“Go ahead.”
“Do you have feelings for him?”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words wouldn’t come. The hesitation was answer enough.
“Oh, Adrien,” she whispered.
“I don’t know what I feel,” I admitted. “But when I’m around him, I feel safe. For the first time in years, I don’t feel like I’m drowning.”
“I get that. I do. But you need to be careful. Men like him don’t do anything without a reason.”
That night after Nikia went to bed, I sat in my living room and Googled Young Chul myself. I found the same articles Janelle had shown me—business success, charitable donations, rumored connections to powerful and dangerous people.
Then I found something else. An old news article from eight years ago: a car accident, a woman and a young girl killed. The woman was identified as Yum Ji, wife of businessman Young Chul Yu, and their daughter, Yu Hannah, age six.
I stared at the screen, my chest tight. He lost his family—his wife, his daughter—and now he was protecting me and Nikia.
The next morning, my phone buzzed. A text from Young Chul.
Are you and Nikia free for lunch on Saturday?
I stared at the message for a long time. Then I typed back: Yes.
Saturday came faster than I expected. Young Chul picked us up and drove us to a private garden restaurant I didn’t even know existed. It was beautiful—flowers everywhere, tables tucked into quiet corners, a small pond with koi fish that Nikia immediately ran to see.
“Go ahead,” Young Chul told her. “Just stay where we can see you.”
She nodded and took off, her laughter echoing across the garden.
We sat down at a table overlooking the pond. For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. I watched Nikia chase butterflies, and he watched me.
“You have questions?” he said finally.
“Yeah, I do.”
I took a breath. “Why are you doing this? Helping us, protecting us. What do you get out of it?”
He was quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was different—softer, sadder.
