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CH46 | DI
🕑 Added 2025-03-09 03:46:51 +0000 UTCSilence flows over the receiver.
It’s a moment that shows how flustered Gerard is.
Ferguson continued in a deliberately brusque tone.
“Since I too have entrusted five million dollars, I thought it prudent as a fellow investor to share the situation. I apologize if this seems like an overstep. I assure you there will be no further improprieties over such trivial matters.”
Gerard seemed displeased by the arrogant attitude he had just displayed.
When he made a firm gesture to hang up the phone,
Gerard, taken aback, held on to Ferguson.
[No, thank you for informing me.]
Ferguson’s lips curled up.
The scion of the Mosley family was clinging to him first.
[Do you happen to know why Ha Si-heon made that decision?]
He even begged for information.
By the end of the call, he had even uttered these words.
[Please contact me if there are any related issues in the future, however minor.]
Now Gerard was in a position to make regular contact with Ferguson.
The five million dollars invested was not in vain.
But.
This was rather the moment when Ha Si-heon’s plan bore fruit.
Planting an informant by Gerard’s side, an informant to update him in real-time.
An all-in investment is a tough puzzle to solve.
To unravel this enigma, more information was necessary, and the seasoned MD Ferguson quickly understood the value of this information and approached Gerard.
Due to the uniqueness of the situation, the wary Gerard trusted Ferguson readily, and thus safely planted the informant.
However, it was not over yet.
There was a next step to this operation.
“……”
After hanging up, Gerard blankly stared at the smartphone screen.
He could not comprehend Ha Si-heon’s actions.
An all-in investment on a single item.
The reason provided by Ferguson was as follows:
—Everyone said Ha Si-heon would be intimidated, so he seems to have done the opposite.
It was more of a provocation than an investment.
Of course, given Ha Si-heon’s temperament, it was a possibility.
—It’s not real hunting. It’s no different from going to a zoo with a gun.
The reckless provocation at that time was in a similar context.
But.
That guy, taking such a reckless gamble just to prove himself?
‘There must be something else……’
Gerard instinctively sensed it.
This is a trap.
Although it was hard to pinpoint the exact nature, it was clear that Ha Si-heon was a dangerously formidable person.
A rival to be thoroughly wary of.
‘That kind of guy is hovering around Rachel……’
Gerard’s eyes deepened.
Meanwhile, there was another troubling issue.
Rachel had not mentioned any of Ha Si-heon’s reckless moves to Gerard.
It meant she was more concerned about Ha Si-heon’s position than Gerard’s.
‘Rachel, you really are enchanted.’
During Thanksgiving.
After all the guests had left, Gerard had played a recording of Ha Si-heon for Rachel.
—If you give me fifty billion dollars, unfortunately, I’ll have to end my friendship with Rachel here.
Despite the recording clearly playing his explicit intentions,
Rachel had an unexpected reaction.
‘Tell me what else he said.’
‘Why?’
‘You’re asking me to end a relationship with someone. To make such a decision, I need to see the whole context, not just isolated sentences.’
Occasionally, Rachel surprised Gerard like this. Gerard considered Rachel naïve due to her idealistic nature, but idealism is different from naivety.
That’s not incorrect.
Rachel was generally indecisive, but she was stubborn about certain principles.
This time too, she seemed to have no intention of compromising her convictions.
Eventually, Gerard, overwhelmed by Rachel’s stubbornness, ended up handing over the entire recording.
—In other words, it means that our friendship would never waver for less than fifty billion.
The recording contained many details unfavorable to Gerard, but it also included many lines vividly exposing Ha Si-heon’s true nature.
These included sentiments like she looks wealthy, I covet her assets, I want to make her an initial investor, etc.
However, Rachel showed an unexpected response.
“Even so, it’s not like it’s harming me. Rather, it’s supposed to increase my wealth.”
Rachel isn’t greedy for money.
Therefore, it wasn’t the proposed investment returns by Ha Si-heon that dazzled her but the character of Ha Si-heon himself.
“They’re completely incompatible…”
Considering the personalities of the two, they were almost opposites.
However, this fact only increased the unease.
It’s common to fall for attributes completely opposite to one’s own during one’s youth.
Only after getting seriously hurt would one come to one’s senses.
‘I can’t let it go that far.’
It had to be stopped at all costs.
Failing would even put Gerard’s qualification as a successor in doubt.
“Invested here….”
Gerard read the material sent by Ha Si-heon over and over.
The more he scrutinized it, the more his expression hardened.
No matter how he analyzed the stocks Ha Si-heon had invested all his money in from various angles, it seemed like an absurd choice.
This only made him more certain that it was a cleverly hidden trap.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Just then, a deep voice suddenly rang out, making Gerard lift his head.
“Oh, father. You’re here.”
A handsome middle-aged man took a seat opposite at the table.
His name was Raymond Mosley.
He was Rachel and Gerard’s father.
A partner at the famous law firm Crabason & Swaine, and lawyer for Henry Kissinger.
A member of the Metropolitan Club, which only the upper echelon could enter.
And, more importantly…
He was to be at the center of the upcoming Theranos case.
“You look upset. Nothing wrong, I hope?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Your face says it’s not ‘nothing’.”
Gerard hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he began to speak.
“Actually, I’ve met someone a bit strange recently.”
It was the moment another of Ha Si-heon’s plans came to fruition: Informing lawyer Mosley about Ha Si-heon.
Hearing about the con artist’s bizarre all-in antics, Gerard would seek advice from a close associate.
And Ha Si-heon had correctly predicted that this person would be his father.
One of the biggest reasons Ha Si-heon went all-in on the investment.
Planting an informant beside lawyer Mosley, an informant to keep him updated on Ha Si-heon in real-time.
Once again, his strategy was successful.
He managed to plant the informant.
To lawyer Raymond Mosley, at the center of the Theranos case, Gerard was an informant.
Unaware that all this was part of Ha Si-heon’s scheme, Gerard decided to open up to his father Raymond about Ha Si-heon.
Raymond was an exceptional lawyer, equipped with remarkable insight and strategic acumen.
Perhaps he could identify something Gerard had overlooked.
“At Thanksgiving, Rachel invited some coworkers, and among them was a rather unusual man. He claimed to have some outlandish algorithm, promising an 80% hit rate. It sounded like typical scammer tactics…”
“Is that man close to Rachel?”
Raymond abruptly cut off the conversation.
His gaze was too sharp.
‘I knew it.’
Gerard inwardly sighed.
His father was exceptionally worried about his daughter.
Already prone to being overprotective, this protective instinct had almost reached a pathological level after an incident in her youth where Rachel nearly drowned in a lake.
“No, they didn’t seem to have any close ties. They’re from completely different departments, so they wouldn’t meet anyway.”
“Didn’t she specifically invite them home for the holidays?”
“She invited all the colleagues who couldn’t go to their hometowns. He was just one of them, as far as I could see.”
“Are you sure?”
Gerard responded to Raymond’s question with a question.
“Do you think, from your perspective, Rachel would get close to such a man?”
“That is…”
“That’s a personality Rachel would extremely dislike. Besides, Rachel wouldn’t fall for such inflated returns.”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
Raymond nodded, and Gerard breathed a sigh of relief internally.
‘I did well to hide it.’
The friendship between Ha Si-heon and Rachel.
The fact that he had taken Ha Si-heon to the safe room.
Even the conversations he had with him.
In the current situation, it was best to keep these hidden.
If all those facts were revealed, it was certain that his father would step in directly.
However, it was problematic for Raymond to get involved directly.
‘I must handle this myself no matter what.’
If he received direct help from his father, his mother and maternal relatives might criticize Gerard’s qualifications as a successor.
Therefore, Gerard only wanted indirect advice.
In that context, Gerard portrayed Ha Si-heon as just one among many colleagues and explained the whole situation.
“Mother showed interest in his words, so I decided to invest myself. Five million dollars…”
However.
“That’s strange.”
At that moment, Raymond’s eyes narrowed.
“Why are you being so proactive about it, especially if it has no direct connection to Rachel…?”
Indeed, his father was sharp.
It seemed he had sensed that Rachel might be involved based on Gerard’s actions.
But Gerard had already prepared a plausible excuse.
“I wanted to prove my capabilities on this occasion. It seems about time not only to demonstrate my financial skills but also my ability to handle people.”
Gerard spoke calmly about his intentions.
“Recently, mother and my uncles have been skeptical about the mergers and acquisitions I’m pushing for. They think I’m being hasty, seduced by the returns proposed by the banks…”
Gerard was planning a bold M&A strategy, aiming to double the company’s value within five years.
Even though JP Morgan, conducting the deal, agreed with his vision and sent valuation data, it had backfired.
To the elders in the family, he seemed like a naive youth being manipulated by the bankers.
“So you’re trying to show that you’re not easily deceived?”
“Yes. If possible, I want to go further and show that I can handle a scammer.”
There was no lie in his words.
Except for the fact that he omitted anything related to Rachel.
But this too was exactly as his father had taught him.
—Don’t lie outright with your own mouth. Rather use the truth to divert attention. That way, there are no repercussions.
Would this trick work on the person who had given him that advice?
The result came quickly.
“Your uncles are people who don’t easily change their entrenched prejudices, tsk tsk. Making a radical move isn’t a bad choice.”
It worked.
Raymond’s focus shifted to the maternal relatives, and it was a while before the conversation returned to the original topic.
“Seeing that you’re asking for advice, it seems you’ve encountered some difficulties. What’s the issue?”
“Actually, that man behaved strangely.”
Now to the main point.
Gerard looked directly at his father and began to speak.
“That guy, he went all-in on a single stock.”
"...."
Raymond’s pupils shook.
Even his father couldn’t hide his surprise.
“It’s a company that has nothing to boast about except for a drug still in development, with no revenue at all. He’s betting everything on it, pursuing ‘high risk, high return.'”
“Really… that’s beyond common sense.”
“But from what I’ve seen, he’s not someone to act so foolishly. It’s contradictory for such a person to take this action…”
“…”
Raymond stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.
Silence continued for a long time.
“What’s your strategy?”
It was a while before Raymond’s question came back.
Gerard began to explain his strategy calmly.
“If the investment succeeds, there’s a high chance of being suspected of insider trading. He has sent material to all investors. There should be evidence of insider trading in it, which I plan to submit to the financial authorities.”
Gerard still saw Ha Si-heon’s ‘trick’ as insider trading.
Ha Si-heon’s investment was further supported by this belief. Genesis was a company whose fate hung on FDA approval.
He had heard some confidential information from an informant inside the FDA and had gone all-in with that certainty.
“On the other hand, if the investment fails, I planned to start recovering the investment funds. In that case, he had agreed to bear half of the losses, which would be difficult for him to handle.”
“Yes, that’s a logical decision. But you’re missing the most important thing.”
Raymond’s sharp remark left Gerard with a puzzled expression.
“What am I missing?”
