Chapter 5 5. Why isn't mom home

"Appa!" Seo Na Ra exclaimed happily as she ran to her porch. She had peeked at Seo Kang Ho's car that had just stopped in the yard.

The father got out of the car, but suddenly the smile on Seo Na Ra's face disappeared. The girl looked at the car as if waiting for something else, even though her father had moved closer.

"Hey. Why isn't my daughter asleep yet? It's late," said Seo Kang Ho, he squatted in front of his daughter. "What's wrong? Where are you looking?"

"Where is she?" asked Seo Na Ra. She looked around but didn't seem to find anything–something the girl had been waiting for since the beginning.

"Who?"

Seo Na Ra looked at her father with a sad face. "Eomma, when is my mom coming home? Why isn't she coming home with me?"

Seo Kang Ho was silent, he almost lost focus while at the law firm office because of this confusing problem, but in his own home, the same thing was still welcomed.

The man tried to smile so as not to make his daughter anxious. "Your mom–"

"You don't trust me?"

"I've always believed in you, Na Ra-yaa. I love you very much." He took the little girl in his arms. "How about going in now and resting." He stepped through the main door. "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Father doesn't trust me." Seo Na Ra was quite difficult to distract, she was still discussing the same issue, but it wasn't a child's fault if she missed her mother. Seo Na Ra had only grown up with Seo Kang Ho, and there was no woman she could call 'eomma' like other children.

At school, some of her other friends came with their mothers, but Seo Na Ra was with her nanny. Before the girl saw the woman she called 'Cassandra Choi,' she didn't think much of it–why didn't her mother take Seo Na Ra to school?

Everything was fine, but after that day, Seo Na Ra became more thoughtful and kept wondering.

Seo Kang Ho's composure was tested; as a single father, he had to do double duty for his daughter. Seo Kang Ho opened the door to Seo Na Ra's room and lowered the little girl to the edge of the bed, and he knelt in front of his daughter.

"How could I not trust you, Na Ra-yaa."

"Jinjja? But you didn't bring my mom home, even though I met her. So, how am I supposed to believe you? I'm not lying, Dad. She is Mrs. Cassandra Choi, my mother."

Seo Kang Ho swallowed. He knew that his daughter had never lied. Seo Na Ra had always been an innocent girl who was honest and expressive.

"I want to know, where did you meet Ms. Cassandra Choi?"

"On the side of the road when Aunt Jang Ha Kyung and I were waiting for Uncle Wo Rim to pick us up." She exhaled, the girl's expression growing more haggard. "But mom doesn't seem to recognize me. Does she have amnesia?"

The more curious Seo Na Ra was, the harder it was for Seo Kang Ho to explain. Everything that had ever happened was too complicated, especially for a child as small as Seo Na Ra. It was still early for her to understand death and separation. Seo Kang Ho was never prepared to see his little girl cry one day.

"Dad will–" His words were interrupted by an incoming call from the cell phone in his pocket. Seo Kang Ho got up and reached for the object. He felt relieved for whoever the caller was in a tense situation like this. If he had to compare, dealing with Seo Na Ra, who kept asking about Cassandra Choi, was even more complicated than the problems Seo Kang Ho's clients brought into the law firm office. "Dad's friend called. Can you let me talk to him?"

Seo Na Ra nodded and let her father out of the room.

"What's the latest news?" Seo Kang Ho stepped out onto the terrace, and he was talking to a detective who also worked in his law firm's office, Lee Kwang So.

"Yes, sir. The forensics team and I have found some evidence."

"Show it to me tomorrow."

"This case is about to come to a climax."

"I wish you to fall asleep comfortably."

"Yes, sir. That's all the news, and I have to say."

"Wait a moment, Kwang So-ssi." Seo Kang Ho bit his lip, and suddenly a great curiosity flashed in his head. "Can I ask you for a personal favor?"

"Personal matters?"

"Yes, and it's confidential."

"Of course, sir. Just tell me."

"I want you to find out about someone. After this, I'll send you had profile."

"Yes, sir. What is your enemy?"

"Not at all. I want to find out."

"Okay."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, and you should also rest now, thank you for your hard work today."

"You too, goodbye." The call ended.

Seo Kang Ho exhaled. He leaned against a pillar. The man looked down, feeling a dizziness in his head. "The file with the woman's profile should still be on the flash drive, and I never used it for anything."

Not wanting the situation to worsen, Seo Kang Ho hurried to his room. He had kept some crucial documents and files in a safe since returning to Seoul. The man strung a code before successfully opening the safe.

There was a small box, and inside, there were about four flash drives, a white flash drive with a small piece of paper attached that read 'London' made the man sigh a relief. He locked the safe again and carried the selected flash disk to the laptop on the table's surface.

Seo Kang Ho was not a forgetful older man, and he still remembered various events in the past. The man was known as a neat and perfectionist.

"He's here." A flat expression appeared on his face. A file containing a woman's profile was found. He sent the file to Lee Kwang So. "If she lives in Seoul, I don't know how far I can avoid Seo Na Ra about this, and I don't know how to explain the real situation. I don't know." He looked frustrated. His problems were much more complicated than the problems brought by the clients, a lawyer always tried to solve their client's problems, but could he solve them?

Seo Kang Ho closed his laptop, leaned back, and headed to the sofa. The man's mind wandered far away, he was not afraid if he had to face even armed criminals, but Seo Kang Ho would be very scared when he had to be honest about anything connected to Cassandra Choi because it involved his daughter, Seo Na Ra. He didn't like opening up old memories because what had happened was complicated, Seo Na Ra's childhood wasn't worth opening up about publicly, and time had made Seo Kang Ho realize that anything could fade away.