AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 161

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"Are you suggesting that Sun-Mi has disappeared... without a trace?" -- Yoon Hyung-Chul

 

 

SUN-DAL'S OFFICE, MBS YEOUIDO HQ ...

 

"What do you know about this...?"

 

Hyung-Chul demands an answer as he storms in and tosses a newspaper down onto Director Kim Sun-Dal's desk...

 

Sun-Dal picks up the paper and reads the front-page banner...

 

 

News Anchor Jin Sun-Mi Quits MBS

Executive Accused of Sexual Harassment, Assault

 

"I just received her resignation letter, and it stated much the same," Sun-Dal replies. "But there's more than what's mentioned in that article... Sun-Mi told me that President Kim threatened her job if she didn't give him favors, and attempted rape when she refused..."

 

Hearing the charge, Hyung-Chul's face darkens with rage...

 

"I'll kill that bastard, if he so much as touched her!" he thunders.

 

"You're not the only one with that idea," Sun-Dal tells him. "But with no independent proof, Sun-Mi wanted it kept secret..."

 

 

Hyung-Chul ponders that, then asks, "So what changed her mind to go public now? Do you think Atwater is behind this?"

 

"Reading between the lines, yes," Sun-Dal concurs. "He must have been working behind the scenes for some time to ferret out those dozen women willing to give statements to the Prosecutor's office."

 

"This could hurt MBS significantly," Hyung-Chul notes the potential legal liabilities. "Why would Atwater risk his investment, when things could have been handled more discreetly?"

 

"Because it's Sun-Mi he cares about, not MBS," Sun-Dal asserts. "But it seems an extreme way to get revenge on Kim, by ruining the entire company."

 

"Maybe that's not his intent, but something else," Hyung-Chul speculates as an idea begins formulating. "Check our current stock price."

 

 

Sun-Dal turns to his laptop and opens a site that shows the day's stock exchange activity.

 

"With the news this morning, the price immediately dropped 20%," he reads from the data, pointing to a chart... "Look at those spikes in volume... someone is dumping shares in a hurry."

 

"It has to be Atwater. He's flooding the market," Hyung-Chul determines. "Soon, the price will collapse another 20% or more."

 

"But why? It's got to be killing him financially, selling this low," Sun-Dal observes.

 

"If his loan to Kim has a call option, this will force Kim to pay up immediately or surrender his entire holding," Hyung-Chul calculates the motive. "With his current shares, that will give Michael Atwater combined ownership of the second largest block of MBS."

 

"There's only one caveat with that scenario: If Atwater has to sell off most of his own shares in the process, then he'll still be in a minority position, with nothing gained, and a lot of money lost," Sun-Dal points out the contradiction. "He's not that stupid."

 

 

"We're missing something," Hyung-Chul declares. "My father will return from his trip to Japan tomorrow. Ask Joo-Hee to contact her father, too. Let's convene the day after tomorrow to strategize if there's any way we can benefit from this development."

 

"Meanwhile, I'll do some investigating," Sun-Dal says, "I'll see if I can find out what our 'friend' Michael Atwater is up to."

 

"That leaves the last part of the puzzle for me, then," Hyung-Chul states. "Sun-Mi..."

 

"Good luck with that," Sun-Dal replies. "Sun-Mi hasn't been seen since New Year's Eve. The place where she was living after leaving Atwater's apartment is empty, and her mobile is disconnected, too."

 

Hyung-Chul is surprised. "Are you suggesting that Sun-Mi has disappeared... without a trace?"

 

"That's right," Sun-Dal affirms. "Even her father doesn't know where she is..."