Three days later, the "Cafe Owner" persona was tucked away in a drawer. Areum stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror in her childhood bedroom—a suite that took up half a wing of a mansion overlooking the Han River.

Her father wasn't just a businessman; he was the Chairman of Aura Group, the conglomerate that owned everything from luxury malls to the very land her "humble" cafe sat on.

"You look like a CEO's daughter today," her father said, entering the room. He beamed with pride as he looked at her dress, but his eyes kept darting to her hands—hands he knew had been stained with espresso grounds and burnt by milk steamers while he had been waiting for her to go bankrupt.

He still remembered how he wanted her to take over his business, but she had other plans. They fought; he asked her to leave because he knew she would crawl back once she was proven wrong by her stubbornness. But she proved him wrong instead. 

The realisation had aged him more than any corporate merger; it was why, six months ago, he had been the one to walk into her cafe at closing time, looking small in a designer suit, asking for a cup of coffee just to hear her voice. He let go of his ego and asked her to return his daughter back to him.

"That's because I am a famous CEO's daughter, Mister Park," Areum teased.

The Chairman let out a laugh—not his "press conference" chuckle, but a messy, relieved sound that broke the tension. He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. It was a clumsy, heavy embrace, the kind given by a man who was used to giving orders but had forgotten how to just be a dad. He held on a second too long, his shoulders finally dropping, as if he were finally sure she wasn't going to disappear again.

The party was a sea of Seoul's elite. In the corner, her mother was talking to a young man with a striking, soulful face—Kim Taehyung.

"Areum, darling! Come meet Taehyung. He's the face of our new Spring campaign. He's a bit of a 'struggling artist,' but so talented," her mother whispered.

Areum smiled politely and talked a bit. He was a good man, but not who she wanted. She excused herself after ten minutes and approached her mother, who was fondly looking at them.

"I'm not interested, Mum. He has 'him' written all over his face," Areum snapped, her mind flashing back to her younger sister, Sumin. Sumin had wasted three years of her life on a model just like him—a boy who took her heart and her money, then left her for a Paris contract without looking back. Sumin hadn't left her room for months after that. Areum couldn't look at Taehyung without seeing the ghost of her sister's tears.

Her mother sighed but didn't say anything.

As Areum moved through the crowd, she saw a familiar silhouette. Broad shoulders, a black suit, and an expression that looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. It was him. He looked miserable, his jaw set in a line that suggested he was mentally counting the minutes until he could leave.

Beside him stood a man who was clearly his father, a mirror image of the son but with the edges softened by decades of corporate handshakes. He was chatting with Areum's father with an easy, practised warmth.

As Areum approached, the two most powerful men in the room paused their conversation. Chairman Park's hand instinctively reached out, settling on Areum's shoulder.

"Ah, Areum," her father beamed, turning to the older man beside him. "Old friend, you remember my daughter. The one I told you was far too busy for my board meetings."

Meanwhile, Areum was too shocked to pay attention to what her father had to say.

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Did you see this coming? 

The Queen of surprises aka your author is back with her surprises.