POV NABI
The scent of white lilies had always seemed to me to be the scent of peace, but today, permeating every corner of the Kwon mansion, it smelled only of hypocrisy.
"Keep your back straight, Nabi. And for God's sake, stop biting your lip. You look like a madwoman."
My father's voice, Kwon Yeonhu, struck me with the coldness of a whip. He wasn't looking at me. He was too busy adjusting his black silk tie in front of the hall mirror, making sure his pain looked as impeccable as his bank account.
"I'm sorry, Father," I whispered, looking down at my hands, which were trembling inside my lace gloves.
Hide. That was the word that defined my existence. I hid my hands so he wouldn't see my anxiety; I hid my legs under my long skirt so no one would see the marks of my darkest days; and I hid my voice so no one would remember that the "defective daughter" was still breathing while the "perfect daughter" was being mourned in a cherry wood box.
Suyeon was dead. My older sister, the radiant heiress, the pride of Kwon Technology, had been turned to ashes in a plane crash over the Gulf of Thailand a month ago. And today, after weeks of official mourning, the world expected the Kwons to return to public life.
But the return was not for mourning. It was for negotiating.
"Yeonhu, dear, the Moons have just arrived," announced Shin Eunbyul, my stepmother, descending the stairs with predatory elegance. Her daughter, Chaerin, followed close behind, wearing a black dress that screamed 'prominence' rather than "mourning."
My father nodded and finally turned to me. His eyes, the same color as mine but empty of any affection, scanned me with disgust.
"Nabi, listen carefully," he said, coming so close I could smell his expensive cologne. "The engagement between the Moon and Kwon families did not die on that plane. Moon Seojin and I have reached an agreement. Jaehyun will not lose his alliance with us."
An icy chill ran down my spine.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, even though in the back of my fragmented mind, the answer was already screaming.
"Suyeon is not here to fulfill her marriage contract. You will. You will marry Moon Jaehyun in three months."
"Dad, you can't ask me to do that!" The scream came out of my throat before I could stop it. My heart began to beat with that erratic rhythm my psychiatrist called "crisis phase."
He was my sister's fiancé. He loved her! I... I don't even know him. I study finance for you, I do everything you ask, but this...
"Shut up!" His hand slammed down on the marble table, making me jump. Studying finance is the least you can do after the embarrassment you cause us with your "episodes." If you don't accept this marriage, I swear, Nabi, the next place you'll sleep won't be your room, but the psychiatric ward at the central hospital. We'll see if you feel like being rebellious there.
The air escaped from my lungs. The threat was not empty. He had done it before, when Mom died. He locked me up "for my own good" until I learned to pretend I was sane.
"Understood," I managed to say, my voice breaking.
"Good. Now walk. The Moons are in the great hall. Try not to look like a lunatic in front of your future husband."
I walked like an automaton. Each step reminded me that my life was a draft that someone else was crossing out. As I crossed the hallway, I sought refuge in my mind, the only place where I was free: the story I was secretly writing on my cell phone under the name Hayami. In my novel, the protagonist could fly, she could scream, she could be loved for who she was. But in the reality of the Kwons, I was just a spare part.
As I entered the room, the luxury blinded me. The Moons were there, surrounded by an aura of power and real estate. Moon Seojin and his wife Yerim were talking to my father, while their eldest son, Hyunwoo, stood with a serious expression alongside his young wife, Naeun.
And then, I saw him.
Moon Jaehyun.
He was standing near the large window, looking out at the rose garden my mother used to tend. He had a sharp profile, perfectly styled dark hair, and an aura of melancholy that didn't fit with the image of the "cold tycoon" that the news portrayed him as.
Jaehyun and Suyeon were said to be Seoul's golden couple. That he adored her. I had seen it in photos: always holding her hand, always smiling beside her. The mere thought of taking my sister's place in his bed and in his life made me want to vomit with guilt.
"Jaehyun," my father called with a fake smile. "This is my youngest daughter, Nabi."
Jaehyun turned slowly. His eyes met mine, and for a second, the world fell silent. There was no love in his gaze, but neither was there the contempt I expected. There was an intense, almost disturbing curiosity.
"Miss Nabi," his voice was deep, velvety, but charged with a strange tension. He approached and took my gloved hand. He didn't kiss it, just held it with a firmness that made me tremble. "I'm sorry we meet under these circumstances."
"I'm sorry too, Mr. Moon," I replied, trying to maintain my "perfect daughter" mask in front of everyone.
"Do you like animation, Nabi?" asked a young, sweet voice suddenly. It was Moon Yuseo, Jaehyun's younger sister. She looked at me with bright eyes, holding her tablet to her chest. "My brother says you're very quiet, but I think quiet people have the most interesting stories."
I tensed up. If only she knew that her favorite author, Hayami, was the broken woman standing in front of her.
"I... I like art, yes," I half-lied, feeling my father's warning gaze.
Jaehyun didn't take his eyes off me.
"Suyeon always said you were very special, Nabi," he said, and for the first time, I noticed a hint of sarcasm in his tone when he mentioned my sister's name. "Although I suspect 'special' is not the word that defines you."
Before I could respond, Chaerin approached us, interrupting the moment with a fake giggle.
"Oh, Jaehyun, don't overwhelm her. Nabi has... difficult days. You know how some people's health is," my "stepsister" said, throwing the poisonous dart about my bipolarity in front of the Moons.
My father tensed, but Jaehyun didn't even look at her. His eyes remained fixed on me, dropping for a second to my legs, as if he could see through the fabric of my dress, and then returning to my face.
"We all have difficult days, Chaerin," Jaehyun replied with a coldness that made my stepsister recoil. "The difference is how we choose to hide them."
At that moment, I knew. Moon Jaehyun didn't love Suyeon. The way he said her name held no trace of grief, but rather an ancient weariness.
Suddenly, a loud noise from the garden made us all turn around. It was Raewon, my younger brother, arguing with one of the security guards.
He was wearing his rehearsal clothes, sweat dripping from his forehead, once again defying my father's ban on him being an idol.
"Let me through! My sister just died and you're here selling the other one!" Raewon shouted.
My father turned red with rage.
"Get that boy out of here!" Yeonhu roared.
I took advantage of the chaos of the family argument to slip away to the balcony, needing air, feeling the walls closing in on me. My fingers instinctively sought my thighs, wanting to press on the scars to feel something other than this suffocating panic.
"Don't do it."
Jaehyun's voice startled me. He had come out onto the balcony behind me. He stood there, illuminated by the moonlight, looking like a prince from a dark fairy tale.
"Do what?" I asked, my breathing becoming erratic.
"Punish you for your father's sins," he said, taking a step toward me. He came so close that I could feel the heat of his body.
I'm not blind, Nabi. I know this marriage is a cage for you. But let me tell you something: it's a cage for me, too.
"Then why did you agree to it?" I snapped, tears burning my eyes. "Why marry the replacement for the woman you were going to take to the altar?"
Jaehyun leaned in, his face inches from mine. His hand rose, barely grazing my jawline. His touch wasn't cold; it was electric.
"Because Suyeon was a beautiful lie," he whispered, his gaze dropping to my lips. "And you, Nabi... you seem like a painful truth. And I've always preferred pain to falsehood."
I froze. At that moment, as my father and Raewon's screams continued in the background, I understood that my life as Nabi Kwon was over. Tomorrow, I would become Moon Jaehyun's wife.
What he didn't know was that I wasn't just a "painful truth." I was a woman with a thousand voices in my head and a secret under the name Hayami that could destroy both families.
And what I didn't know was that in the shadows of the garden, Mrs. Shin was watching us with a cold smile as she sent a text message that would change everything: "The plan is still on. The second daughter is easier to break than the first. Tell Taehoon."
The game for the Kwon empire was just beginning, and I was the pawn that everyone wanted to sacrifice.