Chapter 17: A Love Hidden in Shadows (Part 16 – Finale)

(POV: Ahn Min-jae – The Beginning of the End)

---

No More Shadows

The past had always felt like a chain around my throat—tightening, suffocating, dragging me into a life I never chose. But now, with my mother's letter in one hand and the damning evidence against Ahn Sang-hoon in the other, I had the key to break free.

My breath was slow, controlled, yet every muscle in my body burned with fury. The weight of a stolen life pressed against my shoulders, but unlike before, I wasn't going to let it bury me.

"Min-jae..." Soo-min's voice was quiet yet firm as she looked at me, her eyes full of something unshakable—faith. "This changes everything, doesn't it?"

I nodded.

"Everything."

The truth wasn't just written in ink. It was carved into my very existence.

I wasn't Ahn Sang-hoon's son.

I was Seo Joon-hyuk's.

A man whose name had been erased. A man Ahn Sang-hoon had stolen from, betrayed, and buried in silence.

A man I never got the chance to know.

I clenched my fists around the documents, my nails digging into my palms. I had spent years chasing after Ahn Sang-hoon's approval, thinking that if I worked hard enough, if I succeeded enough, I would finally earn my place in his world.

But I had been nothing more than a pawn in his game.

Not anymore.

---

Choosing a Path

Revenge was a word that had always felt distant to me, something ruthless men pursued when they had nothing left to lose.

Now, I understood it wasn't just about rage. It was about justice.

Soo-min watched me carefully, her fingers brushing against mine as she pulled me back from my thoughts. "What are you going to do?"

I exhaled, looking down at the papers again.

"I'm going to destroy him."

Soo-min's lips parted slightly, but there was no surprise in her gaze—only quiet acceptance.

"How?" she asked.

"From the inside," I said, my voice like steel. "And from the outside."

I wasn't just going to take Ahn Sang-hoon down.

I was going to make sure he had nowhere left to run.

---

The Fall of Ahn Sang-hoon

The first move had to be calculated. If I exposed him too soon, he'd find a way to slither out of it. He was a man who thrived on power, but power was only useful if you could control the narrative.

So I started small.

Step 1: Create doubt. I had my legal team verify every document and leak select pieces of evidence to the press—just enough to make people question him but not enough to give him an immediate way out.

Step 2: Gather allies. Shareholders had always feared Ahn Sang-hoon, but fear wasn't loyalty. I reached out to those who had been waiting for a moment of weakness to turn against him.

Step 3: Build pressure. I arranged for authorities to launch an investigation. Whispers of corruption turned into full-fledged news reports. Investors started backing out. The stock price dropped.

Step 4: Let him rot. I could have confronted him immediately, but that would have been mercy. Instead, I watched as the empire he stole from my real father began to collapse under its own weight.

Within a week, news outlets swarmed with reports of financial fraud, embezzlement, and corporate betrayal.

Within a month, prosecutors officially charged him with crimes that would ensure he never stepped foot in a boardroom again.

Within three months, Ahn Sang-hoon was no longer the feared CEO of his empire.

He was just another criminal awaiting trial.

---

The Final Blow

The day of his sentencing, I went to see him.

The courthouse was eerily silent, the sound of my footsteps echoing against the marble floor. I found him sitting alone in an empty room, his hands cuffed in front of him, the once-mighty presence he carried reduced to nothing more than a shadow.

When he looked up, his gaze was unreadable.

"You think you've won?" His voice was hoarse, cracked from the weight of his downfall.

I tilted my head. "No. I know I have."

His lips curled in something that was almost a smirk, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I raised you, Min-jae. Everything you are today is because of me."

I stepped closer, my voice calm but razor-sharp. "You raised me to be a pawn. But I made myself a king."

For the first time, something flickered in his expression—fear.

He knew.

He had spent years shaping me into someone who would serve his legacy, never realizing that I would be the one to erase it.

"Your father was weak," he muttered.

I let out a slow breath, the rage in my chest settling into something cold and final.

"Maybe. But even in death, he won. Because I exist. And now, so does his truth."

Ahn Sang-hoon's eyes darkened, his fingers clenching into fists. But he had nothing left to fight with.

He had already lost.

I turned away, walking out of the room, leaving him behind like the ghost of a past I no longer belonged to.

---

A New Beginning

Months later, the empire Ahn Sang-hoon built was gone.

His name was wiped from the business world. His fortune was seized. His so-called allies abandoned him the moment he became worthless.

And me?

I wasn't Ahn Sang-hoon's son anymore.

I was Seo Joon-hyuk's.

The man whose name had been erased from history was finally known.

The wind was cool against my face as I stood at the edge of the cliffside, overlooking the vast ocean. The weight of the past no longer clung to my chest like a curse.

Beside me, Soo-min slipped her hand into mine, her warmth grounding me.

"It's over," she whispered.

I looked at her, truly seeing her in a way I never had before. She had been my anchor through it all—the one person who never doubted me, even when I doubted myself.

I brought her hand to my lips, pressing a slow kiss against her knuckles.

"Yeah," I murmured. "It is."

She smiled, leaning into my side. "So… what now?"

I exhaled, staring at the horizon where the sky met the sea.

"Now," I said, squeezing her hand, "we build something real. Together."

For the first time in my life, I wasn't chasing someone else's dream.

This time, I was chasing my own.

And with Soo-min by my side, I knew—this was only the beginning.

---