Chapter 6
Seung-cheol walked into the office.
“What on earth is this about…?”
When Sa-hee turned her head toward him, he motioned to his phone—he was on a call. He smiled faintly, but the smile looked uneasy.
“You know I gave up back then. Chairman Park knows that too.”
Seung-cheol quickly walked down the hall and entered the meeting room.
“You know how it went. We failed, paid the penalty, and—”
The door shut, cutting off the rest of his words. But the feeling in Sa-hee’s chest was bad. Could it be…?
“…The necklace?”
She set her coffee cup on the window ledge and moved toward the meeting room.
Through the thick door, Seung-cheol’s muffled voice came:
“What do you want us to do now? …Ask Kang Chi-kyung about that.”
The moment she heard Chi-kyung’s name, her heart dropped.
“He lost the necklace himself—why is he blaming us?”
Sa-hee pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Seung-cheol glanced at her, looking troubled.
“Why are you doing this? I told you—we really can’t.”
His voice grew louder.
“Don’t come here. If you do, you’ll only hear harsh words—”
Then suddenly he froze, eyes wide. The call had ended.
“Chairman! Chairman?”
He ruffled his hair roughly and groaned toward the ceiling.
“Argh!”
“Chairman Park?” Sa-hee asked quietly.
Yes, Chairman Park.
The very man who had pushed her into the necklace project eight years ago, then ordered her withdrawal seven years ago.
The man who slapped her when she returned empty-handed, then threw her into the nightmare “Bolivia Project.”
Since then, she’d cut all contact. She’d heard his business had expanded to Europe.
But why now?
Sa-hee’s eyes shook uneasily.
“What did he say?”
Seung-cheol ran his hand down his face, sighing, then answered.
“Kang Chi-kyung seems to have figured out that Park was the one backing you back then.”
Sa-hee shut her eyes tight.
When Chi-kyung brought up the necklace five days ago, she had already guessed.
He knew everything.
That she hadn’t left him because love had faded.
That she had approached him with a mission, and left only because the mission ended.
Of course he would be furious.
If she had simply been a wife who fell out of love, maybe he could have let go.
But to realize he had been tricked and used…
That, he would never forgive.
“Looks like Park is under serious pressure now,” Seung-cheol added.
After seven years of searching, Chi-kyung had finally found her. He wouldn’t stop until he punished her.
“If you don’t hand over the necklace, Park said he’ll give all your illegal records to the CIA. He says he has the proof.”
“So what?”
Sa-hee could barely lift her heavy eyelids.
“What does he want us to do?”
“He wants us to accept Kang Chi-kyung’s request.”
“What?”
It had been seven years since she left Chi-kyung.
She had tried everything to forget him—dangerous jobs, harsh environments, even risking her life.
That way, she wouldn’t have time to think of him.
And mostly, it worked.
But whenever she felt even a little safe, her heart would collapse, and she would miss him desperately.
What is he doing now?
Has he forgotten me?
Does he still hate me? Maybe… does he remember me at all?
She used to dream: If one day, by chance, I see him again… maybe we could at least exchange a polite hello, like old lovers.
But reality was different.
The man she met again was not the man she once loved.
The man who once looked at her with starry eyes now glared only with dark hatred.
Fear gripped her.
“If he finds out who I am, he’ll try to kill me.”
“He already knows, Sa-hee,” Seung-cheol said quietly.
“Uncle!” she burst out angrily.
But Seung-cheol just relayed Park’s words:
“Just say you’ll help find the necklace.”
Running wouldn’t solve anything.
If they found her here, they could find her anywhere.
“You don’t have any other way to prove your innocence. The only way is to find the necklace.”
And it was true. His words cut deep.
But how? She was retired now. Her team lived quietly in Seoul, blending in as normal people.
“How are we supposed to find it? We’ve cut all ties to that world!”
“Park said he’ll find the necklace one way or another.”
Seung-cheol gently grabbed her shoulders, trying to calm her trembling face.
“Think carefully, Sa-hee.”
His words were practical.
“All we need to do is stall for time.”
Even calm, rational Sa-hee lost her composure whenever it came to Kang Chi-kyung. So Seung-cheol explained slowly, clearly:
“What Chi-kyung really wants isn’t you. It’s the necklace.”
The necklace, not her.
The words stabbed her chest like a knife.
“If you give it back…”
If she gave it back—
“You’ll be free again.”
Free.
* * *
It had been seven years since she left Kang Chi-kyung.
She hadn’t completely forgotten him, but she had learned to live without him.
She only thought of him sometimes—rare moments, like when flowers bloomed in the park, or when couples held hands on the street, or when autumn leaves fell like rain, or when snow fell with Christmas carols in the air.
Just brief memories, not constant pain. She had managed to stay sane.
But was that only pretending?
Or maybe it was because of the call from Chairman Park—the man who symbolized her painful past—that everything she thought she’d erased now came crashing back like lightning.
Eight Years Ago
It was October.
Her team had just finished a job for the U.S. Treasury Department and was resting in New York, in a small Bronx office.
It was their way of catching their breath between dangerous assignments.
That’s when Chairman Park suddenly appeared.
