Page 86 of Sweet Nightmare

Just me, Mika, a suspiciously gorgeous mountain estate, and enough unanswered questions to make me consider walking back to Seoul on foot and in heeled boots.

You came willingly, you know. Don’t lie. The little devil in my head whispers.

I mentally swat her away.

I did come willingly.

Technically.

I’m a grown woman. The moment this entire situation started smelling suspicious, I should’ve turned around and gone home.

Instead, I let curiosity drag me halfway across the planet.

Maybe it’s because of that emptiness in the pit of my stomach. The one that’s been growing for years, leaving behind a hollow space I can’t quite explain.

I don’t know what’s missing.

I just know something is.

And as ridiculous as this entire situation looks on paper, that feeling has been strangely quiet ever since Mom and Stevie convinced me to come here.

I will never admit that to anyone and especially not my mother. She’d probably frame the confession and show it to everyone who ever thought of me as an unmedicated psychopath.

Beside me, Mika looks completely unbothered.

I know very little surprises her anymore.

She stands with her arms crossed, caramel hair pulled into a neat braid, scanning the estate like a military operative assessing potential threats. Most people find my bodyguard intimidating. The woman is six feet tall, built like she could carry a piano up a mountain, and spent years fighting in MMA to survive the streets.

“You’re glaring again,” Mika says. “You’ll get wrinkles early, you know.”

“Shut it. I’m annoyed. Don’t make it worse.”

She rolls her eyes.

“With your mother?” she asks.

“Her and the entire human race.”

She snorts.

I point one long nail at her and narrow my eyes.

“I hope for your sake you had nothing to do with this.”

“I can confidently say I know jack shit about this entire mess.”

“Good. Because I’d hate to bury you alongside Stevie and my mother.”

The corner of her mouth twitches, but she has the good sense not to laugh.

Cute.

She thinks I’m joking.

A noise behind us makes us both turn.

We noticed Minho approaching, carrying the thirteenth suitcase I’ve brought with me without breaking a sweat.