Chapter 22

"Father-in-law sent me an anniversary gift."

Jun Shang was surprised that his voice sounded so calm. For the first time in his life, he was enraged to the core, but his voice carried the same tone it always did.

"What gift?"

His wife slightly narrowed her eyes. He knew. He knew that his wife hated her own father. Even though she never said it, whenever she stood in front of his father-in-law, her body slightly stiffened and froze up. Additionally, she never looked directly at her father.

"He gave me the news that the 500 billion was approved by the EUIB (European Union Investment Bank)."

His wife froze. Jun Shang didn't take his eyes off her. His wife's eyes were filled with confusion and doubt. Even though he couldn't see it from here, Jun Shang knew his wife would be clenching her hands together on top of her lap in order to calm down.

The news of the failure of the Tokyo project started spreading 3 days ago. How were they able to gain the approval of the EUIB?

"…I'm glad."

There was nothing else she could say.

"But I wonder how you were able to gain the approval."

"It's because I offered RJ a deal."

"You offered a deal? What was it?"

As Huang's heir, he had about 2 trillion won in assets.

"Half of my shares of the Huang company."

What? Half? Then 1 trillion? 1 trillion!

Xiao's lips opened in shock. It was similar to the expression his father had when he told him the same thing in his office yesterday morning.

His father's reaction was a sight to see. He looked at Jun Shang as if he'd gone crazy. He wasn't wrong. No one would have used half of his assets as a collateral in a business deal. However, the one and only Jun Shang said he'd do it.

He calmly persuaded his father. The failure of the Tokyo project resulted in more than financial loss and a break in ties with RJ. Huang's pride had been trampled on in front of the world.

He had planned and designed the Tokyo project. He couldn't afford for this project to be squashed away like this. He was going to catch the culprit who stole the 500 billion no matter what. He would get that money back. He was confident of this. He would bet everything he had.

With the 1 trillion as collateral, the EUIB had no reason to deny the 500 billion, just half of what Jun Shang had offered.

With Huang managing this with so much on the line, RJ could no longer be suspicious of them. The conflict had been resolved quickly, and 'Savanna' would be restarted soon.

This would be a chance for Jun Shang to show his leadership skills. Half of his assets would be worth this opportunity.

However, it didn't justify why he took such drastic actions.

Jun Shang stiffly sat as he looked at his wife. YunXiao was defensively scowling back at him. What would everyone say if he told them this was all a strategy to avoid losing her?

What was he doing right now? He constantly asked himself this question for the past 3 days, and he still wasn't able to find an answer.

Even after putting half of his assets on the line, he didn't feel like it was wasted. Even when he found out that YunXiao had been hiding something, he wasn't as angry as he expected to be. Truthfully, he didn't care about something like money. His assets had been given to him since his birth, so he didn't feel like he had real ownership over it.

If it was money, he could always earn more. He had overcome far more difficult problems than this one before. To him, a crisis was always an opportunity.

However, Xiao having another man was different.

Jun Shang chuckled. Another man. If she only knew the transformation that took place his heart the moment he heard that, she wouldn't be so carefree with her words. It was something cruel and scary. A hot and intense anger.

"Are you crazy?"

Instantly, Xiao's voice returned him to his senses.

Across the splendid dinner table, his wife looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"You put 1 trillion on the line in order to receive 500 billion? Don't you know how much damage it will do to you if the project fails?"

"Why do you think the project will fail?"

Jun Shang asked as he chuckled.

"Do you think I'll fail?"

Xiao kept her mouth tightly shut and didn't say a word.

"Or… Do you want me to fail?"

Her face paled again.

"…Of course not."

"Tell me, Xiao."

Jun Shang picked up a small, ceramic liquor bottle and poured himself a glass as he spoke.

"Did you give Ming Yin Huang's inside information?"

Xiao stopped breathing when she heard the question.

"What did you say?"

"As you know, Huang puts all of their business data in a separate server. You know where this server is kept."

Xiao didn't reply.

"Finding out about your indiscretions at a time like this is also very strange."

"Are you crazy?"

Her heart shrank as she barely managed to speak naturally.

"Why would I do that? How could I have pulled off such a huge feat?"

Moving a business's funds around was frustrating work. Due to the time difference, they had to use a Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS).

It was also important to find out what bank would transfer the money during what time. This time, the time stamp of when the two businesses had transferred their funds had been leaked, allowing for someone to cleverly hack into the system.

"Aren't you giving me too much credit?"

"There are traces of someone tampering with the security system. It seems that starting 2 years ago, someone has skillfully operated the surveillance system. What a coincidence that today happens to be our 2-year anniversary."

A chill swept through the room.