The office was unusually still.
Mira hadn't moved in over twenty minutes. The screen before her had long gone dark, but her thoughts hadn't stopped racing since that moment Ares passed her without a word.
She told herself it didn't matter.That it was better this way.That it was never about him.
And yet,
She could still feel the absence of his gaze. The way he didn't look at her. Not once.
It had hurt more than she thought it would.
But this pain.... it wasn't the sharp, righteous fury that drove her for years. It was quieter. Confusing. A bruise forming where she hadn't expected to be touched.
She leaned back in her chair, fingers twisted in the hem of her skirt.
Ares Han.
The man whose company had unknowingly hired the daughter of the man his own family destroyed.
But not him.
It was his father, Han Ji-Won, who built the empire. And it was Jae Min's father, Myung-Shik Han, the man she'd always called the devil, who left her childhood in ashes.
Her nails pressed into her palm, hard enough to leave tiny crescent moons.
Maybe.... just maybe.... he wasn't the villain.
The thought scared her. Not because it gave Ares a way out.But because it gave her heart a reason to hesitate.
The office door clicked open.
She blinked, startled, expecting a manager or a courier. Instead, Jae Min walked in, his expression tight but calm. His sleeves were rolled up. No tie. His usual warmth muted by something quieter.
He saw her sitting alone.
"Mira."
She straightened. "Vice Director."
He didn't bother correcting her this time.
"I just came from the apartment," he said, voice low. "He's okay. Just…. quiet."
Mira didn't reply right away.
Jae Min leaned against the desk across from her, studying her for a long moment. "He doesn't blame you, you know."
Her eyes flicked to him, startled.
"He's just.… carrying too much," Jae Min continued. "And today, with his father…. it hit harder than he expected."
Mira nodded once, slowly. But her eyes didn't leave her desk.
Jae Min didn't ask what she was thinking.
He didn't need to.
After a pause, he pushed off the desk. "I'll stay with him tonight. You should go home. It's late."
Mira gave a tight smile. "Thank you."
He left quietly, and the door clicked shut again.
Mira sat there in silence.
Alone with the unravelling knot inside her.
Ares Han had his own scars. His own wounds. And maybe, just maybe.. they weren't so different after all.
But she wasn't ready to face that.
Not yet.
So she did the only thing she could: she turned back to her laptop.
And reopened the locked file that bore her father's name.