Chapter 158.1

Chapter 158.1

The gunshot that made her hair stand on end sent Seoryeong rushing outside.

‘Chief Joo Seolheon, what the h*ll are you trying to do with my face!’

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t imagine it being for anything good.

But her body, still weak from the paralyzing poison, staggered again, forcing her to grab onto Wooshin for support. As they stepped into the hallway, the once-bustling church district was eerily quiet, like a back alley.

Blast Security’s guards were nowhere in sight. Instead, burly foreign men and laborers who had been moving in and out of the chapel now lay tangled together, injured.

The feeling was unmistakably wrong. Among them was the foreign guard who had handed her sunglasses, now collapsed with a dagger buried in his neck.

“This place is really…”

Her stiff footsteps grew more urgent. Her mind was still a jumbled mess, but she needed to see Rigay again, that man, one more time. The thought made her restless.

What did he mean by “our daughter”? She had never heard anyone call her that, never even imagined it. Seoryeong’s brow furrowed deeply.

Was that why the NIS targeted me? Because I’m the daughter of the terrorist who took down the Russian Prime Minister’s family? But what does that have to do with Korea? Without realizing it, her nails dug into Wooshin’s arm.

He spoke up.

“Blast Security won’t be able to escape the law after this. So we confirm the face and leave immediately, Han Seoryeong. If you hesitate even a little, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you out.”

“Got it.”

She answered obediently. Then, she steeled herself.

‘That’s right. Don’t hesitate. Stay sharp. Soon, you’re going to marry this man for the second time. And it’s your own decision, no one else’s. Don’t mess this up.’

Seoryeong calmly tightened her grip on his hand. In response, Wooshin’s lips brushed against the back of her hand before pulling away.

***

When they opened the door, the acrid scent of something ominous grazed her nose. A cold, unexplainable dread shot down her spine. She shook off Wooshin and ran. The moment her unsteady body crashed into the thick door—

BANG!

Another gunshot froze her in place. It took her mind a moment to process the scene before her.

Joo Seolheon, a hole drilled straight through her forehead, locked eyes with Seoryeong as if bound by an invisible thread.

Then, Seolheon’s pupils dilated, and then her eyes… crinkled into a smile.

It was an expression Seoryeong had never seen before. The dead woman’s unblinking gaze remained fixed on her. Strangely, her heart lurched.

“What the…”

A choked breath burst out as her shoulders heaved violently. The sight of a face identical to hers lying dead was shocking enough, but now the client was dead too.

Rigay Victor, a bullet hole in his temple.

Why… Why are these two?

‘How are a terrorist and an NIS deputy chief embracing each other like this? I thought she’d do every damn thing possible to screw me over using my face… Everything since waking up in that coffin had been chaos.’

Then, slowly, the two slumped to the floor, their chins hooked over each other’s shoulders. Seoryeong suppressed a flinch in her ankle and instead focused on the black priest’s robes at the edge of her vision.

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”

Kia awkwardly hid the gun behind his back.

“I didn’t kill Rigay.”

She stood frozen in place as he shoved the gun away and started walking toward her. Kia hadn’t changed much since childhood, still utterly unconvincing in a priest’s garb.

She scrutinized him with a gaze sharper than before.

The same kid who used to cry easily, small and delicate like a girl, had now grown ridiculously tall. As her assessing stare lingered, Kia suddenly pressed his lips together and gave her a strange look.

“Han Seoryeong, get out.”

Wooshin shoved her back behind him and drew his telescopic baton from his waist. He lunged at Kia like a hunter, swinging straight for his head.

CRACK! The sharp sound echoed as the two men clashed like magnets. Wooshin relentlessly pressed forward, striking rapidly at his opponent’s chest and ribs.

Even Kia, who used to play weak and whine during missions, moved with startling ferocity. He landed consecutive blows to Wooshin’s jaw while reloading his gun.

But then, Pfft! A near-silent shot from somewhere grazed Kia’s wrist.