While Ha Ye-Jung was gathering her belongings, preparing to leave, her phone buzzed sharply against the cquered wood of her desk. She barely had time to g the s before it vibrated again. Then again. And again.

  Her brows furrowed. Calls from her assistant, multiple shareholders—her stomach twisted at the sheer number of missed calls flooding in. Something was wrong.

  'What in God’s name happened?' she thought, snatg up the phone and answering the most ret call from her assistant.

  “Yes, Gdice?” she said, her tone clipped but trolled.

  The voi the other end came fast, breathless. “Ms. Ha—someone just bought your entire pany.”

  The words smmed into her like a physical blow. She straightened, gripping the phoighter. “What?” Her voice barely rose above a whisper. “That’s not possible. I didn’t agree to anything.”

  “I know,” Gdice rushed on. “But they still bought it. And not just the pany—your assets too. Your house, your cars... everything.”

  Ha Ye-Jung’s fiightened around the phoil her knuckles turned white. A cold sensation, something like dread but sharper, slithered through her veins.

  She had built her pany from the ground up, iated every deal, secured every tract with blood, sweat, and sleepless nights. She had full trol. No o a single person—should have been able to take that away from her without her sent.

  “Gdice, that doesn’t make any sense,” she said, her voice sharper now. “Who the hell could just buy everything I own?”

  Silence. A hesitation, small but noticeable.

  Then Gdice exhaled shakily. “The name on all the transas is Travis Bckthorn.”

  For a moment, there was nothing. No sound, no movement—just the deafening roar of silen her head.

  And then it hit her.

  Travis Bckthorn.

  The name coiled around her like a noose, squeezing the breath from her lungs. Her pulse hammered against her ribs, her grip tightening around the phone as something dark and furious bloomed inside her.

  Her phone buzzed again in her hand. Another call.

  Unknown number.

  Her lips pressed into a thin line, her chest rising and falling in unevehs.

  With deliberate slowness, she answered.

  "Ha Ye-Jung," the voi the other end was smooth, trolled, and painfully familiar.

  "Yo," Travis said, a zy amusement ced in his tone. "We o talk. e downstairs. I'm waiting in your car."

  She came down to the bottom floor, pushing through the restaurant doors in a hurry. The cool night air hit her face as she stepped outside, her eyes immediately log onto her car parked across the street.

  Ha Ye-Jung wasted no time, crossing quickly and slipping into the passenger seat, her heartbeat still rag from everything that had just happened.

  "You've got so much expining to do," she surning toward Travis, who was casually iing the interior of the car as if he had all the time in the world.

  He ran his hand along the dashboard, nodding in approval. "Nice car. You ade this, right? Good thing it's mine now." He smirked, shifting the gear. "Well, let's go for a drive."

  Before she could protest, he smmed his foot on the pedal, and the car shot forward, tires screeg against the asphalt.

  Ha Ye-Jung barely had time to grab her seatbelt, clig it into pce as the city lights blurred past them. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of her seat, her stomach lurg with every reckless swerve. Travis maneuvered through traffic like he had a death wish, cuttiween cars with io spare.

  "Are you insane?!" she shouted, but he didn't seem to hear—or maybe he just didn't care. He ran red light after red light, speeding down the roads as if he owhem.

  Luckily, there weren’t any cops in sight, though she was sure he’d racked up a dozen traffic viotions in just a few minutes. Not that he seemed ed.

  When they finally stopped at a red light, he exhaled sharply, gripping the steering wheel. 'That was fun,' he thought, his lips curving into an amused smirk.

  "So," he said, gng at her. "What was your question again?"

  Ha Ye-Jung didn’t answer right away, still too busy trying to slow her breathing and vince herself she wasn’t about to die in a fiery crash.

  Travis chuckled, finally easing off the reckless driving. The car moved more smoothly now, cruising along the highway as the tension in the air settled.

  She finally turo face him, her voice firm. "Who are you, Travis? You bought my multimillion-dolr corporation without hesitation, and even worse—you bought all my assets as well."

  He gave her an easy smile, keeping his eyes on the road. "Well, I’m nothing special. Just a yourepreneur, I guess."

  "Don’t lie to me," she shot back. "Who's bag you? A sheikh? I know a few myself. So do what’s right aurhing bae."

  Travis smiled as he turoward her, his expression unreadable. "I will... if you do something for me," he said, his tone casual, but there was a sharp edge beh it.

  Ha Ye-Jung narrowed her eyes, wary of where this was going. "Oh, is it about the shop? If that's what you want, then sure. I'll give it to you."

  Travis let out a low chuckle and shook his head. "No, it's not that."

  Without another word, he flicked on the left indicator and smoothly pulled the car to the side of the road. The soft hum of the engine faded as he shifted into ral and unbuckled his seatbelt.

  Theuro her fully, his gaze dark and unwavering. "I want you to suck it."

  The words hung in the air like a sudden drop in temperature.

  "Wait, what?" Ha Ye-Jung’s eyes widened, her body stiffening as she processed what he had just said.

  Travis leaned back, watg her rea with amusement, his fingers zily tapping against the steering wheel.

  —

  Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Nam Juho had finally succeeded in kig out his so-called friends—the ones who had an annoying habit of using his apartment as their personal hookup spot. He let out a satisfied sigh as he sank into the chair on his baly, the cool night air a wele ge from the stifling energy inside.

  The city lights twinkled below, but his gaze was drawn to the few visible stars above.

  'Travis hasn’t returned. Guess we’ll have that drink some other time,' he thought, exhaling as he leaned back against the chair.

  Just as he was beginning to enjoy the peace, a sudden kno his door shattered the silence.

  He groaned, rubbing his face before dragging himself up. 'Who the hell is it now?'

  Opening the door, he found himself face-to-face with Yeo Juyeon.

  He bliaken aback, though he shouldn’t have been. She had a habit of showing up unannounced. She and Nam Juho had history—long enough that knog was merely a formality before she iably let herself in.

  She stepped ihout waiting for permission, her expression exasperated.

  "You know," she began, crossing her arms, "I don’t care if you like watg porn, but please buy headphones or somethin."

  Juho’s jaw dropped. "I wasn’t watg porn!!" he shouted, pletely indignant.

  TO BE TINUED