Ch.152Chapter 152. Fate (1)

# As a parent, I cannot stand by and allow your deception any longer. By tomorrow, I will share your criminal record with the teachers and parents of Saint Catalina School.

“Hmm……”

Early morning.

After checking his message list, Snyder Prime sighed.

There had been no reply to the message he sent yesterday.

He had sent the text around 6 PM, and there was no way the recipient hadn’t seen it by now—they must be deliberately ignoring him.

“Doesn’t know his place.”

The guy should be begging and pleading not to spread the information, yet he dares to ignore him?

The psychology of such people was painfully obvious.

They’re the type who have achieved nothing in life but have excessive pride, making a fuss when they should keep quiet.

I suppose it’s my job to assign such people to hell.

Snyder snickered as he got up from bed.

“Mmm. You’re up?”

“Yeah. What about breakfast?”

“The housekeeper comes today.”

“Right……”

“By the way, I fired that woman and hired another one. Don’t think about touching her.”

“I told you I understand.”

Clicking his tongue in irritation, Snyder left the room, leaving his wife buried under the blankets.

His diligent sons were already up, washed, and eating breakfast.

“Father. Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

After giving his sons a perfunctory response, he sat down on the sofa.

He brought up a hologram and typed messages.

One for the teachers’ group chat and another for the parents’ group chat.

The messages stated that as the adoptive father of Cuss Kim, he felt people had the right to know about Jinsoo Kim’s criminal record…

The messages appeared to be simply conveying facts.

But the underlying intention was clear.

He wanted Cuss Kim expelled from school for not fitting in.

If expulsion wasn’t possible under school regulations, creating public pressure would do the trick.

“Father. I’m off to school.”

“I’m leaving too.”

“Alright. Take care.”

After scheduling the messages to be sent, Snyder slowly pulled up a chair at the dining table.

Looking toward the master bedroom, there was still no sign of the door opening.

Why on earth was his wife, who hadn’t worked all weekend, still not getting up?

He wanted to barge in and scold her for sleeping late in his house, but he couldn’t because of his recent misconduct.

‘I keep telling her that woman seduced me first…’

Clank.

A steaming dish was placed on the table.

The sausages were burnt at the ends, and the egg yolk had broken.

Moreover, the housekeeper handed him the dish without saying a word—where did she learn such rudeness?

Snyder frowned and looked up…

‘Well. As long as it tastes good.’

He nodded in approval as he watched the new housekeeper’s backside.

He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

This time, he’d make sure his wife didn’t catch him.

Chewing on the sausage, Snyder finished his meal quickly and got up.

Today he was scheduled to attend the UN Refugee Conference.

“Have a good day, Congressman.”

“Hmm.”

As Snyder prepared to leave quickly, he smiled at the housekeeper who was seeing him off at the entrance.

At least she has basic manners.

“Oh?!”

“Call me when your shift ends.”

He grabbed the housekeeper’s buttocks firmly and left the house as if nothing had happened.

When he reached the parking lot, his secretary and driver were already waiting with the car.

After getting in the car and arriving at the Hyper Bullet station, Snyder immediately took a seat in the front car, the VIP section of the Hyper Bullet.

“It must be about time.”

Come to think of it, the scheduled message time was approaching.

How would the teachers and parents react?

Concerned that the discussion might not lead to expulsion, he had instructed Taylor to steer the conversation in that direction.

All that remained was to wait.

As Snyder waited with his chin resting on his hand,

“Huh?”

His attention was suddenly drawn to the display attached to the front of his seat.

It was time for the news broadcast.

But the first headline was quite disconcerting.

-Navy corruption scandal. Military court framed a man for the rape and murder of a mother and daughter, leading to 10 years of wrongful imprisonment?

“What?”

These were familiar keywords.

Navy. Rape and murder of a mother and daughter. And 10 years.

Although the name and photo hadn’t appeared yet, Snyder had a good idea who it was about.

“Why now……”

It was a false accusation?

Well, whether it was false or not didn’t matter.

The question was why this was making headlines now.

No matter how much that Asian ex-convict might have tipped off the media, there was no way they would cover this…

“Oh no.”

Snyder’s forehead creased as he quickly assessed the situation.

Unless there was a massive issue capable of bringing down Navy generals, the media wouldn’t respond.

Was this what he meant when he said to come prepared?

“W-wait a minute!”

Suddenly remembering the scheduled messages, Snyder hurriedly opened his messaging app.

But it was already too late.

The messages had already been sent.

-Everyone has the right to know. Though I feel uncomfortable speaking ill of others, I must share information that needs to be disclosed. This concerns the criminal record of Jinsoo Kim, the father of Cuss Kim in 7th grade, class 12. While serving in the Navy, he raped and murdered a mother and daughter, resulting in 10 years of imprisonment…

-Is that true, Congressman?

-Wow… I always thought he seemed a bit creepy.

-Is everyone watching the news right now?

-The news? Why?

-That person who was falsely imprisoned for 10 years… Isn’t that the person the Congressman mentioned?

-Oh? It really is.

-Congressman, they’re saying it was a false accusation?

“How could this happen…!”

The reactions were similar in both the teachers’ and parents’ group chats.

Snyder’s face reddened and his eyes twisted in anger.

What would this make him look like?

As Snyder trembled with embarrassment,

“C-Congressman.”

“What! What is it!”

“Well… a lawsuit was just filed.”

“A lawsuit? What now?”

Was it about lobbying?

If so, there was no need to worry.

He had already made thorough preparations to avoid legal issues.

He thought the opposing party was just trying to cause trouble over something trivial.

“For sexual assault and rape, sir.”

“What?”

Ding.

Just then, a notification sound rang out and a message window appeared before him.

There was a video attached, though the quality wasn’t great.

But the place and person in it were familiar.

It was a video of Snyder groping the housekeeper’s buttocks this morning.

-Hello, Congressman. Your hands are too dirty, so I’m quitting as of today. By the way, I will absolutely not settle. Looks like you’ll be adding another criminal record, Congressman 🙂

“That damn woman…!”

It must be a scheme by the opposing party.

Enraged, Snyder punched the display showing the news, breaking it.

It was truly a day when nothing was going right.

***

The retrial application and a simple video containing my defense.

All the necessary documents and materials requiring my signature or presence were completed.

Now my presence here was practically irrelevant.

Everything would be handled by Juliane, my father-in-law, and the piranha-like media.

It seemed I could be away for a while.

When I opened the drawer in the bedroom, a pair of rings popped out.

One had lost its luster, while the other still shone brightly.

I took out the gold ring, put it on the ring finger of my left hand, and closed the drawer.

“Time to go.”

I threw my luggage into the car and started the engine.

The car sped down the quiet road toward its destination.

Saint Catalina School wasn’t far.

As soon as I parked in the parking lot and got out of the driver’s seat,

“Jinsoo!”

I saw someone running out of the school building.

Someone with white hair gleaming silver and a bright smile.

And behind her…

“Ugh.”

The glare from her shining hair made it difficult to see the face.

Is that Cuss’s homeroom teacher?

Cuss kept calling them “the dignified one,” “the shining one,” and I wondered what she meant…

“Jinsoo!”

“Whoa!”

“You came at just the right time!”

“Did you tell them you’re leaving early?”

“Yes! I did!”

“And that you might miss school for a few days?”

“I did. Teacher was surprised at first, but after looking back and forth between their phone and the TV, they suddenly understood.”

If a father is exposing the Navy and fighting to clear his name of false rape and murder charges, no one would question his daughter missing school.

Anyone would consider it a valid reason.

Missing attendance days could be made up during vacation.

“Get in. Let’s go.”

“Are we finally going?”

“Yes.”

Cuss was unusually excited.

Well, it’s not rare for her to be excited, but it was unusual to see her so excited that she couldn’t stand still and was stomping her feet.

After pushing her backpack into the back seat, Cuss got into the passenger seat with a big smile and immediately fastened her seatbelt.

I started the car and tuned the radio to a talk show.

-…so you’re saying he was falsely accused?

-Yes, that’s right. Evidence was fabricated, and the victim was threatened to give false testimony.

-Is this confirmed? Has it been proven?

-I’ll address that soon in a live broadcast. Through a press conference, we’ll outline the suspicions regarding the Navy court…

Multiple media outlets were simultaneously reporting the same story.

They were using provocative keywords like Navy corruption, false accusations, and rape-murder frame-up to attract attention and focus it on one place.

Today’s press conference.

It was where Juliane would represent us and detail the illegal investigation by the Navy court.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say everything hinged on this.

Whether public interest would continue, whether the media would cut ties with us, whether a special investigation committee to audit the Navy would actually be formed—all depended on this one press conference.

-If all this is true, how serious is this matter?

-It’s not just about the military court. This issue involved generals at the time, and if proven true, it could develop into a major scandal where generals would collectively have to resign…

“Hey!”

Click.

Cuss pressed the dashboard and changed the radio channel.

A jazz song started playing through the speakers.

Was it Frank Sinatra?

I’ve never heard a bad song from this gentleman.

“We’re going on a trip, and I don’t want the mood to be gloomy.”

“You’re right. Let’s not worry and just enjoy.”

Cuss took out two pairs of sunglasses from the holder, put one on me and wore the other herself.

Since they were Juliane’s, they were too big for our faces, making us look a bit strange, which made me laugh.

With the car stopped at a traffic light, we spent a while looking at each other and laughing like fools.

“Cuss! Where did we say we’re going?”

“To see penguins!”

“Right! Let’s go! To see penguins!”

-Fly me to the moon… And let me play among the stars…

Along with the cheerful song, the atmosphere in the car heated up.

How many more times in our lives would we have the chance to travel just the two of us?

I decided to put everything else aside and fully enjoy this moment.