1. Six Months of Ice
Six months had passed since the boardroom coup, and Chairman Kim Taehyung had solidified his rule. The cold, aloof hero had become a corporate legend. Taewon Group's stock was soaring, driven by Taehyung's ruthless restructuring and impeccable decision-making. The soft-hearted vulnerability was a ghost he had successfully exorcised from the public eye.
He now occupied the 80th-floor suite not just physically, but spiritually. His days were a precise calibration of risk and reward, his nights spent alone, staring out at the city lights—a cold landscape that mirrored his soul. He had succeeded in building the impregnable fortress, but he was the only prisoner inside.
One late evening, while signing documents, Taehyung paused. His gaze fell upon a minute scratch on the mahogany desk—a small, barely visible imperfection near where Ha-eun's final belongings had been placed. The past was not destroyed; it was merely buried beneath expensive polish.
His solitude was interrupted by his new Head of Security, who looked unusually tense.
"Chairman, we've found something concerning. A file was anonymously delivered to the Seoul District Prosecutor's Office."
"A file on what?" Taehyung asked, his voice flat, instantly shifting to the calculating mode.
"It's a comprehensive dossier detailing Mr. Park's actual financial records—proving he was solvent, not in distress. And more critically, a detailed analysis of the two falls, suggesting the police investigation was incomplete, Chairman. It claims you are the only one who truly benefited from the timing of both deaths."
II. The New Architect
Taehyung stood, walking to the window. The new move was audacious, highly calculated, and far too clean to be a standard corporate attack. This wasn't about money; it was about justice.
"Who is behind this?" Taehyung demanded.
"The file came attached with a single business card," the Head of Security admitted. "The name is Joo Yeong-ho. He's a former investigative journalist who disappeared five years ago after reporting on your father's business ethics. He was close to Mr. Park."
Taehyung felt a surge of cold fury mixed with reluctant respect. Yeong-ho wasn't interested in the throne; he was interested in the truth—a far more dangerous weapon.
That afternoon, a heavily encrypted message appeared on Taehyung's personal, untraceable phone.
FROM: J.Y.H.
SUBJECT: The Vow
Chairman Kim. The world believes you exposed the murderer. I know you merely destroyed the evidence that implicated the true legacy of the Architects.
I saw the paper cut on Bae Ha-eun's neck when she was six. The blood stained the promise, not the truth. The question isn't whether Seok-jin killed her, but what did your father promise the mistress? And how much blood are you willing to spill to keep his secrets buried?
III. The Weight of the Vow
The message struck Taehyung deeper than any falling stock price could. The memory of the paper cut, the crimson stain—a mark only he and Ha-eun knew about—was now known to a third party. Yeong-ho wasn't just investigating; he was peeling back the layers of the past, linking the original harami actions of Taehyung's father (the mistress/step-family situation) directly to the present carnage.
Taehyung crushed the phone in his hand, the metal groaning under his strength. The truth was, his father had secretly promised Ha-eun's mother wealth and power—the very promise that led her to push Ha-eun into the chairmanship, setting the stage for Seok-jin's desperate, murderous final act.
He sat back in the Chairman's seat, the light catching the sharp edges of his jaw. The quiet, kind boy was entirely gone. He had thought the broken vow was the end of the tragedy, but it was only the beginning of the consequences.
Taehyung now had a choice: revert to the vulnerable, kind man and let the truth expose his father's sins, or embrace the complete ruthlessness of the new Chairman and eliminate the threat.
The legacy of the Broken Vow demanded a final, terrifying architect.
"Get me everything on Joo Yeong-ho," Taehyung commanded his security chief, his voice a low, chilling whisper. "I want him found. And I want the media to find something else—something that will silence him forever."
The Architect of the Broken Vow would fight to keep the past buried, even if it meant becoming the true monster of the story.
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