“Stop talking about me as if I’m not here,” I fume. “Stop treating me as if I’m a toy. I agreed to come here to save this company, not for you, Choi Wansu, but for Yujun and Bomi and all the other people that would suffer. I did it for them. I didn’t do it for you. I wouldn’t do anything for you.”

Ellen gasps. “No. No. She doesn’t mean those things. She’s in shock right now. Hara, apologize to Wansu right now.”

“Why? Because she paid for a few things. Have you seen the house she lives in or the car she drives? Actually, she doesn’t even drive. She sits in the back seat because she has a driver! Everything in her life is perfect. This is but a tiny blip in her well-planned life. And now she’s moving me to Korea to live and you’re okay with it?”

“Well, actually, Wansu has offered a place for me . . .” Ellen trails off at the sudden look of fury on my face.

“Did you all plot this out beforehand without telling me?”

“No.” This rejection comes from Yujun. “I hadn’t thought of it until Kim Jungkwon brought it up just now. But it’s a perfect solution. It’ll buy us time.”

“Time for what? For everyone around you to know us as brother and sister?” I speak bitterly.

“I raised her better. I swear I did.” Ellen wipes the tears away from her face. “She’s grateful. We all are. You’ve done so much for her.”

“No.” Wansu’s voice comes out harsh and brittle. “I can never make up for what I did. Hara’s rejection is appropriate. You reap what you sow. I made the decision to give you up, Hara, and I am not sorry. I would do it again. I would do it again.” Her voice breaks then and she begins to bend. Her knees fold, her head dips. The motions are all smooth and meaningful, but it doesn’t make sense to me. To see this very proud, very elegant woman in her tailored ivory suit go down to the floor seems like a scene from a movie and not real life. It’s not a ninety-degree bow of respect. It’s a full bow, on her knees, arms stretched forward, back bent. I shut my eyes because I do not want to see this.

Ellen collapses to the floor. “No. No. What are you doing?”

“Thank you. Thank you.” The perfect English that Wansu normally speaks is gone. She struggles for the words. “For caring for my child. For protecting her all these years. For raising her right.”

A rock lodges in my throat. I struggle to keep a grip on my bitterness. I don’t want to feel compassion or empathy. I want to be mad. I should be mad. Mad at Ellen for keeping secrets. Mad at Wansu for abandoning me. Mad at Yujun for being so damned understanding.

“This is your daughter, Hara,” Ellen begins to say, as if she’s introducing me for the first time. “She was an early reader. She spoke early, too. Her first word was ‘milk.’ I thought it was ‘mom’ but Pat said it was ‘milk’ and he was right. She was hungry. She can be clumsy and impatient. Stoic. So stoic. I think she got that from you.”