Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 34: Fishing (4)

Three days later, in a suite room of a five-star hotel in Seoul, a couple was talking on the bed.

“Then it is true, it has been sold.”

The woman who spoke with her red lips was Hyoyeon, Lim Sungjun’s daughter, while the man who looked at her with love in his eyes was, surprisingly, Lee Jongmyeong of Mirae Group.

“They told me that Haejin bought it, the painting was taken from the gallery yesterday. That idiot, he rambled about Ma Won and Yoon Duseo, and he suddenly buys a fake. I never imagined it, but it’s good. We can send both of them away at once.”

“If the painting is gone, isn’t it too late? You should blow it up. Don’t wait till the exhibition is over.”

“Hhh… I gave the information to a reporter before I came here. He will write an exclusive report soon.”

“Hahaha! All that is left is to see Eunhae thrown away! Then, Saeyeon Gallery would naturally be mine…”

“I will also be engaged to you, not to that annoying girl.”

Jongmyeong stroked her cheek with love, but she hit that hand and sat up. The blanket that had covered her upper body went down and revealed her breasts, but she didn’t care.

“Huh! Don’t get too far. You know that can never happen if things don’t change. If you get rid of Mirae Innovation’s executive director, then I might change my mind.”

This made Jongmyeong’s gaze turn cold, but soon he went to her and spoke tenderly.

“This is a start. Wait for a little while, and I will easily take care of my brother.”

“Okay, you should do that to be at my side. The report should be out by now, right?”

Hyoyeon pushed away the blanket and lightly walked to her handbag on the table, naked. Her back made Jongmyong’s blood surge. He raised his upper body and stared at her, but Hyoyeon suddenly looked back at him.

“What is this? Have you done things right?”

Her voice was as cold as the winter wind. Jongmyeong could feel his hot blood turn cool.

“What? Isn’t that the exclusive report? Eunhae is over now…”

“Then, what is this report?”

Hyoyeon threw her phone at Jongmyeong.

And it hit his head.

“Aak!”

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Soon, the blood that came out of the wound wetted the white blanket red. Hyoyeon, however, didn’t care about it. She didn’t even think about his wound and spoke.

“This is why I shouldn’t believe a bastard… get out of my sight, now!”

Hyoyeon was enraged. Jongmyeong didn’t say anything and picked up the phone to read the report.

[Exclusive: Saeyeon Gallery says its Sinsaimdang painting might be fake]

[Saeyeon Gallery, a gallery in Bukcheon, has declared the painting it is exhibiting now might be a fake and is drawing attention. The gallery said the painting of Sinsaimdang, that is part of its ongoing exhibition, Coming Home, is highly likely to be a fake. They are working with the police to track down the forgers.

The person who bought this painting is an antique appraiser. He realized this painting is fake and bought it to make the forgers lower their guard in order to track them…]

“What the… no way…”

“Idiot.”

Jongmyeong was in shock. He stared at the phone and lifted his head to look at Hyoyeon.

“This isn’t over yet.”

“Huh!”

Hyoyeon stormed into the shower room. Jongmyeong wore his clothes. He wiped off the blood with his hand and came out of the room. A bodyguard in front of the door raised his hand and made a gesture of zipping his mouth with a sharp glare. It meant Jongmyeong should forget everything that had happened in this room and keep his mouth shut.

“I know.”

Only then, the bodyguard smiled.

Jongmyeong tumbled to the elevator.

“Okay, thank you. That’s a relief.”

Eunhae hung up and looked at Haejin sitting on the sofa.

“As you said, they found the forgers near Yangyang. The detective just called me to tell they have retrieved the painting they were going to sell at Incheon Port.”

“That’s good.”

“But how did you know that the forgers were there?”

The fact that the painting was a fake made recently meant Haejin could always capture its forgers.

As he could see the process of the painting being made through magic, he could see where it had been made and through who it had been sold.

“Byeongguk gave me a hint. He told me there was a rumor of a gang that forges eastern paintings in Yangyang. He gave me the location he had heard about, so I didn’t have to do anything.”

As Haejin had told her Byeongguk used to be a grave robber before he became an art dealer, making an excuse was easy.

“Huhu… by now, Lee Jongmyeong must be in trouble, too. He sold me such a painting…”

Soon after Eunhae found out that the painting was fake, she met the appraisers who had appraised it in private.

She heard Jongmyeong pressed them to make them say that the painting is real, the buying process was also not clear. She was then sure that Jongmyeong was behind everything.

“He will probably say he didn’t know. Mirae will just think that it is Jongmyeong’s personal business. But, does he have power in Mirae Group?”

“No. His mother was an actress who was once famous. Easily speaking, she was a concubine. So, although Jongmyeong is thought to be smart and capable, he has little power in the group. The executive director of Mirae Innovation is thought to be the real heir of the group, and he is good at work, gentle and generous unlike how an heir would normally behave, so to Jongmyeong, he is a thorn on his side.”

“Then why did you get engaged to such man?”

“At that time, my father was an employee of a small company who had nothing. My grandfather didn’t even acknowledge him. That is why I use my mother’s last name instead of my father’s. Now that both my mother and my father have left me, this gallery is the only thing I have. So, the heirs of other corporate groups would never choose me as a spouse.”

Eunhae spoke as if it was nothing, but her shaking eyes said that the story was not so short.

“Oh… that is why you inherited only this gallery.”

“And it is hard to keep it. The profits are not comparable to other companies of Hwajin, and I didn’t know sharks would try to attack from all sides. Anyway, congratulations. You earned four billion in no time. Against an evil art dealer in Japan…”

Haejin had told her everything about why he had done this. As she had taken a risk to take part in this, he thought she deserved to know some truth.

However then, there was some noise from outside and they heard a familiar voice.

“Let me go! Don’t you know who I am?”

Eunhae shook her head and opened the door. Outside, enraged, Yang Sojin was pouting. The employees were holding her.

“It’s okay. Let her in.”

The employees went away. Sojin then straightened her clothes and went in with arrogance. She sat down opposite to Haejin with her legs crossed and glared at him.

“Nice to meet you. It’s been a while.”

“A while? Ahahahaha! A while? I think we met just a few days ago in the hotel!”

“Did we? I can’t remember…”

Sojin didn’t think Haejin would be that bold. She turned nervous for the first time and bit her lips.

“Are you really going to do this? Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?”

“Consequences of what? Trying to sell a fake painting to Ando Hadake? But I do feel bad about the painting not getting to him. If the police had moved just a little slowly, it would have crossed the sea and gone to Japan…”

Haejin was teasing her. Sojin’s eye widened.

“How did you know my client is Ando Hadake?”

“That is not important. What’s important is that neither you nor Ando Hadake can get that four billion back. If you want to tell the police, you can. But can you? You have so much to lose.”

To use the power of law enforcements, she would have to confess that she was a broker who tried to illegally sell Sinsaimdang’s painting to Japan. The moment that happened, her reputation and money would be gone.

“I have many powerful friends.”

“Oh… you will borrow the power of politicians? Then do that. Ms. Eunhae, this woman is threatening me now. What should I do?”

Eunhae had been standing and watching. Haejin looked at her and she then sat down. Eunhae glared at Sojin and warned her.

“What you just said about pressing him, you can exactly do that. However, you must remember it. I won’t just let you hurt him.”

“Ha… why? Is he your boyfriend?”

That was an unusually offensive remark, probably she had just lost four billion, but Eunhae didn’t even blink an eye.

“He isn’t, but one thing that’s sure is that befriending him is more useful to me than befriending you. Look, the reputation of this gallery might have dropped to the bottom because of Sinsaimdang’s fake painting, but thanks to Mr. Haejin, I was able to turn the tide around. Our clients will trust us more, and I would get more influence over the board members.”

“How dare you… you are just a kite without a string. You don’t know your place…”

Sojin couldn’t control her anger. Her face was red, and she was gritting her teeth. However, Eunhae leaned to her with a cold expression.

“You should be careful. I might be a kite without a string, but I still have Hwajin’s blood. You want to play a power game? I will be ready.”

Eunhae looked like a different person. Sojin saw that and tried to cool her anger. She stood up.

However, she couldn’t leave like that, so she glared at Haejin once more and spoke.

“You know what Ando Hadake is like, right? He won’t let this go.”

She turned to leave, but Haejin opened his mouth.

“I once saw his face when I was a kid. He grabbed my arm and threatened my father with a long samurai sword. Give me the painting, or I’ll cut your son’s arm. He won’t let me go? Haha, let him do that. I don’t think I have fully repaid that debt, either.”

“You… you did that on purpose. You are after Ando Hadake…”

Sojin stared at Haejin with shaking eyes. Eunhae looked at him with a new-found interest.

“That is what you meant by bad history.”

“It is not that important. Anyway, thank you for taking care of this. If she really comes after me, I would really be in trouble.”

“Those were not empty words. The jade buddha, Ma Won’s painting and this case… if it hadn’t been for you, I would have been forced to step down. If I become Yang Sojin’s enemy, I would lose a little, but that loss is nothing compared to losing my position.”

“Well, then…”

Haejin had no more business here, so he stood up to leave. Eunhae, however, also stood up and spoke.

“Wait. I have a favor to ask.”

“What? What kind of…”

“A few days later, an auction on Rembrandt will take place in a meeting in LA. Unlike ordinary auctions, it will be small and only include acquaintances, but I have no one I can trust except for you.”

“Going to the U.S. is too…”

“I will pay you well.”

“Fine. I don’t want the money, but I have a condition.”

“A condition instead of money?”

“Yes. Help me to excavate. That is my condition.”