# Chapter 11
Hae-Li slowly blinked her eyes as warm sunlight streamed through the gaps in her bedroom curtains. Her fingers groped across the nightstand beside her bed for her phone. The screen lit up, displaying 8:30 a.m.
With a heavy sigh, she pushed off the covers and got to her feet. Her steps carried her toward the window. When she drew the curtains wide open, the view of the yard immediately greeted her eyes.
"Yaaawn!" Hae-Li stretched both arms toward the ceiling as she let out a huge yawn. "I hope today turns out to be a good day."
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The sound of knocking pulled her out of her brief daze.
"Come in!" Hae-Li called from beside the window.
The door opened slowly, revealing a gentle-faced, middle-aged woman with an apron still tied around her waist. "Sweetie, come have breakfast! Mom made your favorite food downstairs."
Hae-Li offered a faint smile. "Oh, okay. You go ahead, Mom. I just want to take a quick shower, then I'll come right down."
"All right. Mom will wait for you at the dining table."
The door closed firmly again. Hae-Li walked back over and lowered herself onto the edge of the bed. Her gaze fixed on a family photograph standing elegantly atop her desk.
The photo captured their warm smiles, but something in Hae-Li's chest always felt off. Everything had changed several years ago—more precisely, when her father made the major decision to bring a new mother into their lives.
Back then, Hae-Li had hated this reality. She hated her parents' divorce, hated that she had never been able to choose her own path in life, and hated how her biological mother had severely restricted even her access to seeing her father.
Eventually, several years ago, Hae-Li made a reckless decision. She ran away from her past in Indonesia and chose to live in Korea with her father and his new family.
Honestly, Hae-Li never even wanted to remember how her biological mother had treated her back then. It was a dark, painful memory she always wanted to bury as deeply as possible.
"Aaaaaaaaah!!"
Hae-Li suddenly screamed into her pillow, muffling the sound. Her breathing came in sharp, ragged bursts. Whenever memories of the past crossed her mind, an unbearable tightness in her chest always dragged her down into a pit of depression.
She had once believed that crossing an ocean and moving far away from her biological mother would bring her the peace she dreamed of. But it hadn't turned out to be entirely true. When she first arrived in Korea, everything did feel peaceful. Little by little, after the nightmares from her past began haunting her again, Hae-Li's life was once more filled with suffocating fear.
Even so, she forced herself to be grateful. The woman who was now her father's wife wasn't her biological mother, and Angel was her stepsister. But in this house, her stepmother treated her with genuine sincerity and affection—just as if she were her own child.
Tring!
The shrill ring of the phone on the table broke through the wave of emotion in Hae-Li's chest. She glanced at the screen, still breathing hard.
Once again, a message had come in from an unnamed number. She had been ignoring the string of mysterious messages since yesterday, but this time, the unknown number wasn't sending a text. It was making a voice call.
With her anger surging because her emotions were still unsettled, Hae-Li swiped the green icon and pressed the phone to her ear.
"Stop bothering me!" she snapped loudly, without any preamble.
A low, perfectly calm chuckle came from the other end of the line. "If you don't like me contacting you right now, fine. I'll hang up. Speak more gently, Miss. I'll contact you again later."
"Huh?" Hae-Li's eyes widened instantly. That deep, calm voice, with its faintly sarcastic tone, sounded terribly familiar.
Keeping the phone pressed to her ear, Hae-Li hurried toward her bedroom balcony in long strides. She pulled aside the outer curtain and looked down, straight at the road in front of her gate.
There, a broad-shouldered man stood casually, leaning against the hood of a car. As if he knew Hae-Li was watching him from the balcony above, the man looked up, flashed her a charming, faint smile, and slowly waved.
Thump!
Hae-Li's heart seemed to stop for a moment. Cold sweat broke out across her forehead. Her face suddenly flushed with anxiety, nervousness, and irritation as she watched the smile bloom across the man's lips. Without thinking, Hae-Li immediately turned and retreated into her room, then yanked the curtains shut to hide herself.
"H-How did you get my phone number?!" Hae-Li demanded, her breath coming fast.
The man on the other end of the phone chuckled softly. "Simple. Did you forget something?"
"Taking someone else's belongings without permission is a crime, you know!" Hae-Li insisted, trying to control her voice so he wouldn't hear it trembling.
"Listen, Miss," the man cut in casually. "I only contacted the number listed on the document because I want my suit jacket returned as soon as possible."
"Your suit jacket? Are you trying to extort me? I never even touched or took your jacket!" Hae-Li shot back, her irritation boiling over.
"You must have forgotten because you were extremely drunk at the time," the man replied with a quiet chuckle. "Either way, I don't care to hear it. I gave your sister my jacket yesterday, and I also put my business card inside your bag. Please check. Thank you."
Click ... click ... click.
The call was abruptly ended from the other end. Hae-Li stood frozen in place, staring at the phone's now-dark screen as she continued to breathe hard.
"Ugh! This man is seriously annoying!" Hae-Li growled, clenching her fingers tightly.