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Present Day – Seoul, South Korea
Golden Dynasty Restaurant – 8:47 PM
The restaurant breathed money. Crystal chandeliers wept light onto white linen, gold-rimmed plates, and the hushed shuffle of waiters in black ties. A piano murmured something melancholic—Chopin, perhaps—barely audible over the clink of champagne flutes and the hungry laughter of people who measured their worth in carats and square feet.
A high school reunion. Seven years since graduation.
Kim Ha-ri sat at the corner of the longest table, a quiet eclipse in a sea of gilded noise.
Her dress was black. Simple. The kind of simple that costs more than most people’s yearly salary. A modest diamond caught the chandelier’s fire on her finger, and a thin silver chain circled her throat, bearing a small pendant: the letter K.
She swirled her wine, watching the ruby liquid cling to the glass. She said nothing.
Around her, old classmates performed their rituals of validation.
Park Soo-han (laughing too loud, thrusting her left hand into the light)
“My husband bought me a Mercedes. A real Mercedes, not the entry model.”
Choi Hye-won (stroking her new handbag like a pet)
“We just closed on a house in Gangnam. Seventy billion won. The view of the Han is everything.”
Jung Hae-sung (loosening his tie with practiced arrogance)
“Director now. At my father’s firm. The old man finally realized I’m the only one who can actually run things.”
Ha-ri took a small, deliberate sip. Her face was a placid lake—unreadable, beautiful in a way that made people uncomfortable. She had learned long ago that silence was the sharpest weapon.
Park Soo-han, former class president, leaned forward in her crimson dress, smile fixed like a mask.
Park Soo-han (saccharine, chin lifted)
“Kim Ha-ri. I almost didn’t recognize you. You look… well.”
The pause before well was a scalpel.
Kim Ha-ri (setting down her glass, voice flat as a blade)
“I am well.”
Park Soo-han (tilting her head, pretending to search memory)
“What are you doing these days? Still… what did you study again? Law?”
Kim Ha-ri (unblinking)
“Yes.”
Park Soo-han (leaning in, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper that carried to half the table)
“Are you working at some small firm? I know things were… difficult for you in university. The tuition, the…” A wave of her hand. “…circumstances.”
The table quieted, watching. Waiting for the poor girl to flinch.
Ha-ri smiled. It was a small, cold thing—a sliver of winter.
Kim Ha-ri
“I work at KJ Group. As their head lawyer.”
Silence dropped like a guillotine.
Park Soo-han (smile frozen, fingers tightening around her wine glass)
“KJ Group? Asia’s number one company?”
Kim Ha-ri (taking a slow, unhurried sip)
“The same.”
A nervous laugh escaped Soo-han’s throat.
Park Soo-han (looking around the table for allies)
“That’s impossible. KJ Group only hires from the top universities. From wealthy families. People with…” Her gaze flickered to Ha-ri’s pendant, her simple dress, her bare wrists. “…connections.”
ŞİMDİ OKUDUĞUN
QUEEN OF THE DEVIL
Hayran KurguKim Ha-ri is Miss Death - a ruthless lawyer who has never lost a case. Kang Jae-won is the Mafia King - a devil who rules the underworld with iron fists. When their worlds collide on a beach, neither expects to fall. But as enemies close in and a je...
