Chapter 157.1

Chapter 157.1

Just as expected, Sonya went into a frenzy the moment Kim Hyun disappeared. At first, she tried to defect to North Korea, somehow having sensed the NIS’s involvement, then joined a private military company, received training, and even emptied the bank accounts of the president’s relatives.

Her intent to provoke the NIS was unmistakable. But she could never be allowed to get close to them, no matter what. She must never discover Kim Hyun’s true identity, nor the truth behind Birdbox.

“You listening? Go rough her up a bit.”

After a few rounds of harsh treatment, Sonya become even more persistent. She swore to take down the NIS deputy director. Who did she inherit such ruthlessness from? Sonya’s obsession was now a noose around her own neck.

In the end, her child caught her, dousing her in tear gas and driving pain deep under her nails, trying to extract information from her… looking for her husband.

Joo Seolheon had thought she’d never have to face something like this up close in her life.

But the eyes staring straight at her made her heart clench. Struggling to keep her expression neutral, she glared back even colder.

***

When Joo Seolheon opened the file on the “Boogeyman” forwarded by intelligence agencies worldwide, her fingers froze around the mouse.

Kia, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kia from Sakhalin.

He was the prime suspect in the assassinations of figures and intelligence operatives who posed a threat to Russia.

Joo Seolheon stared at Kia’s expressionless face before closing the file. Her heart thumped unpleasantly.

‘I’d hoped you would live an ordinary life. Why did you end up on this path?’

She suppressed her unease, thinking of Sonya.

Then one day, while on a business trip to the U.S. for an intelligence conference, she sensed something wrong the moment she opened her hotel room door. Someone was rolling a rosary.

“I knew that face was bad news.”

A man in neat priestly robes stared straight at her without even turning on the lights.

“Why was the Deputy Director of Foreign Intelligence at Winter Castle?’”

‘…!’

“The Winter Castle maid who took Sonya, that was you, right? Was your name Zoya?”

Her body moved before her mind could. Joo Seolheon immediately yanked the pistol from her desk drawer.

He remembered Winter Castle. He knew her Russian name. Just that was enough to drain the blood from her face.

But the moment she grabbed the gun, Kia kicked the drawer shut, crushing her fingers.

“Ugh!”

Biting her lip, she met Kia’s cold eyes.

“Why didn’t the hypnosis work on you?” She asked him incredulously.

“It never did.”

“What?”

“It was like that from the start. I just woke up on that ship.”

“.…”

“The others forgot even their own names, their minds wiped blank. But not me. I knew exactly what I’d lost.”

A shiver ran down her spine.

“The hypnosis said to forget unhappy memories. But I was never unhappy.” He told her.

“…!”

“That’s why, out of all of them, I’m the only one who remembers everything.”

The boy, now a young man, let out a hollow laugh.

“Do you know how long it took me to get back to Sakhalin? So now, you’ll pay.”

No… Joo Seolheon gritted her teeth. She didn’t need to hear what Kia wanted, she already knew.

If Kia and Sonya were to meet again… A fear surged inside her.

Then, Kia said something unexpected.

“Not Sonya but Kim Hyun. Tell me who Kim Hyun is.”

“…!”

“Her missing husband.”

Joo Seolheon flinched but quickly steeled her expression.

“This isn’t a threat. But if you don’t cooperate properly, I might just tell Sonya everything.”

Kia lowered his brows into a sharp line, twisting his face into an exaggerated look of sorrow.

“The mother who gave birth to you and threw you into that hell. How could you do that?”

It felt like a dagger plunging straight into her heart. The sudden exposure of her deepest shame made her face burn. Her chilled blood boiled, her molars ground together. The pain in her trapped hand no longer mattered.

“I was the one guarding the closed ward where Rigay was locked up. But he kept searching for Zoya, the black-haired woman. When I quietly pieced the fragments together, a strange picture formed.”

“…..”

“Relax. Right now, only I know. We can’t have other bastards sniffing around Sonya.”

At that moment, Joo Seolheon’s trapped mind spun sharply. Fugitives, fugitives…

The idea flashed through her, she could use him to catch Damon.

“You know some of the Sakhalin brothers are still alive.”

Kia’s brow twitched.

“But it’s dangerous. For Sonya. For your brothers.”

“What kind of trick is this?”

“Among the surviving agents, too many still remember Sakhalin. Some hold key positions in intelligence agencies. Others retired but slipped into private military companies or arms markets.”

“….”

“If you wipe them all out, if every last person who remembers those children disappears.”

“You’d give us your blessings?”