My daughter lay in a hospital bed in Queens after a six-hour emergency spinal operation, and not a single member of our community association came to see her.
A surge of defiant energy shot through me. I thanked Victor, snatched up the papers, and marched out of the diner, my mind alight with the truth of the forgery. I pulled out my phone, fingers fumbling as I tried to call Attorney Raymond Zhou’s office, eager to expose the lie.
The line rang endlessly, then went to voicemail. I called again, and again, leaving terse messages demanding the immediate withdrawal of his fraudulent court petition.
No answer. No call back.
Instead, a lean man in a cheap suit and a baseball cap appeared at Soo-jin’s apartment building a few hours later. I was there, bringing her a home-cooked meal, sitting on the edge of her small sofa. She still moved with a stiff, careful grace, her spinal brace a stark reminder of her fragility.
The man knocked, then produced a stack of papers with a practiced flourish. “Jae-hoon Park?” he asked, not waiting for an answer. “You’ve been served.”
He handed me a thick envelope and vanished down the hall before I could even open my mouth.
Inside, I found a formal 30-day commercial eviction notice. My heart dropped to my stomach. It wasn’t just a threat. It was a deadline.
The papers claimed that Park Custom Tailors’ lease was legally transferred to Min-jun’s personal LLC in a 2021 restructuring agreement. An agreement I had supposedly authorized.
Soo-jin saw the color drain from my face. She reached out, her hand gently touching my arm. “Appa? What is it?”
I handed her the documents. Her eyes widened as she read. She was an architectural designer; she understood legal fine print.
“He’s trying to take the shop,” she whispered, her voice tight with alarm. “Appa, he’s serious.”
She looked at me, her eyes pleading. “Just… hand it over. Please. Save your health. This isn’t worth it.”
I shook my head, my jaw set. My life’s work. My legacy. I had built this shop stitch by painful stitch.
“Never,” I said. “I will not surrender to a fraud.”
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