The Cruel Emperor's Flower

Go Ha‑rin was once a rising star in structural engineering, the brilliant daughter of a renowned architect. That was before Sky Vessel—her father’s magnum opus—collapsed under mysterious circumstances, killing dozens. Blamed for the tragedy, her father took his own life, and Ha‑rin’s license was revoked. Now she works menial construction jobs, surviving on spite and a burning need to clear her family’s name. Kang Ju‑hyeok is the accidental heir to Kang Group, a sprawling construction empire built on secrets and blood. Dragged from a life of quiet rebellion after his brother’s suspicious death, he became the cold, ruthless chairman his father demanded. But beneath the icy surface lies a man collecting evidence for a decade—proof that his own father sabotaged Sky Vessel and murdered his brother. When Ju‑hyeok acquires Ha‑rin’s mother’s debt and forces her to work on a secret project—her father’s rejected masterpiece, Project Phoenix—their worlds collide. She sees him as the devil who destroyed her family. He sees in her the one person stubborn enough to tell him the truth. What begins as a battle of wills becomes an unwilling alliance, then a fragile partnership, and finally a love that forces both to confront the wounds they’ve carried alone. ---