It started with a phone call.
"Hana-ssi, it's about your father's final project… the one he was funding in secret before his accident."
Hana stiffened. "Who are you?"
"I can't speak over the phone. But I know what they did. What Baek did. I have the proof. Meet me at 9 p.m. The old Seo warehouse."
Click.
No name. No callback.
Just one address—and the exact place where her father had built his last empire before it crumbled.
She didn't tell Joon-Hyuk.
Didn't bring Mi-Ho or Min-Ji.
This was personal.
She slipped into the warehouse in a hoodie, her sneakers quiet against the concrete.
It was dark. Too dark.
"Hana-ssi?" a voice whispered from behind.
She turned—only to hear the clang of a gate slamming shut.
Trapped.
A red light blinked above the door.
Surveillance.
"You're more predictable than I thought," a voice echoed from the shadows.
She froze.
Baek.
He stepped into view, flanked by two of his men, smug in a black designer coat.
"You had your moment. You stole the spotlight. But you forgot one thing."
Hana's jaw clenched. "And what's that?"
Baek smirked.
"You're still that orphaned girl who nobody really wants. You're playing house with a billionaire, but we both know how this ends. You're not Kang family. You're a pawn. Always were."
She didn't flinch.
"You should've stayed in the shadows where you belonged," he said, circling her. "But now… now I'll make sure you disappear for good. And this time, no one's coming for you."
Suddenly, the lights cut out.
Everything went black.
Then—
BOOM.
A side wall exploded inward, bricks scattering like glass.
Smoke. Chaos. Screams.
And from the cloud emerged a tall figure in a black tactical jacket.
Joon-Hyuk.
His eyes locked on Hana's, and for a moment, the whole world froze.
"Didn't I tell you," he growled, yanking her toward him, "you're not alone anymore?"
Baek stumbled back, shocked. "How—?!"
Joon-Hyuk didn't answer.
His fist did.
Later that night, at the hospital, Hana sat on the exam table, still shaken.
"Are you mad?" she asked.
Joon-Hyuk didn't look at her. "Livid."
"You tracked me?"
"I installed a location chip in your phone two weeks ago. You're reckless."
She blinked.
"Also," he added, "you're brilliant, brave, and mine."
Her breath caught.
"…Yours?"
He finally looked at her, fierce and soft all at once.
"You think I'd watch the woman I love walk into a trap and not blow the place up?"
Silence.
Then—Hana whispered.
"You love me?"
He didn't answer with words.
He pulled her into his arms.