Shadows Of Desire | ✓

Chapter 5

"You're trending again."

Lisa didn't look up from her coffee. The mug trembled slightly in her hands.

"Top three. Hashtag 'JeonLalisaScandal.'" Jisoo set her phone face down on the table. "I'm not even on Twitter and it found me."

Lisa closed her eyes.

"I told you," she said quietly. "It was only a matter of time."

Jisoo looked at her best friend for a long moment. Lisa looked tired—beyond tired. Dark circles carved below her eyes, and her usual sharp posture had softened into a slump of quiet dread.

"You haven't spoken to him?" Jisoo asked gently.

Lisa shook her head.

"He's gone completely silent."

Jungkook was in Busan.

He hadn't told anyone, not even Taehyung. He'd left the city overnight, his phone off, no press, no driver. Just him and the road.

The headlines had broken that morning:
"Jeon Group Facing Internal Audit Over Embezzlement Allegations."
"Heiress Lalisa Manobal Linked to Confidential Meetings."
"Anonymous Source Claims Jeon Heir Leaked Assets to Cover Girlfriend's Art Launch."

It was all nonsense.

But it didn't matter.

The damage was done.

He watched the waves slam against the rocks, salt in the air and cold in his chest. He could already hear his father's voice:

"You gave them an opening."
"This is why you don't date artists."
"This is what happens when you confuse love with leadership."

He hadn't told Lisa where he was going. He couldn't.

He didn't know what to say that wouldn't make it worse.

Lisa's phone buzzed again.

She expected another headline, another message from a PR team, or a vague statement drafted by her cousin's assistant.

Instead, it was a name she hadn't seen in two years.

"Park Jinah (HR)"

She stared at it.

Jinah had been her mentor at Manobal Finance before Lisa walked away from the company to pursue her own path. She hadn't spoken to her since the fallout.

Curious, anxious, she answered.

"Lisa."

"Hi," she breathed. "I didn't know you still had my number."

"I kept it," Jinah replied, her tone clipped but not cold. "Listen. This call isn't social."

Lisa sat up straighter.

"There's a board meeting scheduled next week," Jinah continued. "Your cousin's gunning for your complete removal from all remaining trust accounts."

Lisa's pulse picked up. "He can't do that."

"He can try. He's citing reputation damage. They're painting you as a liability."

"And Jungkook?"

"Same. There's talk of removing him from the Jeon executive shortlist entirely."

Lisa's stomach twisted. "But none of it's true."

"Doesn't matter," Jinah said. "This isn't about truth. It's about image."