<Episode 114>
The real estate owner rested her chin leisurely on her hand atop the desk and smiled slyly.
“What do you mean, why is she here? You were the one who said on the phone earlier that you’re in a hurry, so I should bring the person most likely to buy this building immediately.”
“T-That’s true, but…!”
“So I brought her. Our VVIP customer who can pay cash faster and more reliably than anyone else in this neighborhood.”
The owner winked at me.
The moment the landlady understood the situation, her face instantly flushed red and blue.
Her pride thoroughly wounded, she shrieked.
“Are you crazy?! I’d rather starve to death than sell my building to her! Bring someone else right now!”
“Oh my, but you said it was an urgent sale. Where exactly are we supposed to find someone willing to immediately buy a building tied to a scandal?”
“No, forget it! I’ll never do business through your agency again! I’ll take it somewhere else and list it there!”
Fuming, the landlady snatched up her luxury handbag from the sofa and spun toward the entrance.
Just then…
Sluuurp.
From the office kitchenette, the real estate owner’s husband emerged leisurely while sipping a sweet instant coffee.
“Eh, even if you go somewhere else now, it won’t do any good.”
“W-What?”
Ignoring the landlady’s furious reaction, he casually placed a freshly brewed cup of coffee in front of me.
He didn’t even glance at her.
“Thank you.”
“We’ve got plenty of snacks too, so just let me know if you want any~”
After speaking kindly to me, the man finally turned toward the landlady, who was practically burning holes into the back of his head with her stare.
“The internet’s been full of people saying our Haneul deserves to get back the shop that was unfairly taken from her. Who’d dare buy that building knowing all that?”
“T-That’s why I listed it far below market price!”
The man shook his head as if it were hopeless.
“It’s not about the money. People think it should naturally be returned to its rightful owner. That’s basic business ethics.”
“Y-You…!”
The landlady had undoubtedly seen public opinion online.
She knew better than anyone what the current situation was.
People were angry and heartbroken over my story as if it were their own.
No investor would be foolish enough to take on the risk of purchasing a building that had become the target of so much criticism.
‘Even so, she refuses to sell it specifically to me?’
I let out a scoffing laugh.
She had spent years throwing her weight around with money, so now the idea of being forced to hand the building over to me must have been more humiliating than death.
“Fine! It’s my building! If I don’t sell it and just hold out, that’s the end of it!”
The landlady stomped toward the entrance irritably.
Yet nobody tried to stop her.
Just as her hand had opened the doorknob halfway…
“My goodness, I heard you’ve got a mountain of debt to pay back and your husband’s bail to cover. Guess you’re still pretty comfortable, huh?”
The real estate owner clicked her tongue behind her.
Then she leaned toward me and whispered playfully.
“You know, that NP-whatever company… They heard it was going to take off, so they even took out loans using the building as collateral and invested a huge amount.”
“But you know what happened, right? The company went completely under.”
“Ah, NP Investment Partners. I know them very well.”
I was the one who brought down their boss, after all.
Shrugging, I continued.
“Their stock certificates are basically toilet paper now. And they borrowed money to invest? Sounds like someone got fed some bad information.”
“Her husband was one of the company’s executives. Apparently they got insider information about some incredible new product, and both husband and wife got greedy enough to pour every cent they had into it.”
The hand gripping the doorknob turned white.
The landlady stood frozen in place, unable to leave yet unable to come back either, her shoulders trembling violently.
“If you’re talking about a new product, that must’ve been the Nutrafil renewal. Weren’t all the higher-ups involved arrested? Don’t tell me your husband too…?”
Panting heavily, she whipped her head around and glared at me.
“That’s right! You’re the one who destroyed NP Investment Partners, aren’t you? Ha, the nerve of you…”
She pounded her chest miserably.
“Because of you, my husband… who’d never done a bad thing in his life, ended up in prison. My poor husband…”
Then, as if realizing something, her bloodshot eyes widened.
“You’re doing this on purpose to get revenge on me, aren’t you? You’re trying to ruin my entire life!”
Unable to hold back, I burst out laughing at her absurd delusion.
Her ego really was enormous.
Apparently, she believed every cause and effect in the world revolved around her.
“Why would I go that far over someone like you?”
I smiled lightly.
“I simply corrected something that was wrong.”
Then I slowly looked her up and down.
“And it seems you were connected to all those wrongdoings as well.”
Her face turned bright red as she bit her lip.
She looked ready to lunge at me at any moment, but I wasn’t afraid in the slightest.
If anything, she seemed pitiful… like a small animal puffing up its fur to appear larger than it really was.
‘Why was I ever so scared of her when I was younger?’
‘Ah. It’s not that she’s changed. I’ve changed.’
The old Jung Haneul… the girl who had no choice but to pack up and leave whenever this woman told her to go… had disappeared long ago.
“Come to think of it, it’s pretty funny.”
I chuckled.
“The fact that exposing Park Seongcheol’s crimes eventually came full circle and ended up hurting the very woman who stole my parents’ restaurant.”
I smiled.
“People usually call that karma, don’t they?”
“Y-You…!”
Ironically, the only lifeline she had left was the very person she hated most… me.
Realizing that, I folded my arms and grinned leisurely.
“Now that I think about it, there’s really no reason for me to buy this place at such a high price right now.”
Looking straight at her standing by the door, I continued.
“I’ll just wait until it goes to auction. You said yourself nobody wants to buy it, right? After a few failed auction rounds, I could probably get it for half the current price.”
“T-That’s ridiculous!”
The truly ridiculous thing was her grasp of reality.
She had taken on excessive debt using the building as collateral.
If she couldn’t pay the interest, the building would be seized and auctioned off.
And judging by the mention of her husband’s bail, she would have to deal with those debts alone.
The corner of my mouth curled upward.
“I guess I’ll see you in court soon. Take care, ma’am.”
“Wait! Wait a minute!”
The moment I started to stand up, a desperate scream rang out.
Before I knew it, the landlady had rushed right up to me.
Rubbing her hands together, she wore a groveling smile.
“I-I was wrong! Of course I should sell it to you, Haneul! I was just upset earlier… That’s right, I was joking. I was only trying to lighten the mood!”
The venom and curses she had been spewing moments ago had completely vanished.
She hurriedly shoved the contract toward me and desperately tried to press a pen into my hand.
I shrugged.
Honestly, I had never intended to wait for an auction anyway.
I didn’t want the precious place filled with my parents’ memories to remain in someone else’s hands for even a single extra day.
There was also the risk that the restaurant could be damaged during the auction process.
But there was no reason to let her know that.
‘Though for an urgent sale, she really did list it cheaper than I expected.’
She was probably trying to secure her husband’s bail money first and then pay off her debts.
Still, there was no reason to settle here.
I deliberately dragged things out, pretending to think it over.
“Hmmm. The price is still a little high for my liking… Maybe I should just wait for the auction.”
At my indifferent murmur, all the color drained from her face.
She grabbed my hand desperately and pleaded.
“I-I’ll lower it even more! Fine, ten million won! I’ll knock off ten million won!”
“Hmm, that’s tempting. But I’m not exactly in a hurry…”
“No, no, I was wrong. Thirty million! I’ll cut thirty million! No–fifty! Fifty million! I really can’t go any lower than that. Haneul, please… Just this once. Please?”
The real estate owner caught my eye and discreetly gave me a thumbs-up.
That meant the price had become exceptionally favorable.
I sighed as though I had no choice and sat back down.
“Well, if you’re that desperate, I suppose I don’t have much choice.”
I crossed my legs leisurely and delivered the finishing blow.
“Alright. Then we’ll finalize the sale price at the amount you just offered.”
Then I smiled.
“Now, shall we discuss demolition costs and restoring the interior to its original condition?”
“…Interior costs?”
“That strange signboard, and all the little interior changes you made after taking over.”
I smiled coldly.
“I’ll have to tear all of that out. Naturally, you’ll be paying the demolition costs.”
Terror began spreading across her face.
‘Honestly, whose fault is that?’
‘Who told you to steal my parents’ restaurant and start running a business there?’
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