Chapter 2 - The Chairman’s SecretThe heavy mahogany doors of Chairman Kang Min-jae’s private study clicked shut, sealing out the hum of the sprawling estate outside.
Sunlight poured through the traditional paper shoji screens, casting geometric shadows across the priceless antique desk where the aging patriarch of the Kang syndicate sat. He looked smaller than his reputation suggested, his silver hair neatly combed, a wool blanket draped over his knees, but his dark eyes remained sharp, piercing, and entirely unclouded by illness.
I stood across from him, unwrapping the linen napkin from my bleeding palm.
“You didn't follow protocol, Nia,” Chairman Kang said, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that carried decades of absolute authority. “I hired you to be a ghost in this house. Not to pick fights with my son.”
“Joon-ho isn't just rude, Chairman Kang,” I replied steadily, pulling a small antiseptic wipe from my pocket to clean the shallow cut on my hand. “He’s reckless. And recklessness leaves tracks. If he keeps drawing attention to the domestic staff, someone is going to notice that half the maids on the third-floor payroll haven’t actually received their wages in four months.”
The old man went completely still. His weathered fingers gripped the carved handle of his wooden cane.
“Go on,” he whispered.
“Last night, while your son was out drinking in Gangnam and your brother Dae-sung was reviewing hotel ledgers in the west wing, I accessed the auxiliary payroll terminal in the basement,” I said, laying a printed digital ledger sheet onto his desk. “Over 4.2 billion won has been systematically siphoned out of the legitimate shipping accounts and routed into dummy accounts under domestic worker names—workers who were forced to sign documents they couldn't read under threat of termination.”
Chairman Kang stared down at the paper, his face turning a dark, bruised shade of anger. “Dae-sung.”
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“Not just Dae-sung,” I corrected him quietly. “Dae-sung is managing the physical logistics, but the digital authorization keys belong to someone with high-level administrative access. Someone inside the immediate circle.”
The chairman looked up, his gaze locking onto mine with chilling intensity. “Find them, Nia. Tear this house apart if you have to. But find out who is bleeding my empire dry.”
