The rain had started before dawn, thin streaks of water sliding down Claire's apartment window like unbroken chains. She sat at the small kitchen table, the marriage contract spread open in front of her as though it were an autopsy report. The smell of coffee lingered in the air, untouched and cooling, curling into the silence like a taunt.
She traced the printed lines with her eyes, rereading the terms for the hundredth time. The legal jargon blurred together, but certain phrases still pierced through like sharpened glass. One-year binding term. No public disclosure. Financial restoration of Yoo Industries. Penalty clauses.
Her father's voice from the night before pressed into her skull. Areum-ah, if we lose this deal, we lose everything.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. She hated that Evan Lee Hyunsik had cornered her. She hated even more that he knew it, and that he looked at her like someone already claimed.
Her phone buzzed against the table, startling her. A message from Kangwoo.
[CEO Lee's office confirmed your meeting tomorrow morning. Should I arrange the car?]
Claire's thumbs hesitated over the screen. She typed [No car. I'm not confirming anything], then stared at the words until they blurred, deleting them in frustration. She tried again. [I'll let you know.] This time, she hit send.
The contract lay there like an open wound. She pushed it aside and stood, pacing the small space of her apartment. Maybe she could find another investor. Maybe she could fix things without tying herself to a man who weaponized control as if it were second nature.
She picked up her phone to start making calls, but the screen lit up again. This time, it was a notification from an unknown number. No text, no explanation…just one single image.
It was her father. Not at the office. Not at home. In a hospital room.
The air seemed to thin around her. She dialed the number immediately, but it went straight to voicemail. She tried her father's number instead. He answered on the third ring, his voice steady but too careful.
"Areum, it's nothing. Just a check-up."
Her voice sharpened. "Since when do you do check-ups lying in a hospital bed?"
"It's not important. Just focus on your work." A short cough interrupted him, and then he shifted the subject without warning. "I heard you met Evan Lee."
Claire froze. "Who told you that?"
"Does it matter? You should consider it, Areum. It might be the only…"
"I'm not marrying a stranger because he's holding our company hostage."
"Then tell me what your plan is." His voice lowered, but the weight behind it was crushing. "We are drowning. If this is the only lifeline, you take it. Even if it tastes like poison."
The line went dead before she could reply.
Claire set the phone down slowly, her reflection staring back at her from the black screen. She hated him for being right.
The next morning, the glass and silence of Evan's office swallowed her as soon as she stepped off the elevator. Kangwoo stood waiting by the door, phone in hand, his face perfectly composed. Not a flicker of thought or judgment crossed his features.
"Miss Yoo," he greeted, holding the door open for her.
Inside, Evan was already at his desk, a spread of documents laid out before him in precise order. He did not look up when she entered.
"You're early."
"I haven't decided," she said, sharper than intended.
His eyes lifted briefly, scanning her the way a reader skims through familiar lines. "Yes, you have. You just have not admitted it to yourself yet."
"I came to negotiate."
One eyebrow rose slightly. "Negotiate?"
"I want guarantees for my father's role in the company after the year ends. Full transparency on whatever reason you really have for this marriage."
Evan leaned back in his chair, assessing her like an investor deciding whether a deal was worth the trouble. "You think I am playing a game?"
"I know you are. No one marries someone they barely know unless there's more to it."
The corner of his mouth tilted upward, not quite a smile, more like the shadow of one. "You are right. But the details are mine to keep."
Her pulse drummed in her ears. "Then maybe I walk out right now."
His gaze did not shift. "And maybe, by the time you reach the street, your father's company loses its final investor. Deals move quickly when I tell them to."
Her breath caught. The certainty in his voice left no room for doubt.
"Friday," he said evenly. "You have until Friday."
She turned toward the door, refusing to let her steps falter. Her hand had barely touched the handle when his voice followed, low and deliberate. "Tell Kangwoo to drive you home. Seoul's traffic is unpredictable today."
It sounded courteous, but it was not a request.
That night, Claire stood on her balcony. The rain had stopped, but the air still clung to her skin, heavy and damp. Far below, the city lights flickered in restless patterns. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled again, faint but steady.
She lifted her phone. The contract's PDF glowed back at her, the words sharp against the dark. Her father's warnings tangled with Evan's threats, with the still image of that hospital bed, until she felt the weight of them pressing against her chest.
Her finger hovered over the call button. She stayed like that for a long moment.
She did not press it.
Instead, she shut her eyes and whispered to herself, "Two more days."
But deep down, she knew time was not what she needed. The storm Evan Lee Hyunsik was bringing into her life had already crossed the horizon.