Chapter 29: The Offer

Chan's POV

Min Gitae found me on the ferry slip at dusk.

I had gone down there to be alone for ten minutes, which I hadn't managed in two years.

The ferry was in, and a few people were standing about with their phones.

I stood with my hood down, because I had promised her.

I was also watching every face on the slip.

The forum post had come off the Driftwood's Wi-Fi that afternoon, and Odette had no idea who in her café had typed it.

Whoever it was could be standing within ten feet of me.

Min came along the planks in his grey coat with his hands in his pockets.

"Chan-ah," he said, in Korean. "You've become very brave."

"Manager Min."

"Walk with me. Three minutes. Then you can go back to your lady."

I should have said no.

I walked, because I'd walked behind him for nine years, and my feet still knew how.

We stopped at the end of the slip, where the wood turned black and the water slapped underneath.

I had heard Mara tell Odette about this place, from the doorway of the kitchen.

I stood on the last plank of it, the one her brother had stepped off, and I didn't tell Min.

"I'm going to make you an offer," Min said. "Without Hyunjin. Without the lady. Just you and me."

"I'm listening."

"The company will pay for a security team of six for Hyunjin. In Lighthouse Cove, in the house, as long as he wants it."

I looked at him.

"You're joking."

"The company will also drop all action under the contract for the complaint he filed this morning. We will not contest it."

"Why?"

"Because it is cheaper than a trial."

That was the first true thing he'd said in a week.

"And in return?"

"You come home on Friday. Alone. You renew for five years as leader.

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