LOGIN[Hannah]Emma froze at the question. She looked startled, glanced at Kevin Liu, then looked back at Hannah."W-What do you mean?"Hannah repeated herself. "Do you feel guilty toward me?""I don't understand why I should feel guilty toward you." Emma forced herself to laugh. Maybe she meant to ease the tension, but the laugh that came out sounded anything but pleasant."So you don't feel guilty?""Have I done something wrong to you?"Hannah clenched her fist. But Kevin quickly reached over and took her hand. The moment he held it, Hannah's anger melted away. Unfortunately, so did her concentration. Her mind was suddenly filled with awkwardness, and her heart pounded wildly.At this rate, she wouldn't be able to confront Emma properly."Kevin, don't interfere," she whispered softly as she carefully slipped her hand free from his. "It's okay. I won't lose control.""But your face is really red."It wasn't because she was angry. It was because Kevin had held her hand."It's okay. I got th
[Hannah]"I didn't expect you to actually call Mr. Lee and confess."Kevin looked at her with a hint of respect on his face as Hannah ended the call. The way he looked at her made Hannah feel a little self-conscious."You're the one who told me to, remember? This is for my own peace of mind. I'd feel guilty working at his company while secretly hiding the fact that my younger brother is the criminal who attacked them," Hannah said, feeling oddly cool. "Even though what Ethan did has nothing to do with me, as his older sister, I still feel some responsibility. Maybe I failed to raise him properly.""Raising your younger brother wasn't your responsibility. That should've been your parents'.""Well, we're orphans, so..." Hannah shrugged. "Now I'm wondering if all those times I beat him up whenever he caused trouble as a kid somehow knocked his brain out of place."Kevin shuddered."What a weird family.""You don't have a younger brother. You wouldn't understand. They're half monsters." H
[Maria]I said those unbelievable words with such a calm expression, making it clear that I wasn't being forced or speaking on impulse."What?" Father's expression changed. The man who had always been so proud of himself suddenly looked pale, like someone who had just realized he'd lost."Good," Linda sneered arrogantly. "At least you know your place. A mistress's daughter like you was never worthy of it anyway."Now that I already knew the truth, her words made my blood boil. Not because of what she said about me, but because she was insulting Mother. My mother, who had done nothing wrong and had simply been a victim of her own husband's actions."Are you serious about this? Think it through carefully before you make such a foolish
[Hannah]"That woman is seriously weird," Hannah said as she stood by the door.Kevin didn't protest or even ask why she'd come back to his apartment instead of going home. He simply opened the door for her and let her in as though she owned the place."So, how much do you need to borrow?"Hannah shook her head. She walked over and dropped onto the couch."I don't have to pay a single cent, even though my penalty was around two hundred thousand dollars."“Two hundred thousand?” Kevin furrowed his brow. "Are you sure that was an employment contract? Aren’t you being scammed?""If it were a scam, shouldn't she be forcing me to pay?"Kevin shrugged."Well then, I guess everything's settled now. You don't have to leave RQL anymore, right?""I’ll think about it later. Right now, at the very least, I want to return my signing bonus. It’s around five thousand dollars." Hannah figured that if her penalty had been waived, she at least wanted to terminate the contract according to the rules."S
[Maria]I simply smiled while Hannah Barker stared at me in disbelief. Just yesterday, I probably wouldn't have believed I'd be doing what I was doing today."But why?" she asked again."You've worked for a while, haven't you? It's only right that you get paid. Just think of half of the signing bonus as your payment. Not that much, but to be fair, you didn't do much either.""You won't change your mind? You're sure?"I shook my head before taking a sip of the Americano that had just arrived."We can take care of the termination later. You can draft it, and I'll sign it afterward." I glanced at my watch. "I have somewhere I need to be."
[Hannah]Hannah murmured the name of the person standing before her. "Maria."She hurriedly straightened the contract pages. She was honestly surprised that Maria had arrived so quickly. Hannah had deliberately chosen a café close to her house so she would have plenty of time to wait. She hadn't even reached the section about penalties or breach of contract yet.A waiter approached them to take their order."One Americano," Hannah said."The same." Maria turned to the waiter with a smile.Maria decided almost instantly without looking at the menu. As though she didn't want to waste time choosing a drink. Maybe she was that eager to talk."So, what did you want to tell me?"Hannah swallowed hard.She had already made up her mind to back out and terminate the contract, but since she hadn't found the clause about breach of contract yet, she couldn't bring herself to say it outright.What if the penalty was several times the amount she'd been paid? Was she supposed to sell her house and e
[Maria]“I guess since everything’s clear now, I’ll head home. I need to rest after the trip.”“Sure.&r
[Cecilia]The house had been noisy since early morning. There were the clatter of cooks preparing dishes, gardeners arranging orchids by the entrance, and maids who usually cleaned the house in silence. They were always busy when important days like this rolled around.The Wang family were used to a
[Hannah]'KEEP SMILING AT CUSTOMERS EVEN IF YOUR LIPS ARE PARALYZED'That’s this bakery’s crazy motto. For some reason, the owner is confident enough to come up with a slogan like that while the employees are paid barely enough to get by.Hannah shook her head to shake off the drowsiness. She arrive
[Maria]Damian Lee possessed a trinity of pleasure he could never exhaust: money, liquor, and women.All three were intoxicating, but Damian Lee was a master of control. He knew how to start the fun, as well as how to stop. And this club used to be his den.Maybe it was because this was one of the







