Love Under Contract

Chapter 12: The Secret Garden Incident

“You’ve got thirty seconds to get your adorable engineer butt into this car before I start playing early 2000s boybands at full volume,” Austin declared, leaning against his cherry-red coupe with enough dramatic flair to embarrass Broadway.

Sophia stared at him, arms crossed. “We work together. We live in a corporate scandal. You do realize the media is foaming at the mouth to catch me in a compromising position, right?”

Austin popped his sunglasses onto his head. “Lunch, darling, not a proposal. Unless you’re planning to feed me something scandalous, like a second dessert.”

“…You’re impossible.”

“And hungry.”

With a sigh of defeat and a faint smile, she slid into the passenger seat.

As the car pulled away from the estate, someone watching from the second-floor window narrowed his eyes.

Ethan Kang didn’t appreciate the way Austin Min grinned like a man on a date.

***

At the Café

The hum of espresso machines and soft acoustic music made the small café feel like a world away from the Kang Estate.

“Alright,” Austin said, swirling the foam of his latte, “time for honesty hour.”

Sophia raised an eyebrow. “About?”

“The enzyme stabilizer prototype,” he began with mock seriousness. “Still reacting to temperature shifts?”

Her lips twitched. “I restructured the polymer binder. It’s more stable now. Still need to run tests after heat exposure.”

He nodded approvingly. “You still speak nerd. That’s comforting.”

Then, quietly, “And you? Are you stable?”

She looked down at her salad. “You’re not talking about polymers anymore, are you?”

“Nope.”

She sighed. “I don’t know, Austin. I keep pretending I’m okay. But I wake up wondering if I belong. Ethan’s... complex. The estate’s like a palace built on glass. And Mrs. Kang—she’s kind, but it’s hard not to feel like I’m an outsider borrowing a place that was never meant for me.”

Austin leaned forward. “Soph, you’re not a guest in your own life. You’ve earned more than people give you credit for. You’ve earned this—even if you don’t see it yet.”

Her voice wavered. “Do you think he—Ethan—sees me? Or am I just fulfilling a clause in his late father’s will?”

Austin gave a one-shoulder shrug. “He sees you. That’s the problem. He doesn’t know what to do with what he sees.”

She laughed softly. “And you? What do you see?”

“I see a woman who’s stronger than she knows. And someone who deserves more than just survival.”

Her smile was a little more real this time.

***

Back at the Kang Estate

Sophia wandered the gardens, the sun warm on her back. She followed the scent of lavender and something earthier, familiar—like dried leaves in an old book.

Tucked behind a wall of ivy, she found a narrow archway.

She stepped through.

The secret garden felt like a painting: wild roses, rosemary hedges, a gnarled tree casting lace-like shadows. At the center, Mrs. Kang knelt beside a row of basil.

“Oh—I didn’t know anyone came here,” Sophia said quickly.

Mrs. Kang looked up and offered a rare, warm smile. “Then I’ve hidden it well.”

Sophia approached slowly. “It’s beautiful.”

“My husband built it for me when Ethan was born. I come here when I need to remember who I am—outside boardrooms and court etiquette.”

Sophia sat quietly beside her on the stone bench.

They said nothing for a while.

Then Sophia pulled a folded note from her pocket. “I found this… in one of the sealed archive drawers. It mentioned Phoenix and a friend.”

Mrs. Kang stilled.

Sophia continued, “Do you know who that friend was?”

Mrs. Kang’s eyes turned distant. “Phoenix was Madam Yoon—my mother-in-law. She ran the Kang Group with fire in her bones after Ethan’s grandfather passed. The friend… was never publicly named. But we all knew. It was her personal assistant. The only person she ever truly trusted.”

“She wrote, ‘There is an enemy within the Kang family. One who hides behind loyalty and silence.' ”

Mrs. Kang nodded. “That sounds like her. The assistant was sharp, discreet, fiercely loyal. After Madam Yoon passed, she vanished. No trace. Some said she retired quietly. Others… thought she was forced into silence.”

Sophia frowned. “Why?”

Mrs. Kang’s voice dropped. “Madam Yoon knew too much. She made powerful enemies while protecting this empire. If her assistant had inherited those secrets... she’d be dangerous to some people.”

Sophia felt a chill ripple down her arms.

“You think she’s still out there?”

Mrs. Kang gave a small smile. “I think some people know when to disappear. And when to return.”

***

Unseen. Ethan stood on the other side of the hedge, watching.

His mother was smiling in a way he hadn’t seen since before his father died.

Sophia was laughing softly, a sprig of rosemary between her fingers.

The light hit her hair just right, and she looked like she belonged—not to a dynasty, not to a scandal—but to something real. Something living.

For the first time in years, he felt like an outsider in his own home.

And it stung.

***

Sophia returned to her room and found a simple black notebook on her nightstand.

No title. Just a note inside in Ethan’s distinct, measured script:

“For the days when the garden isn’t enough. – EK”

The pages were blank.

An offering of space. A beginning.

She smiled faintly.

Then tucked the sprig of rosemary inside the first page.

***

Next morning...

“Why do I feel like a cake being prepared for auction?” Sophia muttered, glaring at her reflection in the gilded mirror.

“You’re underestimating how expensive this ‘cake’ looks,” Lily chirped, fluffing the back of Sophia’s gown. “If I had legs like yours, I’d walk backwards just to give them a show.”

The twins, Jisoo and Jihye, peeked in and gasped dramatically in unison.

“Stop—this isn’t a red carpet, it’s a diplomatic dinner!” Sophia whispered harshly, tugging at the high slit in her silver silk gown. “I’m not even supposed to stand out!”

“Too late,” Jihye sang.

“Way too late,” Jisoo agreed, already snapping selfies and adding stickers that read Mr. President Wife Energy.

***

The Kang Estate had been transformed into a chandelier-laden wonderland. Diplomats and investors from Japan, France, Germany, and beyond mingled with Korea’s corporate elite, sipping gold-flecked cocktails while a string quartet played something dignified.

Ethan stood near the grand staircase in a tailored navy suit, all broad shoulders and calculated stillness. His gaze swept the room—sharpened, hunting for threats even in formal wear.

Then he saw her.

Sophia stepped into the ballroom like moonlight. The silver gown hugged her form with deceptive grace—strong yet soft. Confident yet hesitant.

His stomach tightened. And so did his jaw when a Japanese executive whispered something to his colleague with a grin.

Austin appeared beside him like a ghost with opinions. “Before you combust internally, might I suggest therapy—or just acknowledging your feelings like a grown man?”

Ethan didn’t look at him. “Not the time.”

Austin sipped his champagne. “It never is.”

***

Sophia wasn’t trying to shine.

But her poise—earnest, unrehearsed—drew the room to her like gravity.

When a French investor brought up environmental controversies at one of the group’s overseas facilities, she didn’t defer or panic. She answered.

“I led a virtual audit of that site. We transitioned to low-sulfur emissions nearly two quarters ahead of target. The data’s in our Q2 report.”

The German delegate raised his glass. “Efficient and elegant. Mr. Kang, you didn’t say your wife was also a specialist.”

Ethan blinked. “She tends to surprise people.”

And herself.

***

Sophia made her way toward a quieter corner, only to be intercepted by a stranger—tall, tan, dressed in charcoal silk, his smile all smooth danger.

“Funny,” he said. “I almost didn’t recognize you in silver. You wore yellow to the family reunions.”

Sophia blinked. “Sorry, do we—?”

He extended his hand. “Reynard Kang. Ethan’s cousin. From the branch nobody brags about.”

Her expression tightened.

“I heard a rumor,” Reynard continued, voice dropping, “that you’ve been gifted something. A document. A deed. From someone with a fondness for riddles and the letter R.”

Sophia’s skin prickled.

“I think you have the wrong girl.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m right—and you’re the wild card no one accounted for.”

Then he was gone. Like smoke.

***

Across the room, Ethan’s mind raced.

Phoenix’s friend…

The letter Sophia showed his mother had mentioned a trusted confidante. Someone close to Madam Yoon. Someone whose betrayal or disappearance had upended everything.

Could it be—

Reynard?

He remembered whispers—his father arguing with his uncle. Accusations, then silence. Reynard, the eldest of his uncle’s sons, was brilliant, bitter, and ambitious. He’d been sent abroad to "manage operations," but everyone knew it was exile.

The initials matched. The timing matched.

The grudge?

Oh, it matched perfectly.

***

The camera shutters stuttered. Gasps rippled.

Rose Kim arrived in crimson velvet like a threat dressed as a promise.

Her heels clicked with purpose as she moved toward Ethan. Photographers followed like trained dogs.

“Ethan,” she cooed, lips bloodred. “You look… well. And this must be your new accessory.”

Sophia, holding a flute of sparkling water, stiffened.

Before Ethan could respond, she beat him to it with a flawless, icy smile.

“I’m not an accessory. I’m his wife. And I came with a return policy—but the store was too impressed to take me back.”

Laughter burst from the French side of the room. One investor nearly choked on his drink.

Ethan looked stunned. Then… proud.

Rose looked like she wanted to scratch someone.

***

Later, Sophia escaped the noise, barefoot on the marble balcony, dress whispering around her ankles.

Ethan found her there, gaze unreadable.

“You were… incredible tonight.”

She didn’t look at him. “Because I didn’t throw my drink at your ex?”

“That too. But also—how you handled Reynard.”

She stiffened. “You saw?”

“I know him. I should’ve expected he’d reappear now.”

Sophia turned. “Do you think he’s the one from the letter? Phoenix’s ‘friend’?”

Ethan hesitated. “It’s possible. He worked closely with my father during a time when… tensions were high. My grandma trusted very few people. If Reynard had her trust, and then vanished... it would explain a lot.”

Sophia’s voice dropped. “There’s something strange in that letter. But I don't know what it is."

Ethan moved closer, a rare softness in his gaze. “Let me help. We can figure this out—together.”

Sophia looked up at him, her expression unreadable. “You always say that.”

“But this time, I mean it.”

Their eyes met—intense, searching.

Then a breeze passed, and the moment dissolved before either dared to cross the line.