She sat alone in the staff lounge for nearly ten minutes.
Her hands wouldn't stop trembling.
She'd spent years wondering whether Soo-bin recovered from the subway emergency. Now she knew the little girl was alive, healthy, and remembered her.
That knowledge should have brought only happiness.
Instead, Nia felt overwhelmed.
She was thinking about the child, the frightened aunt, and the strange coincidence of hearing a familiar name in an expensive restaurant on the other side of the world.
She was also thinking about the check.
Five hundred thousand dollars.
An amount large enough to transform her family's financial circumstances.
Her mother's rehabilitation expenses would become manageable. Malik could finish his technical training without working late shifts, and Nia could return to her graduate studies rather than accepting whatever employment paid the bills fastest.
But the money had been offered as a joke at her expense.
She didn't know whether Holloway intended to honor it.
And she wasn't sure she wanted to stand before cameras accepting a payment that allowed him to portray himself as a generous man who discovered talent while entertaining his guests.
The distinction mattered.
She had sung because a frightened child once needed comfort.
The song had become meaningful before any wealthy man offered money for it.
Now she was afraid strangers would remember the wager more clearly than the kindness that connected her to Soo-bin.
Nia leaned forward.
For a moment, she covered her face.
Then she heard someone approaching.
Grace entered carrying a cup of water.
She placed it beside Nia.
"Drink something."
Nia looked up.
"Thank you."
The manager sat across from her.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then asked whether Nia had known who Min-jae was before the dinner.
Nia shook her head.
"Not until he mentioned his daughter."
Grace nodded slowly.
She had heard enough of the Korean conversation to understand the connection, but she wanted Nia's account rather than the guests' interpretation.
Nia explained the subway emergency.
The frightened little girl.
And the song.
Grace listened.
Then smiled sadly.
"You were twenty-five?"
Nia nodded.
The manager studied her.
For a moment, she seemed touched.
Then said, "That's a remarkable thing to have carried quietly for three years."
Nia looked toward the water.
"I didn't think it was remarkable."
Grace leaned back.
"Sometimes the person helping doesn't know how important the help will become."
Min-jae didn't call his daughter immediately.
He wanted to confirm that Nia was comfortable speaking with her, and he didn't want to transform their reunion into another public spectacle.