CHAPTER 1
An in-flight announcement signaling our arrival echoed through the cabin.
Looking out the airplane window at the scenery below, I finally felt that I had arrived in America.
After sitting in such a cramped space for fourteen hours, my entire body ached.
In Korea, it was already close to one in the morning.
My nerves were on edge, and the uncomfortable seat had kept me from falling asleep.
Ha-eun took out her phone and reread the text message her older brother, Ha-jun, had sent a few days earlier.
—Ha-eun, I’m sorry.
I’m such a pathetic brother that running away is the only thing I can do.
Don’t look for me.
At first, she was worried.
She was terrified that he might have made a terrible decision in a moment of despair.
But soon, anger welled up inside her.
If you were going to run away, you should have at least told us where you were going.
If you disappear like this, what are the people left behind supposed to do?
Ever since Ha-jun ran away, debt collectors had come to their house every single day.
Crushed by the debt and her son’s disappearance, their mother had stopped eating and spent all her time crying.
After searching everywhere for Ha-jun, Ha-eun eventually discovered through social media that he was in New York.
New York was a familiar place to Ha-jun since he had once lived there, and he also knew people there who could help him whenever he needed.
Just wait until I find you.
Swearing that she would make him cry his eyes out, she boarded the plane, but she had no idea how she was supposed to find someone who had hidden himself away after cutting off all contact.
After arriving at the airport, passing through the strict security checkpoints, and getting into the taxi she had reserved, the tension finally left her body.
Remembering her mother’s request to call no matter how late it was once she arrived in New York, Ha-eun dialed her number.
“[Ha-eun, did you arrive safely?]”
Her mother answered in a voice thick with sleep.
“Yes, I’m in the taxi now.”
“[Did you try contacting Jae? I’d feel better if at least Jae were there with you in such an unfamiliar place.]”
“I called him before boarding yesterday, but he didn’t answer.”
“Besides, Oppa Jae is in Florida anyway, so even if I contacted him, he wouldn’t be able to come right away.”
It had already been two years since Jae left to take charge of the American branch.
The last time she had seen him was at the chairman’s birthday celebration last year.
It had already been a year.
He must have been incredibly busy if even Ha-jun, his closest friend, hadn’t heard from him.
“[Even so, how can he not contact us when he doesn’t even know whether his friend is alive or dead?]”
There was disappointment and sorrow in her mother’s voice.
“[Maybe he takes after his mother, but that boy really has no warmth.”
“[You could stab him with a needle and not get a single drop of blood.]”
Back then, she used to say there was no man like Seo Jae and that marrying someone like him would guarantee a life of comfort.
“Mom, Ha-jun’s problem is something we have to solve ourselves.”
“It’s not something we should ask Oppa Jae to help with.”
“[We don’t even know whether Ha-jun is alive or dead, so shouldn’t we grasp at every straw we can?]”
“[Try contacting Jae again.]”
“[He’s the only person who can help us right now.]”
“Okay, I’ll call him, so don’t worry and go back to sleep.”
After ending the call, she leaned her head back and looked out the window.
Beyond the taxi window, where sleet drifted through the air, old sound barriers covered in graffiti and rows of tightly packed red-brick houses rushed past.
The taxi entered Long Island City in Queens.
In the distance, she could see the spire of the Empire State Building.
Only then did it truly hit her that she had arrived in New York.
The taxi stopped beside a dirty, slushy road where the snow had yet to melt.
Even from the entrance, the atmosphere of the hotel felt unsettling.
After checking in and going upstairs, she found the room in terrible condition, with worn-out carpets covering the floor.
Dust-covered bedding and curtains, creaking doors, and leaking faucets.
The acrid dust irritating her lungs made even breathing difficult.
People always say there’s a reason cheap places are cheap, but she had never expected it to be this bad.
She had no one to blame but herself for trusting the reviews that claimed it was decent for the price.
Most of her money had gone toward the plane ticket, and because she had needed a room in such a hurry, she had very few options left.
She opened the creaking window and sat on the edge of the old bed, feeling as though the cold wind blowing in had frozen her to the core.
She was tired, hungry, and lonely.
A terrifying thought crossed her mind that if she died here alone, no one would ever know.
With no other choice, she called Jae.
—
At the end of a driveway lined with dozens of palm trees stood a magnificent mansion.
The butler waiting at the entrance, framed by enormous Corinthian columns, walked down the steps and opened the door of the black sedan that had just arrived.
A man dressed in a gray suit slowly stepped out, his broad shoulders tapering into a lean, triangular frame and long, muscular legs.
His black hair and brown eyes clearly marked him as Asian, but his unusually light-colored eyes, deep-set gaze, towering height of well over six feet, and solid physique gave him an almost Western appearance.
Though he looked no older than thirty, the charisma radiating from him was powerful enough to make people instinctively hold their breath.
“Welcome.”
“They are waiting for you inside.”
“Please come in.”
After bowing respectfully, the butler led him into the mansion.
The atmosphere inside was completely different from what one would expect from a place that had hosted a lavish party the night before.
“Mr. Seo Jae has arrived.”
“Welcome.”
“The weather is beautiful today, so I was thinking we could eat outside.”
“That sounds all right, doesn’t it?”
A man in his mid-fifties stood up with a bright smile from a table beside the pool overlooking the emerald sea and a private marina.
He was Grant Park, the owner of the mansion and the CEO of Sterling Commerce, the company that would serve as Seo-guk Group’s stepping stone into the American market.
“That sounds good.”
“Serve the meal.”
“And why hasn’t Elin come down yet?”
Just as President Park was giving instructions to the butler, a woman in her late twenties wearing a luxurious lace dress approached with light steps.
“Mr. Jae, you’re here?”
“I was disappointed that you left without saying anything last night.”
“I left my regards with President Park.”
“Even so.”
“You should have stayed at our house last night.”
“You wouldn’t have had to go back and forth to the hotel.”
Slipping her hand around Jae’s arm to show their closeness, Elin looked up at the much taller man and smiled sweetly.
“I didn’t want to impose.”
As he pulled out a chair for her and naturally slipped free from her grasp, Jae replied politely.
“Oh my, impose?”
“That makes me sad.”
“Considering the future that our family and Seo-guk will build together, shouldn’t we become a little closer?”
After sitting in the chair Jae had pulled out for her, Elin gazed at him standing against the backdrop of the blue pool and the ocean.
President Park lightly patted his daughter’s shoulder and added,
“Elin is right.”
“If the relationship between our families becomes stronger, the synergy between Seo-guk and Sterling Commerce will be extraordinary.”
“Which brings me to something….”
It wasn’t difficult to guess what President Park was about to say.
He was probably going to ask whether Jae had an arranged marriage partner or someone he was dating and what he thought of Elin as a potential wife.
Although all the business matters had been settled the day before, that was likely the real reason Jae had been specially invited to the mansion today.
Elin was honest about her feelings and made no effort to hide her interest in Jae, and President Park was a man who would do anything for his daughter.
“Dad, we haven’t even started eating yet.”
“We can talk about that later.”
“Let’s eat first.”
Not wanting to appear too impatient, Elin smiled as she lightly tapped the back of President Park’s hand.
“You’re right.”
“That would be better.”
“Please, have a seat.”
At that moment, Jae’s phone rang inside his jacket pocket.
The caller was Jung Ha-jun’s younger sister, Jung Ha-eun.
She had called the night before as well, but he had been too busy to answer, and this morning it had been too late at night in Korea to call back.
“Excuse me.”
“I’ll step away to take this call.”
“Of course.”
Passing through the living room and stepping out into the mansion’s grand entrance hall, he pressed the answer button.
“Ha-eun.”
