Chapter Eighteen – The Heir
The next morning, Joon-Ho sat across from his parents again, a bitter taste in his mouth that even coffee couldn’t wash away. He hadn’t slept well; every time he closed his eyes, Amara’s face flashed before him, followed by his father’s voice echoing like iron chains: “If you care about this family, you will make sure it stays nothing.”
Now his mother’s tone cut through his fog, crisp and deliberate.
“Your father and I have agreed,” she said, folding her hands neatly on the table, “that it is time you take your rightful place. No more hiding behind the life of an ordinary university student.”
Joon-Ho frowned. “What do you mean?”
His father’s gaze was steady, sharp. “The board has been asking about you. Investors expect to see the family’s next leader. You are no longer just a son—you are the successor. Which means from now on, everyone will know who you are.”
The words landed like a thunderclap.
For years, Joon-Ho had carefully kept that part of his life buried. At university, his classmates only knew him as Joon-Ho—the handsome guy, the one good at sports, the one who seemed aloof but magnetic. Not the heir to one of Korea’s wealthiest conglomerates. Not the boy chained to a legacy he never asked for.
His mother’s eyes gleamed with quiet satisfaction. “There is a gala next month. You will be introduced to the press formally as the future CEO of our company. It will mark the beginning of your real life.”
His pulse quickened, panic threatening to break through the mask he always wore. “Mother… I’m still in school. I—”
“You’ll remain at the university,” his father interrupted firmly, “but your life will change. More bodyguards. More attention. Every move you make will be watched. It is the price of who you are.”
The price of who he was.
Joon-Ho clenched his fists under the table. This was exactly what he’d been running from—why he’d never let anyone, especially Amara, get too close. Because the moment they knew the truth, everything would change.
His mother leaned forward, her voice soft but sharp as glass. “Remember this, Joon-Ho. From now on, there is no room for mistakes. Choose wisely who stands beside you. The wrong person could ruin everything.”
The unspoken warning hung in the air like a blade.
And he knew exactly who she meant.
Later, as Joon-Ho stepped outside for air, the crisp wind stung his face. His chest felt heavy, his breaths uneven. He tilted his head back, staring at the gray sky, his jaw tight.
Amara’s smile came unbidden into his thoughts, her stubborn eyes, the warmth of her laugh in the library. She had no idea what world he truly came from, no idea how dangerous it could be for her to be near him now.
And maybe that was for the best.
Because if she knew, she might never forgive him for the distance he was about to put between them.
