Hyunwoo’s swimming lessons were three times a week.

It was the fifth time Soyeon and Jessica had visited the sports center with Hyunwoo, having adjusted their schedules to match the lesson times for two weeks.

After confidently replying to Seojun’s text message, Soyeon fixed her hawk-like gaze on Hyunwoo, visible through the glass window, from behind the other mothers.

“Jongsuk’s mother! Isn’t Jongsuk crying right now?”

“Oh my, what should we do? I forced him to go today even though he said he was scared of the water. It seems he’s burst into tears.”

“Oh? The child next to him is patting him, and Jongsuk has stopped crying?”

“You’re right. He’s the type to cry endlessly once he starts, so I’m grateful. But whose child is that? It seems he’s new to the kindergarten class since last week.”

“I’m not sure whose child he is either, but isn’t the boy quite pretty?”

“Just looking at him makes me feel good. He’s handsome and mature too. I’d like to thank his mother, but I wonder if she’s not here…”

Because the two mothers spoke in somewhat loud voices, other mothers in the guardian waiting room also became curious and looked around. However, no mother came forward.

Though she knew they were talking about Hyunwoo, Soyeon, wearing a mask and baseball cap pulled low, stepped away from the window, fearing people might recognize her.

It was 4 PM.

As the lesson was about to end, Soyeon and Jessica moved to the entrance of the men’s changing room, as they always did.

Exhausted from splashing around energetically, the small child came out of the changing room cradled in the instructor’s arms. Jessica took Hyunwoo and held him.

Soyeon immediately moved to the outdoor parking lot, seated Hyunwoo and Jessica in the back of the silver sedan, got into the driver’s seat, and started the engine.

It was then that a man’s voice came through the in-ear device she was wearing.

-Besides the sedan we spotted earlier, two vans have parked at the sports center entrance. Given that no one is getting out and they’ve kept their hazard lights on, it seems they plan to move as soon as the target appears.

There was no need to respond to the bodyguard’s report. She had known she was being followed all this time but pretended not to notice until today. Thinking that what she had been waiting for had finally come, Soyeon started the car as usual, looking left and right.

Suspicious cars had started following Soyeon, who was constantly moving by car to handle multiple schedules a day, two days after the engagement ceremony.

Yoo Junghwa’s trial date, now about two weeks away. When she had declared to Seojun that she would take the witness stand, Soyeon had already anticipated it. She knew that the more pressed for time Junghwa was, the more reckless she would become, and that she wouldn’t leave alone the most certain witness for the trial.

Moreover, Chairman Tae, with his years of worldly experience, had already figured out all the circumstances. Thus, what he had found out by discreetly moving his subordinates and connecting with the police was that a violent organization had targeted Eom Soyeon and Tae Hyunwoo.

To protect Hyunwoo from danger and to properly become bait herself, Soyeon had worked tirelessly. And as a result, at this moment, she was gripping the steering wheel while coordinating with the bodyguards and police.

About a kilometer after leaving the sports center.

The voice came through the in-ear device again.

-The two vans, excluding the sedan, have started to pick up speed. It looks like they’re going to try to push through, so please go to the place we discussed in the second plan.

As the bodyguard said, two black vans slowly started to close in from the side and behind. Confirming the situation through the rearview mirror, Soyeon gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands and said,

“Jessica, it’s going to get very bumpy from now on, so be careful!”

“Yes, miss!”

The one-way street she turned onto while pressing the accelerator deeply was not a familiar route. From there, Soyeon turned right onto another quiet road and increased the car’s speed even more.

Vroom…

The two black vans also turned right and pursued the silver sedan at an even faster speed. As soon as she turned towards the underpass at a completely empty intersection, Soyeon pressed the horn hard.

Beep!

Not knowing what that sound meant, the men in the vans smirked. The sight of her voluntarily entering a narrow road reminded them of a mouse crawling into a trap of its own accord.

As they thought, at the end of the road with high walls on both sides and blocked in front, the silver sedan came to a sudden stop.

Screech!

Soyeon, who had stopped the car just before colliding with the concrete wall, seemed to be cornered after a fierce struggle.

What she saw when she turned her head back was the vans blocking the road in two layers. About ten gang members who rushed out of those cars all held something heavy like steel pipes in their hands. After confirming this, Soyeon urgently shouted to Jessica.

“Stay down! Don’t raise your head no matter what!”

“Yes!”

“We just need to endure a little longer like this!”

As the group unhesitatingly closed the distance and surrounded the silver car, Soyeon double-checked the car’s lock with her fingertips, just in case.

Bang!

Realizing the car door was locked, a man heavily struck the rear bumper with a pipe. There was no negotiation. It was intimidation, telling them to crawl out of the car on their own since they were like rats in a trap anyway.

Nevertheless, Soyeon and Jessica didn’t budge. They just lowered their heads, hoping this moment would pass quickly.

Then, another burly man with a sneering expression struck the front windshield of the car as hard as he could with an iron club.

Thud!

As the car body vibrated, the two women inside flinched, but there was no further movement.

By this point, a frightened child would normally be wailing, but for some reason, it was just quiet. However, there seemed to be an even bigger problem, as the man trying to break the car window frowned fiercely with a puzzled look.

“What’s this? Why isn’t it breaking?”

Tap, tap! Bang, bang! Thud, thud, thud…!

No matter how many times they struck it, the car body didn’t dent, and the window glass didn’t break at all, not even showing a crack or a scratch.

“Ha! Boss, this is bulletproof glass!”

As the burly man scratched his head and spoke, the boss-like figure frowned incredulously and barked,

“Hey, you ignoramus! It’s an armored car! Can’t you tell from the bumper not breaking? Damn! This is going to be a headache!”

The boss was right. The sleek silver sedan was not only equipped with bulletproof glass but was a special armored vehicle said to withstand even bullets and grenades. Because of this, the thugs were momentarily at a loss, and in that interval, the situation reversed.

Vroooom, vroom… Screech! Screech! Screeech…!

The cars that suddenly swarmed in were not just one or two. It was surprising that about a dozen cars rushed in and instantly filled the road, but the most impressive sight was the men in black suits who quickly got out of the large vans.

“Huh? What are those?”

“W-was it a trap?”

“I-it seems so, boss!”

“Ah, damn it…”

We’re screwed!

As dozens of men, like an elite corps, ran in in perfect unison, the thugs turned pale, their eyes bulging in shock.

The black-suited bodyguards and plainclothes police officers methodically subdued the gangsters one by one without leaving any gaps.

The clock on the wall pointed to 8 PM.

Unfocused, dry eyes, cold and bleak eyes that felt no warmth, stared fixedly at the mobile phone.

Yoo Junghwa used two mobile phones. One was mainly used for general matters, and the other was what she was holding now, a so-called burner phone.

Bzzz-.

As soon as the vibration was felt in her palm, Junghwa’s dull eyes regained their sharpness.

“You said 5 o’clock would be enough, so why are you contacting me only now?”

Junghwa, who had moved from the living room to her room to avoid Seongjina’s eyes and ears in her house, raised her voice urgently.

-Why, worried it might have failed?

“Yes!”

-What kind of organization do you think we are, to worry about that?

“Then why didn’t you answer my calls? No contact! What on earth were you doing for three hours?”

-Things got a bit complicated, but it worked out well, so let’s deposit the additional payment, Ms. Yoo Junghwa.

The strong accent mixed with dialect scratched deep into Junghwa’s eardrum. The owner of that voice was the boss of the organization who had been calmly following behind the two vans in a sedan, giving orders to his subordinates.

“What additional payment are you talking about? I gave you everything yesterday!”

-Are you naive, or just clueless? If I had known the police were involved, I wouldn’t have touched your job, Ms. Yoo Junghwa. Moreover, we dealt with Chairman Tae’s subordinates and the police group all at once, so shouldn’t you provide hazard pay separately? That’s how it works, you know.

“What? Chairman Tae’s subordinates and the police too? What are you talking about! You said they would move lightly with just two women and a child when going to the sports center!”

As Junghwa asked urgently with anxious eyes, the boss replied in a rather leisurely tone.

“How should I know? Today, they came at us like a pack of dogs. But don’t worry. I shook them off well. That’s why the contact was delayed.

“Ha, you bastard!”

-You know better than anyone that what we’re doing is worse than what dogs do, Ms. Yoo Junghwa, so why the sudden surprise?

“Why are you asking for more money when you handled the job like that?”

-If you’re so dissatisfied, you can give up the job even now. We can just wash our hands of it at this point.

They were as agile and cunning as their illegal activities, from distributing prohibited drugs to smuggling firearms.

This organization, which didn’t hesitate even at contract killings, had threatened Eom Soyeon’s life by secretly collapsing a filming set two years ago, and recently, they had extended their deadly hand to Yoo Byunghwan, disguising it as a traffic accident with an unknown vehicle and driver.

So, provoking their temper would only be disadvantageous for Yoo Junghwa in every way.

Moreover, it was already done, she didn’t regret it, and if she just gave them more money, the matter would be neatly concluded in the direction she wanted. What fool would abandon a nearly completed job just to save a few pennies? Especially considering how much money had been spent so far.

“Fine, I’ll give you more. But not right away. I’ll give it to you only after you cleanly finish this job. I’m not someone who does things at a loss either.”

Junghwa lowered her voice a notch to speak about this covert matter.

-If you can’t trust us, I have no choice. You’re saying we can just let the child and the two women go, right?

“Hey! Is this the first time I’ve dealt with you guys? Stop talking nonsense and bring Eom Soyeon to the villa! Keep the child and the white woman at your hideout! That’s what you promised me when you took the money!”

-Oh, come on… Well, if I concede a hundred times, bring the money when you meet Eom Soyeon. The more the better, but I should receive at least as much as I gave you yesterday.

“Alright, alright! I’ll give it to you later at the villa! You filthy bastard!

Junghwa had sweet-talked Han Seungjae into lending her his villa.

It was close to Seoul and surrounded by high walls, so whatever happened inside could never be known outside. Moreover, since Executive Han had willingly provided the place, there would be no problems at all.

-Let’s do that. Hehehe…

With her eardrum feeling like it was rotting from the eerie laughter, Junghwa quickly hung up the phone and drove off in that direction.

Throughout the drive, Junghwa smiled sharply with her lips pulled up high.

The man who had not only deceived her but abandoned her for another woman. The man who had thoroughly ignored even her wishes. The man who had caused her entire life to tumble down. She was determined to pay him back for everything she had received from him.

Because the dream of revenge she had longed for so desperately was about to become reality.

Because she would soon see Tae Seojun weeping tears of blood while beating the ground.

The first things to greet Yoo Junghwa when she arrived at Han Seungjae’s villa were the pitch-black darkness and the light leaking from the building.

It was utterly quiet, but Junghwa quickly scanned the place where a breathless development would soon unfold and entered the interior without taking off her shoes.

Making clicking sounds as she walked to the end of the corridor, Junghwa made eye contact with two men standing at the entrance of the reception room and handed over the bag containing the money. It was the money she had said she would give to the boss.

After the two men confirmed the amount, Junghwa moved inside with them and lowered herself onto the large sofa, directly facing Eom Soyeon sitting opposite her.

“Seeing you like this is unexpectedly pleasant.”

“…”

Reddened eyelids, powerless brown eyes touched on Yoo Junghwa’s features. And soon, Soyeon’s gaze, becoming clear, glared at Junghwa as sharply as a whetted knife.