Vows and Bullets
Chapter 81: The Culprit (Part 1)

Chapter 81: The Culprit (Part 1)

Not wanting to judge him too early, I continued listening to their conversation.

"You see, my recent girlfriend is very picky," Agent Hades said, rubbing his chin as if he’s carefully pondering something. "I tried giving her different kinds of gifts, but she wasn’t satisfied. Since you’re wearing that, I thought women must like that design. Maybe my girlfriend will like it, too."

"And who are you fooling around with this time?" the maid shook her head in dismay. "Haah... you should start getting a serious relationship instead of these temporary ones you keep getting. Women are not clothes. I can’t imagine how many hearts you’ve broken. Aigoo."

"I’m serious this time! That’s why I’m working hard on choosing a perfect gift for her. It will be our monthsary soon."

The maid squinted her eyes, obviously not believing his lie.

"Haah... Alright, I’ll help," she finally succumbed. "Actually, this necklace is a gift from my boyfriend. I’ll ask him where he bought it. Then, I’ll let you know."

"Really? You’ll do that for me?" Agent Hades exclaimed, looking so happy. "Woah! Thank you so much!"

"It’s nothing. It’s the least I can do for my master’s friend."

After that, they exchanged pleasantries and talked about random things, but nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary.

’Hmm... That’s weird. Why did he ask about her necklace? I don’t understand him. Is there something in her necklace? Or was it simple idle talk?’

Curious as to why, I zoomed in the camera toward the maid to take a closer look.

The maid’s necklace was a beautiful ruby with golden chains. The gem itself was surrounded by lustrous tiny diamonds in a pretty design. Whoever crafted it must have been an expert. It looks really well made like—

’Wait a minute. That design... I think I’ve seen that somewhere. Isn’t that the same one sold in that luxurious shop Agent Helios and I went to before when we were still preparing for the wedding? And that costs around millions of won if I’m not mistaken! How could her boyfriend afford to buy something like that? Maybe it’s counterfeit—but no, the design is too intricate, just like how I remember it.’

At last, I understood why.

’Could it be? Her boyfriend is...’

Going on with my hunch, I quickly checked and went through the files I had available on my desk. I didn’t know who the maid’s boyfriend was, so I had to go through a couple of them to figure it out.

"Dae-Seong Park," I said over and over as I looked at the short-list I created earlier.

And there it was! He was on the list of my suspects!

"Male. 28. Position: Bodyguard. Work schedule..."

I went through his full profile and shift schedules, the dates and times when he was tasked to be one of our bodyguards—basically everything I could check about him. Then, I went back to the CCTV records and followed all his activities that were near the dates when Agent Helios and I discussed the matter of him taking over his father’s business or not.

As I watched the footage, I compiled every piece of evidence I could get. From the videos of his actions in the mansion to the places he went to after his shift, things he bought, people he met, and any info I could use. I also hacked his bank, card, and other money transactions to look for anything suspicious. Luckily, I did find a sudden spurt of money from his multiple accounts.

After that, I traced where those suspicious transfers came from. It turns out it was from one of the people he met when he went to a bar a few weeks ago. Then I traced that person’s transactions again, leading me to another person and another. Until finally, it led me to one of Mr. Choi’s people.

"Gotcha. So it really was you—freaking mole."

I sighed heavily and stretched my body. I had been sitting at the desk for too long, and it was already afternoon—I didn’t even notice the time. But more than that...

"It seems like I really underestimated Agent Hades," I murmured to myself.

To think he managed to gather such great intel from a few hours of speaking to different people inside the mansion—how very impressive. It would have taken a lot of careful wording, manipulative leading conversations, asking the right questions, and most of all, acting the part of your story. He even managed to do it so naturally that nobody was suspicious of him!

It was like an invisible web, carefully sewn and placed to the perfect spot the prey would never see. And since they couldn’t see it, they didn’t even know they were already trapped in that web of lies like puppets.

What a master of words...

A true master of manipulation—just like Agent Helios!

No wonder they get along so well.

And that was why... I could never bring myself to fully trust him.

’Yes, Kim Ye-Ji. Don’t be swayed...

’You never know... everything might be a great act he carefully planned, and you don’t even know that he’s already manipulating you to be his pawn.

’Remember—he’s the client of this S-rank mission! You still don’t know his true purpose, his true goal!

’So don’t be swayed and get caught up in his lies!

’Don’t get your feelings involved no matter what because that will cloud your judgment!

’And most of all...

’Don’t EVER fall for him!’

Anyway, I never felt anything romantic towards any man, so it’s pretty much impossible for me to fall for him.

’Right. I’m just... lusting over him—when we kiss, that’s all. And that’s why I’m avoiding it. I’m never doing that anymore. That way, I can keep my cool and focus on the mission. Yes. That’s what I should do.’

Dropping the ridiculous thought in my mind, I went back to my laptop and transferred all the pieces of evidence I gathered to my phone and another backup on a secure storage device from Mythos. Then, I cleaned up the desk and burned all the papers I used earlier into ashes, leaving no trace of what I did.

’I better take this to Agent Helios.’