The night was unusually quiet.
Even the wind dared not speak.
Inside the Seo family estate, three hearts beat in unspoken tension. Hana. Mi-Ho. Tae-Hyun.
Each of them standing on their own battlefield. Each of them waiting for someone to move first.
But this time—it would be Hana.
"I want to talk," she said, standing in the grand living room. Her voice was calm, but her hands trembled.
Mi-Ho stood to her left.Tae-Hyun to her right.
She looked at both of them.
But she didn't smile.
"This… has to stop."
Mi-Ho tensed. "If this is about—"
"It's about everything," she interrupted. "About being sold. About waking up from a coma and finding out my life was stolen. About finally starting to breathe—only to find myself trapped again. This time... between two hearts."
Tae-Hyun looked at her gently. "Hana, you're not trapped—"
"Yes, I am," she said. "You both want me. But what do I want?"
The silence was deafening.
She turned to Mi-Ho first.
"You were my safety. My shelter. But you built walls around me with your silence."
Then to Tae-Hyun.
"You were my past. My first light. But we can't pretend two lost years didn't change us."
She took a breath that tasted like fire.
"I choose neither of you."
Both men froze.
"I choose me," she said. "For once in my life, I'm not choosing out of guilt, or survival, or fear. I'm choosing my dreams."
Her voice broke slightly—but she held her ground.
"I'm going to Paris. I've been accepted into the design school I wanted before the world fell apart."
Mi-Ho blinked. "You're... leaving?"
"Yes."
Tae-Hyun looked gutted. "What about us?"
Hana stepped back, eyes glossy but proud.
"If fate wants us to meet again, it will. But I can't keep waiting for someone to choose me. I have to choose myself first."
And just like that… she walked out.
Not a victim.Not a pawn.But the author of her own story.