Min-Ji recovered quickly.
Too quickly.
The fear on her face vanished behind a delicate frown.
"No," she said at once. "There's no need to examine it."
Every head turned.
Ha-Joon's eyes sharpened.
"No need?"
She clasped her hands together.
"It's already been found. Why drag the family name further into embarrassment?"
Yoo-Na muttered, "Interesting. Suddenly allergic to truth."
Madam stood beside Min-Ji immediately.
"She's right."
Ha-Joon looked at his mother slowly.
"You support refusing proof?"
"I support ending this now."
"You support convenience."
Her face hardened.
"I support this household."
Ji-Ah watched in silence.
Mr. Kang nodded eagerly.
"Yes, yes, wise decision."
Mrs. Kang added, "No need for outsiders."
Hea-In agreed with whatever air was nearest.
Ha-Joon's voice went colder than anyone had heard that morning.
"Listen carefully."
The room stilled.
He stepped forward, gaze moving across every face.
"Ji-Ah will not be insulted again."
No one moved.
"If any of you speak about her as though guilt has been proven…"
His eyes paused on Min-Ji.
Then on the Kangs.
Then finally on Madam.
"…I will deal with it myself."
Madam's voice dropped dangerously.
"You dare threaten this family?"
"I'm protecting someone this family enjoys hurting."
The room tightened.
Madam took one step closer.
"You are forgetting your place."
"No," Ha-Joon said quietly. "You forgot yours first."
The slap came like thunder.
Sharp.
Violent.
Clean across his face.
The sound cracked through the room so hard even the servants flinched.
Then silence.
Total silence.
Ha-Joon's head turned with the force of it.
When he straightened again, a red mark was already blooming across his cheek.
No one spoke.
Yoo-Na, for once, had no joke.
Arisoo stood halfway from her seat.
"Mother!"
Halmoni's cane struck the floor once.
"What have you done?"
Madam's chest rose and fell.
Eyes blazing.
Min-Ji rushed in with fake concern.
"Madam, why did you slap him? He's your son…"
Madam turned without warmth.
"I don't know him."
The room froze again.
"He is not my son anymore."
Even Min-Ji blinked at that.
Madam pointed toward Ji-Ah.
"And for this theft, she will pay."
Then she turned and walked out.
Min-Ji followed, satisfaction hiding poorly beneath concern.
The fake family scurried after like loose buttons.
No one moved for several seconds.
Seo-Yeon was first.
She stepped toward Ha-Joon carefully.
"…What is she going to do now?"
He didn't answer immediately.
His eyes were still on the doorway.
"I don't know."
His voice was steady.
Too steady.
Ji-Ah hadn't looked anywhere else.
She crossed the room slowly.
Everyone watched.
She stopped in front of him.
The red mark on his cheek had deepened.
Without speaking, she lifted her hand.
Touched the side of his face gently.
Like checking whether pain was real.
Ha-Joon's eyes lowered to hers.
The room disappeared around them for one suspended second.
Then—
another hand caught Ji-Ah's wrist.
Pulled her back.
It was a servant.
Breathless.
"Madam says everyone downstairs. Now."
The foyer was chaos.
Two police officers stood near the entrance.
Uniformed.
Formal.
Uncomfortable.
Madam stood beside them as if arranging flowers.
Min-Ji at her side, tragic and elegant.
The jewelry box in hand.
Ji-Ah stopped halfway down the stairs.
"No."
One officer stepped forward.
"Miss Ji-Ah Park?"
Ha-Joon moved instantly.
"What is this?"
Madam answered.
"I reported theft of a high-value family possession."
Halmoni nearly shouted.
"You called police on your own house?"
Madam ignored her.
"She also slandered the future daughter-in-law and caused disorder."
Yoo-Na whispered, "Disorder was here long before she arrived."
The officer continued carefully.
"We need her to come with us for questioning."
Ji-Ah stared at Madam.
"You did this?"
Madam met her gaze without blinking.
"You should have thought before stealing."
"I didn't steal anything."
"Tell them."
"I am."
Min-Ji sighed sadly.
"This could have been avoided."
Yoo-Na snapped.
"Your face could have been avoided too."
Min-Ji glared.
Ha-Joon stepped in front of Ji-Ah.
"She goes nowhere."
The officers exchanged looks.
"Sir, please don't obstruct procedure."
"She was framed."
"Do you have proof?"
"Not yet."
Madam smiled faintly.
"Then step aside."
He didn't.
Ji-Ah touched his arm.
He looked back sharply.
She shook her head once.
Small.
Tired.
If he fought now, it would only worsen everything.
Seo-Yeon ran to Ji-Ah immediately.
"I'm coming."
Min-Hyuk was already grabbing keys.
"So am I."
Arisoo straightened her coat.
"I refuse to miss this."
Yoo-Na leaned on the banister.
"…I'm undecided."
Halmoni turned on Madam in fury.
"What was that?!"
Madam remained cold.
"Necessary."
"You humiliated your son."
"He chose strangers over blood."
Halmoni struck the floor with her cane again.
"No. He chose right over rotten pride."
For the first time, Madam's face twitched.
Min-Ji stepped closer to her protectively.
Satisfied.
Smug.
Ha-Joon looked at Ji-Ah as officers approached.
He hated that he could not stop this in one move.
Ji-Ah looked back at him.
Not scared.
Just hurt.
Then she said quietly:
"Put ice on your face."
He stared.
Even now.
Even now she was thinking of that.
The officer guided her toward the door.
Seo-Yeon followed immediately.
Min-Hyuk behind them.
Arisoo too.
Ha-Joon moved last.
Madam called after him.
"If you walk out that door with her…"
He stopped.
Turned.
The red mark still bright across his cheek.
Then said only:
"I already left."
And walked out.
The mansion doors closed behind them.
Inside, silence spread.
Yoo-Na looked at Madam.
Then at Min-Ji.
Then sighed.
"…Congratulations," she said dryly. "You both won something ugly today."
The police station was already surrounded when they arrived.
News vans.
Camera lights.
Reporters speaking too quickly into microphones.
Phones raised by strangers who loved scandal more than truth.
"The Kim family heiress theft case!"
"Former daughter-in-law detained!"
"Internal family dispute turns criminal!"
The words flew through the night like insects.
Ji-Ah stepped out of the police car with officers beside her.
Still wearing house clothes.
Simple cotton top.
Soft pants.
Slippers.
As if she had only gone downstairs for tea and somehow ended up here.
The flashes hit her face one after another.
She blinked but kept walking.
Head high.
Seo-Yeon pushed through the crowd first.
"Move!"
Min-Hyuk followed behind her, shielding where he could.
Arisoo, somehow glamorous even while furious, shouted at one reporter:
"If your mother raised you better, you'd ask smarter questions!"
Yoo-Na, who had decided to come after all, muttered to another camera,
"Use my good angle if you're filming lies."
Ha-Joon arrived last.
One look at the cameras and something in his face turned dangerous.
The crowd noticed immediately.
No one asked him anything directly.
They simply moved.
Inside, the station was colder than outside.
Too bright.
Too white.
Too impersonal.
Ji-Ah was processed, questioned briefly, then led down a corridor.
Seo-Yeon grabbed her hand once before they separated.
"I'll be right here."
Ji-Ah squeezed back.
"I know."
Then the bars closed.
The holding cell was crowded.
Metal benches.
Concrete walls.
Women of different ages scattered through the room.
One older woman lay with an arm over her eyes.
Two younger women whispered in a corner.
Another sat polishing her nails with suspicious dedication.
Everyone looked up when Ji-Ah entered.
The officer opened the gate.
"In."
Ji-Ah stepped inside.
The gate shut behind her.
The sound echoed longer than it should have.
One woman looked her over.
"…Rich people come in slippers now?"
Another laughed.
Ji-Ah walked to the bars and gripped them lightly.
"I'm not rich."
The older woman snorted.
"Then you're in the right place."
Outside the cell, Ha-Joon and Min-Hyuk were already speaking with officers.
"This is ridiculous," Min-Hyuk said sharply. "She was accused with no proper investigation."
An older officer remained calm.
"She was detained for questioning regarding high-value theft. Formal review begins in the morning."
Ha-Joon's voice was quieter.
Which made it worse.
"What do you need tonight?"
"Nothing can be finalized until tomorrow."
"I didn't ask that."
The officer hesitated.
Then:
"Lawyers. Statements. Evidence. If she was framed, bring proof fast."
Ha-Joon nodded once.
Already calculating ten moves ahead.
Min-Hyuk muttered, "I'll tear that house apart myself."
Arisoo folded her arms.
"Start with Min-Ji's face."
Seo-Yeon, pale but steady, stood silent.
Watching Ji-Ah through the bars.
Then Ha-Joon walked to the cell.
Every officer in the room noticed.
So did every woman inside it.
Ji-Ah was still holding the rail.
Trying to look fine.
Failing only in the eyes.
She wasn't sobbing.
Wasn't shaking.
But tears had slipped free anyway, quiet and stubborn down her cheeks.
Ha-Joon stopped in front of her.
For a second he just looked at her.
At the bars between them.
At the slippers.
At the fact that she should never have been here.
Then he reached through the gap and held her face gently in both hands.
The entire room went silent.
Even the nail-polish woman paused mid-finger.
Ji-Ah blinked at him.
"You shouldn't touch jail bars and then touch me," she whispered.
He almost smiled.
"You're criticizing hygiene now?"
"I'm coping."
Another tear slipped.
He brushed it away with his thumb.
"I'll deal with this tomorrow."
She searched his face.
"You promise?"
"Yes."
"You sound angry."
"I am."
"At me?"
His eyes sharpened.
"Never at you for this."
The women in the cell exchanged looks.
One whispered, "That man looks expensive."
Another replied, "And furious."
Ha-Joon leaned closer.
"Be brave tonight."
Ji-Ah gave a tiny laugh.
"I'm in jail wearing home clothes."
"I noticed."
"I look terrible."
"You don't."
"I'm wearing slippers."
"I know."
"There are strangers judging me."
"They can stop."
One woman inside the cell raised a hand.
"We actually like her."
Another added, "Tell him to bring snacks."
Ji-Ah laughed through tears.
The sound hurt everyone listening.
Ha-Joon's hand moved through her hair once, carefully smoothing it back.
"If you need anything, ask the officers. I'll arrange it."
"Like what?"
"Clothes. Food. Blanket. Pillow."
"Freedom?"
"Tomorrow."
He said it like an order to fate.
She believed him because he sounded like himself again.
Ji-Ah lowered her voice.
"My phone?"
"I have it."
"My dignity?"
"I'm searching."
That finally made her smile properly.
Around them, officers pretended not to watch.
Arisoo openly cried.
Seo-Yeon wiped her face quietly.
Min-Hyuk looked at Ha-Joon with new respect.
He had never seen him this stripped of pride.
This human.
Ji-Ah turned her head slightly.
"Seo-Yeon."
Her sister stepped forward.
"Yes?"
"Stay with Min-Hyuk tonight."
Seo-Yeon blinked.
"What?"
"Don't run away because this happened."
"I wasn't going to."
"You always look like you're about to."
Min-Hyuk stepped closer immediately.
"She's staying with me."
Seo-Yeon glared.
"You were not asked."
"I'm answering anyway."
Even Ji-Ah snorted.
Then she looked at Arisoo.
"Take Halmoni home."
Arisoo wiped tears dramatically.
"She wanted to fight three officers."
"That sounds right."
"I only stopped her because one was handsome."
The older woman in the cell sighed.
"This family is exhausting."
Ji-Ah looked back at Ha-Joon.
The room narrowed again.
"…And you."
"What?"
"Put ice on your face."
His cheek still carried the fading red mark.
He didn't seem to remember it until she said so.
"You're in a cell and worried about me."
"You got slapped because of me."
"I got slapped because truth is unpopular."
Her throat tightened again.
He pressed his forehead briefly against the bars between them.
A gesture so small it broke everyone more than tears could.
"Sleep if you can," he said softly.
"I won't."
"Try."
"You?"
"No."
They held each other's gaze.
Then the officer cleared his throat gently.
"Visiting time."
Ha-Joon straightened slowly.
His hands left her face last.
"I'll be here in the morning."
Ji-Ah nodded.
"Come fast."
"I will."
He stepped back.
She watched him go only two steps before calling:
"Ha-Joon."
He turned instantly.
"…Bring real shoes."
For the first time all night,
he smiled.