POV: Female Lead (Jung Ha-neul)
The room felt suffocating.
Ha-neul's fingers clenched into fists, her nails digging into her palms.
This can't be real.
She stared at her father, hoping—praying—that she had misheard him.
But his expression remained cold.
"You let her die?" she whispered.
Her father didn't flinch.
"I did what I had to do," he said. "If I had saved her, your grandfather's entire legacy would have collapsed. Her husband—Min-jae's father—was threatening to expose everything. Keeping her alive would have meant the downfall of this hospital."
Ha-neul took a shaky step back.
He knew. He knew, and he let it happen anyway.
Her mind raced. The pieces of the past she had tried so hard to ignore were now falling into place.
Her father had always controlled her life.
Her career.
Her relationships.
Her future.
And now, she saw him for who he truly was.
A man who valued power over life.
A man who—without hesitation—destroyed Min-jae's world.
A man who had spent years raising her… yet she suddenly felt like she didn't know him at all.
---
The Choice
Ha-neul's voice trembled. "I love him."
Her father's eyes darkened.
"Then leave him," he ordered. "Choose your family, Ha-neul. If you stay with him, you will lose everything."
Her hands trembled.
Everything?
What was 'everything' to him?
Wealth? Status? Power?
She let out a bitter laugh.
"I don't need 'everything' if it means standing beside a murderer."
Her father's jaw tightened.
"I did it for you," he snapped.
"No," Ha-neul shot back. "You did it for yourself."
Her father exhaled sharply. "Think carefully before you walk out that door. If you go to him, you will never be my daughter again."
Silence.
Ha-neul swallowed hard.
Her heart ached.
This was her father. The man who raised her.
But this was also Min-jae's pain. The grief he had carried for years.
She had to make a choice.
And in that moment, she knew—
Her heart had already chosen.
Without another word, she turned around and walked out.
She didn't stop when her father called her name.
She didn't look back.
She just walked.
Toward the man she loved.
---
Shattered Glass
POV: Male Lead (Ahn Min-jae)
Min-jae sat in his office, staring at his hands.
Ha-neul had said yes.
She wanted to marry him.
So why did something still feel… off?
Before he could dwell on it, the door burst open.
And there she was.
Breathing heavily.
Tears in her eyes.
His heart stopped.
"Ha-neul?" He immediately stood, stepping toward her. "What happened?"
She opened her mouth—then hesitated.
He knew that look.
He knew what hesitation meant.
"Tell me," he urged, his voice softer.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"It wasn't a mistake," she whispered. "My father… he let your mother die on purpose."
CRACK.
Min-jae didn't even realize he had knocked over the glass on his desk.
It shattered against the floor.
His breathing turned shallow.
His mind spun.
No.
No, this couldn't be real.
Not deliberate.
Not on purpose.
But Ha-neul wouldn't lie to him.
Not about this.
And suddenly, everything inside him burned.
His mother.
The woman who had given him everything.
The woman who had died because of Ha-neul's father.
And the woman he loved—his Ha-neul—was his murderer's daughter.
He staggered back.
"Min-jae…" Ha-neul reached for him.
He pulled away.
She froze.
And for the first time since he had met her—
Min-jae didn't know if he could love her anymore.
---