CHAPTER 3

“ARE you sure it’s her this time, brother?”

Jace’s voice was calm, measured but there was a hint of concern beneath the surface.

“Well, there’s no harm in trying again, right?” the second brother replied while leaning back slightly in his chair, fingers tapping against the polished mahogany desk.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Maxwell admitted with a small nod, though the crease in his brow betrayed the tension he felt.

“But what if she’s a fake again? Like before?” the youngest brother asked with a trace of unease in his usually confident tone.

Lucas Han’s eyes narrowed slightly with a sharp glint of determination in his gaze. “I’ll make sure that would never happen,” he said, his voice firm, leaving no room for doubt.

The vast office of Titan Core Corporation seemed to echo with their words.

The room was sleek, modern and imposing, glass walls overlooking the city skyline from floor to ceiling, a silent testament to the power the eldest Han brother wielded. Here, three figures gathered in what had become their usual confidential meeting—a space where decisions that could shift lives were made.

Maxwell Han, the eldest, exuded authority effortlessly.

As the founder and head of Titan Core Corporation, his business history was legendary. The company had expanded into New York, London and Seoul, turning him into a multimillionaire whose name carried influence across continents.

Lucas Han, the second brother, sat upright, his posture rigid and deliberate. Known for his ruthless efficiency in the courtroom, he had earned a reputation for seeking justice uncompromisingly while ensuring that anyone who wronged the innocent would face consequences without mercy.

And then there was Jace Han, the youngest, a superstar whose face graced magazines, billboards and screens worldwide. Whether modeling, acting, or singing, he had captured the hearts of fans and media alike, his charm and charisma making him seemingly untouchable in the public eye. Yet beneath that flawless exterior was a mind just as sharp and calculating as his brothers’.

Together, they formed a formidable trio—each excelling in his own world, yet united by blood and purpose.

And now, all their attention was focused on the matter at hand.

“It has been twenty-one years since we lost her and I refuse to believe she’s dead,” Maxwell said, his voice unusually quiet but heavy with emotion. “Like I promised Mom, I will do everything I can to find her. Whether she’s alive or not… I at least hope that, if she is alive, she’s living comfortably. I hope she has someone to lean on, a family she can trust.”

He stepped closer to the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city lights stretching endlessly before him. Both hands slipped into his pockets as he stood there, silent for a moment, letting the weight of his words hang in the air.

His usually composed demeanor had cracked, just slightly, revealing the depth of his longing and guilt.

Lucas and Jace fell silent, the gravity of Maxwell’s words pressing down on the room like the chill of winter.

“That’s right,” Jace finally said, his voice softer than usual.

His face, normally bright and teasing, had melted into something tender. Then he leaned back, exhaling slowly, as if letting some of the tension escape with his breath.

“Before Mom died… before she passed because of her disappearance, I promised the same thing,” Lucas said, his tone steady but layered with emotion. He inhaled deeply, shoulders squared, as though bracing himself against the years of helplessness. “I promised I would become someone capable of tracing her… and bringing her back.”

Maxwell turned from the window, facing his brothers with eyes burning with resolve. “We’ve done everything we can. We haven’t found any deaths connected to her. We’ve combed through countless cases over all these years. I’m sure she’s alive somewhere so we just have to find her.”

Then Jace’s gaze drifted toward the skyline before settling back on his brothers. “I wonder… if she knows she has brothers. Because if she did, I’m certain she would’ve reached out to us herself.” His voice carried both hope and hesitation, like a fragile bridge across their shared pain.

Maxwell nodded slowly. “I actually asked a friend of mine… she’s a doctor. She said that it’s possible trauma caused her to forget us. That… could explain why she hasn’t come back to us yet.”

The three brothers sat in silence after that, the weight of their shared history pressing against them but for the first time in decades, a quiet spark of hope lingered in the room—a hope that the sister they had lost for so long might still be out there, somewhere, waiting to be found.

“I won’t let some gold digger or pretentious woman deceive us again,” Maxwell said, his voice low but sharp as his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Over the past several years, countless women had shown up at their mansion with tears streaming down their faces, claiming they were their sister—or someone who had missed them so desperately they needed to be found.

Out of longing and grief, the brothers had given each of them every chance to prove themselves, to show that their words were genuine.

But each time, the truth revealed itself.

They were opportunists, women who sought only to exploit the brothers’ pain for their own gain. Their stories were rehearsed, their tears nothing more than a mask for greed. Some had even gone so far as to stir scandals, dragging Jace’s reputation through the mud and threatening to topple his career.

Thankfully, Lucas had been there to intervene.

Ruthless in the courtroom and unyielding in pursuit of justice, he had ensured that those women faced the consequences of their deceit—defamation, fraud and jail sentences that matched the weight of the chaos they had caused.

Maxwell’s jaw tightened as he recalled the years of disappointment, the way hope had been twisted into betrayal again and again.

And he refused to let it happen ever again.

“We’ve been fooled before,” he murmured, almost to himself, “but never again. Whoever she is, whoever we’re looking for, she will be the truth and nothing else will stand in her place.”