bold letters = English

Nate drove Ara home the morning after, as her father doesn't want her leaving the house for more than a day. It really annoys Ara that her father is as strict as a father of a four-year-old even though she is already 24. Nate doesn't want to have a bad impression from her father that is why he is always complying to his conditions. She suspiciously entered their house when she noticed that no one seems to be around. Usually, their maids would always be in the lawn or in the living room when she arrives greeting her as she walks to her room, but today is really quiet.

"Is anybody home?" She squinted her eyes and looked around the house but found no one. "Hmm... What are they up to?" She went straight to her room, took a shower and changed her clothes before going to her father's room.

"Appa!" She knocked on his door. "Appa..."

No answer.

She knocked again and called but nobody is answering. Her father is usually just inside his room as he already stopped working six months ago when he had a severe heart attack.

"Appa! Are you okay?" She decided to try to open the door and was able to, as it is not locked. Ara peered inside but she saw no one. "Hmm... Where are the people?" She took her phone from her pocket and called her dad only to find out that the number is already unreachable.

"What the hell?!" She exclaimed and walked towards the kitchen. A note on the fridge caught her attention and took it. There is a phone number written and says:

Ara,

Please call Atty. Lee as soon as you see this note.

Always loving you as my daughter,
Appa

She took a glass of water first before dialing the number on her phone. In just a few rings, a man answered from the other end as if he is really expecting her to call.

"Uhm...Hello?" Ara said. "Is this Atty. Lee?"

"Yes. Are you Shin Ara?" The man asked her.

"Yeah."

"There you are, Ara! Please go here in my office as soon as possible because I need to talk important matters with you." The man told her mentioning to her his office address.

"Do you know where my dad is?"

"I will tell you once you get here."

Ara scrunched her eyebrows. "But...can't you tell me already over the phone? I'm now getting worried about him!"

"Just go here quickly." The man said before ending the call.

"Aish! Who does he think he is?! Ordering me around, huh?!" Ara said, slightly annoyed. She quickly took her wallet and went outside the house going towards where her car is parked. She drove to where Atty. Lee's office is and arrived there in twenty minutes.

"I'm here for Atty. Lee." She told the blonde receptionist.

She smiled at her. "Ah, you must be Miss Shin. You can go inside now. He is waiting for you." The receptionist pointed towards the door with Atty. Lee's name on it.

Ara walked in and was met by a man looking like he has the same age as her father.

"Where's my dad?" Ara asked as soon as she met eyes with him.

"Have a seat first, Ara." Atty. Lee offered her a chair opposite his table.

"Just tell me where he is!"

"We still have a lot to talk about, okay?" Atty. Lee calmly said. "Please take a seat."

She rolled her eyes but still took a seat.

"Okay. Let's start first to where your father is." Atty. Lee placed his hands on the table, with a folder and a thick envelope beneath.

"Yeah. That's what I'm asking you in the first place." Ara commented annoyingly.

"Your father already left New York."

"W-Whaaaat?!" She widened her eyes. "How can he leave me here? He will not do that! Liar!!! What do you want now, huh?"

"It's true. That's why he left these documents for you." He took the folder and envelope on his table and showed it to Ara. "I don't know where he went so don't ask me anymore about his whereabouts, and I think you are going to find some other people rather than looking for him."

"What do you mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

"He is not your real father."

"Lie!" Ara said. "You are just lying to me the whole time, right?"

"I am not. You can take a look at these..." He handed her the envelope. "and see for yourself."

She took it and looked at the papers inside. They were all her identity documents. "So, what's all these? It's mine, right?"

"Those were forged documents. You are not Shin Ara. Even your father is not using his real name. He is Shin Sukjin, not Jiyong."

"How can you tell me that you are telling the truth?" Ara is starting to get nervous as she continued looking at all the documents in her hands.

"Just go on." Atty. Lee smiled.

She scanned everything until she saw two Korean newspapers dated around three years ago. The headline news for both is about the CEO of KCS Entertainment in Korea who was missing, and a Dr. Shin Sukjin kidnapped her away from her family. What shocked her is she saw her 'known-to-be' father named as her kidnapper and herself on the photos with long reddish brown hair. That was her three years ago when she arrived in New York with her father. However, Ara had her hair in shoulder-length cut complete with full bangs now and in its natural black color, making her look more like a rebel compared to her feminine style three years ago.

"W-What...is this?" Ara stared at Atty. Lee.

"It's you on the photo, right Kim Aeri?" He smirked. "And that proves I'm not lying to you. Dr. Shin kidnapped you to take revenge to your father for getting the love of your mother, so he took you away as well. He was the neurologist assigned to you when you had an accident, and took that opportunity to make revenge. He also learned that you had an amnesia and made his plans easier. You were never in New York back in your childhood. He just made you go here so you would be far away from the things that would make you remember your lost memories. He is a neurologist. He knows how these amnesia stuff work."

Ara just kept quiet as she stared at Atty. Lee.

He continued. "He was planning to keep you longer but he is starting to treat you and love you as his own daughter, and that was not his original plan. In addition, even if he wanted to keep you as his real daughter, he is hesitating if he can still manage to do that given his heart problem that is getting worse everyday." He gave the folder to Ara. "He told me before he left to make you sign this."

Ara took it and read it. "W-What is this all about?!" She looked surprised.

"He chose to run away from everyone and spend his last days alone, as he sees that coming soon, without anyone knowing where he is. And that contract says that every single dollar of his wealth will be given to you, Kim Aeri, as payment for all the troubles he had done."

"B-But...he doesn't have to do this. Where is my dad? I need to find him!" Ara said.

Atty. Lee sighed. "He wants you to be reunited with your real family, and don't bother to look for him anymore. He got me to handle this and convince you to go back to Korea." He held Ara's free hand resting on the table. "That's why he named you 'Ara' because you need to know the truth eventually."*

She just stared blankly at him.

"They will surely track this once it's filed, as the controversial Shin Sukjin and Kim Aeri three years back are the parties in this contract. I'll be sending you back to Korea in two days before the authority can even question your identity as Shin Ara, or Dr. Shin will be chased by them until he gets imprisoned. You don't want that, right? He still stood as your father for three years and he is already giving you a chance to go back. Don't disappoint, Aeri."

*알아 is the Korean word for "I know" and pronounced as 'ara'; same pronunciation with 아라 (Ara) as the new identity given by Dr. Shin to Aeri.