Chapter 4
They kissed, licked, touched, desperate not to waste even a single second.
“Why are you so hot tonight?”
Sa-hee was unusually passionate, and Chi-kyung cherished her even more.
He kissed her back carefully, stroked her, held her like something fragile.
Her delicate body trembled with overwhelming pleasure, but when he caressed her with tenderness, her heart melted completely.
Their short breaths and animal-like moans filled the bedroom with heat.
But sadly, everything was rushing toward the end.
The world outside had vanished, but even this private time was almost over.
No, she thought. No, I don’t want it to end.
“Nia.”
Chi-kyung called her name between heavy breaths.
“Nia, I love you.”
At those words, tears finally spilled from her eyes.
But her cries mixed with moans, and Chi-kyung didn’t notice.
Even when his phone rang again and again, he ignored it, kissing her knees, her thighs, moving inside her until the very end.
And at the deepest point, he released himself, burying her last moan under the loud ringing of the phone.
“Answer it,” Sa-hee whispered.
The ringing sounded to her like a warning bell.
She kissed his lips softly and whispered against his nose:
“Take the call, wash up quickly. I’ll go out first and set the table.”
“I’ll help you.”
“No.” She stroked his cheek gently. “I want to do it for you.”
So she went to prepare the dinner, pouring her whole heart into the food, though her cooking skills weren’t perfect.
Maybe, she thought, if they ate together with champagne, she’d gather the courage to tell him the truth.
To tell him:
“I’m not Nia Savannah, the 22-year-old adopted ballet student from France.
I’m Ban Sa-hee, a 23-year-old woman with no nationality.
I was hired as a freelancer in a project to steal your necklace.
My role was to seduce you, become your woman, and lure you into taking the necklace out of the safe.
They even set a trap at the restaurant tonight, expecting me to bring you there.”
But she hadn’t led him into the trap. Maybe they would come here instead.
If she confessed everything now, maybe Chi-kyung—who loved his wife so deeply—would forgive her.
It might be a foolish hope, but she held onto it as she finished setting the table with food.
Just as she placed the main dish down, her phone rang.
Her body froze.
The caller ID was Beom-gyu.
For the past year, he had never once called her first.
“Hello?”
She stepped into the pantry to answer, her voice trembling.
Before the mission, they had agreed on rules:
- Instructions would come from Chairman Park.
- Information updates would come from Seung-chul.
- And the final contact would come from Beom-gyu.
If Beom-gyu was calling now, it could only mean one thing: a withdrawal order.
Her heart dropped.
Why already?
The necklace was still here. Why order her out now?
“Sa-hee.” His voice was urgent.
“I’m listening. Tell me.”
“The operation is exposed. The police are on Team B. Chairman Park ordered everyone to pull out immediately.”
“What do you mean, exposed?”
“Kang Chi-kyung figured it out early. He already set people on us. You need to run. Now.”
Exposed?
Her heart raced violently, her fingertips turned cold.
“…Me too?” she asked, voice shaking. “Did he notice me too?”
“Not yet. But it’s only a matter of time. You know what kind of man Kang Chi-kyung is. He’s no ordinary person.”
Just then, her phone buzzed with another incoming call.
The screen flashed: Chairman Park.
The broker who had brought her into this project.
Her spine chilled.
“Beom-gyu, it’s Chairman Park.”
“Answer it. He’s probably calling to pull you out. If you get caught, we’re all finished.”
“No, I can’t. I need to have dinner with Chi-kyung…”
“Sa-hee! There’s no time! Get out now!”
And the call ended.
Almost instantly, a message from Chairman Park appeared:
[This is your last mission. Teams A and B are gone. You have to finish it. Bring the necklace now. A van is waiting at the park.]
Her eyes filled with tears as she dialed him back, fingers trembling.
He answered quickly.
“Why are you calling? Just bring the necklace!”
“I can’t leave yet. I need to tell Chi-kyung—”
“Chi-kyung, Chi-kyung.” Park’s voice was mocking.
“What is it? You spent a year in his bed and actually fell for him?”
Fell? Yes.
Loved? Yes.
“Chairman Park…”
“Wake up, Sa-hee. In front of Kang Chi-kyung, you’re not even you. You’re Nia Savannah: 22 years old, French citizen, adopted daughter of a diplomat and a ballerina, a ballet prodigy studying in New York.”
The truth that had always hurt like a thorn now strangled her.
“That’s not you. It’s a fake identity we made. Everything he kisses, everything he loves—it isn’t Sa-hee. It’s Nia.”
Her tears poured out.
“And if that monster of a man finds out you tricked him for a year, do you think he’ll forgive you? No. He’ll throw you in prison first.”
She already knew this.
“There’s no point in confessing. Kang Chi-kyung will be fine without you. He’ll marry someone proper, as all old-money families like Myeong do. You were just a passing fire.”
Every word stabbed into her, dragging her into hell.
“You need to be smart. Take the necklace, get out, and finally claim what you wanted all along—Korean citizenship, Ban Sa-hee.”
