplate. Poisonous woman. Mare. And the sentence about how he had once worked under her mother.

 

Suddenly, she could picture it—her mother’s attempt to bring down the organization. And then, this man, throwing out something as absurd as marriage in response.

 

A scene where he used this marriage to become a part of Mare Group and protect the company—

 

Go Hyunju, the vice chairman who cared obsessively about Mare’s image, would never allow a single blemish on Domok once its CEO became her son-in-law. Now that he was family, the media and public perception of Domok would have to be as pristine as Mare Group itself, polished and untarnished. That was exactly what he was after with this marriage.

 

If the enemy tries to kill you, infiltrate their very body so they can neither harm nor destroy you.

 

So, he was going to use her as a pawn in this infiltration strategy?

 

“I’ve never done anything like embezzlement.”

 

Jaebin’s dark eyes deepened in the shadows.

 

“I know.”

 

His voice was cold.

 

“But I can’t say the same for the records.”

 

The car came to a stop in the garage of an obviously luxurious house. It wasn’t just Jaebin’s home anymore. It was now their newlywed house.

 

He stepped out without a trace of emotion, his sharp footsteps echoing against the floor as he disappeared inside, leaving nothing behind—not even a shadow. A refined-looking man, presumably Jaebin’s personal secretary, exited the driver’s seat and opened the door for Seoyeon.

 

She didn’t move. She couldn’t.

 

*~ *

 

As soon as she stepped inside, the smell of food hit her. Nausea rose violently from within. Without so much as glancing toward the source of the scent, she strode forward.

 

Jaebin’s secretary kept pace with her and spoke.

 

“Dinner has been prepared.”

 

“I’m not eating.”

 

“It’s a direct order from the CEO.”

 

It was a house as grand as Seoyeon’s own. No matter how far she walked, the hallway seemed endless. When she finally reached the spacious living room, the secretary who had been walking beside her stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

 

He was a man with a delicate, almost elegant face—completely at odds with his broad, towering frame.

 

“He’s waiting for you.”

 

“How about you get lost?”

 

Pale skin, refined features—but his build was just as large as Jaebin’s. His shadow swallowed her whole. Despite her sharp words, he didn’t budge.

 

Seoyeon hadn’t eaten a proper meal all day. She was hungry, but how could she possibly think about food in a situation like this? Forced into marriage in a single day, dragged into this madman’s house—there was no appetite left to consider.

 

At that moment, Jaebin emerged from the far end of the living room.

 

“Han Mooyoung, my chief secretary.”

 

His jacket was off, leaving him in a crisp white shirt with a tie. The secretary standing before her straightened his back and bowed at a sharp, precise angle.

 

“Han Mooyoung.”

 

She had no patience for formalities. With all the insane commands flying around, she barely registered his introduction. Without a word, she brushed past Mooyoung and stopped directly in front of Jaebin.

 

“Take me to my room first.”

 

“You should eat while it’s hot.”

 

“My room.”

 

She grabbed his tie and yanked him forward.

 

“I said, take me to my damn room first.”

 

Mooyoung glanced at Jaebin as if asking whether he should intervene. Jaebin, with his usual ease, pried her fingers off his tie like he was undoing a loosely tied knot.

 

Without a word, he signaled Mooyoung to stay put and stepped ahead of her, leading the way. Mooyoung bowed slightly and watched them disappear down the hallway.

 

Beyond the living room, another long corridor stretched out before her. It was wide, like an art gallery, lined with various artworks. Between them, doors were placed in spots where empty space might have felt awkward.

 

Trying to keep up appearances, huh?

 

She scoffed, glancing around.

 

She had already heard plenty about Domok as a company. To the public, it was just another large corporation. But a select few knew the truth—that its roots were deeply tied to organized crime. She had even come across the name of the syndicate that backed it.

 

“Are you the boss of the Beom Jungang faction?”

 

Jaebin stopped in front of a room and pushed the door open. Without hesitation, she stepped inside.

 

The bedroom was perfectly arranged, as if it had been waiting for her all along. It wasn’t just a guest room. The vanity, the desk, the bed, the plush carpet—everything felt deliberately prepared for someone meant to stay here long-term.

 

In front of a massive wardrobe, her clothes were neatly stacked, the very same ones that had been taken from her home earlier today.

 

She was speechless.

 

“Why?”

 

No way.

 

Muttering to herself, she scanned the room.

 

“Are you scared?”

 

The moment she saw the bedroom, the same fundamental question surfaced again. Why am I here?

 

She still couldn’t believe it. Everything that had happened in just one day was beyond absurd. Just this morning, she had been preparing for her father’s funeral. And now, she was suddenly an unwitting bride, standing in this unfamiliar place that was supposed to be her marital home? It was impossible to accept.

 

She turned to look at Jaebin. Though she wasn’t short, she still had to tilt her head up quite a bit to meet his gaze.

 

“I knew my mother lived a screwed-up life, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

 

“…”

 

“I bet you had a good laugh at her audacity.”

 

His brow lifted slightly.

 

“It wasn’t audacity.”

 

“…”

 

“She laughed when I demanded marriage.”

 

Seoyeon’s pupils dilated slightly.

 

“Like she was relieved it wasn’t 30 billion won.”

 

Her heart pounded. That unexpected remark froze her in place. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her pulse racing. Unbidden, a memory of her mother flashed through her mind—the way she had smiled when he had demanded not money, but her daughter’s entire life.

 

That expression. That slight curve of her lips that seemed to say, Take her. As much as you want.

 

“One month.”

 

“…”

 

“I’ll divorce you in a month.”

 

That was the moment.

 

The moment Seoyeon made up her mind to steal for the first time in her life.

 

Find the records. Escape this bastard.

 

And—

 

Expose both her innocence and her mother’s crimes to the world.

 

* ~ *

 

Long fingers flipped to the next page. Deep brown eyes methodically scanned the text.

 

From sponsorships to donations, transactions, and salaries—over the past twenty years, an astonishing 341.3 billion won had been funneled under various excuses.

 

The neatly organized figures sank into her vision, settling in her mind. Each time a page turned, new justifications appeared, inflating the total even more. The faces behind each number flickered before Hyunju’s eyes—memories tainted with alcohol, women, and the stench of cigarettes. Vivid. Overwhelmingly so.

 

“…”

 

Nam Dojun, standing in front of Hyunju, glanced sideways at her subtle gesture. The air in her office felt unnaturally cold today.

 

“Smarter than I expected.”

 

341.3 billion won. The final page. She removed her rimless glasses.

 

“How did she think to store all of this away? Like a rat.”

 

“…”

 

“As if she was waiting for this.”

 

Hyunju placed her glasses into their case with a poised motion. The warm yellow glow of the reading lamp illuminated her porcelain face, casting long shadows over her polished wooden desk.

 

“Should have killed her.”

 

A vision of the future unfolded before her.

 

She would slowly strangle the Beom Jungang faction—the ones who disobeyed her orders and knew too much about the company’s corruption.

 

“And Seoyeon?”

 

“She was confirmed to have entered Woo Jaebin’s house this evening.”

 

Hyunju smiled. Not because of Seoyeon. Because of the words “CEO Woo Jaebin.”

 

She closed the copy of the ledger Jaebin had handed her. Inside, every amount listed under the past thirteen years had been in Baek Seoyeon’s name—except for the first.

 

Of course, Hyunju had never embezzled funds under her own name.

 

For the first thirteen years, she had used the finance chief of Mare Group—her personal vault keeper—as the front. But for the past seven years, every fraudulent account, every offshore transaction, every hidden sum had been signed under Baek Seoyeon.

 

Since the day Seoyeon turned twenty.

 

That was when Hyunju, with grand political ambitions, had begun setting up shell companies and escrow accounts worldwide under her daughter’s name.

 

For convenience. For discretion. And—

 

For the inevitable day when she would cut her daughter off completely.

 

Because at twenty, Seoyeon started rebelling.

 

The once-docile girl stopped obeying. And that was when Hyunju made her decision: She needed to be silenced.

 

Quietly. Cleanly. No loose ends.

 

So, she had placed Seoyeon’s name in Mare Group’s finance team, using it to siphon money through paper companies. Over time, the records painted a clear picture:

 

A daughter who secretly embezzled her own family’s wealth.

 

A mother, a respectable businesswoman, forced to watch in horror.