VENDIDA PARA PAGAR UNA DEUDA — PARTE 3

The carriage moved through the dark forest while the sound of horses followed somewhere behind them.

Han Soo-Min held the old medallion tightly in her hand.

She could not stop looking at it.

It was the same symbol she had seen hanging around her mother’s neck when she was a little girl.

But her mother had always told her that the medallion had been lost many years ago.

Now it was in her hands.

The Question That Changed Everything

Soo-Min looked across the carriage at Kang Tae-Won.

Tae-Won did not answer immediately.

Outside, the sound of the horses became louder.

He finally looked at her.

Soo-Min’s eyes filled with confusion.

Tae-Won looked toward the curtain.

Soo-Min froze.

She had spent her entire life believing that her family had simply fallen into poverty.

Her parents had always told her that her father had lost everything because of a failed harvest and an old debt.

But suddenly, that story no longer made sense.

The Night Her Family Disappeared

Tae-Won explained that years earlier, Soo-Min’s parents had not been ordinary farmers.

They had worked for a powerful household that possessed documents capable of exposing a large political conspiracy inside the kingdom.

When the documents disappeared, several people were blamed.

Soo-Min’s father was one of them.

He fled with his wife and their infant daughter.

For years they lived under false names.

Soo-Min grew up believing she was simply the daughter of poor farmers.

But someone eventually discovered where they were hiding.

Soo-Min shook her head.

Tae-Won looked directly into her eyes.

Soo-Min stopped breathing for a moment.

Tae-Won continued quietly.

The Debt Was a Lie

Soo-Min suddenly remembered the day everything changed.

Her father had refused to explain why strangers had arrived at their house.

Her mother had cried that night.

And the following morning, her parents had told her she would have to leave with Tae-Won.

She had believed they had betrayed her.

But the truth was different.

Her father had deliberately created the appearance of a debt so that anyone watching would believe Soo-Min had been sold to a wealthy man.

Tae-Won had agreed to play the role of the cruel buyer.

Soo-Min lowered her eyes.

Tears finally rolled down her cheeks.

Tae-Won shook his head.

The Man Behind the Chase

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

The horses moved nervously.

Tae-Won immediately reached for the sword hidden beneath the seat.

Soo-Min looked toward the window.

Several riders had surrounded the carriage.

One of them stepped forward.

It was Park Do-Hyun.

Tae-Won opened the carriage door but kept himself between Do-Hyun and Soo-Min.

Do-Hyun smiled.

Tae-Won’s expression became colder.

Do-Hyun looked past him and saw Soo-Min holding the medallion.

His expression immediately changed.

Soo-Min heard those words.

She finally understood that the medallion was not simply a family keepsake.

It was the reason everyone had been searching for her.

The Secret Inside the Medallion

Do-Hyun stepped closer.

Soo-Min looked down at the small object in her hand.

For the first time, she noticed a tiny seam around its edge.

The medallion could be opened.

She pressed the hidden mechanism.

The metal cover moved slightly.

Inside was a tiny rolled piece of paper.

Tae-Won saw it.

Soo-Min looked at him.

Tae-Won glanced toward Do-Hyun.

Silence filled the forest.

Soo-Min slowly closed the medallion.

She finally understood why her family had been willing to make her believe they had betrayed her.

They had not sold her.

They had hidden her.

And Tae-Won had not bought her.

He had risked everything to protect her.