Friday night fell like a curtain before the storm. Seoul buzzed with hushed murmurs and private calls, the city's elite rattled by whispers of the approaching trial and the now-confirmed DNA results. Seo Hena was not an impostor. She was the legitimate daughter of Chairman Seo, and word had spread fast through the tightly knit circles of power.
At the Seo mansion, Madam Seo sat alone in her private office—once a sanctuary of control, now a battlefield of desperation. The scent of jasmine tea wafted untouched from a porcelain cup beside her. Her fingers clutched the edge of her chair, knuckles pale with rage.
News had leaked. The legal world was bracing for the trial. Allies were scattering. And worst of all—Jun-ho, the son she had hidden and dismissed for years, was standing beside Hena.
But not for long.
She pressed a button on her phone.
"Bring Jun-ho," she said coldly.
—
Jun-ho arrived, dressed in a crisp black suit. His expression was unreadable as he stepped into the dimly lit room. He had expected this—her last attempt to control the narrative, to erase the past with one final lie.
Madam Seo stood, her eyes narrowed, posture straight. She looked at him not as a mother, but as a strategist eyeing a crucial piece on the board.
"I raised this empire from the ground," she said slowly. "Everything you see—the legacy, the name—exists because I protected it. Not because of your father. Not because of any lost child."
Jun-ho remained silent.
"I made mistakes," she said carefully. "But I never stopped protecting this family. And now, I'm giving you one last chance."
She walked to her desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a leather-bound contract.
"Return to the company. I'll name you successor. Publicly. I'll restore everything that should've been yours. You can have your rightful place… but only if you testify against Hena. Say she forged the DNA. That she's mentally unstable. That she manipulated everything to steal what doesn't belong to her."
Jun-ho's jaw tightened.
"You think I'd do that?"
Madam Seo smiled faintly. "You've always wanted a place in this family. I'm offering it. Everything you deserve. All you have to do is remember who built it all—and who your loyalty should lie with."
There was silence. The clock ticked louder than before.
Finally, Jun-ho stepped forward. "You're right. I did want that place. I waited for years, wondering why you never loved me. Why I wasn't good enough."
She looked up, hopeful for a moment.
"But now I see. You were never worthy of my loyalty."
The smile dropped from her face.
"I'm not that boy anymore," he continued. "And if protecting Hena means destroying everything you built—I'll do it."
Madam Seo's eyes darkened. "You're making a mistake."
"No," Jun-ho said, turning toward the door. "I'm making history."
He left her standing in silence, her offer unanswered, her empire trembling beneath her.
—
Across town, Hena stood by the window of her apartment, watching the city lights flicker. She knew the final battle was just hours away. The courtroom would be her war zone. The truth, her weapon. And Jun-ho… her unexpected shield.
She picked up her phone, a quiet smile touching her lips.
"Thank you," she texted him. "For choosing what's right."
The reply came seconds later.
"We end this tomorrow. Together."
—
But inside the Seo mansion, Madam Seo wasn't finished. As she tore the contract in two and let the pieces fall to the floor, her face hardened with resolve.
"If I can't control the narrative," she muttered, "I'll bury it."
She picked up her phone again. This time, the call wasn't to an ally. It was to someone far more dangerous.
"I need your help," she whispered. "Tomorrow, no matter what happens in that courtroom… Hena Seo doesn't walk out untouched."
As the line crackled with confirmation, Madam Seo's final card was played.
The trial would begin at dawn. But so would the final game of survival.