Chapter 4 - SOMEONE HAD FORGED MY SIGNATURE
Yoo Minseok arrived at the hospital carrying a slim black folder.
He looked as though he hadn't slept.
His normally immaculate hair was slightly disordered.
His tie hung loose.
The moment he entered my room, he bowed.
“Madam.”
I hated hearing that title.
For three years, it had meant I belonged to the Cha household.
Now it sounded like a reminder of everything I wanted to leave.
“Please call me Seoyeon.”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Ms. Han.”
That was better.
Director Jang remained beside me.
Minseok placed the folder on the table.
“I don't know whether this will help.”
“Show me.”
He removed three documents.
The first was a file-access log.
The second was a signed transfer authorization.
The third was an internal compliance report.
I recognized my signature on the second page.
Or rather, I recognized the attempt to reproduce it.
Someone had copied the long upward stroke of my final syllable almost perfectly.
But the spacing was wrong.
I leaned closer.
“Where did this come from?”
“Nari submitted it to the company's compliance office.”
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
Three hours before Jihoon attacked me.
“Did anyone verify it?”
Minseok looked down.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the chairman instructed us to stop the inquiry.”
I stared.
“Jihoon?”
“Yes.”
“Before the files were checked?”
“Yes.”
There it was.
The decision.
The moment my husband chose his sister's accusation over evidence.
He had ordered an investigation stopped because he had already decided I was guilty.
Minseok continued.
“The USB drive contains copies of genuine design files.”
“From Myeongseong?”
“Yes.”
“But?”
“The files weren't taken from your computer.”
I felt my heartbeat change.
“Whose?”
“Nari's workstation.”
Director Jang looked up.
“Can you prove that?”
Minseok nodded.
“The forensic team preserved the device activity log before the chairman stopped the review.”
He turned the page.
A timestamp.
A workstation ID.
Nari's office.
The files had been copied at 2:14 p.m.
Then transferred onto the USB drive.
At 3:05 p.m., the forged authorization appeared in the system.
By six, Nari was crying in Jihoon's office.
And before midnight, I was being carried out of the mansion on a stretcher.
I looked at Minseok.
“Why are you showing me this?”
He swallowed.
“Because what happened was wrong.”
“That didn't stop you from working for him.”
His face tightened.
“No.”
I waited.
He looked at the documents.
“I've spent six years watching Chairman Cha make people afraid to contradict him.”
“Then why now?”
Minseok took a breath.
“Because I heard him yesterday.”
The room became very quiet.
“What did you hear?”
He hesitated.
“After you were taken away, he called me.”
I stared.
“At what time?”
“Just after midnight.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted the documents removed from the compliance system.”
Director Jang leaned forward.
“Did you comply?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he specifically asked whether the originals could be deleted.”
I felt cold.
Minseok continued.
“He said he didn't want outsiders seeing what his wife had done.”
Of course.
Even after hearing I was in the hospital, Jihoon was trying to control the story.
“What did you tell him?”
“That the audit logs were already preserved.”
“And?”
“He threatened to fire me.”
“Did he?”
Minseok nodded.
“This morning.”
I stared at him.
“You came here after being fired?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked directly at me.
“Because I have a mother.”
The words startled me.
“She raised me alone,” he said. “And if someone had treated her the way you were treated, I'd want at least one person in the room to tell the truth.”
For a long moment, I couldn't speak.
Then I whispered:
“Thank you.”
Minseok looked embarrassed.
“I should have spoken sooner.”
I didn't disagree.
But he was speaking now.
That mattered.
Director Jang collected the documents.
“We'll preserve these and arrange independent verification.”
Minseok nodded.
Then he reached into his pocket.
“There's something else.”
He placed a small security token on the table.
It belonged to a restricted digital records system used by Myeongseong's finance and legal departments.
“Nari used this yesterday.”
I frowned.
“How do you know?”
“It was assigned to the chairman's office.”
“And?”
“She borrowed it two weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“She said she needed access to historic contracts.”
Director Jang's expression changed.
“What kind of contracts?”
Minseok hesitated.
“Haedam Group.”
I stared.
“Haedam?”
“Yes.”
Myeongseong's negotiations with Haedam had begun months earlier.
But why would Nari need historic contracts?
She was not employed in corporate development.
Her official position was director of cultural partnerships.
A title Jihoon invented so she could attend board dinners without anyone asking why.
“Which contracts?” I asked.
Minseok opened another file.
The screen showed a list of confidential documents.
Haedam infrastructure proposals.
Financial projections.
A memorandum concerning the Han family trust.
My breath caught.
“Where did she get that?”
“I don't know.”
Director Jang leaned closer.
The document title contained a file code used only within Haedam's internal legal system.
Someone inside my family's company had been sharing confidential information with Nari.
Not just recently.
For months.
I looked at the dates.
One document had been accessed before my wedding.
Three years earlier.
My stomach tightened.
“Minseok.”
“Yes?”
“When did Nari first become interested in Haedam?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
He hesitated.
“Before Chairman Cha met you.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Nari had been attending investment meetings involving Haedam-affiliated funds. She introduced several people to the chairman.”
“Which people?”
He opened another page.
A guest register.
A private dinner.
Three years and four months earlier.
One of the guests was Nari.
Another was Jihoon.
The third name made Director Jang stop breathing.
Han Daewon.
My cousin.
The man who had been helping my grandfather administer parts of the family business during my absence.
For years, I had thought Daewon resented me because my father left me controlling shares.
Now I was looking at evidence that he had met my husband's sister before Jihoon even knew who I was.
I looked at Director Jang.
“Did Daewon know about my marriage?”
She nodded slowly.
“He knew.”
“How long?”
“He attended the private legal review when you filed notice that you intended to marry.”
My hands went cold.
“So he knew Jihoon's identity.”
“Yes.”
“And Nari?”
“We don't know.”
I looked at the screen again.
Nari.
Jihoon.
Daewon.
A dinner before my marriage.
A forged signature three years later.
Suddenly, my life no longer felt like a series of unfortunate accidents.
It felt arranged.
I turned to Director Jang.
“Has Grandfather seen this?”
“No.”
“Then show him.”
She nodded.
“And Seoyeon?”
“Yes?”
“We should be careful. If Daewon is involved, this may affect the succession.”
I stared out the window.
For three years, Nari had called me a parasite living on her brother's money.
She accused me of using a marriage to steal from his family.
May you like
Now I was beginning to suspect that someone had entered my marriage with a plan to steal from mine.
And the person who knew the most might be sitting inside my grandfather's boardroom.
