The Odd Of Fate
[Prologue]
I sometimes think about probability.
A brilliant mathematician could probably calculate the exact odds of any event and present them as precise numbers.
But what’s the point?
In real life, probability is simple: if something happens, it’s 100%. If it doesn’t, it’s 0%.
So ‘what might not have happened’ is completely meaningless.
It either happens or it doesn’t—Nothing in between.
For instance, the chance of me ‘accidentally’ running into Lee Jun-yeol at a Cheongdam-dong café was practically zero.
But the moment I actually encountered him, it became 100% reality.
But why?
What were the odds that one of South Korea’s most powerful executives would show up at the same café as me on a random Wednesday afternoon?
This happened just three days after I’d packed up my life in New York and returned to Korea.
I couldn’t help but let out a frustrated sigh.
Even in his early forties, he was still devastatingly handsome.
Tall with broad shoulders, a lean frame perfectly tailored in an expensive suit.
His ageless, sculpted face had clean-cut features that came together in flawless harmony.
He looked to be in his early thirties at most.
In casual clothes, he’d probably look even younger.
His sharp gaze, the way he seemed to look down at people, radiated an untouchable authority.
Facing a man like him, any woman-except for me-would feel her heart race.
“Vice President, hello?”
His slightly surprised gaze settled on me, then lingered even longer on the baby in the stroller beside me.
His eyes demanded an answer.
I played dumb.
Finally, letting out a small sigh, he asked.
“Nam-hae...... is this your child?”
I smiled coolly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Yes. My baby.”
His emotionless gaze remained steady as he looked back and forth between me and the child.
Right, that level of expression control is probably what lets him run such a massive corporation.
After all, isn’t a poker face the foundation of business?
“How’s Yun-hee?”
“She’s doing well. You know how it is. ‘We’ always manage just fine.”
When you shook her roots like an earthquake, I covered them with soil.
When you turned away like bitter winter, dropping all her leaves, I built high walls around her and waited for spring together.
A moment of silence settled between us before the baby started fussing.
I skillfully lifted the child into my arms.
‘I should have just gone straight home after the vaccination.’
The regret was brief.
I knew it was pointless to dwell on what had already happened, so I quickly dismissed the thought.
I’d already run into him. Now that this had happened, if Lee Jun-yeol decided to look for ‘us,’ it wouldn’t matter where we tried to hide.
“Well then, goodbye. I’ll be going first.”
