Crash!
A crystal perfume bottle exploded against the mirrored wall. Shards rained down like glittering tears as the chaos unfolded inside a bedroom worth more than most people's entire lives. Luxury clothes were scattered across the marble floor, designer heels toppled over, and high-end makeup was smeared across the vanity like war paint.
Kang Jiwon stood in the center of it all furious and breath heaving. The glow of her tablet screen bathed her face in cold light.
There he was.
Minji.
And her.
Some nobody, faceless girl in a hoodie walking beside him by the lake.
"Who the hell is she?" Jiwon spat, trembling. She zoomed in, then out, replayed the video again. Even with the camera's poor angle, she could feel it, that subtle, unspoken affection between them. The way he looked at the girl wasn't scripted. It wasn't staged. It was real.
And it sent Jiwon into another fit of rage.
Because Kang Jiwon wasn't just anyone.
She was the only daughter of Chairman Kang Daeho, the ruthless head of K Group, one of South Korea's top five conglomerates. Fashion, finance, tech, construction her family had their claws in everything. She had grown up in palaces called penthouses, flew in private jets before she could drive, and attended elite parties where idols like Minji were supposed to orbit her world. Not the other way around.
"After everything I did to get close to you…" she whispered, voice trembling with obsession. "And now this?"
The door creaked open behind her.
"Miss Jiwon?" the butler said carefully. "Are you alright?..."
"Do I look alright?!" she shrieked, hurling a vase across the room. It missed him by inches. "Get me everything on this girl. EVERYTHING. I want her name, her address, her blood type I want to know what brand of shampoo she uses!"
The butler bowed shakily and retreated.
Alone again, Jiwon sat on the edge of her silk-draped bed, the video still playing on loop.
"If the public wants a scandal…" she murmured darkly, eyes fixed on the screen, "then I'll give them one they'll never forget."
The heavy doors swung open with a soft thud, but Kang Jiwon didn't even flinch.
Chairman Kang Daeho, a man whose presence alone could silence boardrooms and shake up markets stepped into his daughter's wrecked room. Dressed in a navy silk robe, his blacked-streaked hair neatly combed back, he scanned the battlefield of shattered glass and strewn luxury.
"Jiwon-ah…" His voice was smooth, but firm. "What's going on here, my princess? Who dares to make you this angry so early in the morning?"
Without even turning to face him, Jiwon snarled, "I want to know who the girl in this video is. And I want the information within an hour."
She shoved the tablet into his hands, the paused video clearly showing Minji and Hana walking by the lake. Her tone was bratty, commanding, like she was addressing an underling not the chairman of one of the biggest conglomerates in Korea.
Chairman Kang raised a brow, watching the footage. "Isn't that Minji from V1CE? The idol?"
"Yes, that Minji," she snapped. "I want to know who the girl is. She showed up from nowhere, and now he's suddenly acting like he's in love. That's supposed to be me."
Kang Daeho walked to her side, sighing, "I can get you that information. I can get you anything you want. But Jiwon… why this boy? You've never shown interest in idols."
Jiwon stood abruptly, hair tousled and eyes ablaze with obsession. "Because he's different, Father. He's not like the others who bow and grovel around me. He looked me in the eye that day."
She walked to the window, gripping the curtain tightly as she stared out at the skyline.
"It was at that private networking party last winter, the one hosted by the KES Group. I remember how everyone was pretending, all faking smiles and selling influence. But he...he didn't try to impress anyone. He was alone. Quiet. Mysterious."
Her lips curled into a twisted smile.
"I tried talking to him. He was polite but distant. Not even curious about who I was. Do you know how rare that is? A man who doesn't fall at my feet? That's how I knew… he's the only one worth chasing."
Daeho studied his daughter carefully. Her obsession ran deep ..too deep. But Jiwon had always gotten what she wanted.
And when she didn't, chaos followed.
"Fine," he said slowly, placing the tablet down. "You'll have the identity of that girl within the hour. But Jiwon… don't do anything reckless."
Jiwon turned, smiling sweetly now. "Of course not, Father. I'll just be… protecting what's mine."