Chapter 16: Fault Lines and Flashbacks
1080 Words
“Wait—why is it heating unevenly?”
Sophia’s voice sliced through the tension in the lab like a scalpel. Everyone turned to look at the prototype battery pack lying on the test pad. Its LED indicators, once a steady green, now flickered violently—erratic bursts of red and orange.
Lily tapped furiously on her tablet. “Voltage output is spiking and collapsing. It’s like the core’s shorting itself out.”
“We calibrated it just three days ago,” Austin muttered, peering at the readouts. “This shouldn’t be happening unless—”
“Someone tampered with it,” Sophia said coldly.
Austin’s jaw tensed. “I’ll run diagnostics. Check the system log and override access.”
The twins were already on it. Jihye pulled up CCTV footage while Jisoo zoomed into the relevant timestamps.
“There.” Jisoo pointed at the screen. “1:17 a.m. Someone came in using an approved access code.”
The image paused—a hoodie-clad figure, partially obscured, working quickly at the station.
Jihye enhanced the badge dangling from his neck. “Yunjae. That intern with the quiet face and coffee addiction.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed. “Check everything he’s touched. All documents, all schematics.”
Austin glanced up. “Want me to deal with him?”
Sophia exhaled, mind racing. “Not yet. If Reynard’s behind this, we’ll need more than suspicion. We need a confession—or bait.”
***
Reynard Kang sat in a private lounge, leather and marble encasing him like a modern throne room. He poured whiskey into two glasses, sliding one across to Austin Min, who had been summoned under the guise of a collaboration proposal.
“You’re wasted in R&D,” Reynard said with a charming smile. “You could be CTO by year’s end—under me. Better hours. More freedom. A lab of your own.”
Austin stared at the glass, unmoved. “And what do I give in return?”
“Just information. Little things. Progress reports. Weaknesses. Sophia’s blind spots.”
Austin picked up the glass, then set it down—untouched. “You talk too much.”
“I talk to smart men.”
“Then you picked the wrong one.” Austin stood slowly. “I work for Ethan. Not you. Especially not for whatever soap opera villain arc you’re playing.”
Reynard’s smile vanished. “Think carefully. Loyalty can’t pay the bills.”
Austin tilted his head. “Neither can betrayal—when you’re buried beneath a scandal.”
He left, dialing Ethan as the door clicked shut.
***
Late that night, Sophia found Ethan alone in his private office. He sat at his father’s old desk, the second, more discreet safe now open behind him.
Inside: an aged envelope, a yellowed deed, a notarized contract, and a folded letter bearing a familiar wax seal—an elegant letter “K.”
Ethan looked up, expression unreadable. “This was addressed to me years ago. My father left it hidden.”
He handed Sophia the letter. Her heart thudded as she read:
> Ethan, if you’re reading this, it means your path now mirrors mine. You’ll lead before you’re ready. Trust no one—not even blood. Except one person. She will wear the brooch.
Sophia instinctively touched the jade brooch she wore—a gift from her mother. Her throat tightened. “Your father knew?”
Ethan nodded. “He knew everything. About your family. About Hwang Holdings.”
Sophia blinked. “Wait. This deed—it’s to the Hwang Holdings estate?”
Ethan nodded slowly. “Yes. And it’s in your name.”
She stared at the document. “This—this proves I’m the rightful owner. All these years, Aunt May acted like she inherited it. She’s been lying to me since I was a child.”
Ethan stepped forward. “I was going to buy out Hwang Holdings. It was the only way to protect you from her. From Reynard.”
Sophia gently pushed the papers back toward him. “No. Let’s wait. I want to see how far Aunt May is willing to lie. How far she’ll go to keep pretending I’m just some lucky niece.”
Ethan studied her. “You sure?”
She nodded. “Let her build her web. And when she’s tangled in it, I’ll cut her loose.”
***
The rain came again—like it always did when the city mourned.
Sophia found Ethan alone in the rooftop garden. No suit. No umbrella. Just a hoodie, soaked through, clinging to broad shoulders bent under invisible weight.
“I didn’t know,” she said softly, approaching.
“You weren’t supposed to,” he murmured.
Lightning flickered across the clouds.
“I hated him,” Ethan admitted. “Not because he died. But because he left everything to me before I was ready. This job... it chews you up. Sabotage, boardroom politics, betrayal. You fake a smile through it all. Pretend you're made of iron.”
He finally looked at her. His eyes were red.
“But I’m tired, Sophia. I’m so damn tired.”
Sophia stepped forward without hesitation and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re not alone,” she whispered. “You have me. I’m not leaving.”
He said nothing—just leaned into her, the storm cloaking their silence.
***
The next day, as Sophia arrived on Level 7, the elevator doors opened—and her world tilted.
Standing there was a man with kind eyes and a weathered folder in hand. “I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “It’s me. Woojin.”
Sophia’s heart stilled. “Woojin... from the orphanage?”
He nodded. “I remember the night they took you. A black car. A man in a long coat. He wasn’t just any man—he wore a brooch like yours. The same emblem.”
Sophia’s fingers clutched her jade brooch.
Woojin opened the folder, revealing faded documents—her original name, placement forms, a letter of intention. “They wanted to adopt you. Not Aunt May. Someone else. A man named Kang Sunwoo.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. “Ethan’s father?”
Woojin nodded. “They said you’d live like royalty. But then… it changed. Aunt May took you away. We never saw you again.”
Sophia’s breath caught.
Everything was starting to fall into place.
And someone had rewritten her story from the shadows.
- Writer
