"Charlie, please—look at me. Look at what you're doing," I begged, my voice cracking into something high and desperate. I tried to crawl forward on the rug, but his designer boots didn't budge. "Don't involve her. She's only seven. She doesn't understand any of this. Please, tell Mrs. Kang to let her go."
Anna didn't cry. She never did anymore. I'd taught her too well how to fall apart without a sound. Her big eyes stayed fixed on me, lower lip trembling, clutching that worn plush rabbit like it was the only safe thing left. My chest ached so bad I thought it might split open.
"Take her down to the western carriage house, Mrs. Kang," Charlie said. Calm. Low. That same velvet tone that had pulled me in years ago. "Lock the secondary gates. She stays there until I know this family is secure."
"No! Charlie, no!" The sob tore out of me before I could stop it. I lunged, fingers catching the damp wool of his trousers, holding on like he was the only thing keeping me from drowning. "Don't take her away from me. I'll do anything. I've already given you everything—my name, my life, my youth. Please don't punish her for my mistakes!"
He didn't move. Slowly, he looked down at me, those dark eyes pulling me under. Not angry. Just… heavy. Like I was something that belonged to him and had dared to break.
His fingers caught my jaw, thumb pressing in just hard enough to make my teeth click together. Not breaking me. Controlling me. He tilted my head back until my neck strained.
"I'm not punishing her, Sok-joo," he murmured. His thumb brushed my cheek almost gently, but it sent ice down my spine. "I'm protecting her. From the rot you keep dragging into this house."
Behind him, the service elevator dinged softly. The doors closed. Anna was gone. Just like that. The last real piece of me disappeared with her.
The room felt smaller. Colder. Only the old grandfather clock kept ticking, steady and indifferent.
"Now," Charlie whispered, stepping closer so his shadow swallowed me whole on the floor. "Let's talk about your lies."
My breathing turned shallow. I already knew what was coming.
"You spent three hours in the corporate district this afternoon," he said, almost conversational. "Used a temporary encryption key on the old archiving server at Rider. The one with the logs from seven years ago. The ones that show exactly who messed with your files before that 'accident.'"
My chest jerked. The old concussion throbbed behind my eyes like it remembered too.
He knew. Of course he knew. I'd been stupid to think I could hide anything in the system he basically built.
"I want the truth, Kim," he said softly, stepping forward until his boot rested lightly on the tips of my fingers. "Who gave you the key? Was it Junhoo?"
The name hit like a slap. My throat closed up. Memories flooded in—Junhoo pulling me from that car, the library afternoons, the secrets I'd buried so deep even I tried to forget them. If I said his name… Charlie wouldn't just hurt him. He'd erase him.
I stayed silent.
Charlie dropped to one knee in front of me, graceful as ever. His hand slid to the back of my neck, fingers twisting into my hair, forcing my eyes to his. His face was inches away. Beautiful. Terrifying.
"Look at you trembling," he whispered against my mouth. "Even now. For him."
"It wasn't him," I lied, the words barely a breath. My eyes darted away.
His grip tightened, yanking a sharp gasp out of me. But his face stayed calm. Almost sad.
"Don't lie to me in this room," he said, voice low and warm against my skin. "I know every beat of your heart when you lie. I know the way you used to look when you came back from those afternoons with him."
He pulled me against his chest, arms wrapping around me like a cage made of warmth. His hand stroked down my spine, slow and hypnotic.
"I've been patient with your ghosts, Sok-joo. I let you keep your little secrets because they made you feel safe. But the second they threaten what I built for us… my patience ends."
His lips brushed my ear, soft as a promise.
"Say his name. Tell me the truth, and I'll bring Anna back to your bed in five minutes. We can go back to how it was. I'll forgive you. I always do."
His fingers kept moving, soothing the shakes I couldn't control.
"But if you stay quiet… if you keep protecting his memory instead of our daughter… then you stay here. In the dark. For as long as it takes until you understand that the only voice that matters is mine."
I stared past his shoulder at the closed elevator doors, tears slipping hot and silent down my face onto his coat. My chest felt completely empty. No good choices left. Speak and destroy someone who once saved me. Stay silent and lose Anna. Either way, the man holding me had already won.
I squeezed my eyes shut and wondered how much longer I could keep breathing inside this love that felt exactly like drowning.