Ji Woo's birthday party was a success.
It was a surprise both to Ji Woo and to the Hwangs. While Ji Woo was happy, Chairman Hwang beamed with rage. He called on Joo Won the next day in his office. Secretary Baek is standing beside the Chairman like an obedient Doberman. The loyal servant of the chairman had obviously reported everything to the chairman and Hana also played her part here. She told her father everything he needed to know. From meeting with Ji Woo to celebrating his birthday, every single thing had been poured into the servant's ear.
When he entered, he found the Chairman pacing like a caged panther in the space between his imposing leather chair and the vast, floor-to-ceiling glass wall, his hands clenched tightly behind his back. He was muttering under his breath, low, venomous words that slithered through the room: "disgrace," bastard", "son of a bitch," "insolence," "after all I've done..."
He was so consumed by his own incandescent rage that he didn't even register Joo Won's presence. For the first time, Joo Won did not kneel. He stood rigidly before the massive mahogany desk, his eyes silently tracing the Chairman's furious path.
Then the Chairman stopped. His head slowly turned, and when his eyes finally landed on Joo Won, they burned with pure fury.
"You... you disobedient, ungrateful WRETCH!" he bellowed, his voice raw and thunderous. Spittle flew from his lips, his jaw clenched so tightly his teeth seemed to grind into dust.
In one violent, sudden motion, he snatched the delicate porcelain cup from his desk...the very one from which he'd been calmly drinking coffee moments before...and hurled it directly at Joo Won.
Time seemed to slow.
Joo Won raised his hand, catching the cup right before it could hit his face. Right before, another event of abuse can go on.
It was the physical proof of a line being crossed...the end of pretense, the beginning of open war. Joo Won just stood there, breathing slowly, his gaze steady.
The Chairman stared, his own chest heaving, not with remorse, but with pure rage that can burn an entire forest along with Joo Won with it... "You fucking piece of shit? Joo Won kept mum. "You fucking idiot," he seethed, his voice a low, gravelly threat. "You brainless, useless son of bitch. Did you really think you could play happy family with that orphanage trash on my goddamn dime?"
He slammed his fist on the desk, making the wood shudder.
"I own you. I made you. You were some nobody: a fucking ghost and I gave you a name, a life, everything! And this is how you repay me? Parading around with that little shit-stain like he's your long-lost brother? I told you I'd fucking end that whore's son! You thought I was joking? You think you can test me, fucker?" His words were half-growled, half-snarled. "You think this is a game? You think I won't snap his neck myself if I have to? Huh? You think I give a single fuck about either of you?"
He laughed...a harsh, ugly sound.
"You're a placeholder. A cheap knock-off. A puppet I could break anytime I want. And him?" He jerked his chin as though Ji Woo was standing there. "Your friend? He's a dead man walking. And you..." he pointed a trembling finger at Joo Won, "you're gonna watch."
He turned sharply toward Secretary Baek, who stood rigid by the door.
"Baek! Get that son of a bitch taken care of. I want that little fucker disappeared. Tonight. Make it messy."
The plan was already set. Ji Woo and So Hee, suspecting the chairman would rage against Joo Won as soon as Hana reported everything to her father as per their plan, had mailed the evidence to the news channel. Therefore, Joo Won did not beg this time. Secretary Baek took out the phone in order to give the order to their hired mercenary. But as soon as he looked at the phone, he saw to his surprise what news channels are reporting.
Breaking news this hour. Chairman Hwang of the Hwang Group has been exposed in a shocking criminal conspiracy involving kidnapping, attempted murder, and falsifying his own son's death certificate. In a twisted plot to stabilize stock prices, sources say he groomed a lookalike to pose as the family heir. Father... or monster? An insider now reveals he also attempted to bribe judges at the last Nebula Games to secure a win for JW Games. Further, government employees were allegedly paid off to sabotage YERIN Games. A mobile phone has reportedly been handed over to police containing evidence that Chairman Hwang instructed a top government official to launch a probe against YERIN. Our correspondent from Prime24 is live on the scene with an exclusive report.
The Chairman's face, still contorted with rage, froze mid-snarl. "Why are you just standing there?" he hissed at Secretary Baek, his voice a blade. "I gave you an order. Erase that little..."
But Secretary Baek wasn't listening. His eyes wide with a rare, unvarnished shock. He took a half-step toward the floor-to-ceiling window, his usual composure shattered.
"Sir..." he uttered, the word barely a whisper.
Down below, the world had turned against them.
A sea of people...hundreds, maybe thousands, surged against the thick glass gates of the Hwang Group headquarters. Protestors shook signs with words like "MONSTER!""MURDERER" "WHERE IS THE REAL BAE HOON?" Their angry chants were a dull, threatening roar even through the soundproof glass.
News vans, with satellite dishes raised like antennas of war, clogged the entire street. Reporters stood in front of cameras, speaking urgently into microphones, their gestures sharp as they pointed up at the building directly at his window.
The chairman taking a look at the current news development, and a peek at the crowd below, smashed his knuckles on the table making the table growl, "Those fucking bastards... daring to expose me..."
His scream rattled the windows, but the world outside no longer bowed to him. His power wasn't just threatened...it was already gone, evaporating into the air with every flash of a camera bulb below. He was no longer a titan passing judgment; he was a cornered animal, and the whole world was watching his cage.
Soon Police arrived with an arrest warrant, citing "ongoing fraud, conspiracy to commit murder, and falsification of official documents."
Chairman rages: "Fuck, you're arresting me for something from 22 years ago?"
Officer replies coldly: "The crime never ended."
They take both the chairman and Secretary Baek away.
****
The resurfacing news of her son's true fate shattered the carefully constructed and always wobbly dam within Mrs. Hwang's mind. The delicate barrier she had built for decades, separating her raw, grieving motherhood from her role as the "perfect" wife of a conglomerate chairman, gave way completely. The flood of truth was too immense to withstand.
Deemed mentally unfit by the state, she was admitted to a quiet, sterile psychiatric facility. There, she now spends her days mostly in silence, her gaze fixed on some empty point in the air, a vacant queen dethroned. Who knows what plays on the screen of her mind? Perhaps she replays the golden memories of her beloved Bae Hoon, his laughter, his small hand in hers, a film on a perpetual, heartbreaking loop.
There are moments of eerie normalcy. She will smile a polished, society-page smile and gracefully invite her fellow patients to attend the grand Christmas Galas and New Year's parties she still hosts in the ballroom of her mind. "The Chairman will be so pleased to see you all," she'll say, her voice dripping with the ghost of old manners.
The reactions vary. Some patients humored the sad phantom, offering gentle, confused smiles. Others, agitated by her delusion of grandeur, would sometimes turn violent. The swift intervention of officers would inevitably follow, pulling the fighting women apart. In these moments, Mrs. Hwang would crash out only to crash into the painful, fleeting realization that her husband's kingdom was gone. The gilded cage was empty; she was no longer its queen, her Hoon was no more, and the world had moved on without her.
The despair of this realization would extinguish her fire as quickly as it ignited. She would retreat back into her silence, shutting down to stare blankly once more with streams of tears falling down as if she were a statue of Queen Insun mourning over her son Crown Prince Sunhoe.
Yet, there is one visitor who can consistently pierce the fog. For this person alone, a genuine, unguarded light returns to her eyes. Her face transforms with a happiness so real it seems to belong to another lifetime. She showers this visitor with a torrent of affection, fussing over the scars that are visible, holding their face, pouring out the love she has hoarded for decades.
This visitor is her only remaining ally from the glittering arena of her old life. In them, she seems to have found her lost treasure. For a precious, fleeting moment, she is not a patient nor a failed wife. She is a mere human being, reunited with the only real thing she had left.
****
As they were taking the criminals out, Hana's eyes found her father amidst the accused. Secretary Baek, usually so composed and sharp, looked hollowed out, his gaze fixed on the ground, refusing to meet hers. The disappointment that washed over Hana was a cold, heavy wave. She searched his face for any sign of remorse, a flicker of the father she thought she knew, but found only a shamed, empty shell. He had no final words for her, no apology, only the silent, crushing weight of his choices.