CHAPTER 3 — THE LIE THAT STOLE FIVE YEARS
CHAPTER 3 — THE LIE THAT STOLE FIVE YEARS
Nobody spoke.
Not because they had nothing to say.
Because every word suddenly felt dangerous.
The elderly attorney stared at the laptop screen as though it had transformed into a loaded weapon.
His lips moved silently.
"No..."
He enlarged the document.
Then enlarged it again.
The authorization code remained exactly where it had always been.
Hidden in plain sight.
Chairwoman Hana Shin.
Private Override.
Confidential Family Review.
His hands began to shake.
Joon noticed.
"What is it?"
The attorney looked up, visibly pale.
"Sir..."
His voice cracked.
"This... this isn't the report I remember."
The room stiffened.
"What do you mean?"
Joon asked quietly.
The old lawyer swallowed.
"The original investigation was handled through Davidson & Myers. Every document required your approval."
"I never approved anything."
"I know."
Silence.
The lawyer slowly rotated the laptop toward him.
"I think that's the problem."
Joon stepped closer.
His eyes moved across page after page.
Medical records.
Travel records.
Financial statements.
Witness summaries.
Everything appeared ordinary...
Until the last page.
The conclusion.
Probability of paternity: Excluded.
Below it—
A digital authorization.
Not his.
His mother's.
His heartbeat slowed.
Dangerously.
His voice became almost emotionless.
"Where is the DNA report?"
The lawyer frowned.
"There..."
He searched.
Nothing.
Page missing.
Appendix missing.
Laboratory signature missing.
Only the conclusion remained.
Joon looked at him.
"Someone removed the evidence."
Nobody argued.
Because everyone knew it was true.
Across the room Elena watched everything unfold in stunned silence.
Five years.
Five years she'd spent believing he had chosen to abandon them.
Five birthdays.
Five Christmas mornings.
Five first days of preschool.
Five fevers.
Five years of pretending her daughter didn't need the father who had never once come looking.
Now...
She wasn't sure anymore.
Yuna tugged gently on Joon's hand.
"You look sad."
The sentence shattered something inside him.
He looked down.
Children never asked complicated questions.
They simply observed truth.
"I'm okay."
Yuna frowned.
"No."
She shook her head.
"My mommy smiles like that when she isn't okay."
A faint laugh escaped one of the younger attorneys before he immediately covered his mouth.
Even Joon almost smiled.
Almost.
He slowly released Yuna's hand.
Then looked directly at Elena.
"For five years..."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"You believed I knew."
Elena met his eyes.
"I believed what your silence told me."
That hurt more than accusation.
Because it was true.
He had been silent.
Not one phone call.
Not one letter.
Not one attempt.
He had buried himself inside work.
Inside violence.
Inside power.
Believing betrayal was easier than grief.
Now every year returned at once.
Like knives.
Meanwhile...
Thirty floors below...
Inside Shin Global's private executive parking garage...
A black Mercedes pulled into a reserved space.
Chairwoman Hana Shin stepped out wearing a cream designer suit.
Elegant.
Perfect.
Untouchable.
Her assistant hurried beside her.
"The divorce should conclude within twenty minutes."
Hana nodded.
"Good."
"And afterward?"
She smiled.
"My son will finally be free."
The elevator doors opened.
Neither of them noticed the security camera quietly recording everything.
Back upstairs...
Joon turned toward his security chief.
"Bring me every archived document."
"Sir?"
"Every email."
"Every invoice."
"Every investigator."
"Every payment connected to this divorce."
The guard hesitated.
"Immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Phones came out instantly.
The room transformed into a command center.
Lawyers abandoned the divorce papers.
Assistants began calling records departments.
Servers inside Shin Global's encrypted database started waking up.
Five years of secrets had just become evidence.
Yuna looked around, confused.
"Are we still getting divorced?"
Nobody answered.
She looked at Elena.
"Mommy?"
Elena forced a smile.
"I... don't know anymore."
The little girl nodded thoughtfully.
"That's okay."
She climbed back into her chair.
Picked up her crayon.
And quietly continued coloring.
The adults stared.
Children possessed an extraordinary ability.
They could accidentally destroy entire empires...
...then calmly color a rainbow.
Nearly twelve minutes later—
The conference room doors burst open.
A young IT director entered carrying a tablet.
"I'm sorry for interrupting."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
Joon asked.
The young man looked terrified.
"Sir..."
"I found something."
He connected the tablet to the conference room screen.
Hundreds of financial transactions appeared.
One payment flashed red.
$850,000.
Recipient:
Park Forensic Laboratory.
Date:
Five years ago.
Purpose:
Confidential Family Resolution.
The room became deathly quiet.
The IT director continued.
"The laboratory officially declared bankruptcy three months after issuing the report."
The lead attorney whispered,
"My God..."
Another page appeared.
Internal emails.
Deleted.
Recovered.
One sentence filled the enormous screen.
'Make sure Joon never sees the actual DNA results.'
Signed—
H. Shin.
Nobody breathed.
Not even Elena.
Joon simply stared.
His mother.
His own mother.
Had stolen five years from him.
May you like
And possibly...
His daughter.
