Nari had stayed only one night in Japan before flying to New York. She'd promised to come back after the baby was born but she wasn't prepared to actually be there for the event.
And she had a man to find and let know that he was officially taken. She needed to flip that one-woman sign on before he did something she'd be pissed about.
She knocked and knocked on his door, wondering if he could possibly be ignoring her.
She finally gave up and made her way across town to Christine and Ellen's. The doorman allowed her through and she found Ellen waiting for her in the hall.
"I need to find Taeyong."
Ellen crossed her arms. "I thought you were brave enough for him."
"I'm not."
"Then what are you doing looking for him?"
She shrugged. "I'm maybe not brave enough for him, but I might just be stupid enough."
His grandmother puckered her lips. Then she laughed. "Stupid. Brave. There's not much difference between the two, is there?"
"It's a very thin line."
Ellen pulled her inside the door. "I for one am glad you've finally crossed to the other side."
"I think you're going to be the only one."
Ellen chuckled. "Christine will come around. Eventually."
"I won't hold my breath."
"I wouldn't either. Christine thinks her son needs someone who will follow his lead. Who will stay home to care for the kids and hostess his parties. That's what she had with Taeyong's father and it worked well for both of them."

Ellen laughed at the expression on Nari's face. "But despite how much Taeyong looks like his father, he's not him. And what Christine really wants is her son to be happy. He's happy with you. She'll take the blinders off one of these days."
Ellen flipped through her address book, writing down a name and a phone number, and handed it to her. "You'll need this."
Nari looked at it, noting it was for the reporter, then made a face. "So I can make a fool of myself?"
"No. So you can show Taeyong you know the game. And are going to play it."
Nari took a deep breath. "I'll play it. By my own rules."
Ellen cackled. "Good. I'm betting on you."

***************
 
The reporter met Nari at a restaurant early the next morning. She squinted at Nari, then said, "Kim Nari?"
When Nari nodded, the woman sat down. "I almost didn't recognize you. The hair."
Nari pushed her back-to-brown hair behind her ear self-consciously. "The blond was just temporary. I'm back to my natural color." Or near enough. She'd thought if she was going to do this, she needed to do it as herself. Recognizable and all.
The reporter pulled out a recorder, turned it on, then took out a pad of paper. She said, "Is it true Lee Taeyong paid you a million dollars to marry him?"
Nari smiled slightly. "Yes. Because any woman would need to be bribed to marry Lee Taeyong."

The reporter laughed. "Is there a pre-nup?"
"There will be. It should be illegal for a man of his wealth to marry without one."
The reporter raised her eyebrows and Nari said, "And, of course, there will have to be a no-cheating clause. Maybe something about cutting off his balls if he does."
Nari pointed to the reporter's pad of paper. "Make sure you put that in."
"Er, okay."
The reporter scribbled quickly, then looked back up. "When is the wedding?"
Nari shrugged. "We haven't set a date yet."
"And you're not worried about that? Taeyong doesn't have a good track record with commitment."
"Taeyong has a great track record with commitment. He's a one-woman man, remember?"
"But not a forever man."
Nari smiled. "I guess he was just waiting for the woman who scares the bejesus out of him."
The reporter blinked and said, "Well, I'll be rooting for you."
Nari nodded her head, thinking she'd be the only one. The whole world would be waiting for Taeyong to drop her. If only so they could have their chance with him.
The reporter looked down at her notes. "One of his exes said he isn't so pretty in the morning. Is that true?"
Nari shook her head. "He's horrifyingly gorgeous. It's enough to give any woman a complex."
The reporter looked as if she'd never thought about what it actually meant to wake up next to all that gorgeousness before.
"Just one more question. There have been so many rumors about him paying you to be his wife that I have to ask. Are you marrying him for his money?"
Nari took a deep breath and said, "I'm marrying him because I love him." She smiled and shrugged. "Every woman does."

*****************
 
Ellen called her two days later, congratulating her on the interview, and telling her where Taeyong could be found. He'd run to a lake house near Seoul after following her to Korea.
Nari had rented a car and drove north. It was a long drive and it gave her lots of time to think. To worry. To get mad about having to chase him. To remember that he'd chased her, and then left her alone to figure it out without him hovering over her.
She pulled down the long, dirt driveway slowly, her stomach in knots. She'd seen love in his eyes. Love that didn't disappear just because a woman had to think things over before she could make her way back to him.
There would still be love in his eyes when he saw her. But it might be hidden behind a layer of temper.
The house finally came into view and Taeyong sat in a rocker on the porch, watching her car. Their eyes met through the windshield and he didn't smile, just looked at her.
She parked her rental behind his car and took a deep breath before getting out. She walked toward him, her eyes running him up and down. This was it, her last chance to turn around, to stop this from happening.

She stopped a step away from the porch and held t