Chapter 24
The next morning.
The Yeongdeungpo office.
My maternal grandmother Jo Sun-ja was sitting behind her desk.
Manager Park stood nearby organizing documents.
The moment I entered, Grandmother asked,
“How was it after seeing things yourself?”
Her voice was calm.
But her eyes sharply pierced my face.
There was no time to catch my breath.
She wanted an answer immediately.
I took out the documents and placed them on the desk.
“Grandma, if you only look at the records, this looks like an impossible garbage debt. No assets. No meaningful repayment ability. Her husband is bedridden with cancer. Anyone would say recovering the principal is impossible.”
I lifted my head and looked directly at her.
“But I see it differently. There’s a way.”
Her eyebrow moved slightly.
“A way?”
It was a direct demand for confirmation.
I pressed my finger against the corner of the documents and calmly explained.
“First, there’s life insurance under the husband’s name. Other private lenders are already targeting it.”
I pulled out one sheet and placed it on the desk.
“But the problem is that those people aren’t treating that insurance like money. They’re treating the husband’s life itself as money. I’m going to change the method. Instead of using his life as collateral and taking the money by force, I’ll build a legal recovery structure around the insurance. That way, we recover the debt while keeping the person alive.”
Manager Park suddenly raised his head.
His gaze wavered briefly.
Then he looked back down at the documents.
He was surprised, but he couldn’t argue.
I took a breath and continued.
“Second, the husband’s family in Pangyo. Right now, it’s countryside with nothing but fields. But that land will soon become a gold mine.”
I pressed my palm onto the land documents.
“If we secure even part of the husband’s inheritance share, this debt stops being garbage. I’ll turn that future inheritance into collateral and recover the money in advance.”
Grandmother’s eyes rose slightly.
The scent of tea spread during the silence.
She put down her cup and muttered,
“Pangyo... that land will become a source of money.”
She understood the key immediately.
I rested my palm on the documents one last time.
“Third, Han Mi-suk herself. For two years, she never missed a single interest-payment date. The amounts were small because she had no money, but her determination to keep her promise was clear.”
My voice became firmer.
“Trustworthiness: 97%. That’s collateral worth more than money. In the end, debtors should be judged by trust, not simply by how much cash they have.”
Silence filled the room.
Grandmother’s gaze deepened.
She was reaching a conclusion.
Manager Park quietly spoke.
“It makes sense. If the Pangyo land is confirmed, there should be enough value to recover the principal.”
I finished firmly.
“Grandma, this wasn’t simply money lent to someone. It was an early investment backed by insurance and inheritance. I will recover this investment.”
My voice rang heavily.
“I’ll break the assumption that this can’t be recovered and turn a garbage debt into a collectible one.”
Silence.
A subtle smile appeared on Grandmother’s face.
“Yes, Taesan. This looks like a game where you can save someone and still recover the money.”
Without smiling, I answered firmly.
“Yes. I’m not someone who simply collects debt. I turn debt into light.”
I meant it literally.
There was no exaggeration.
Then I turned toward Manager Park.
“Manager Park, Han Mi-suk’s debt is probably scattered across several private lending offices. She borrowed from multiple places and paid only interest until she finally couldn’t continue.”
I tapped the table.
“Buy every garbage debt connected to her.”
Manager Park’s eyes widened.
“All of them?”
“Yes. Every one.”
I cut him off firmly.
“They should be selling for almost nothing because everyone considers them worthless. Buy them all and combine them. Only then can we design a recovery structure. If the debt remains scattered everywhere, we can’t solve anything.”
Grandmother quietly laughed.
“Hohoho. You’ve become a proper schemer now. Yes, that’s the right way. Debt becomes stronger when you gather it together.”
Her tone both acknowledged me and threw another test my way.
I nodded.
“Yes. From now on, I’ll consolidate all of her scattered debt and manage everything myself. That’s the first step.”
Several days later.
Pangyo.
I held copies of the property registry Uncle had prepared.
Most of it was rural farmland.
But several names appeared repeatedly.
The names of the husband’s brothers.
Combined, it was more than 5,500 pyeong.
I stopped while reading.
The birth years didn’t line up cleanly.
There was also a record showing that the husband had been entered into the family registry late.
The ink printed on the page suddenly felt strangely heavy.
A secret of birth...
He really may not be the legal wife’s child.
I bit my lip.
If he’s a mistress’s child, that explains why the family openly ignores him.
They have no reason to help him.
I closed the documents.
The moment the husband dies...
His family would try to deny his inheritance share.
This debt was no longer simply about money.
It was also tied to the secret of his birth.
This wasn’t ordinary debt collection.
It was a family matter.
A battle involving blood and land.
Cold calculations flowed rapidly through my head.
Farmland stretched endlessly outside the window.
I closed my eyes.
Insurance.
Inheritance.
Pangyo land.
And the secret of his birth.
Connect those four lines, and a path appeared.
Insurance was a source of money.
Inheritance was a legal weapon.
The land was collateral.
The secret of his birth was a weakness that could shake the family.
