"I can't believe this is happening to my family," Vivianne wailed.
She paced between the two couches in the penthouse's main living room. Every so often, she stopped to cradle one of her daughters' faces before resuming her pacing. She ignored Jisoo and Seulgi, who had been dragged up here by Jennie and Irene, along with Lisa and the others in her team who were in the room. The rest were patrolling the floor below and the hallway outside where Beomseok Park was speaking to the police.
Lisa wished he were in here with them. Because she was certain he'd be able to give a more coherent account of what had happened than Vivianne was. 'Hysterical' wasn't a word Lisa liked to use, but it was what came to mind as she approached her client.
"Mrs. Park." Lisa offered a reassuring touch to her shoulder. It didn't work. Vivianne was so worked up by whatever had happened that her every word was punctuated with half of a sob. "Have a seat and tell us all what happened. In your own words."
"Yes, Mom," Irene said. "Why don't you sit down here?"
Irene stood on the other side of Vivianne, directing her toward the empty space next to Roseanne, who had selected a heavy sweatshirt to wear with her pajama bottoms. Even in the worst-case scenario, their mother would have no idea what her youngest had just been up to.
"Tell us what's happened. We need to know, especially if it's going to affect us." Irene gestured to Jennie and Jisoo on the other couch before motioning to Roseanne, too. "What in the world is going on?"
"I..." Vivianne clasped her hand over her heart. "I'd just come home from having dinner with Paula Finch and her lovely daughter, Fiona." She turned to Roseanne beside her. "You know the one, sweetheart. She helped design your father's waiting room in his office. Excellent taste, that woman, although—"
"Mrs. Park," Lisa said.
Vivianne blinked. "Yes. I unlocked the door, came inside, and went straight back to the master bedroom so I could take off my jewelry and begin getting ready for bed. That's when... when I saw it. There was a note on the bed. A handwritten one. From..."
Everyone waited with bated breath.
"It was from someone who means to harm us. The note made that clear. And they broke into my house, into my bedroom, when I could have been there!"
No mention of her husband? Wasn't he in danger, too? "What did the note say?" Irene asked.
But Vivianne just shook her head, too shellshocked to respond. "May I see the note?" Lisa offered.
Vivianne glared at Lisa's outstretched hand. "The police have it. They took it as evidence. Besides, it doesn't matter what it said. I know a threat when I see one. And it could happen to one of you next. I would die if anything happened to one of my girls!"
Irene sighed. Jennie rolled her eyes. Roseanne swallowed. Jisoo and Seulgi simply looked bemused.
"Can't you at least tell us what this is all about?" Jennie asked. "How are we supposed to protect ourselves if we don't know what's going on?"
Lisa couldn't disagree with that. This entire job, she'd been groping in the dark. Which wasn't the best choice of metaphor, considering what she'd been doing just ten minutes ago.
"Who wrote the note?" Jennie asked. "You seem to know who it is."
Vivianne's eyes darted to one side. "While I have some ideas about the identity of the culprit, I can't be certain. What I am certain of, however, is that they are a threat to us all."
