Chapter 1

It was a warm fall afternoon. The trees were turning their respective fall shades. The shades of richness, the summer having past. Yuri Jung placed her feet steady onto the gas pedal of her blue BMW Z4. The engine kicked in & the vehicle shot out into the late afternoon traffic. Building winds gusted through her window, tossing the mid-length, black waves that fell below her shoulders, matching the emotional turmoil that whipped through her heart.

Ahead, a traffic signal changed to yellow. Distracted, Yuri nearly missed it & was forced to hit the brakes with more force than she liked. That too added to her anger, increasing a sense of complete powerlessness in her life. The flash of white & blue on the seat beside her caught her glance. The book. Grasping it up, she flung it out of the window in an uncharacteristic display to her temper. It landed on the crement with a dull thud. The bow was still on it. Anger melded to hurt & tears rose, stinging her brown, almond-shaped eyes. She wiped them away angrily & instead of waiting for the light to change to green, she pulled to the right hand lane & made a turn down a side road.

This road was quiet & less traveled. Broad trees & quiet homes set far off from the roadway didn't mar the beauty. Any other day, she might have admired the architecture that so complimented its surroundings but not today. Today, Yuri didn’t see the artistry nor the dark clouds that were quickly rolling in. Her mind’s eye had taken her back to the scene at Jung Corporate Industries less than eighty minutes ago.

*Flashback*

She'd practically danced into the reception area of the engineering outer offices. Jessica had grinned wickedly in her direction.

“Still on the honeymoon, I see.” Jessica, JCI's receptionist, had giggled as she picked up the receiver to page Jung Yunho. Kwon Yuri had worked at JCI before she & Yunho got married three months earlier. She'd begun doing outside programming from her home office before she & Yunho got married. After their marriage, she’d made it a full-time endeavor.

“Yul, honey, you're positively glowing.” Jessica continued, placing the phone back in its cradle. Jessica’s voice dropped conspiratorially, “What's going on here? Is there something I should know about?”

Yuri smiled sweetly at her, “Why Jessica, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm no different than any other day.”

“Sure.” Jessica nodded as if not quite believing her. The phone rang & Jessica turned to answer it just as Yunho rounded the corner.

Jung Yunho was a smart, well-built man. His short dark brown hair was combed neatly. His warm brown, almond-shaped eyes always seemed to have a smile when focused on Yuri but they weren't smiling today. Yuri’s own smiled faltered when her eyes fell to the mid-length, blonde haired Hyoyeon Kim. Simply put in Yuri’s mind, Hyoyeon was gorgeous without even trying. Yuri felt dowdy in the face of the woman’s exotic beauty. It hadn’t helped her self-esteem that the woman seemed uninterested in a friendship with her but hang onto Yunho’s every word.

“Um...do you have a minute, honey?” Yuri spoke softly, to her husband. She smiled politely to acknowledge Hyoyeon’s presence. Hyoyeon returned the smile distantly.

“Only a minute.” Yunho said, not noticing the by played between Yuri & Hyoyeon, “I don’t have much time.” Yuri frowned at Yunho’s obvious impatience. What had she done wrong?

“Can we talk in private please?” She said, eyeing the busy foyer. People were always coming & going through the automatic glass door.

“Alright, come down to my office.” He gestured on down the hall. Yuri followed Yunho & Hyoyeon fell in step behind Yuri. Yuri thought