The sun was high over Seoul, but Hena felt only shadows.
She had just stepped out of a meeting when two well-dressed strangers approached her. "Miss Seo Hena," one of them said calmly, flashing a forged government badge. "We're from the Seoul Mental Wellness Authority. We've been assigned to escort you for emergency psychiatric evaluation."
Hena narrowed her eyes. "What? On what grounds?"
Before she could move, they each grabbed her arms.
"Let go of me!" she shouted, struggling. "This is illegal! You can't—"
A black van pulled up at the curb. One of the men pulled open the door.
"Under Article 57, Section 3, you are to be held under involuntary psychiatric observation due to a reported mental health crisis," one of them said coldly. "You may not resist."
"This is a lie! I'm fine!" Hena screamed, kicking and twisting as they tried to shove her inside the vehicle. Panic rose like bile in her throat.
The door was nearly shut when—
"Let her go!"
Damian's voice thundered across the street.
A second later, he was at the van, yanking the back door open. Jun-ho appeared from the other side, grabbing one of the fake officials and slamming him against the vehicle.
Damian dragged Hena out. She collapsed into his arms, sobbing and gasping for breath.
"She tried to institutionalize me—again," Hena whispered.
"We know," Jun-ho said grimly, pulling out a folder. "This entire operation was arranged under Madam Seo's directive. Forged signatures. Bribed doctors. We intercepted the full plan just in time."
The fake agents tried to run, but Jun-ho was already on the phone with police.
Within minutes, authorities arrived and arrested the men for kidnapping, impersonation, and medical fraud.
Hena's knees shook as she stood beside Damian and Jun-ho.
"She really wanted me locked away," she said quietly. "Like I was before. Like I was nothing."
"She's desperate," Jun-ho replied. "Because she's losing everything."
---
Across town, Madam Seo watched the news in her luxury apartment.
The story broke within hours.
"Heiress Nearly Abducted in Forced Commitment Attempt — Ties to Former Foundation Chairwoman Suspected."
Her hands trembled as she turned off the screen. Everything she'd built—her lies, her control, her façade—was collapsing.
"They're rats," she muttered. "Damian. Jun-ho. Even Hara. Ungrateful rats."
She looked into the ornate mirror above her fireplace and slapped her reflection.
"I will not lose," she hissed. "I am still Madam Seo."
But even as she said it, there were knocks at the door—officers with warrants in hand.
---
That evening, Hena stood before the Seoul mansion.
The house that had imprisoned her.
That had stolen her name, erased her history, tried to break her.
The tall, elegant gates loomed in silence. For years, she had entered through them as Hara's shadow, as the hidden one, as the mistake.
But not anymore.
Damian and Jun-ho stood behind her. Neither said a word.
She stepped forward slowly, one hand gripping the gate.
"I was dragged out of this place as a baby," she whispered. "Erased."
A breeze blew through the garden, the scent of magnolias brushing past her.
She turned to Damian.
"The next time I enter this house," she said, her voice filled with calm fury, "it will be as myself."
Jun-ho nodded in silence, while Damian reached for her hand.
"And I'll be standing right beside you," he promised.
Hena didn't answer. She simply looked at the mansion one last time.
And then she turned away.