CHAPTER 35 — FATHERS AND SINS
804 Words
The room became deathly silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody even seemed capable of breathing.
Because the man standing beside Chairman Han in the video...
Was Jungkook's father.
"No."
The word escaped Jungkook's lips automatically.
His dark eyes remained locked on the screen.
Frozen.
Because this couldn't be happening.
Not again.
Not his father.
Not the man he had admired his entire life.
The man who taught him honor.
Discipline.
Loyalty.
The man who always told him:
"Power means nothing if you lose your humanity."
That man couldn't be standing beside Chairman Han.
Could he?
The video continued.
Chairman Han smiled.
Confident.
Victorious.
Beside him—
Jungkook's father smiled too.
The sight felt like a knife twisting deeper into his chest.
Aarya looked toward Jungkook.
Immediately.
She saw it.
The pain.
The disbelief.
The betrayal.
Because she understood exactly how he felt.
After all—
she had spent weeks learning terrible truths about her own father.
Now it was happening to him.
Slowly—
she reached for his hand.
Without hesitation.
Without thinking.
Jungkook looked down.
Then at her.
For a brief moment—
the storm inside him calmed.
Just slightly.
Because she was there.
And somehow—
that mattered.
More than anything.
The video ended.
The screen turned black.
Silence remained.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Painful.
Finally—
Hyun-woo spoke.
"You're assuming the footage tells the whole story."
Jungkook's eyes immediately snapped toward him.
"What does that mean?"
Hyun-woo folded his arms.
"It means your father wasn't what you think."
The room froze.
Jungkook's jaw tightened.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
A pause.
Then Hyun-woo answered.
"Your father joined the project to destroy it."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Jungkook stared.
Aarya blinked.
Nobody expected that.
"What?"
Hyun-woo nodded slowly.
"Unlike Aarya's father..."
A pause.
"...your father discovered the truth much earlier."
The room became quiet.
"He realized what Han was doing."
Another pause.
"And he started gathering evidence."
Aarya frowned.
"Evidence?"
Hyun-woo nodded.
"The same evidence your mother eventually stole."
Suddenly—
pieces started fitting together.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
Jungkook's father.
Aarya's mother.
Hyun-woo.
All working against Han.
Secretly.
Dangerously.
At enormous personal risk.
Then—
another voice interrupted.
Minho.
Everyone turned.
The call was still active.
His breathing sounded weak.
Painful.
But he was awake.
And listening.
"I found something."
Immediately—
everyone focused.
Because whenever Minho found something—
it mattered.
Usually too much.
"What?"
Jungkook asked.
Several seconds passed.
Then Minho answered.
"Financial records."
The room froze.
Again.
Because financial records had started this entire nightmare.
"What about them?"
Minho exhaled slowly.
Then dropped another bombshell.
"Project Aarya never ended."
Silence.
The words hit harder than expected.
Because everyone assumed it had.
Twenty years ago.
When Aarya's mother disappeared.
When the evidence vanished.
When the children died.
The project should've ended.
Should've.
But apparently—
it hadn't.
Minho continued.
"There are still payments."
A pause.
"Still employees."
Another pause.
"Still facilities."
The room became ice cold.
Because suddenly—
Chairman Han wasn't protecting old secrets.
He was protecting ongoing ones.
Current ones.
Active ones.
"What kind of facilities?"
Aarya asked quietly.
Minho hesitated.
Then answered.
"I don't know."
A pause.
"But whatever they're doing..."
His voice darkened.
"They're spending billions."
The room fell silent.
Because people didn't spend billions hiding old mistakes.
They spent billions building something.
Or someone.
The thought sent chills through everyone.
Then—
a security alert interrupted the conversation.
A loud warning echoed through the estate.
Immediately.
Every guard in the room tensed.
Jungkook turned toward the nearest monitor.
"What happened?"
One of the security officers looked terrified.
Absolutely terrified.
"Sir..."
The man swallowed hard.
"We found unauthorized access."
Silence.
Unauthorized access?
Inside the estate?
Jungkook's expression darkened instantly.
"Where?"
The officer checked the screen.
Then looked up.
His face pale.
Very pale.
"The residential wing."
The room froze.
Because the residential wing wasn't public.
It wasn't military.
It wasn't operational.
It was where people lived.
Where trusted staff stayed.
Where nobody should've been sneaking around.
Unless—
The realization hit everyone simultaneously.
The second traitor.
The one feeding information to Chairman Han.
They were inside the estate.
Right now.
Living among them.
Watching them.
Listening to them.
Betraying them.
Jungkook slowly stood.
Danger settled over the room.
The kind that appeared before violence.
Before revenge.
Before bloodshed.
"Lock down the estate."
The command echoed sharply.
"No one leaves."
Every guard immediately moved.
Phones rang.
Orders spread.
Doors sealed.
The hunt had begun.
For the first time—
they weren't hunting Chairman Han.
They were hunting someone much closer.
Someone who knew all their secrets.
Someone who had already betrayed them countless times.
And somewhere inside the massive estate—
the traitor watched the lockdown begin.
Then smiled.
Because they already had what Chairman Han wanted.
And before morning—
they planned to deliver it.
Aarya.
- Writer
