Chapter 73.2

Chapter 73.2

“Ah!”

Her body was lifted helplessly, and she dropped her knife with a clang in the right spot. The intruders didn’t miss this chance and immediately threw her onto the sofa.

Despite one side of her face being pressed down and saliva leaking out, Seoryeong couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Are you from the National Intelligence Service?”

“…!”

The hands binding her arms paused for a moment. But the grip crushing the back of her head made her clench her teeth automatically.

“You could have approached more gently. What’s with this? You’ve wrecked all my belongings.”

“…”

“You should have avoided my dinner party day, though. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

The intruders tied her to a dining chair with cable ties.

By now, sweat was beading on the masked men’s foreheads. One of them, shaking the fallen assailant by the front door, said, “Senior, wake up,” while another knelt, breathing heavily. They clearly appeared flustered by the unexpected resistance.

Seoryeong, who had been biting her lip silently, suddenly bent over and began to retch.

“Ugh! ugh!”

Sour vomit splattered onto the living room floor, making her body heave. The stinging sensation ran from her throat to her nose. Stone-cold eyes were fixed on her.

“――!”

Beep, beep.

The monotonous ringing cut through the silence. The man, whose shoes were now covered in vomit, pulled out an old smartphone.

He started the call with military precision, standing straight as if dealing with someone difficult. He only gave curt responses, “Yes, yes,” while glancing at Seoryeong from the corner of his eye.

“She’s subdued.”

That brief report made Seoryeong’s heart race with anticipation. A call at this moment? Could it be that “deputy chief” from the interrogation room?

She spat on the floor, her eyes gleaming. She wanted to rinse out the bitter taste in her mouth, but since she couldn’t, she kept spitting.

The man, who had been standing tall, switched to speakerphone mode.

―Ms. Han Seoryeong, aren’t you scared yet?

A voice she had never heard before echoed from the speaker. At the same time, a dirty grin spread across her face.

The man in front of her frowned at her expression. The voice on the phone belonged to a middle-aged woman.

―Don’t make this bigger than it needs to be. Just give up the account numbers, and we’ll withdraw quietly.

“Hello.”

The room fell silent at her sarcastic greeting, delivered with a smirk.

“It seems you already know my name, so who might you be?”

―”…”

“It didn’t work when I tried defecting, but it seems messing with the president’s relative was the right move.”

She let out a small laugh, but the voice on the other end lowered, now laced with a warning.

―”Don’t make this any messier than it already is. Wrap this up as quickly as possible.”

“I just asked who you are.”

―”Where did you hide the Five billion?”

“Isn’t it standard to introduce yourself when talking about money?”

―”You listening? Give her a few hits.”

The man who had been holding the phone tightened his grip on his leather gloves.

In an instant, smack—Seoryeong’s head snapped to the side. Another slap followed from the opposite direction.

The man alternated between clenching his fist and opening his hand, methodically bruising both sides of her face.

Seoryeong’s vision flashed as she was hit repeatedly, but she eventually spat out blood. She wasn’t surprised by this; after all, didn’t Lee Wooshin impale people like skewers and hang them from the ceiling?

“Is this how you treat someone you’re negotiating with?”

―”Negotiation? What negotiation?”

The woman on the other end scoffed, but Seoryeong felt a thrill. This situation was proof that she had truly gotten under their skin. Surely, the right person must have finally arrived. She couldn’t help but feel excited.

“You want to find the Five billion, and I want to find Kim Hyun.”

―”…!”

“If you wanted to retrieve the money legally, you could have reported me. If you wanted to take it quietly, you could have brought Kim Hyun to me. But you can’t do either, can you?”

―”…”

“The National Intelligence Service has been playing with me.”

Her voice now carried a chilling, ghostly frost.

“For whatever reason, you blinded me, made Kim Hyun approach me, and even arranged our marriage. All of that must be a secret that can never be revealed, which is why there hasn’t been a single word about the missing Five billion on the news. So, what am I to you? Why can’t you even report me and instead sneak in like petty thieves to beat me up?”

A faint laugh came through the phone.

―”Ms. Han Seoryeong, let me give you some sincere advice: don’t try to take on the NIS. What more can you do from here? The ones who’ll end up dead won’t be you, but your lackeys.”

“…”

―”You think hiding He Channa will let you win?”

Seoryeong’s eyes turned cold.

“You’re not the only one getting beaten like a dog right now.”

―”…!”

“How dare you stir up the NIS with such a pathetic joke and then try to threaten us?”

The voice, brimming with overwhelming pride, echoed with authority.

―”You want to lose your sight again?”

As the woman taunted her, Seoryeong suddenly kicked the man in his groin. She lifted the chair she was tied to and slammed it into his head.

“Ugh!”

Seoryeong, who had fallen with him, grabbed a knife from the floor and cut through the cables. The chair’s leg crushed the man’s groin, and the knife she deliberately tossed deeply slashed the face of another assailant.

She calmly picked up the fallen phone.

―”As you said, it’s just the lackeys getting killed. So, how about I change the terms of our negotiation?”

The smile vanished completely. She had learned that this level wasn’t enough to meet Kim Hyun in person, but she didn’t feel defeated.

―”I need to have a word with my husband. A voice in exchange for Five billion—sounds like a fair trade, doesn’t it?”