The suite door exploded inward.
Wood shattered across the floor.
Sophia screamed instinctively as armed men flooded into the room.
Black tactical uniforms.
No insignias.
No hesitation.
Daniel shoved me behind the marble kitchen island instantly.
Gunfire erupted.
Deafening.
Violent.
The world became chaos.
Glass shattered beside us.
Evelyn dropped to the floor near the hallway while Daniel grabbed one of the attackers and slammed him against the wall hard enough to crack the drywall.
My heartbeat became unbearable.
This wasn’t corporate intimidation anymore.
This was execution.
One of the men shouted in Korean:
“Retrieve the file carrier!”
Carrier.
Not woman.
Not target.
Carrier.
Oh my God.
They thought I had the file.
Daniel disarmed the attacker with terrifying precision.
Too precise.
Too practiced.
And suddenly I realized:
Seoul never left him.
Another gunshot exploded.
A bullet shattered the kitchen lights above us.
Darkness flickered again.
Smoke.
Blood.
Screaming.
The suite felt like a war zone.
Daniel grabbed my face suddenly.
His hands were shaking.
Actually shaking.
“Sophia, listen to me.”
I could barely breathe.
“There’s a hidden elevator behind the service kitchen.”
Another gunshot interrupted him.
Daniel flinched instinctively toward the sound.
Protective reflex.
Always toward danger.
“You need to leave NOW.”
“No.”
My answer came instantly.
Because suddenly the thought of leaving him here felt unbearable.
Daniel looked furious.
Good.
For once his composure was gone too.
“They are not here to negotiate.”
One of the attackers suddenly shouted from the hallway:
“Alive if possible!”
Possible.
The word made my blood run cold.
Daniel heard it too.
And somehow that terrified him more than death.
Evelyn crawled toward us quickly.
“They blocked the stairwells.”
Daniel swore violently under his breath.
Then suddenly—
all the gunfire stopped.
Silence flooded the suite instantly.
Heavy.
Wrong.
Every instinct inside me screamed danger.
Daniel slowly stood.
Still shielding me behind him.
Then footsteps entered the suite calmly.
Not rushed.
Not tactical.
Controlled.
Expensive leather shoes crossed broken glass slowly.
Then a man’s voice filled the darkness.
Older.
Smooth.
Terrifyingly calm.
“Well… this became emotional.”
Daniel froze instantly.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Recognition.
My pulse stopped.
The man stepped into the emergency lighting slowly.
Silver hair.
Perfect black suit.
No weapon visible.
But somehow he felt more dangerous than every armed man combined.
Evelyn went pale immediately.
“Oh my God.”
The man smiled faintly.
“Hello, Evelyn.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened so violently I thought he might break his teeth.
The man’s eyes shifted toward me.
Cold.
Observant.
Interested.
And suddenly I understood:
this man had been watching me long before tonight.
He tilted his head slightly.
“You look exactly like your mother.”
Ice flooded through me.
Daniel stepped in front of me immediately.
“Don’t.”
The man smiled again.
Small.
Amused.
“You always did become attached too quickly.”
Attached.
Not in love.
Not human.
Attached.
Daniel looked murderous now.
Actually murderous.
The man studied him calmly.
“After all these years… and you still think you can save people.”
My heartbeat accelerated violently.
This was him.
The real power behind Seoul.
Not Richard.
Not Hart Global.
This man.
The man finally looked toward me again.
“My name is Chairman Seo.”
The room went completely still.
Seo.
Min Seo.
Seoul.
Oh my God.
Everything connected.
Chairman Seo smiled faintly.
“Your mother was remarkably intelligent.”
Tears burned instantly behind my eyes.
“Don’t talk about her.”
His expression barely shifted.
“She almost destroyed everything we built.”
We.
Not Hart Global.
Something bigger.
Much bigger.
Daniel suddenly moved slightly in front of me again.
Protective.
Instinctive.
Chairman Seo noticed immediately.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Then he quietly asked Daniel:
“Are you finally prepared to choose?”
Daniel’s entire body went rigid.
My pulse accelerated.
Choose what?
Chairman Seo looked toward me calmly.
Then said the sentence that shattered everything again:
“She still doesn’t know why Richard Hart wanted her alive.”
Silence exploded through the suite.
I stared at Daniel slowly.
Because suddenly…
Daniel looked terrified again.
Not for himself.
For me.
Chairman Seo smiled faintly.
Then quietly finished:
“Tell her who her real father is.”