CHAPTER 4 – THE SAFE HOUSE
CHAPTER 4 – THE SAFE HOUSE
Before sunrise, Dae abandoned every schedule.
Board meetings were canceled.
The wedding officially dissolved.
Stock prices began falling before the markets even opened.
News helicopters circled his corporate headquarters.
Social media exploded.
BILLIONAIRE HEIR CALLS OFF WEDDING FOR SECRET FAMILY.
No one knew the real story.
Dae intended to keep it that way.
Three armored SUVs crossed the hills overlooking Malibu.
Inside the lead vehicle, Hana finally woke up.
She blinked sleepily.
"Mommy..."
"Where are we going?"
Amara smiled weakly.
"Somewhere safe."
Haru rubbed her eyes.
The little girl stared at Dae sitting across from them.
For several minutes she simply watched him.
Then—
"Do you always wear black?"
The question caught everyone off guard.
Dae looked down.
Black suit.
Black shirt.
Black watch.
He almost smiled.
"Usually."
"Because you're scary?"
Joon nearly choked trying not to laugh.
Dae considered the question seriously.
"Sometimes."
Haru nodded thoughtfully.
"I think you look lonely."
The sentence hit harder than any bullet.
Amara quietly looked out the window.
She had said those exact words to him years ago.
"You're not frightening, Dae."
"You're lonely."
He remembered every syllable.
The convoy stopped before an isolated cliffside estate overlooking the Pacific.
Concrete walls.
Bulletproof glass.
Private medical clinic.
Underground bunker.
It wasn't a mansion.
It was a fortress.
Hana frowned.
"Do people live here?"
Dae answered.
"They do now."
The gates opened.
Nearly forty security personnel saluted as the vehicles entered.
Amara froze.
"You brought us to one of your compounds?"
"It's the safest place in California."
"It also tells everyone where to find us."
"They already know."
She looked at him sharply.
"What?"
Dae handed her a tablet.
On the screen...
Airport surveillance.
News reports.
Live broadcasts.
Someone had leaked everything.
Every network showed blurred images of the twins.
Every article asked the same question.
WHO ARE DAE HAN'S SECRET DAUGHTERS?
Amara's face turned white.
"No..."
"They're children."
"They'll never leave them alone."
Dae's jaw tightened.
"They won't get the chance."
Just then—
An alarm screamed through the compound.
Red lights flashed.
Every security guard reached for a weapon.
Joon's voice exploded through the intercom.
"Boss!"
"Unidentified drone approaching!"
Another guard shouted,
"Not one—"
"...six drones!"
Dae rushed to the security monitors.
Six military-grade drones flew directly toward the estate.
Not carrying cameras.
Carrying explosives.
Joon looked at him.
"They found us already."
Dae turned toward Amara.
She was hugging the twins tightly as they began to cry.
Then he issued the one order no one in his organization had ever heard.
"Forget the house."
"Protect my daughters."
Outside—
May you like
The first drone began its final dive.
And the sky erupted in fire.
