Breaking Up Is Better Than Divorce

Prologue. Honeymoon trip by the groom alone

Honeymoon trip by the groom alone

“So, the day before the wedding, you broke your marriage, and you came alone on your honeymoon and bought a lottery ticket because of the price of plane tickets and hotels?”

The reporter asked me with an interesting look.

It seemed like something obvious was going to come out, but it seems like it was because I was telling the wrong story.

“To be honest, I didn’t come here because it was a pity, but because my heart was empty. But since I came alone, I had nothing to do, so I was just taking a walk without thinking, and I saw a lottery shop. For some reason, my footsteps were heading there, and when I woke up, I had already bought one.”

“It’s fun.”

“For some reason, that person… So, the birthday and age of the person who almost got married, my birthday and age, the date we decided to get married. That’s how I marked five numbers. Maybe that’s how he wanted to leave memories. ah! The remaining one seems to have been written in any number without much thought.”

“Is it true that the numbers related to the person who broke up were the winning numbers for this Mega Millions?”

A reporter named the US correspondent for the Capital Economic Daily was listening to Eugene’s story with a very interesting expression.

As a reporter, it was natural to be much more happy to have something seasoned rather than a simple story about a Korean who won the Mega Millions in America.

“Yes. I did. It completely changed my life.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but… if the person you broke up with reads this interview article, you’ll be offended. Oh! What I said now is not meant to be published as an article.”

“Well. To be honest, I know I’m not that kind of person.”

Eugene answered with a straight face.

“He was a person who never regretted his choices. I’m never stupid enough to go on with someone I don’t want to be with for money.”

In such a place, try to refrain from foolish actions such as slandering others.

“Even though you broke your marriage, it seems that you still have trust in him.”

“yes. Even though we broke up, that doesn’t mean we lost trust in that person.

It’s just that we didn’t fit in.”

Eugene was very good at making noises that didn’t even make sense to him.

Why did you buy the lottery ticket in California rather than Delaware and Kansas, where you don’t have to reveal the winner, and why did you gladly agree to an interview with a Korean newspaper that you didn’t have to?

Of course, he is trying to let everyone know that he has won a huge lottery.

Considering the people who will see it and go crazy, there is no reason not to spread it.

Of course, that includes my ex-fiance.

It gave Eugene a little pleasure to remember what expression she would make when she saw this article.

“Oh yeah! You said the prize was $490 million?”

“It’s $490 million, but it’s a lump sum payment, and if you exclude taxes, it’s drastically reduced.”

“Yes? They say that unlike in Korea, if you receive a lump sum payment, the difference is huge.”

“Yes. I haven’t received it yet, but I have something to count on. If you receive the first lump sum payment, you will receive 62% of the total amount. From there it was reduced to $33.8 million. And there are two types of taxes: federal and state taxes. In the case of federal tax, it varies from 20% to 37% depending on income, but in my case, as a foreigner, I collect 30% in one lump sum. Excluding federal income taxes, that’s a whopping $212 million.”

Eugene explained step by step the prize money to be paid as if he were a spokesperson for the lottery association.

“Lastly, there is a state income tax that the state pays, and if you are lucky enough, in California there is no state income tax on the lottery. If it were New York, you’d have to pay an extra 8.8% there, so you’d have to pay an extra $27 million in state income tax alone.”

“The income tax is huge. So, if you’re going to win the lottery, you should avoid living in New York.”

“That’s it. If it was New York, I had to pay another 30 billion won.”

“So you’re saying you end up getting $212 million, more than half of the $490 million jackpot? It’s unfortunate, but it’s still a lot of money. In Korean money, it’s about 230 billion won, right?”

“yes. The tax is high, but it is still unimaginably large.”

The two exchanged tiki-taka conversations like that.

“By the way, you won the lottery on March 21st, but you confirmed your winnings quite late.”

“I bought a lottery ticket and forgot about it. I never knew it was going to win.”

Actually, it had a different purpose, but I can’t say that.

“Sometimes, I see that there are people who come to find out about it so late. But have you ever thought about where you will use the huge winnings?”

The reporter asked the question again.

“yes. Sure. The truth is, the company my father runs is in a difficult situation right now.”

“ah! Then you are going to invest in your father’s company.”

“If it’s an investment, it’s an investment. You can’t use your son’s money for his father’s company without due process.”

“Yes. Then there must be a new stock acquisition or something like that.”

“Yes. I am also considering taking over.”

“It would be a great gift for my father. I don’t know how big the company your father is running, but if it’s Eugene’s winnings, isn’t that the level of investment in a large corporation?”

“I hope so, but I don’t know how it will turn out. I don’t know if it’s a normal operational problem, but it’s a lawsuit.”

“A lawsuit?”

“yes. We are in the process of litigation with Daeyang Heavy Industries. Not only is the cost of litigation huge right now, but the operation of the plant itself has stopped because it is litigating with a large company. We have no idea how much it will cost in the future.”

The real purpose of calling the reporter is for this.

I had tried to expose the lawsuit with Daeyang Heavy Industries to the media before, but it was never easy.

But now it’s different.

The fact that a Korean came to the United States and won a huge lottery is newsworthy.

What if we put the source of a lawsuit against a large company on that?

“If it’s Daeyang Heavy Industries, wait a minute. This is a different matter. I will stop recording for a moment.”

The reporter, who had been interviewing in a friendly atmosphere so far, got mad and stopped the recorder on the table.

“Did you agree to the interview because of this?”

“What are you talking about? Wasn’t he the one who requested the investigation?”

Eugene smiled slyly and asked.

This is not a simple interview with a lucky man as I thought.

The reporter had no choice but to change his mind.

“Are you uncomfortable with the coverage of large corporations?”

Eugene asked again.

Daeyang Heavy Industries is one of the main affiliates of the Daeyang Group, one of the four major conglomerates.

It was expected that publishing articles unfavorable to large corporations would have to bear quite a risk even as a newspaper company.

“no. It is not. Rather, it is welcome from my point of view. Still, it’s true that it’s embarrassing if you suddenly jump in like this.”

“Then I should apologize.”

“it’s okay. Rather, I should thank you. I didn’t know that I would come to the US and write an article about a Korean conglomerate.”

The reporter smiled and said.

The American correspondents for major newspapers are said to be capable people, but it is different.

“But are you serious about it?”

Then, with a smile, he asked again.

“Is that so? A company is at risk of extinction.”

“like. However, I cannot guarantee that all the interviewed content will be published.”

“Sure. And the newspaper isn’t the only one there, right?”

Eugene was still full of leeway.

Although the capital economic newspaper is a major among the economic newspapers, there are many newspapers that can publish articles about Eugene, which is now a big issue.

“I see. Let’s start the interview again. And I can’t guarantee, but I can tell you that I will try my best to be as fair as possible.”

“That is enough.”

Eugene isn’t expecting much either.

However, he was also well aware that newspapers did not always publish articles critical of large corporations.

Although they are always scolded for being embarrassed by large corporations, the truth is that the media does not serve large corporations.

Conversely, it would be more accurate to say that large corporations are embarrassed by the media.

What the press hangs on is the number of subscribers in the past and now the number of views.

Rather, large business-friendly economic newspapers publish much more of this kind of critique.

An exclusive article about the fact that a person who won a huge lottery in the United States was suffering from power abuse by a large company would guarantee a certain number of views.

In addition, articles criticizing large companies have the effect of intimidating them to increase advertising execution.

So at least the first article will probably go up.

It’s also quite provocative.

However, there was no expectation that the capital economic newspaper would continue to pay attention to Eugene’s story.

That’s enough. This is only the beginning.

“Then let’s start again.”

The reporter pressed the button on the recorder again.

“Are you saying that your father’s company is in a dispute with Daeyang Heavy Industries?”

With a completely different attitude from before, she asked with twinkling eyes.

“Yes. The company my father runs is a cooperative relationship with Daeyang Heavy Industries. No, there was.”

Eugene now began to unravel what she wanted to say.

“Is this some kind of subcontracting?”

“Daeyang Heavy Industries was supplying necessary parts. And about a year ago, we signed a five-year supply contract with Daeyang Heavy Industries and expanded our plant. It was because of your request. But after that, the story continued to change from the first contract, and not long ago, he suddenly canceled the contract and said he would hand it over to another company. If this is the case, not only will we lose all the money invested in handling the delivery requested by Daeyang Heavy Industries, but we will also have to lay off our employees.”

“Isn’t it common for delivery contracts to be canceled? If the contract is canceled, wouldn’t it be okay to receive a reasonable penalty and finish it?”

“Of course it is. However, Daeyang Heavy Industries is insisting that the cause of the interruption is on our side and that we should pay the penalty.”

The reporter nodded.

“If the arguments of the two sides are quite different, it will take a considerable amount of time and money to litigate.”

“In our case, we have enough evidence. A contract or proof that there was no problem with the quality of the delivered product.”

“Then the chances of winning are quite high.”

“I see it that way. But it doesn’t end there. In this case, victory in court disputes does not necessarily lead to true victory. The most difficult thing in a dispute with a large corporation is not winning, but holding on until the lawsuit is over, right? Law firms that have already acted as defense attorneys for large corporations are delaying the schedule for various reasons at every trial. We also submit a lot of useless data.”

“It sounds like you’re wasting time on purpose.”

“For each additional trial, the fee to be paid to the lawyer increases, and the cost to review the materials submitted by the other party increases as well. In the meantime, the factory is still playing, and the costs are only going up.”

Eugene said what he wanted to say step by step. In fact, he did not know how much his words would become articles.

Still, I had to say something.

It is not necessary for the article written by this reporter to be accessible to others.

Eugene continued to talk about the reality she was facing and the ending to come.

After years of litigation, his family will be left with scars that will never be repaired by a mere penny of indemnity.

That is the future Eugene experienced.

‘I’m not going to let that happen this time.’

Again, while reflecting on the anger at that time, Eugene continued the interview with a calm smile.

“As I said, the most difficult thing in litigation with large companies is the issue of time and money. But now the cost problem seems to be completely resolved.”

Eugene smiled again and said.

“Are you saying that all the winnings will be used for litigation expenses? All 200 billion won?”

“Sure. If necessary, I will.”

Of course it’s a lie.

All that money is going to be spent.

Before winning the Mega Millions, all calculations have already been made on where to spend it.

Even if you simply calculate it, there are plenty of opportunities to earn 100 times or more within 3 years, but how can you use all that money for litigation expenses?

It’s bluffing anyway.

Now we have enough bullets. Let’s do it one last time.

Now, Eugene was announcing the start of the war like that.

And Eugene’s bullets will keep increasing.

No, by then, you can no longer call them bullets, but missiles and nuclear warheads.

“It must have been very difficult for a lawsuit with a large company.”

As the interview continued, the reporter actively asked if he felt more and more interested.

“I guess there’s something about it. Even though it was the father, the whole family had no choice but to be affected.”

“I don’t know if I can ask you this question, but did it affect Eugene’s breakup?”

The reporter asked with a playful look.

Eugene could sense the intent of her question.

The interview is going more dramatic than I thought, so it seems like I’d rather bring up a slightly more promiscuous story.

Wouldn’t it be quite plausible to tell the story of a fiancee who ran away from a shipwreck when the company run by her fiancée’s father was in crisis?

But the truth is far worse than that.

“no. We broke up before that. It has nothing to do with her.”

Eugene tried to make an expression of regret as much as possible and opened her mouth.

The reporter looked disappointed when he said that he didn’t care about his ex-fiance.

“Rather, we can say that we are the biggest victims of this situation. Because her workplace is Daeyang Heavy Industries. Thinking that I must be suffering right now because I got tangled up with me, it is really heartbreaking.”

Eugene showed an expression that was the exact opposite of his intentions.

“Is your fiance working for Daeyang Heavy Industries?”

The reporter’s face brightens visibly. There is something else to talk about.

“Meeting her, who was dispatched from Daeyang Heavy Industries, was the beginning of our relationship.”

Eugene continued talking about her now-broken fiancee.

Are you a journalist? yes? I was excited and asked a question as I put in the chuimsae.

“Oh yeah. May I ask you a question off the record?”

After the interview, the reporter asked:

“What?”

“Can you tell me what caused the breakup? I was personally very curious because of the interview.”

“It is difficult. It’s because someone’s honor is at stake.”

“Can you tell me who is which?”

“Let’s say both.”

“You have a very clever side. I see. I won’t ask you if you’re in trouble.”

However, her eyes could not hide the desire to delve into the catastrophe between Eugene and her fiancee.

Well, I don’t intend to stop it if you want to find out for yourself.

Eugene was smiling so sly inwardly.

“You have worked hard for a long time.”

“The reporter has been through a lot.”

After greeting each other friendly and sending the reporter back, Eugene sat down on the hotel sofa, emptied a glass of whiskey, and began to reflect on the starting point of these wonderful things that were happening to him.