The plane touched down in the darkened city, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Seori breathed.
It wasn't freedom that filled her lungs—but the crushing weight of uncertainty.
She had nothing.
Nothing but the sealed black envelope holding the last remnants of her parents' legacy. Nothing but her six-month-old brother, cradled close to her chest, his tiny breaths anchoring her to what little she had left. And two forged passports—one bearing a name that wasn't hers, and one for the infant who had lost everything before he could even speak.
Her name: Kang Ha-rin. Daughter of Kang Min-kyu.
His name: Kang Sung-min. Son of Kang Min-kyu.
To the world, Shin Seori and her baby brother, Shin Ha-joo, no longer existed. They had died in the fire that swallowed their parents and their life's work. Now, they were someone else. Children with no past, no country, no identity—just names forged from ashes and grief.
The immigration officer barely looked at her. Their false identities passed unnoticed, her quiet presence blending in like shadows in the corners of the airport.
She stepped into a foreign land, one that would become her shelter—and her silence.
Kang Ha-rin. Kang Sung-min.
These names didn't carry their father's brilliance or their mother's warmth. They weren't theirs—but they were enough. Enough to keep them hidden. Enough to make the world believe they had perished in the flames.
The city lights flickered above her, casting fractured reflections on the wet pavement. It was beautiful and empty—just like the part of her that hadn't broken yet.
Sung-min would never remember.
Not the fire. Not the betrayal. Not the way their world was ripped away before he could even walk.
And she would never let him.
He would live a life free of the shadows that clung to her.
But she—she would remember everything.
This was her beginning, not as a daughter, not as a sister, not even as herself.
But as the seed of vengeance.
One day, when the time was right, they would see.
The daughter of the man they betrayed wasn't dead.
She had simply changed her name.