Chapter 137

    TL: KSD

    There exists an empire.

    The name of that empire is ‘Baekhak.’

    Immediately following the death of the aged emperor, the second prince accepted a family of illegitimate children into the main house to align them with his cause in order to overthrow the crown prince.

    The rebellion was successful, and the family of illegitimate children became a noble family.

    However, the second prince who usurped the throne is also an old man, having suffered one stroke and undergone two cancer surgeries in his younger years.

    It is certain that a generational shift will occur soon.

    At this moment, whom will the blade of the newly enthroned young emperor pierce first?

    “If the CEO of Baekhak Securities takes the chairman’s seat, we will be the first to be eliminated. Do you think that young master even sees us as human beings? Damn it...”

    The correct answer is ‘the family of illegitimate children who dared to mingle into the main house despite their lowly bloodline.’

    Baek Do-hyun, the de facto head of that family of illegitimate children, the Team Leader of the HR Support Team in the Strategic Planning Office at the headquarters, and Baek Seol’s uncle, answered correctly.

    In fact, everyone already knows the answer.

    The eldest son of the current chairman who oversees Baekhak Financial Holdings has already set himself against Baek Do-hyun.

    If that legitimate heir from the main house succeeds to the chairman’s position, there will be no place left for Baek Do-hyun and the collateral branches in an instant.

    Of course, the history between the Baekhak Group’s owner family and Baek Do-hyun’s collateral family is so complex that it cannot simply be explained by the terms ‘mainstream’ and ‘tributary’.

    The founder of Baekhak Group was not a ‘Republic of Korea’ person but a ‘Late Joseon’ person, and as was common among wealthy men of that era, he did not have just one wife.

    Even the second chairman, his son, as a member of the 20th-century upper class, naturally had a local concubine in addition to his lawful wife, and the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate became blurred within the tangled bloodlines.

    Thus, the family of the founder’s illegitimate child is closer to the mainstream than one might think. After all, even CEO Baek Do-hyun, regards the founder of Baekhak Group as his ‘paternal grandfather’.

    If the political situation at the end of the 20th century had played out slightly differently, the positions of the current owner family and Baek Do-hyun’s family might have been reversed.

    Baek Do-hyun’s family had already become a quasi-chaebol with shares in the headquarters and massive businesses from that time.

    So every time those who haven’t even experienced those times now try to oust Baek Do-hyun and his family from Baekhak Group by chattering about illegitimacy, it makes his blood boil.

    “These fucking bastards...”

    “Please calm down, CEO~nim.”

    At the loyal advice of his right-hand man, Managing Director Kim Myung-woon, Baek Do-hyun subdued his anger.

    Then, he brought the cigarette that had been wedged between his index and middle fingers to his mouth and took a deep drag.

    As the murky smoke filled his lungs, calmness returned to his mind.

    “Hoo... Yes. In the end, it’s all about money.”

    Baek Do-hyun’s stance, that it is absurd to cast him aside so ruthlessly despite his cooperation in the coup, is nothing more than a hollow outcry.

    Similarly, the fourth-generation management’s position that it is shameful for rootless relatives, who were driven out long ago, to exploit the group amid the chaos is also nothing more than a hollow outcry.

    The only truth.

    It’s about who in this cursed Baek family can get their hands on more gold.

    The civil war to obtain the bloodstained gold has already passed down four generations.

    As evidenced by the fate of the eldest son who was ousted by his younger brother and ended up imprisoned just a few years ago, for those who lose the civil war, a despair worse than death awaits.

    Therefore, for his own sake, for his family’s sake, and for the sake of his clan, he must win.

    For that purpose, he can even place a niece who is like his own daughter on the chessboard...

    Baek Do-hyun dissipated the illusion of a young Baek Seol, who used to toddle around cheerfully calling for her ‘Uncle Do-hyun,’ in the cigarette smoke.

    “Hoo... Did the chairman approve it?”

    Managing Director Kim Myung-woon loyally reported.

    “Yes. The confirmation came from the secretary’s office. It seems he gave some instructions right after having a meal with Author Moon.”

    “Fuck, that kid really pulled off something big...”

    The always courteous and impeccably dressed businessman was nowhere to be found.

    There was only a schemer with bloodshot eyes, desperately smoking in front of the one person he could trust, barely calming his anxiety.

    Baek Do-hyun spoke.

    “Replace him.”

    “Yes, sir.”

    Side EP – Resignation

    Unfortunately, the health of the chairman of Baekhak Group is not good.

    The “second son”, who dedicated his entire life to ousting his older brother and taking over the chairman’s office, has truly given up his entire life, to the point that he has little time left.

    Of course, he’s not as old as one might think. If he were someone else, he could still be energetically active in society.

    However, he experienced one stroke and underwent two cancer surgeries in his youth, and although he was declared fully recovered, no one trusts in his robustness.

    He could collapse at any moment, in any way.

    Everyone knows this fact.

    Even he knows it.

    “Hmm... Hmm-hmm...”

    The chairman of Baekhak Group hums softly as he precariously walks through the backyard.

    His daily routine begins with a light morning walk, followed by receiving reports on tasks mostly delegated to the executives, and then he is plagued by a sense of self-reproach upon hearing updates about his older brother, who has now attempted suicide for the fifth time in prison.

    Aside from occasionally immersing himself in literature, which he learned to flatter the founder, or pruning bonsai, which he learned to show off to his subordinates, his life had no particular joys.

    In other words, he would spend quite a bit of time on those two activities.

    “Hmm...”

    From past experience, those bastards with weird names and no roots are hunting dogs used by the Strategic Planning Office.

    And the headquarters’ Strategic Planning Office is closely aligned with the Director Baek Seol...

    “Could it be...!”

    Reaching this conclusion, Manager Kim Ga-ryung quickly rolled his eyes to check the expression of Department Head Lim Yang-wook.

    Look at his face! Check his expression!

    “Ah.”

    However, Department Head Lim Yang-wook was not present in the office.

    He had vacated his seat in this critical moment.

    But Manager Kim Ga-ryung didn’t take this as a bad sign.

    Quickly, his tongue slipped out to lick his lips.

    “Hehehe...”

    It seemed that betraying Department Head Yang Sung-jun and siding with Lim Yang-wook had been the right move after all.

    Isn’t office life all about aligning yourself with the right people?

    * * *

    Knock. Knock. Knock.

    As if this knock was the last courtesy, the invading force in black suits crossed the threshold into the CEO’s office without the owner’s permission.

    When they invaded the CEO’s office at Baekhak Entertainment, Baek Seung-won had snapped back at the leader of the invaders, Managing Director Kim Myung-woon, with sharp informal speech.

    Managing Director Kim Myung-woon, head of the HR Innovation Office, had smiled amiably and bowed his head to Baek Seung-won.

    But that was only because Baek Seung-won was undeniably a member of the “Baek” family and the de facto founder of Baekhak Entertainment, a powerful local lord.

    In contrast, Kim Sang-guk, the CEO of Baekhak Publishing, was just a salaried employee, and thus Managing Director Kim Myung-woon’s attitude was rudely indicative of reminding him of his place.

    “CEO Kim Sang-guk.”

    “......”

    “You have been accused of breach of trust, so please come to headquarters for a written inquiry.”

    Managing Director Kim Myung-woon tossed a stack of papers onto the CEO’s desk with a casual flick of his hand and then left, taking his group of subordinates with him.

    Until the last person left, CEO Kim Sang-guk, neither said a word nor made any move.

    After the door closed and some time had passed, Kim Sang-guk finally reached out with trembling hands to pick up the stack of papers.

    “Breach of trust...”

    When had he ever betrayed the company’s orders?

    Not once had he ever turned his back on the company.

    Whether it was diverting public library support funds into a slush fund for the owner’s family, awarding an undeserved literary prize to the child of a prominent politician, smoothly managing political funds at politicians’ book launch events, manipulating the sales records of a particular professor’s papers, deliberately planning trend analysis reports to maintain Baekhak’s cultural dominance, or winning the battle for selecting broadcasting textbook publishers by any means necessary...

    All of these were tasks he had done for the ‘company’.

    He had never betrayed the company, not even once.

    And yet, breach of trust?

    Wasn’t that a laughable accusation?

    “Hah, haha...”

    Kim Sang-guk let out a hollow laugh as he unfolded the stack of papers that Managing Director Kim Myung-woon had tossed at him like one would throw a bone to a dog.

    But when he grasped the contents, Kim Sang-guk’s laughter stopped abruptly.

    “Ha.”

    The grounds for Kim Sang-guk’s dismissal were cited as breach of trust.

    The crime of abandoning the duties entrusted to him by the company.

    And the specific example given was the act of overthrowing the ‘Publishing Management Task Force Team’ at Baekhak Publishing from behind the scenes.

    That incident, the very one where Lim Yang-wook was left stranded in Baekhak Entertainment’s underground parking lot.

    Kim Sang-guk let out a bitter laugh.

    Was cleaning up the troublesome elements that everyone in the company found distasteful now considered a crime?

    Does it make sense to dispose of someone who had been loyal for decades over something like this?

    Is it fair to cut off a salaried employee’s head over political matters from above, rather than legitimate performance competition?

    If that’s the case, what about my life?

    Who will compensate for the decades I spent wallowing in the mud for this company?

    “Haah......”

    But these questions all turned into hollow cries.

    It was obvious who had orchestrated things to put these accusations down on paper at this critical moment.

    “You won... Lim Yang-wook...”

    On that day, an old and shabby loser disappeared from Baekhak Publishing.

    But instead of reporting on the resignation of a former businessman,

    the journalists of Baekhak Media Group only covered the debut of the young, beautiful CEO from the chaebol family who had gained international fame.

    *****

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