Chapter 71: Arrest Ending

June 3rd, Thursday, before dawn.

Lee Jun-hyuk had stayed up almost the entire night, barely blinking.

The clock pointed to 4:30 a.m.

Outside the window, it was still as dark as if ink had just been spilled, and only the distant streetlights were faintly casting a lonely glow.

“Today, everything will be decided.”

He got out of bed and changed his clothes.

A well-ironed black suit, a white shirt, and the silk tie that Catherine had gifted him.

The face reflected in the mirror looked a bit gaunt from several days of tension, but his eyes were colder and clearer than ever before.

The promised time with Robert was 6 o’clock.

They agreed to meet at Grand Central Station and take the first train to Boston.

He was on his way to the day of judgment.

When he arrived at the station, Robert was already there.

There were clear traces on his face of a sleepless night.

“It looks like you haven’t slept a wink, sir.”

“You look about the same, Robert.”

The two exchanged wry smiles.

They boarded the train.

It was early morning, so the first-class car was almost empty.

The familiar buildings of New York slowly began to recede outside the window.

“Do you really think… we’ll get the promised money?”

Robert moistened his dry lips and asked cautiously.

“I’d be lucky to get even the original principal of $100,000 back, let alone $150,000.”

“We’ll see.”

Lee Jun-hyuk replied vaguely.

He also had a sliver of anxiety in his heart.

But he comforted himself that the great tides of history would not change for the will of a single person.

They arrived in Boston at 11 a.m.

The moment they stepped out of the station, he sensed something different in the air of the city. People on the streets were gathered in groups, whispering urgently, and the newsboys were shouting far more desperately than usual.

“Extra! Extra! Charles Ponzi flees at night!”

“Notorious con man Ponzi disappears with investors’ money!”

Lee Jun-hyuk and Robert froze in place as if turned to stone.

“What… what did you say?”

Robert fished out coins from his coat pocket and rushed to a newsboy.

He tossed the coins and grabbed a newspaper, unfolding it. The headline on the front page was huge, as if an earthquake had struck.

“Securities Exchange Company closed, vaults empty!”

“Notorious con man Charles Ponzi missing!”

“Thousands of investors lose everything, chaos erupts!”

Lee Jun-hyuk snatched the newspaper and read the article.

Ponzi had vanished without a trace the previous night, the company’s vaults were empty, and damages were estimated to be at least twenty million dollars.

“This can’t be… it’s really collapsed.”

Robert muttered in despair.

“Let’s go. We need to see for ourselves.”

Lee Jun-hyuk hurried his steps.

When they reached School Street, what greeted them was complete chaos.

In front of the Securities Exchange Company building, hundreds of people were tangled together.

An old lady sat collapsed on the ground, wailing, while a gentleman was shouting in rage. The police desperately tried to maintain order, but they were helpless in the face of this huge wave of despair.

“Con man! Give me back my money!”

“That was my life’s savings!”

“My family will starve to death now!”

Screams, weeping, and curses blended into a massive maelstrom of noise.

At that moment—

“Lee Jun-hyuk!”

A familiar voice, distorted by hatred, rang out.

Bancroft staggered from the crowd like a ghost.

He was a wreck.

His finest suit was rumpled everywhere, his tie was undone, and his usually neat hair was wild and unkempt.

“So, you came to see this, too…”

Bancroft laughed.

His eyes were bloodshot, with blood vessels bulging red, and his lips were cracked and parched.

“Mr. Bancroft.”

“One hundred thousand dollars? You came all this way for a mere hundred thousand?”

Bancroft sneered, but his sneer soon turned into sobs.

“I… I put in ten million! Ten million dollars! I gave that bastard ninety percent of everything I own!”

Suddenly, he collapsed to his knees.

He clutched his head with both hands and howled like a beast.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

His scream was so wretched that, for a moment, all the noise of the chaotic street died down.

A man who had once been a tycoon in New York’s railroad industry now sat weeping like a child on the street in Boston.

“Everything… I lost almost everything… even the mansion, the buildings… most of the fortune my father left me…”

Bancroft sobbed and muttered.

Lee Jun-hyuk looked down at him quietly.

He felt a hint of pity, but this was a fate Bancroft had brought upon himself.

“Get up.”

Lee Jun-hyuk offered his hand, but Bancroft roughly slapped it away.

“I don’t need your pity.”

He staggered to his feet.

He glared at Lee Jun-hyuk.

In his eyes burned the despair of bankruptcy, but also an undying hatred.

“You… you lost your hundred thousand too, didn’t you? Serves you right!”

“Yes. I lost it.”

Lee Jun-hyuk answered calmly.

“Haha… hahaha!”

Bancroft laughed maniacally.

“So in the end, you were just as much a fool as I was! You acted so smart for an Oriental monkey, but you got duped by the same con man as the rest of us!”

He laughed for a long while, then his expression changed suddenly.

His eyes flashed with madness.

“But… I’m not finished yet. Three million dollars… I still have three million in emergency reserves!”

Bancroft pulled a crumpled checkbook from his pocket.

He waved it with trembling hands.

“With this money… I’ll destroy your company! La Choy, whatever it is, I’ll ruin everything you own!”

He lunged toward Lee Jun-hyuk.

The reek of alcohol and earth was overpowering.

“Do you know why I kept three million aside? For something like this! So I could choke the life out of a monkey bastard like you!”

At that moment—

“William Bancroft!”

A loud voice rang out.

Several police officers pushed through the crowd toward him.

The leading officer pulled out handcuffs.

“You are under arrest for fraud, blackmail, arson, and incitement to violence.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Bancroft staggered back in shock.

“We have conclusive evidence that you used your men to commit violence. Several counts of fraud and threats have been added.”

The police grabbed his arm roughly.

“No! This is a setup! Lee Jun-hyuk, you did this, didn’t you? Didn’t you?!”

Bancroft struggled wildly, but it was useless. The cold handcuffs locked around his wrists.

“Wait! I have money! I have three million dollars! I’ll pay bail right now!”

“Bail is not permitted.”

The officer said coldly.

“You’re considered a high flight risk and a risk for destroying evidence. The judge has issued a special order. You’ll spend at least three years in prison.”

No! No! No!!!

As Bancroft was dragged away by the police, he screamed at Lee Jun-hyuk one last time.

“Lee Jun-hyuk! This is your doing! When I get out, someday, I’ll— I’ll get my revenge! You yellow monkey!”

His voice grew fainter and fainter.

The last thing they saw was Bancroft being tossed into the police car like a sack of luggage, and then the car departed, siren wailing.

The crowd murmured.

“They say he was a con man too.”

“What a disgusting person.”

“He deserves to be in prison.”

Lee Jun-hyuk stood there blankly.

He hadn’t expected Bancroft to be arrested so suddenly.

“Was it Petrucci’s doing? Or Al Capone’s?”

Most likely, Al Capone had handed over evidence of Bancroft’s activities to the police.

“What will you do now, sir?”

Robert asked.

His expression was just as gloomy.

A hundred thousand dollars was by no means a small sum.

“We should return to New York. There’s nothing more to be done here.”

As they headed for the station, Lee Jun-hyuk thought.

Losing a hundred thousand dollars was painful, but eliminating the threat of Bancroft was a stroke of luck amidst disaster. With him locked up for three years, La Choy could grow without anyone’s interference.

“Three years— that’s enough to finish the game.”

In front of Boston station, a newsboy’s voice rang out.

“Ponzi Scheme damages estimated at twenty million dollars! The largest financial fraud in U.S. history!”

Lee Jun-hyuk bought a newspaper.

On the front page was a photo of Ponzi, and part of the list of victims.

“William Bancroft — $10,000,000” was printed in the largest letters, and underneath, in small print, “Lee Jun-hyuk — $100,000.”

“Now the whole world will know.”

Robert sighed deeply.

“That even you, sir, were a victim of the scam.”

“It’s all right. It might actually be for the best. If people know I was a victim too, I can avoid unnecessary suspicion and maybe even win public sympathy.”

While waiting for the train, Lee Jun-hyuk sent a telegram to Catherine.

“I’m returning safely. Lost a hundred thousand dollars, but gained something far more important. See you tomorrow.”

He boarded the first-class car and took his seat.

The scenery of Boston slowly faded away outside the window.

“Sir, that hundred thousand… was it your personal funds?”

Robert asked cautiously.

“Yes. My personal funds. Fortunately, I didn’t touch a single dollar of La Choy’s money.”

“That’s a relief. Still, it’s a tremendous loss.”

“Compared to Bancroft, it’s nothing.”

The train picked up speed.

The rhythmic sound of the rails was like the ticking of a clock.

7 p.m., New York.

As they exited Grand Central Station, Yu Ilhan was waiting with a worried expression.

“How did it go?”

“Ponzi escaped. The hundred thousand… is gone.”

Yu Ilhan’s face hardened.

“But I used only my own money, so it doesn’t affect La Choy at all.”

“I see.”

As Lee Jun-hyuk hurriedly added, only then did Yu Ilhan breathe a sigh of relief.

As soon as they arrived at the office, Mary delivered a message.

“Sir, journalists keep calling. They’re requesting interviews about the Ponzi Scheme losses…”

“Tell them I’ll give an official response tomorrow.”

Lee Jun-hyuk said, his voice weary.

He went into his office and sat down in his chair.

His entire body felt drained of strength.

A hundred thousand dollars.

It was more than just money.

It was part of the trust and confidence he’d earned at the risk of his life in Cuba.

Of course, it was painful to lose.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Thomas entered, holding the final sales report for May.

“Sir, the final tally for May’s sales is in. The total is one hundred and three thousand dollars.”

Lee Jun-hyuk gave a bitter smile.

He’d lost in a single day almost the exact amount the entire staff had sweated to earn in a month.

“Still, it could’ve been worse, sir.”

Thomas tried to console him.

“At least you didn’t lose your entire fortune like Bancroft. And now that he’s in prison, he can’t bother us anymore.”

“If you count it as the price to get rid of him, it’s not too bad. I never dreamed we’d keep him tied up for three years, though.”

“Is that so?”

At 9 p.m., everyone went home.

Lee Jun-hyuk stayed alone in the office, looking down at Fifth Avenue outside the window.

Just then, the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Mister Lee?”

It was Al Capone’s low, powerful voice.

“I heard the news. Ponzi ran off like a rabbit, huh?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“And you lost the entire hundred thousand?”

“That’s correct.”

Capone was silent for a moment.

“I’d like to help you, but if I don’t know where Ponzi is, there’s nothing I can do.”

“I understand.”

“But if… just if, I ever get my hands on that fellow…”

Capone said meaningfully.

“I’ll make sure you get your money back— with interest.”

“Thank you.”

“And about the Bancroft matter…”

Capone laughed quietly.

“Let’s just say I sent a little gift to our friend in blue. I handed over the evidence that he was supporting and inciting violence.”

“So it was Capone after all.”

“Ah, it was you! Thank you very much.”

“Think nothing of it. But Mister Lee…”

Capone’s voice grew serious.

“I can’t wait forever. About La Choy’s expansion to Chicago.”

“Ah.”

“Come to Chicago yourself next week. Let’s meet face to face.”

Lee Jun-hyuk thought for a moment.

Chicago. Capone’s home turf.

It might be dangerous, but it was also an opportunity he couldn’t refuse.

“All right. I’ll come next week.”

“A wise decision. Chicago will be as big a market as New York— if not bigger.”

Capone laughed in satisfaction.

“And don’t be too upset about the Ponzi matter. I’ll handle it. I won’t let a capable partner like you suffer a loss.”

The call ended.

Lee Jun-hyuk looked out the window again.

June 3rd. Everything had ended. Bancroft was in prison, Ponzi had fled, and he himself had lost a hundred thousand dollars.

But strangely, his heart did not feel heavy.

If anything, he felt lighter.

“Chicago, huh…!”

A new challenge was waiting for him.

And if Capone found Ponzi, he could get his lost money back.

After all, when it came to finding people, the mafia was quicker than the police.

He stood up, turned off the light, and left the office.

Tomorrow was his date with Catherine.