Passion and Power

Chapter 73

Minji sat in the courtroom gallery, her hand against her forehead in a futile effort to stave off a splitting headache. It was two months after her return to Seoul before the trial started. Over those weeks Minji and her team worked hard. They cooperated with the prosecution lawyers and NIS team to build the case. Through the process, they eventually discovered the leak that allowed Taehyung to reach the outside world. It was too late to stop the case, and only served to support Minji's feeling that Taehyung could reach anyone, and that there was no place where he could be safely locked away.

Meanwhile Taehyung had the best lawyers money could buy, and they spent every day they had building a strong defense.And it seemed that was paying off. Her brother was on the stand and Minji felt she was getting crushed under the weight of his lies. She was always amazed at how charming he could be when he wanted. She could see the jury was in the palm of his hand.

She reminded herself that she knew this would happen. Hanni had said many times that she should have faith. That there was clear evidence to convict her brother, and that justice would win in the end.

As much as she loved her and tried to believe what she was saying, all that she had witnessed over the four opening days of the trial had made it clear that it meant nothing. All Hanni's hopes and encouragement meant nothing in the face of the reality of the trial. Her brother had the best lawyers money could buy, and she had government lawyers. She'd spent a lot of money providing the government lawyers with expert advisors, but she could see it was all going to waste, now that her brother was on the stand.

Hanni attended many days of the trial, especially on days she thought might be especially difficult, just to be there for moral support. But on the day Taehyung took the stand she was being interviewed for a feature on 60 Minutes, and the team's PR team would not take no for an answer. The 60 Minutes team was doing a feature on the World Cup and there was no way to tell the story without the star player.

As Minji massaged her temples she felt thankful that Hanni wasn't there. She was watching the government's case evaporate in real-time. Knowing how it sounded to Hanni, watching her face as it fell apart, would only have made her feel much worse. Picturing Hanni's smile while she chatting away with the anchor gave Minji a momentary reprieve. But her brother saying her name shook her out of her reverie.

"This is all a creation of the mind, built on the dreams of my sister. The truth is that I took KimCorp to heights it had never seen. My sister became jealous. She couldn't bear the thought that her efforts were not enough to help the company fulfill its potential. When I came back, the Board got behind me. And that made her jealous, and vindictive, and willing to lie, and do anything she could to get rid of me. To put me away forever. That's why we're here, ladies and gentlemen. My brilliant sister, determined to have her way."

Minji couldn't take any more. She knew it would look bad, but she stood and walked out of the courtroom. She knew her team would be sending her a complete transcript of everything that was said within an hour after the session ended. She would just have to read about the last hour.

As she walked down the courthouse steps, she was noticed by some reporters and soon a gaggle of them had surrounded her.

"Ms. Kim, is it true that you have framed your brother?"

"Is the treason charge trumped up because of you planting evidence at KCorp?"

"Ms. Kim, why do you hate your brother so much?"

"What does your mother think about you betraying your brother?"

Minji did not even deign to turn her head in response. Though as much as she pretended not to hear, she couldn't help but become further infuriated by the questions. Her brother would clearly do and say anything to get away with his crimes. At this point, smearing her name along with it was probably just icing on the cake for him.