Fatal allure

Prologue

Fatal Allure

The rain never stopped in Seoul.

It poured endlessly against the glass windows of Royal Auction House, drowning the city in silver lights and shadows. Inside the grand hall, priceless paintings hung beneath crystal chandeliers while the wealthiest people in the country whispered behind masks of elegance.

At the center of it all stood Yoo Hae-rin.

Beautiful.

Untouchable.

Dangerous.

Dressed in a black silk gown, Hae-rin commanded the room with effortless grace, her voice smooth as velvet as she finalized the bidding for a rare diamond necklace worth millions. Cameras flashed. Reporters watched her every move.

No one noticed the blood hidden beneath perfection.

“Sold.”

The crowd applauded.

Hae-rin smiled politely, but her eyes remained cold.

Because somewhere in the city—

Another man was dead.

⸻

Two hours later, the flashing red and blue lights of police cars illuminated the entrance of a luxury hotel near the Han River.

A body had been discovered in the presidential suite.

Male. Wealthy. Mid-thirties.

The third suspicious death connected to Yoo Hae-rin in less than two years.

Standing behind the yellow police line, Lee Tae-jun silently studied the crime scene photos handed to him by a detective.

Elite investigator.

Special Investigations Unit.

A man known for exposing impossible insurance fraud cases.

And according to the anonymous file delivered to his office that morning—

Yoo Hae-rin was not simply unlucky.

She was a predator.

“Cause of death?” Tae-jun asked coldly.

“Heart failure,” the detective replied. “Just like the others.”

Tae-jun flipped through the files.

Every victim had one thing in common.

They were all once involved with Yoo Hae-rin.

And every single one left behind massive insurance payouts before dying.

Too perfect to be coincidence.

Across the street, a black luxury car slowly came to a stop.

The tinted window rolled down.

Hae-rin watched the scene quietly from inside the vehicle, her expression unreadable beneath the city lights.

For one brief second—

Her eyes met Tae-jun’s.

A strange silence settled between them despite the storm.

Not fear.

Not guilt.

Recognition.

Like two enemies meeting long before the war truly began.

Then her car disappeared into the rain.

Tae-jun stared after it, unaware that from the moment he chose to chase Yoo Hae-rin—

His life was already falling into her trap.

Or perhaps…

Into someone else’s.