chapter 2 episode 4
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CHAPTER 2
EPISODE 4: THE MAN I MARRIED, THE ENEMY I FEARED
Celine stared at the message on her phone.
YOUR FATHER IS ALIVE. BUT IF YOU WANT TO SEE HIM AGAIN, STOP TRUSTING GEORGE WILLIAMS.
Her fingers trembled.
For years, she had believed her father was gone. Now, someone was telling her that the man she had mourned might still be alive.
And the person she had been warned against was her own husband.
George.
"Let me see that."
George reached for her phone, but Celine pulled it against her chest.
"No."
His expression hardened. "Celine, we're dealing with someone who knows your family's secrets. You can't keep things from me."
She gave a bitter laugh.
"That's interesting coming from you."
"Celine—"
"How long have you known?"
"Known what?"
"That my father might be alive? That your family had something to do with his disappearance? That your mother visited him before everything fell apart?"
George went completely still.
The silence that followed frightened her more than any answer could have.
"You do know something," she whispered.
George looked away.
And that was all the confirmation she needed.
"You knew."
"I knew there were unanswered questions about what happened twenty years ago," he admitted. "I didn't know your father was alive."
"But you knew enough to keep me in the dark."
"I was trying to protect you."
"Stop saying that!"
Her voice echoed through the empty storage facility.
"Everyone keeps claiming they're protecting me while hiding the truth from me. My mother disappeared. My father was accused of destroying his own life. And somehow, your family is connected to all of it!"
George stepped closer.
"Celine, listen to me. Whatever happened between our families, I had nothing to do with it."
"How am I supposed to believe you?"
He opened his mouth but said nothing.
She looked down at the pendant her mother had left behind. It was an old silver pendant with a tiny engraving on the back.
A date.
Twenty years earlier.
Celine rubbed the engraving with her thumb.
Then she remembered something her father used to tell her when she was little.
When people with power are afraid of the truth, they bury it beneath money and lies.
She looked up at George.
"Take me home."
"Home?"
"Your house. Your mother's house. Wherever your family keeps its secrets."
George frowned. "You need to rest."
"I don't need rest. I need answers."
For several seconds, he studied her face. Then he nodded.
"All right. But you stay beside me. Whoever sent that message may be watching us."
Celine walked past him without answering.
She no longer knew whether George was her protector or the most dangerous person in her life.
But she intended to find out.
THE WILLIAMS MANSION
Madam Williams was seated in the drawing room when George and Celine arrived.
She lifted her teacup, looking perfectly composed.
Until she saw the pendant around Celine's neck.
The cup slipped from her fingers and shattered against the marble floor.
George stared at his mother.
"What's wrong?"
Madam Williams didn't answer.
Her eyes remained fixed on Celine's pendant.
"Where did you get that?"
Celine touched it instinctively.
"My mother gave it to me."
For the first time since Celine had known her, Madam Williams looked genuinely afraid.
"Your mother is dead," she whispered.
Celine's heart pounded.
"Then why are you frightened of something she left behind?"
Madam Williams rose abruptly.
"George, take your wife upstairs."
"No," Celine said. "I'm staying right here."
George moved between them.
"Mother, what does that pendant mean?"
Madam Williams looked at her son as though he had asked a question that could destroy them all.
"You should never have married her."
George's face darkened.
"What?"
"That girl was never supposed to become part of this family."
Celine felt the room tilt around her.
"Why?"
Madam Williams pressed a hand against her chest.
"Because your father made a deal with my husband twenty years ago. A deal that should have remained buried forever."
George stared at her.
"What deal?"
Before his mother could respond, a voice came from the doorway.
"A deal your family broke."
Everyone turned.
An elderly man stood there, leaning heavily on a walking stick. His grey hair was neatly combed, and his expensive suit hung loosely on his thin frame.
George recognized him immediately.
"Uncle Richard?"
Richard Williams was his late father's younger brother. He had spent years abroad and rarely returned to Seoul.
"What are you doing here?"
Richard ignored him.
He looked directly at Celine.
For a long moment, he studied her face.
Then his expression crumbled.
"You have your mother's eyes," he murmured.
Celine stepped forward.
"You knew my mother?"
Richard nodded slowly.
"I knew both your parents. And I know what really happened the night your father disappeared."
Madam Williams rushed toward him.
"Richard, don't!"
He turned on her.
"Twenty years of silence is enough, Elena!"
George stared between them.
"Someone had better explain what's happening in my house."
Richard reached inside his jacket and removed a folded photograph.
He placed it on the table.
Celine picked it up.
The picture showed three people standing outside a hospital: her father, her mother, and a much younger Madam Williams.
But it wasn't the hospital that made Celine's breath catch.
It was the baby in her mother's arms.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written a single sentence.
THE CHILD WHO DISAPPEARED WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO SURVIVE.
Celine looked up, her face pale.
"What child?"
Nobody answered.
Then Richard spoke.
"Your mother gave birth to twins, Celine."
Her knees nearly buckled.
"Twins?"
George caught her arm before she fell.
Richard nodded.
"One child remained with your parents. The other vanished that same night. Your father was blamed, your mother disappeared, and the Williams family made certain nobody asked questions."
Celine stared at the photograph.
All her life, she had believed she was an only child.
Now she was being told that somewhere in the world, she might have a twin.
"Where is the other child?" she whispered.
Richard's gaze shifted toward George.
And suddenly, George looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"Uncle," he said slowly, "what are you trying to tell us?"
Richard closed his eyes.
"The other child may be closer to you than you think."
Before anyone could speak, George's phone rang.
He answered.
A man's frantic voice came through the speaker.
"Sir, there's been a security breach at the company archives."
George straightened.
"What was taken?"
"The old family records. Someone broke into the restricted section."
George's eyes moved toward the photograph.
"Anything else?"
The man hesitated.
"Yes, sir. They left a message specifically for you."
"What message?"
A pause.
Then the voice replied:
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO REALLY GAVE YOU YOUR NAME.
George slowly lowered the phone.
Celine looked at him.
"George?"
He didn't answer.
For the first time, she saw something in her husband's eyes she had never seen before.
Not anger.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
Because whatever secret his family had buried twenty years ago, it might not only explain Celine's past.
It might mean George had spent his entire life believing a lie about his own identity.
And somewhere outside the mansion, a watcher sent one final message to an unknown number.
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