The river didn't speak.
Not like people did.
It didn't lie.It didn't ask questions.It didn't pretend to care.
It just kept moving.
And tonight, so did Jin.
The card was still in her hand.
She'd held it so long the edges had curled.
D. Shin."Let's make you unforgettable."
Six figures.One signature.A clean future.
No debt.No bruises that didn't pay out.
Just contracts, cameras, endorsements.
Freedom — packaged, polished, and purchased.
She could sign.
She could disappear.
Rebrand.Rebuild.Never look back.
But instead?
She pulled a lighter from her pocket.
Flicked it once.
Watched the flame hover.
And then—
She lit the card on fire.
Held it until the flame kissed her fingers.
Then let it go.
The ashes scattered in the wind.
She didn't smile.
Didn't cry.
She just walked away from the edge of the river, lighter still warm in her palm.
She'd made her choice.
And she didn't need applause to confirm it.
Back at the gym, Aara sat on the floor, back against the wall, knees pulled up.She wasn't asleep.Just still.
Haru had gone home.The world had gone quiet.
And her thoughts were the loudest thing in the room.
She didn't hear Jin enter.
Not until the girl sat down beside her.
Not close.But not far.
Just enough.
A long pause.
Then:
"I burned it," Jin said.
Aara didn't look at her.
"What?"
"The card. The contract. All of it."
Still no reaction.
"I didn't do it for you."
"Good," Aara whispered. "Don't ever bleed for someone else's fire."
"I didn't say I wasn't bleeding."
That finally made Aara glance sideways.
Jin's hands were raw.
Ash-streaked.
"You made your choice," Aara said."That's all that matters."
"It doesn't feel like winning."
"It rarely does."
Another beat of silence passed.
Then Aara said quietly:
"You ever hear the phrase 'loyalty is louder when no one's watching'?"
Jin nodded.
"Now I understand it."
"Good."
A pause.
Then Aara added:
"So do I."
At the Shin estate, Daehyun stood on the balcony of his private study, glass in hand, eyes on the city below.
The card he'd sent Jin — unreturned.
Burned. Forgotten.
But he didn't look surprised.
Didn't look angry.
Just... patient.
He turned to his assistant.
"She didn't take the offer."
"No, sir."
"That's fine. That's what pain is for."
"Shall I cancel the contract?"
"No," he said, voice calm."Let her think it's over.Desperation always finds its way back."
Meanwhile, Haru sat alone in his apartment, scanning through encrypted messages on a burner phone Aara didn't know he still had.
[Incoming message – Source: DaeCorp Internal]"MOVE PHASE TWO EARLY. TARGET HER DIRECTLY. PRESSURE POINT: SCHOOL."
He stared at it for a long time.
Then deleted it.
But the meaning was already burned into his skull.
They weren't after Jin anymore.
They were circling back to Aara.
And they were going to use her past to do it.
The next day, a letter arrived at the gym.
Official.Stamped.Sealed.
Aara opened it slowly.
Read it twice.
Then again.
Her hands didn't shake.
But something in her chest cracked.
"What is it?" Jin asked.
Aara handed her the letter.
It was an invitation.
To fight.
Not as Ash.
Not underground.
But in an official, sanctioned league — sponsored by Rae's old investors.
And hosted in the city where her school once stood.
The school she ran from.
The school that broke her.
"They want to use you to sell tickets," Jin muttered.
"No," Aara said quietly."They want to see if I'll come back to the place that built me just to burn it down."
Haru entered moments later.
"You saw it?"
Aara didn't nod.
Didn't blink.
Just said:
"You knew this was coming."
"Yes."
"And you didn't warn me?"
"Would it have changed your answer?"
She looked at the letter again.
Then at Jin.
Then at Haru.
"We're going," she said.
"You sure?" Haru asked.
"They want to drag my past into the spotlight.Fine. I'll meet them there."
"And if it's a trap?"
"Then I hope it's a deep one," she said, voice ice-cold."Because if they pull me in, I'm not coming out alone."