The Ultimate Tycoon's System Audit

Chapter 13: Too Late for Regrets

Morning light flooded the living room of the Ahn family residence.

Min-ah sat on the edge of the velvet sofa, her eyes glued to the wide-screen television. Beside her, her mother nervously paced back and forth across the rug, clutching a cup of tea with hands that wouldn't stop shaking. Ever since Director Kang vanished after the disastrous summit, their phones had been ringing non-stop with calls from anxious debt collectors and relatives.

"Did Kang call you back yet?!" her mother demanded, her voice rising in panic. "He can't just go missing! Who is going to pay off the mortgage interest this month?!"

"He turned his phone off," Min-ah muttered, her heart heavy with dread. "He's hiding from the police."

"That useless coward!" her mother shrieked, slamming her cup onto the table. "After everything we did for him! We threw out that penniless clerk Jin just so you could be with a billionaire!"

Before Min-ah could respond, a loud breaking news chime sounded from the TV. The screen flashed bright red with an emergency financial report.

“FLASH NEWS: CHEONJI LOGISTICS ASSET SEIZURE COMPLETE. NEW OWNER ANNOUNCED.”

The news anchor’s voice echoed sharply through the quiet room. "Following the massive three-billion-dollar fraud scandal surrounding former Director Kang Tae-sung, federal regulators and the International Financial Regulatory Association have officially transferred one hundred percent of Cheonji Logistics' corporate assets. The new owner and CEO, holding fifty million dollars in direct liquid backing, has been identified as former low level clerk, Mr. Jin."

A crisp, high-definition photo of Jin—wearing his immaculate grey suit, looking dominant and imposing—appeared on the screen.

Min-ah’s mother froze mid-step, dropping her tea cup onto the floor where it shattered into pieces.

"J-Jin?!" her mother gasped, her eyes bulging in utter shock. "That Jin?! The boy who cooked our meals, cleaned this house, and slaved away paying off my personal loans for five years?! He owns the whole shipping company now?! How is that even possible?"

Min-ah couldn't breathe. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she stared at Jin’s handsome face on the television screen. Fifty million dollars. Total operational control of a logistics giant. The man her family had treated like a dog, the man she had dumped like trash, was now wealthier and more powerful than Director Kang had ever been.

He stayed with us for five years, Min-ah thought frantically, a desperate, greedy hope surging through her. He took all that abuse from my mother because he loved me! He only exposed Kang because he was heartbroken! If I go to him right now and apologize, he’ll take me back!

Without saying another word, Min-ah grabbed her coat and handbag, rushing out the front door.

An hour later, the executive private parking garage beneath Cheonji Logistics was dead silent.

Jin stepped out of his black sedan, holding a leather folder containing the regulatory ownership certificates. He was just turning toward the private executive elevators when fast footsteps echoed off the concrete pillars.

"Jin!"

Min-ah ran toward him, her breathing ragged, her eyes red and filled with practiced tears. She had put on her best makeup, trying desperately to look like the soft, delicate girl he used to protect.

Jin stopped in his tracks. He didn't look surprised or angry. He simply stood beside his car, his hands tucked casually in his suit pockets, watching her approach with a completely unreadable expression.

"Jin, thank God I caught you!" she sobbed, stopping a few feet away and reaching out with trembling hands. "I saw the news! I... I couldn't believe it!"

"What are you doing here, Min-ah?" Jin asked, his voice low and freezing cold.

"I came for you!" she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Jin, I know you hate me right now, but you have to understand—Kang tricked me! He threatened to ruin your career and put my mother in prison if I didn't stay with him! I only did it to protect you!"

Jin let out a short, quiet breath—not of anger, but of utter disgust.

"To protect me?" Jin asked softly.

"Yes!" Min-ah took a step closer, her voice dripping with desperation. "You know how much I cared about you during those five years you lived in our house! I know my mother was hard on you, but we were a family, Jin! You worked so hard for us... we can have that again! Now that Kang is gone, I can help you run this empire. We belong together!"

Jin pulled his right hand out of his pocket, holding up his phone and simply opened his private banking history and held the screen in front of her face.

On it were dozens of bank statements from the past three years—showing exact transfers of his low-level clerk salary going directly into her mother's credit card accounts, loan shark payments, and Min-ah’s luxury shopping allowances.

"For five years," Jin said, his voice razor-sharp, "I lived under your roof. I cooked your family's dinners, cleaned your floors, and gave ninety percent of my paycheck to stop loan sharks from breaking your mother's legs."

Min-ah’s face lost every drop of color. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"And the second Director Kang waved a few designer shoes in front of your face, you discarded me, connived with Kang and his thugs left me to die on the street ," Jin continued, his gaze locking onto her terrified eyes. "You didn't come here today to protect me, Min-ah. You came here because you saw fifty million dollars on the news, and you realized you threw away the biggest fortune of your life."

"Jin, please..." Min-ah whimpered, dropping to her knees on the cold concrete floor of the garage, grabbing at the hem of his trousers. "I was stupid! I made a mistake! Give me one more chance! I'll do anything!"

Jin stepped back, easily pulling his clothes out of her grasp. He looked down at her weeping, ruined figure with zero remorse.

"Get up," Jin said, his tone devoid of any emotion. "You're embarrassing yourself. The man who paid your mother's debts and took your abuse died the night I saw you wrapped on Kang's hands. Don't ever come near me or this company again."

Without waiting for a response, Jin swiped his master keycard at the glass door of the executive elevator and stepped inside.

The heavy doors slid shut, cutting off the sound of Min-ah’s hysterical sobbing. Jin adjusted his collar in the mirror as the elevator carried him smoothly up toward the top floor.

Min-ah was officially erased from his life. Up on the top floor, the twelve corrupt regional managers were gathering for their emergency strike—and Jin was ready to take their seats.