POV JAEHYUN
There was a kind of silence that only existed in the early hours of the morning, a silence that was not empty, but filled with the things we didn't dare say in the light of day. In the safety of our wing of the mansion, the chaos of the day-Hayami's revelation, Chaerin's fury, Taehoon's shadow-felt like it belonged to another life.
I was sitting on the sofa in the private room of our suite, with an untouched glass of cognac and my gaze fixed on the unlit fireplace. But my ears were tuned to a single sound: the rhythmic clicking coming from Nabi's room.
She was writing. She was finishing that chapter that promised to bring down her father's empire.
I got up and walked to her door, which was ajar. I paused in the doorway, watching her. Nabi was sitting at her desk, wrapped in one of my silk robes that was immensely oversized on her, her hair pulled back in a messy bun, and wearing reading glasses I had never seen her wear before. She looked... ethereal. And for the first time, I felt a tug at my chest that had nothing to do with protection and everything to do with possession.
She paused, as if sensing my gaze, and turned her chair around.
"Can't sleep?" she asked softly.
"It's hard to sleep when I know my wife is plotting to change the world in the next room," I replied, walking in and leaning on the edge of her desk.
She smiled, a tired but genuine smile. She closed her laptop and took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.
"It's done. The file is encrypted and set to be released at eight in the morning, just before the press conference. There's no turning back, Jaehyun."
I looked at her hands. They were calm. They weren't shaking anymore. The revelation of her secret identity seemed to have lifted a weight that had been suffocating her. I moved closer, invading her personal space, and reached out to untie the bow in her hair. The dark strands fell over her shoulders like a cascade of silk.
"You're a dangerous woman, Nabi Kwon," I whispered.
"Do I scare you?" she challenged, looking up at me.
"You fascinate me," I corrected. My fingers traced the line of her jaw, slowly moving down her neck until my thumb rested on the rapid pulse of her throat. "For years, I thought the women of our world were like paintings in a gallery: beautiful, expensive, and static. But you...you're a forest fire disguised as a breeze."
Nabi stood up, coming within inches of me. The scent of her perfume, a mixture of jasmine and something metallic that reminded me of new paper, intoxicated me. She didn't back away. Instead, she placed her hands on my chest, just above my heart.
"Your heart is beating very fast, Jaehyun," she said, with a note of surprise in her voice.
"It's your fault," I admitted with an honesty that surprised even me.
I realized in that moment, under the dim light of the desk lamp, that I was falling. I, the man who analyzed every risk, who never invested without a guaranteed return, was surrendering my will to a woman the world called "broken." But as I looked at her, I saw nothing broken. I saw a kintsugi strength; she was held together by gold, and her scars only made her more valuable in my eyes.
I leaned in and sought her lips. It was a slow, exploratory kiss, charged with a chemistry we had been ignoring since our wedding night. She responded with an urgency that set my blood on fire. Her hands moved up to the back of my neck, tangling in my hair, as I pulled her toward me, pressing her body against mine until there was no room for air between us.
In that kiss, I told her everything I didn't know how to put into words. I told her I admired her mind, that I revered her courage, and that I was beginning to love every one of her shadows.
When we separated, we were both panting. Her lips were red and her eyes shone with an intensity that made me want to take her to bed and close the door to the rest of the world forever.
"Jaehyun..." she whispered, resting her forehead on my shoulder. "I'm scared. Not for what might happen to me, but for what might happen to you because of me. Taehoon doesn't play fair. If he loses his money because of my book..."
"Let him try," I cut her off, cupping her face in my hands. "Tomorrow, when that chapter comes out, you'll be the most protected woman in Asia. I've moved my assets, I've reinforced security for your brothers and Suhee. You're not a pawn on my board, Nabi. You're the queen. And the king always falls before he lets anyone touch his queen."
She let out a small, moist laugh.
"Do you realize you sound like one of my characters?"
"Maybe I'm catching your literature bug," I smiled, kissing her forehead. "Or maybe it's because, for the first time, I have something truly worth fighting for."
I took her hand and led her to the large window overlooking the Moon family's gardens. Outside, the city of Seoul sparkled with millions of lights, unaware of the storm that was about to break.
"Tomorrow everything will change," she said, looking at the horizon. "There will be no turning back for my father, or for Mrs. Shin."
"I know. And after the dust settles, I want us to do something," I said, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind and resting my chin on her shoulder.
"What?"
"I want to take you to Italy. Away from the companies, the paparazzi, and the pills you take just to please your father. I want you to write your next book by the sea, and I want to discover who Nabi is when she doesn't have to hide from anyone."
Nabi turned in my arms, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes that made me promise myself I would move heaven and earth to fulfill that wish.
"I'd like that. Very much."
We stayed like that, embracing in the silence of the early morning. It was the purest moment I had experienced in my thirty years. There were no contracts, no conveniences, no inheritances. We were just two scared and determined people, finding refuge in each other.
I realized I was falling in love. Not with the heiress, not even with the famous Hayami, but with the girl who cut herself to silence her screams and still found the strength to save her brothers. She was my painful truth, and I had never wanted anything so much in my life.
But as I held her close, a dark premonition came over me. I knew that Taehoon and Mrs. Shin would not sit idly by. We had won the battle at the university, but the final war would be at dawn.
"Get some sleep, Nabi," I asked, giving her one last kiss on the forehead. "I'll stay here. I won't let anything enter this room except sunlight."
She nodded and got into bed, watching me until her eyes closed from exhaustion. I sat down in the armchair next to her, my tablet in my hand and my gun hidden in the desk drawer.
I watched over her sleep as if it were the most fragile and powerful treasure in the universe. The clock struck four in the morning. Four hours until the world knew Hayami's truth. Four hours of peace before all hell broke loose.
And as I watched her sleep, I swore that, no matter what happened at the press conference, I would be the happy ending she always wanted to write but never dared to believe existed.