Greed: To Claim the World
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The following morning, the sun peeped through the window, and the curtains couldn't do much to block it from hitting Ara's face. She opened her eyes and looked to her left to see the man she expected to see. His back was facing her. There was nothing on his body or hers except for the thin silk sheets covering them. She noticed how he was still sleeping, so she stood up and wore the same clothes she had the night before. Jimin didn't move from the bed as he was profoundly asleep, so she walked outside the room and went to the kitchen. She started making breakfast as she heard footsteps walking down the stairs. Looking for the owner of the sound, she smiled as he walked closer to her.

"Why'd you leave?" Jimin asked. "I had to wake up and not see this gorgeous woman beside me. That was a very sad sight. I almost cried."

Ara chuckled as Jimin leaned in and kissed her forehead. When he pulled back, he cupped her cheeks and said, "I want you to know that I didn't ask for you to stay the night to have sex. I mean, it was wonderful making love to you, but I wanted you to stay so we could spend more time together. Even though I couldn't forget the night of the masquerade, I just wanted to have you in my arms."

Ara smiled at him as she leaned in closer and pecked his lips. At that moment, she recalled the events of the night before. As soon as she agreed to stay the night, they made popcorn and watched a movie together. Ara cuddled next to Jimin on the couch, and in the blink of an eye, they were making out. In another blink of an eye, he was carrying her bridal style up the stairs and to his room. And in a final blink of an eye, he was inside her. Everything happened so fast, but it was so vivid at the same time. Slow and passionate, unlike the masquerade.

"Well, we spent the entire night together," Ara said. "It was very romantic this time."

Jimin smiled, hearing that. Even though he didn't expect the events of last night to unfold the way they did, he was still glad to hear those words come out of her mouth. Last time, it was just lust. Pure lust. No love, just sex. This time, it was more than that. Two bodies sharing a soul.

"You're not confused anymore, right?" he asked, making it sound more like a plea than a question. After having sex, he didn't want to hear that Ara was still stuck on another man. It had not been so long since Jiyong's passing, but he still hoped that Ara would now direct her full attention toward him—that her mind would be set on only him.

"Not anymore," she said. "I wouldn't have slept with you if I was. I told you I wouldn't take advantage of you. I'm not Eunha."

That was when Jimin froze at her words. His smile faded as Ara looked at him worriedly. He looked worried and nervous. Not even his arrest caused him to worry so much. It was another level. Something that he had completely forgotten about. Something he should have given more thought to.

"Eunha—I'm worried. What if the baby she's carrying is actually mine?" he questioned. At that moment, Ara realized it was a possibility—a big one. Jimin couldn't tell if Eunha had unprotected sex with another man, but he definitely had unprotected sex with her. She could have used protection with another man, but she also could have slept with Jimin unprotected just to have his child. There were so many questions. However, if he slept with her unprotected, then it was a big possibility, no matter what, that he was her baby's father.

"There's a possibility that it's not your child. A big one," Ara said. "You know what type of person Eunha is. She lies, she cheats. I'm sure she was already pregnant before you slept with her. She did it all on purpose."

Jimin stayed quiet. He didn't know what to say. He knew about the possibilities, but he still thought the worst. Ara saw his stressed demeanor and knew she had to say something. She pecked his lips one more time to gain his attention and said, "Referring to your confession at the park—I want to be yours. I know I never explicitly told you how I felt, but if you still want me, I want to be your woman. I figured that if I kept thinking about you, that meant something. My sudden urge to kiss you whenever I saw you had to mean something. It meant I wanted to be yours, but I never gave it thought."

Jimin, as shocked as he already was, was even more shocked when he heard those words. He didn't expect her to respond to his confession after there being a big possibility that he could have fathered another woman's child, mainly Eunha's child. But there she was, willing to stick with him even with a high chance. The woman who suffered because of him, who endured bruises because of him. The woman who wanted to show him how much she loved him.

"If I still want you?" he asked rhetorically. "Of course I fucking want you. I want your lips, I want your touch, I want your heart, I want your love. I want you for me. You have no idea how much I want you. I want to show you my love every single day."

A man who loved so much but never received the same amount of love. All he wanted was to know what it felt like to be loved. He wanted to experience such a simple feeling, disregarding status, power, and money. He wanted to have nothing forbidding him from love.

Ara chuckled as she said, "I could get used to that."

Later that same day, the news came out that Eunha had ordered Siwon to kill Byun Haneul. Having heard such a thing made Ara furious. Even though nothing was proven yet, the slight suspicion that it was Eunha all along made her want to do the same to her. That was when she remembered Eunha's words from the encounter at the cafe.

"Remember Ara. You never know what could happen to you. In the blink of an eye, you can lose your life nowadays. Just like your father—gasping for air, trying to save his dear life."

It was certainly Eunha's plan. She was behind it all.

+

Eunha's assault trial would be in a matter of days, but Minho's and Sarah's sentencing would take place before. Now that the news came out that Eunha was not Eunhyuk's daughter, the Kang & Co. board of directors met to discuss the situation. At last, Eunha was dismissed from her position as the CEO of Kang & Co., which she was completely unaware of.

Sunggyu had heard nothing from Eunha since the moment she was arrested for the conspiracy charges. She never visited him while she was out on bail, so he never knew what was happening other than by the news reports. In his view, Sarah and Minho had abandoned him because they deemed him useless and disappeared together. Believing he was the only one left, Sunggyu knew he had to take action, so he went to his car and drove to a nearby travel agency. He had to leave the country before anything happened to him, and he had to do it legally, just in case he slipped up. He had to escape before his name reached the headlines and before anyone snitched on him during the trial.

Once he left the car, he placed his hoodie up and walked inside the agency. There was a couple in front of him signing some paperwork, so he sat down and waited for his turn. The news was playing on the television, but Sunggyu was oblivious to it until he heard something that caught his attention. He looked at the television and saw Sarah.

"SPD Chief Officer Min announced that Kang Sarah, former CEO of Kang & Co., is alive and well. In recent court hearings for Dr. Choi Siwon's criminal case, she was brought in, and it was revealed that current Kang & Co. CEO, Kang Eunha, had placed her mother in a mental institution and declared her deceased with the help of Dr. Choi. Today, Kang Sarah will testify at the Kwon Minho trial hearings involving illegal insider trading and leaking of confidential information."

Sunggyu gulped, knowing he had just seen Minho and Sarah more than a week ago to coordinate a new strategy to prevent themselves from being caught. Everything discussed in the meeting with Minho and Sarah sounded so perfect, and it was going to be so perfect—that was, of course, until Minho had to slip up and get caught. Everything was ruined. Minho was caught in the act, Sarah was found, and Sunggyu was trembling in shambles. The marks on his arms became more vibrant red every second.

"Next week, Kang Eunha will attend her own trial for allegedly assaulting her fiancé's maid in his home. After that, she will attend the court hearings for the murder of SNU student Jang Jiyong and the supposed murder of former CEO of the Byun Corporation, Byun Haneul. In his trial, Dr. Choi revealed Ms. Kang requested he murder Mr. Byun, but when he refused, she contacted someone else. It is unknown who this person is or whether this is true or not. However, the SPD confirmed that a digital drawing was made of the supposed murderer with the help of an eyewitness and that they will be looking for suspects. More information will be revealed in the further trials."

Sunggyu froze as he heard the news. There was an unknown person involved, and the police knew it. They knew it. That was when Sunggyu looked down in order to avoid the cameras in the room and stood up. He walked to the door with his hoodie on and immediately left. This time, he was willing to figure out a way to leave the country through any illegal means possible.

+

Sarah sat down with the cuffs on her hands as she awaited the new sentence. She knew nothing else could be done, as she was already sentenced to life in prison. Nothing could be worse. Nothing could be better. She would rot in prison, just like Minho. Even if she were sentenced to death, it wouldn't be worse than life in prison. It couldn't be. Her suffering would end. Her life would just end. That was the least she had hoped for, but it never happened. She was sentenced to life in prison as she awaited an even more useless sentence.

"Defendant Kwon Minho, you signed a contract with the Byun Corporation when you started working there, and it was breached when you leaked sensitive information and conspired with Mrs. Kang Sarah in facilitating the act of illegally acquiring stocks. Considering the facts presented today, I hereby sentence you to seven years in prison with a fine of one million dollars representing the damage you caused to the company and the deliberate planning involved in the crime. Any illegal profits or gains seized will be forfeited. You will be banned from holding any position as a corporate director or the equivalent in any company."

As the judge spoke, Minho looked only at Sarah as she looked at him. She regretted not having been able to tell him she actually cared for him as much as he cared for her—that she only faked not caring because she couldn't give up on her lavish lifestyle. She cared more about her power, her money, and her status than her secret love for Minho. Sarah wanted to keep living a double life, just like her husband did. Full of happiness brought by the money but none by the marriage. Happiness brought by the affair but not by the spouse.

After her husband's murder, she proudly managed the company all on her own. She wanted to bring it back up and maintain it steady for Minho. Now that Eunhyuk was gone, she wanted to be with the man she secretly loved while her bank accounts were stable. She wanted to enjoy having money and love. She wanted to balance between both worlds, but her own child's greed ruined it. The greed that her mother showed her every day. The greed that killed her father.

Eunha wanted to have it all, even more than her mother. She wanted the company; she wanted the money; she wanted the man. The best way to have it all was to have the company all under her name. The CEO Kang Eunha rose to power while the former CEO Kang Sarah mysteriously disappeared. A strange disappearance that kept Sarah trapped in an asylum for years, unable to escape. The guards were only there for her. Whenever she tried to escape, they would bring her back inside and even lock her in her room for weeks until she demonstrated 'appropriate behavior'. At one point, Sarah gave up, and her room became her entire world.

"As for Kang Sarah, you conspired with Mr. Kwon Minho to gain an unfair advantage in the market and knowingly used illegally accessed information to purchase stocks from Mr. Byun's corporation. Considering the role you played in these crimes, I sentence you to four years in prison with a fine of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars representing the damages you caused to the company and the deliberate planning involved in the crime. Any illegal profits or gains seized will be forfeited. Court is adjourned."

It was that simple. Mother, father, and daughter were all involved in a crime. The mother and father were sentenced, but the daughter was awaiting her moment. Sarah had the rest of her life behind bars, as Minho only had seven years. The family had all been involved in some business-related crime, but only the mother and daughter had more crimes hidden under their sleeves.

That following day, Eunha received a visit. Believing it was Jimin, she walked to the visitor's room excitedly. She believed he had forgiven her and that everything would be back to normal. She believed he would get her out, and they could finally be together again. Being stuck behind bars made her imagine things that were definitely not true. He was her only escape. Who else would visit her?

When she walked inside the room, her smile faded when she saw it wasn't Jimin. A man with a hoodie and a face mask sat on the other side of the glass wall. Eunha knew who it was, but she didn't understand why he would suddenly appear. She had not seen him since her first arrest and had no intent on seeing him either. On top of that, it was just stupid for him to visit.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as the officers left the room. She sat on the chair and whispered, "Aren't you supposed to be gone? What's wrong with you? Get out of here!"

"I don't know what to do, Eunha!" he whisper-yelled. "I need to get out of here. Trust me, I know, but I need to know how. You're the one who had the contacts. You're the one who knows people. I have nothing. I tried to escape, but it's complicated. Sarah and Minho were arrested, too, and now I don't know what to do. I'm a fucking pussy, Eunha. Can't you tell?"

Eunha scoffed. She knew he was right, but if she had been in his position, she wouldn't have gone to prison to ask for some illegal contacts. She would have figured out things on her own, but Sunggyu wasn't like that. He just received orders and was told what to do and where to go. He never did things by himself. She trained him to never think by himself. After working for Sarah and then for Eunha, his conscience became dirtier and dirtier. His mind was restricted every second because Eunha wanted it to be that way.

Eunha looked to the sides to make sure no officers were around and leaned in closer as she whispered, "Note this phone number and ask for Han Sunho. He will help you out."

Sunggyu nodded and took note mentally of the phone number Eunha gave him.

"Now I need you to help me out," Eunha said. Sunggyu looked at her, confused and scared, as she said, "I need you to teach Jimin a lesson."

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