The whole big house seemed to echo the silence that had set in the day Kim Tan did not return home. With time the silence had thickened and set into the nooks and crannies of a house that used to be a home. Kim Tan’s boisterous laugh, Madame Han’s tipsy happiness and commanding voice of Kim Won as he chided them both for their loudness, used to fill the high ceilinged mansion. Even Cha Eun Sang had started to feel at home in the warmth of a regular family life. Managing the household staff, supervising the nursing staff, who looked after the Chairman, making sure that there was food on the table no matter what time the ‘men’ came back home, keeping tab on the household accounts and taking care of the nitty-gritty of Kim Tan’s daily life, had become her life. Madame Han had willingly handed over the household to her as she had finally found her place as the Chairman’s trusted companion in the true sense.

Kim Won’s wife, Madame Yang, had made it clear that she was more interested in running her life her way than the household she had married into. She was civil but politely disinterested and honestly, nobody raised an eyebrow. When it came to Kim Won’s marriage, everybody knew the score. Love and marriage seldom coincided in the world Cha Eun Sang had married into. Hers was an exception. Kim Tan had remained faithful and devoted to her to the last day of his life.  That happy-go-lucky young man was the lynchpin of this family. With him gone, Cha Eun Sang felt adrift. Now, Sunny was the sole reason she got up in the morning. She felt suffocated from doing nothing, helpless against the slide that this family was subjected to. She was constantly tired and yet, spent her nights sleepless, only to doze off around dawn.

Today was no different except that in the early hours of the morning, Director Yoon had landed up at the Kim Mansion and had sent a message through the housekeeper that he wanted to see Cha Eun Sang. She immediately knew that something was gravely amiss. She had dressed hurriedly and had rushed down to the foyer to meet him. Her greeting was met by an impatient and abrupt question from him.

“Where is Chairman Kim? I received a very strange text from him. Can I go into the office? I need to check something. It’s extremely urgent.”

Something in his demeanor had made Cha Eun Sang turn on her heels and lead the way to the office, which also served as the den and the library. She hesitated before the door and knocked softly because Kim Won often slept in the office, on an extra-large sofa that was custom made for his considerable stature. There was no response from the other side and as she waited patiently, she could feel Mr. Yoon breathe down her neck, very literally.

“Cha Eun Sang, let me. This is very important.”

She had stood aside as Mr. Yoon had rapped loudly with his knuckles. After the third knock, he twisted the door knob and had pushed in. The door was unlocked so he had stepped into the room and anxiously looked about to make sure that he had not missed Kim Won’s presence in the room. His shoulders sagged and he let out a muffled expression of frustration. Cha Eun Sang still hovered at the threshold. But Mr. Yoon seemed to be a man on a mission. He walked across to the big mahogany desk that dominated one side of the room. He picked out a few envelopes which were neatly stacked in the middle of the desk and retraced his steps to the sofa. He quickly glanced through all the envelopes and chose one. The rest were unceremoniously dumped on the coffee table. His hasty fingers tore the seal open as he unmindfully found some precarious purchase on the otherwise ample seating. His face had grown darker as he read the document and Cha Eun Sang was filled with a terrible foreboding. She decided to step in.

“What is it? Is there a problem? Let me call hyung.” but she did not get any response.

Mr. Yoon was still lost in the document so she had reached into the pocket of her light sweater and had retrieved her phone. Kim Won was on her speed dial. Number 1- her mother, number 2- hyung. Her call was connected immediately but strangely, she could hear Kim Won’s phone ring in her vicinity. She turned her head following the ring tone and spied Kim Won’s phone lying on the table. He was never apart from that phone. She knew something terrible was afoot.

Mr. Yoon had noticed her discovery of Kim Won’s phone and consequently her anxiety. He motioned her to take a seat. And after Mr. Yoon had briefed her about the situation, Cha Eun Sang was glad that she had taken a seat before he had spoken. Now, she was staring at a small white envelope that was scribbled with her name, too afraid to look inside. Mr. Yoon spoke in a gentle voice.

“Might as well get it over with. We need to talk about this. I have to go to the office, get in touch with Chairman Kim’s personal attorney, verify that nothing is out of order and then carry on as if nothing is. Eun Sang’ah, do not be worried. He is a sensible man. I have known him for a long time. He is headstrong but not foolish. I am sure that he is fine. He loves Sunny….and has come to regard you as family. He would not leave you to fend for yourselves.”

Cha Eun Sang tore open the envelope and found a hand written note addressed to her. Kim Won had repeated to her his reason for “taking some time off”, had asked her to act wisely in his absence as she was his agent in the matters of business, had reminded her that she was to act in Sunny’s best interest and preserve the status quo in public. He had added that she was to listen to Mr.Yoon’s advice and seek help from Choi Young Do if required. The last bit made her almost doubt Kim Won’s sanity and the whole situation.

She crumpled the letter in her hand and met Mr. Yoon’s e