Chapter 19

The morning light had barely touched the tall windows of the Seo estate when Madam Seo found it—an unmarked envelope, slipped under her study door. Its edges were crisp, the ink smudged as if written in haste. She opened it slowly, her heartbeat steady despite the chill crawling up her spine.

Inside was a single sentence typed in bold:

"What if the world finds out about the other twin?"

There was no name. No signature. Just silence—cold and threatening.

She stared at the words for a long time, her fingers tightening around the paper.

So someone knew.

Her secrets, buried deep for twenty years, were beginning to surface. No matter how far she had gone to erase that child's existence, it hadn't been enough.

She pressed the intercom button on her desk. "Double security. No one enters or leaves this estate without clearance."

"Yes, Madam Seo," came the answer.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She had to think fast. If this spread to the media, her carefully crafted image—and Hara's future—would collapse.

She called her daughter immediately.

Hara's voice was clipped when she answered. "Yes, Mother?"

"Someone knows," Madam Seo said coldly. "And they're not bluffing. You need to be careful. One wrong step—one moment of emotion—and everything will fall apart. Is that understood?"

Hara scoffed quietly. "You mean, don't let Hena ruin everything?"

"I mean control yourself," Madam Seo snapped. "Don't let sympathy make you soft. That girl is a ghost. She should've stayed buried."

Hara didn't reply. Her hand tightened around her phone.

---

Across town, Hena sat on a bench near the Han River, her arms wrapped around her knees. The wind tugged gently at her hair, and a folded bracelet lay beside her on the seat—her only clue to a life she never knew she had.

She watched the water drift lazily beneath the bridge, but her mind was anything but calm.

"Why does she hate me?" she whispered.

There had been no warmth in Hara's eyes. No curiosity. No wonder. Only fury. As if Hena's mere existence was a threat.

"She's my sister," Hena said to herself. "We shared a womb… a beginning. Doesn't that mean anything?"

She didn't want a fight. She didn't want her sister's place, her life, or her status. She just wanted to know why—why her life had been stolen, why she had been abandoned, and why her own twin acted like she was nothing but a mistake.

Or was it about Damian?

Her heart twisted a little. She couldn't deny that he made her feel seen… understood. But she wasn't trying to steal him. She didn't even know what to do with the strange warmth in her chest when he looked at her.

"I just want peace," she murmured. "Even if I never get answers, can't we… be sisters?"

But some things ran deeper than shared blood.

She stood up slowly, brushing the dust from her coat. If Hara wouldn't come to her, she'd go to her.

---

Hara was in the middle of a dress fitting when Hena arrived at the estate gates. The guards hesitated, recognizing her face.

"I… I'm here to see Hara," Hena said quietly. "I won't stay long."

After a whispered phone call, one of them finally led her to the rose garden where Hara waited in a sleek cream dress, arms folded tightly.

As Hena approached, she noticed the tension in her sister's posture. Hara turned slowly, her expression unreadable.

"I came to talk," Hena said gently. "Not fight."

Hara's lips twitched bitterly. "You think this is a conversation? After everything you've done?"

"I haven't done anything," Hena said, her voice trembling. "I didn't ask for any of this. I just… want to understand. Don't you?"

Hara's gaze darkened. "Understand? You show up out of nowhere, with my face, and suddenly everyone's looking at you. Damian… my mother… the press. You've turned my life upside down."

"I didn't mean to," Hena whispered. "I'm not trying to take your place, Hara. I just wanted to find where I came from."

Hara's eyes shimmered, but her jaw was clenched. "You don't belong here. You don't know what this family is like. What it cost to be me."

"I'm not your enemy," Hena said. "We're sisters."

"No," Hara snapped. "We're strangers. And I plan to keep it that way."

The words struck Hena like ice.

A long silence settled between them.

Then, without warning, Hara turned and walked away, heels clicking sharply against the stone path.

Hena stood still, her heart hollow.

She had reached out. And now, she knew for certain—Hara had no intention of reaching back.

---

That night, Madam Seo poured herself a glass of wine as her phone buzzed again. Another message.

This time, it was a photo.

The picture of Hena and Hara—standing face to face in the rose garden.

Below it: "Tick tock."

---

Meanwhile, at Damian's penthouse, he sat in his study, staring at the old photograph again. Two babies. One fate. Two lives divided by lies.

His phone buzzed with a message from one of his investigators.

"The blackmail is real. And it's not just about the twins. There's more."

Damian leaned back, frowning.

Whatever the Seo family was hiding—it was about to come crashing into the light.

And he would be ready.