Chapter 12 - Shall We Begin?

Sunye was sitting in front of her old boss, Mr. Yang. He was a tall, sharp man in his sixties and a highly respected prosecutor in the country. Even though he had given up practicing law, he still had a lot of influence with top level judges and diplomats. He had taken Sunye under his wing when she was only 24 and taught her many things about dealing with cases. Sunye revered him as a mentor and it hurt her to see him look so disappointed in her.

"Sunye," he began. "I've known you since you were a fresh graduate who was making her way into this cutthroat world. I've guided you and hoped that one day, you'd make a fine prosecutor who would be impartial and win cases based on your own merit."​​

She did not say anything but merely looked down, feeling guilty. His eyes had caught on to the fact that she was hiding something and he wanted to find out what was bothering his star student.

"You told me you wanted to be one of the partners in this firm," he went on. "I even put in your paperwork for a promotion. The salary is great too. And here, you're fighting cases in which you aren't sending an innocent person to jail. You know very well that we only take up cases where we are hundred percent certain that the accused in guilty."

"I do," she croaked.

"Then why are you leaving?" he demanded. "Why do you want to leave behind a place where your morals are valued and go to another job where you might have to compromise?"

"I…"

She did not know where to begin. If Mr. Wang found out that Sunye was being forced by the Sadistic Doctor to quit the job, he would create a scene. Mr. Wang hated SD and despite having to work with the latter on many cases, Mr. Wang would be outraged at the fact that Sunye owed him favors.

"I just want to explore new opportunities," she lied. "I have learnt a lot from you but I feel like there is a lot more I have left to learn."

"And hence, you're moving to a firm owned by the adoptive son of the Prime Minister who, by the way, has no background in law?" Mr. Wang asked.

Wait…what?

"Adoptive son…?" Sunye echoed. She did not know anything about Lee Jonghyun and the fact that he was the adoptive son of the Prime Minister Hyuk Jun was news to her. She was completely dumbfounded.

"you don't know about your new boss, do you?" Wang guessed. He leaned back on his chair, scrutinizing her from behind his glasses.

"I…"

"You're not supposed to," he continued. "It's not a well known fact. Only those of us with high level connections and are connected to the PM's inner circle are aware of this. Lee Jonghyun did not build a law firm out of nothing. He had the financial backing and connections to establish himself as a rising star."

"The Prime Minister also hides his connection to his adoptive son," Wang sighed.

Was this the reason SD made her take up the job offer? To keep an eye on the Prime Minister's son? But why?

The answer came to her as soon as she asked the question in her head. Information. If there's something SD wanted, was information. Then again, he was working undercover for Lee Jonghyun himself. Why was he using Sunye?

Her fingers flinched into a fist in anger. He had fooled her again! The damn rat bas-

"Sunye, I'll give you one more day to think about it," Wang said but Sunye spoke up.

"I'm determined to go," she stated firmly. So far, she was unsure of whether to listen to SD or not but after finding out that he was using her, she decided that it was best to play along his scheme to find out what he was truly planning. If there was one thing she had learnt was to keep her enemies closer. The nearer they were, the more she could find out about their plans and ruin them.

Wang stared at her for a while before letting out another sigh. He knew that once Sunye was determined, she would stop at nothing.

"I'll be starting my work from tomorrow at LN Partners," she said, standing up. "I'm sorry that I'm leaving you like this. Believe me, I have learnt a lot from you but there are times in life when we have to move on. It's for my own growth. And I'll always respect you as my mentor."

"There will be times when we'll be bidding against each other for a case," Wang pointed out. "I won't go easy on you."

"I don't want you to go easy on me," Sunye shrugged. "Problem is that I won't go easy on you either."

Despite his disappointment, Wang smiled at her. Sunye smiled back and bowed before him before leaving the office. She felt a rush of emotions leaving behind a place which had been her second hme for so many years but SD had forced her to take a different direction in life.

But why? What was his motive? Only time would tell.

She took a deep breath and got into her car. Her nest stop was the police station where she would have to interrogate Dr. Lim.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered.

….

"This way," the uniformed police officer ushered her into a dark corridor which led to the interrogation room. The precinct was bustling with noisy policemen who were busy bringing in criminals or working on their files. Some of them were screaming at each other over various issues while others were moving around, trying to file the evidence. There were cells attached to some of the walls where small time criminals were kept temporarily.

"Who's this beauty?" one criminal leered at Sunye but she flashed him the middle finger. Some of the officers were taken aback by the brash attitude of the seemingly cool and collected lawyer but she did not care what they thought of her. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, concentrating on the job in her hand.

"This is the room," the officer with her said. He led her into an enclosed room which had no windows in it. There was only a table and a couple of chairs in the middle while a bulb was lit right above them. Other than these things, the room had been devoid of anything else. There were no sharp objects or stationary which could be used by a criminal to hurt himself to avoid punishment. Not even a fan was installed.

"We'll bring him in," the officer said. Sunye nodded at him and watched him leave. She put her purse in her pocket and only took out her phone to record the conversation. Sitting on one of the chairs, she idly waited until she heard the clanks of shackles heading her way.

A well groomed man in his fifties walked in. He was clean shaved with thinning gray hair and despite his age, had a well maintained physique. His hands and feet were tied with metal chains and the police officers led him to the empty seat across Sunye. The guards took off his shackles from the feet but kept the handcuffs on his hands.

"We'll be outside," one of the guards informed her. "Please let us know if you need anything. You will not be provided with any food nor stationary here in case if the criminal tries to hurt himself with the cutlery or other objects."

"Understood," Sunye said in a stern tone. "I will need to question the accused in private."

The guards nodded and left the room, leaving Sunye alone with the doctor.

"So, Dr. Lim," she said. "Shall we begin?"