By the time Madam Kang's people arrived, Hana was half-dead.Soaked in rain.Shivering in the dark.She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating when the black SUVs rolled up like shadows in the storm.
The masked man didn't see it coming.Neither did the guards.
One moment she was a prisoner.The next, Madam Kang's men had the place surrounded like a scene from a spy thriller.Gunshots.Shouts.Chaos.
Someone pulled her into a warm, expensive coat."You're safe now, Miss Seo," a man whispered.But was she?
In the backseat of the car, Hana finally saw her mother's best friend—the woman who used to braid her hair and call her "little star."But the years had turned Madam Kang into stone.Her gaze was sharp.Her lips, a thin, straight line.
"Hana," the woman said coldly."You've grown."
Hana opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.She was exhausted.Broken.
Madam Kang handed her a handkerchief."Clean yourself up. You look like hell."
The words stung, but they also felt... familiar.Like an aunt scolding a niece after a bad day at school.
But this wasn't school.This was war.
As the city lights blurred past the windows, Madam Kang finally spoke again."Your mother made me promise to protect you. I failed."Her voice cracked—just for a second."But I will fix it. Starting now."
Hana swallowed."What... what do you mean?"
The woman looked at her, eyes cold as steel."You'll marry my son."
The words crashed over Hana like a tidal wave.Marry?Her?
Madam Kang didn't blink."It's the only way to keep you safe. And to protect your father's legacy."
Hana's heart stopped.She thought she had escaped one cage.But maybe... she'd just stepped into another.