Chapter 3. The Missing USB

The light in Seoyoon's study remained on until dawn.

There wasn't much she needed to take with her to the National Science Strategy Agency.

Three research notebooks.

Two encrypted micro-USB drives.

And several experimental records from graduate school.

That was all.

Yet those few items contained years of work—the part of her life she had abandoned when she married Kang Jaeheon.

Seoyoon placed everything carefully into a small hard-shell security case.

She checked the two USB drives once.

Then again.

Both were there.

Four hours until six.

She only had to endure four more hours in this house.

After that, she would leave.

"Seoyoon, are you still awake?"

A soft voice came from outside the study.

Seoyoon's hands stopped.

Cha Yuri.

She opened the door.

Yuri stood in the hallway wearing a thin robe.

Seoyoon's gaze immediately dropped to it.

She knew that robe.

It was hers.

The one she had left in the master bedroom.

"That's mine."

Yuri looked down at herself as though she had only just realized what she was wearing.

"Oh, this?"

She touched the sleeve lightly.

"Jaeheon told me to put on whatever I wanted if I was cold. I'm sorry."

She said she was sorry.

But she made no attempt to take it off.

Seoyoon felt something bitter rise in her throat.

Her bedroom.

Her robe.

Even her wedding anniversary.

Everything that had once belonged to her seemed strangely easy for Yuri to take.

But Seoyoon no longer had the energy to argue.

"What do you want?"

"I was looking for water and got lost."

Seoyoon stared at her.

The study was on the opposite side of the mansion from the kitchen.

There was no reason for Yuri to be here.

Before Seoyoon could point that out, footsteps sounded from the far end of the hallway.

"Yuri."

Jaeheon.

Yuri's expression immediately softened.

"Jaeheon."

She walked toward him as though relieved to see him.

Jaeheon's gaze passed over her shoulder and landed on the open study door.

Then on the security case resting on the floor.

His eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?"

"Packing my things."

"At this hour?"

"Do I need your permission to organize my own belongings?"

Jaeheon ignored the question.

His attention remained fixed on the case.

"What's in there?"

"Research material."

"It's not company property, is it?"

Seoyoon let out a short, humorless laugh.

"It's research I conducted before we married."

"Then why are you suddenly taking it out?"

"Because I need it."

Jaeheon stepped closer and reached for the handle of the security case.

Seoyoon grabbed it first.

"Let go."

"Explain."

"To you?"

"If you're taking something out of this house, the least you can do is tell me."

For a moment, Seoyoon simply stared at him.

Then she said quietly,

"You brought an entire woman into this house without telling me."

Jaeheon's jaw tightened.

Silence stretched between them.

Yuri looked from one to the other, then stepped forward.

"Jaeheon, she's angry. Can't you just leave her alone?"

As she moved, her elbow struck the glass of milk sitting on the desk.

Crash.

The glass shattered.

White liquid spread rapidly across the desk and poured over Seoyoon's papers.

"Oh!"

Yuri rushed forward.

"I'm sorry!"

She grabbed a handful of tissues.

"Don't touch anything!"

Seoyoon moved immediately.

Milk was already soaking into the edges of her documents and spreading toward the encrypted equipment.

Yuri reached out as though trying to help.

Her hand brushed against the inside of the open security case.

Seoyoon saw it.

But before she could react, Jaeheon caught her by the wrist.

"Don't yell at her. It was an accident."

Seoyoon looked down at his hand around her wrist.

Then slowly raised her eyes to his.

"Let go of me."

"Yuri didn't do it on purpose."

Again.

Yuri.

Always Yuri first.

Seoyoon pulled her wrist free.

"Of course."

Her voice was almost too calm.

"She never does anything on purpose."

Yuri's face paled.

"Seoyoon, I really am sorry."

Seoyoon didn't answer.

She began lifting the wet documents one by one.

The sound of breaking glass had brought Butler Kim and one of the housekeepers running.

"Madam!"

"Bring me dry towels. Quickly."

"Yes, Madam."

"And no one touches anything else in this room."

The housekeeper hurried away.

Jaeheon watched Seoyoon with obvious irritation.

"Stop treating everyone like criminals over something so minor."

Seoyoon's hands stopped.

She slowly turned toward him.

"How would you know whether it's minor?"

"You know how unstable Yuri is right now."

Seoyoon almost laughed.

Even now, his first concern was Yuri's emotional state.

"What about me?"

The question escaped before she could stop it.

Jaeheon fell silent.

For one brief second, something unreadable passed through his eyes.

But he didn't answer.

Seoyoon hadn't truly expected him to.

She turned back to the desk.

Ten minutes later, the wet papers had been separated and laid out to dry.

Seoyoon crouched beside the security case and began checking its contents again.

Research notebooks.

Experimental records.

Encrypted equipment.

Then her hand stopped.

She stared at the inside of the case.

There were two narrow slots for the micro-USB drives.

One of them was empty.

Her heartbeat suddenly became painfully loud.

No.

She checked beneath the documents.

Nothing.

She searched the floor.

Nothing.

She opened the side pocket of the case.

Empty.

One of the two USB drives was gone.

"Butler Kim."

Her voice had changed.

The butler immediately stepped closer.

"Yes, Madam?"

"Don't let anyone who entered this room leave the house."

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Jaeheon's eyes sharpened.

"What are you implying?"

Seoyoon turned the security case toward him.

"One of the USB drives containing my research is missing."

Yuri's face went pale.

"Are you accusing me?"

Jaeheon moved in front of her almost instinctively.

"Han Seoyoon. That's enough."

Seoyoon stared at him.

She hadn't accused Yuri.

Not yet.

But Jaeheon had already chosen whom to protect.

Butler Kim called the security chief.

Within minutes, the rear gate and garage were locked.

The household staff were told to remain inside.

The mansion that had been silent moments earlier filled with hurried footsteps and nervous whispers.

Yuri stood half-hidden behind Jaeheon.

And Jaeheon remained in front of her.

Protecting her.

Seoyoon pressed her lips together.

She didn't know who had taken the USB.

She had no proof.

And that was exactly why she needed records.

Facts.

Evidence.

Not emotion.

Because the missing device wasn't simply an old USB drive.

It contained part of the research the government had contacted her about only hours earlier.

Research important enough for the state to place her under protection.

Seoyoon looked around the study.

The broken glass.

The wet papers.

The open security case.

Yuri's pale face.

Jaeheon standing between them.

Something about the scene felt wrong.

Very wrong.

She turned to the security chief.

"Check the surveillance footage."

He nodded immediately.

"Yes, Madam."

Seoyoon's gaze moved slowly toward Yuri.

Yuri lowered her eyes.

And for the briefest moment, the frightened expression on her face disappeared.

It was so quick Seoyoon almost wondered if she had imagined it.

Almost.

The security chief hurried toward the surveillance room.

Seoyoon looked down at the empty USB slot.

At six o'clock, she was supposed to disappear from this house.

But now, someone had taken something that could threaten far more than her marriage.

And until she found out what had happened, she couldn't simply walk away.