It was a sunny afternoon when it started…
But somewhere, something, in the middle of that sunny, beautiful afternoon, it started to pour…
The rain showers became rain that bought fort a storm…
A storm that bought chaos,
An afternoon that tangled each of them to where they are now.
“What did you say?” Marcus Esteves’ strong deep voice echoed the room as Mr. Kim picked the pieces of paper Mr. Esteves threw on the ground.
“ I, I, (clears throat) I said there is something wrong with the ledger,”
Mr. Kim has been working in the accounting industry for decades that on just a glimpse, he can clearly see if the numbers add up or not.
“So? That is why I hired in you the first place! Make it ADD UP!” A person with a weak heart would have died on the spot because of fear, but Mr. Kim is nothing like that. He is the opposite.
“ I own an accounting firm, sir. And this is not how we do things around here.”
The dignified feature of Mr. Joseph Kim is clear for anyone to see. Mr. Kim can’t let go of his principles even if he knows that the slightest mistake on the sight of this man in front of him will definitely cost him his life.
Mr. Esteves is not the one to argue when he knows he will not win. For him, it is a waste of his precious time.
“Okay, go on. Find your way out.”
That’s it.
Mr. Kim expected more. He expected confrontation, lawsuits, and all, but it did not happen. He walks out of the office with a different feeling. Something does not feel right. He thought to himself, this person is one of the riches in South Korea, and he, Mr. Kim, found out his secrets.
Esteves Group of Companies works as a front for drug dealers, oligarchs, and politicians who control the medical and insurance system. The company created multiple paper companies and contractors where slush funds are deposited. Evading tax, laundering money, harassing businessmen, and eliminating business threats along the way.
This is such a hard pill for Mr. Kim to swallow, but he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he entered his car, happy to be out of that hell office.
His wife called, they are to have a surprise party for his only child, Angel. It was raining hard, so he agreed to fetch his wife and stop by the store two blocks away from the office- a mistake that he wished he did not commit. He knew something was wrong, but he did not listen to this feeling -He wished he did.
He fetched his wife. A kiss on the cheek. Smiling faces gleamed amidst the storm inside a fancy car. They are now on their way home when suddenly as if it was an accident.
The car breaks did not work!
A trailer truck hit them- there is no chance of survival.
Mr. Kim saw his only child at the end of the corner road. She is standing there, waiting for them to pick her up wearing her expensive school uniform but leaving the smile that usually worked as her best jewel.
Angel saw the accident. How the big truck crushed her parent’s car and how she thought his parent’s eyes met hers as their car tumbled like a weed in the air. She just stood there, holding fast at her umbrella. Shocked, numbed, and did not know what to do. Her brain went blank. She can’t even cry. It was just a matter of minutes when her mother called her and asked her to get in the car, but she bought something in the store and told her she would wait on the other side of the road- She could have been there, inside that car.
Angel remembers how the day began, the kisses she did not take from her parents because she thought she was too old for that. She did not finish the meal because she was too full- who would have thought it was the last meal her mother would cook for her.
And this young maiden stands in the middle of the rain, trying to internalize what just happened, bargaining that it is just a nightmare- but it wasn’t.
Just several meters from the accident, no one noticed a slender man wearing all black- carefully watching if the mission was a success- it was.
“Done, sir.”
In a low tone on a burner phone, the man said he was destined to spend his last day at the furnace tonight.
“very well,” responded the person on the other line, a deep stern voice that would sound very much familiar if Mr. Esteves would be able to hear it.
The call ended.
“He should have done what I hired him to do,”
Mr. Esteves put down the phone as he clutched the contract from an accounting firm and threw it into the shredder. He sipped his brandy and carried it out of the office. He did not realize that his son heard him say
“Kim, Joseph M, So long and goodbye,”
The curious young man searched the name and found out who the person was. He was shocked by the news the following day but did not dare to ask- he is smart enough to do just that, but deep in his mind, he knew what happened- it is not like this was the first time. The only difference this time, this Kim is connected to the person he cared for a lot- Angel Kim.
And another thing, there is a flaw in this plan. Mr. Kim has already sent a copy of the ledger to the officials. And just like a domino, one by one, people have been taken down, including Linda and James’ fathers. Although they both lost a father, they are not on the same both as the other saw it as a miracle while the other saw it as a disaster.
It was chaotic as rich and influential people were taken into custody one by one. Even Mr. Esteves was left not untouched, but he did not suffer as much loss as others because his plans are always fluid except for this one. The only rotten egg on the shelf, the only mistake on all the plans he made.