Rip! Rip!
Kim Seo-yeon tore the results into shreds, balled it up and threw it onto the passenger seat floor.
She gasped for air. She could not breathe. She slammed the car horn in anger. The noisy blast of the horn echoed throughout the empty road. The world felt unbelievably cold.
She pulled out of the driveway and drove away. For 3 hours, Kim Seo-yeon just drove around Gang City, no destination in mind. The tears in her eyes flowed freely down her face. She didn't make any sounds, her eyes were cold and focused as the tears kept flowing down her face.
"Umma. Abeoji. Why?" She thought to herself. "Why aren't you Umma and Abeoji?"
Flashbacks assailed her:
"Puppy, we got you the bicycle. Do you want to learn how to ride it?" Kim Jae-jun's baritone voice said as he helped 9-year-old Kim Seo-yeon aboard the bicycle.
"Kitty is such a fast learner. Seo-yeon, you have to be like Ji-a in the future. You're older and she's better." Kim Ye-sol, helping 6-year-old Yeon Ji-a aboard the bicycle, said.
"Umma, I'm going to fall if I go too fast." Kim Seo-yeon complained as she tried to steady herself on the shaky bike.
"Meh, meh. Seo-yeon is such a bad rider." Yeon Ji-a mocked and laughed.
"Umma, Ji-a is being a bad sister. I don't want to ride again." Kim Seo-yeon stopped and pouted.
Kim Jae-jun and Kim Ye-sol laughed out loud.
The memories kept flying around in her head and her tears could not stop.
Yeon Ji-a had left the house because she wasn't the real daughter, and now even Kim Seo-yeon wasn't the real daughter. When Yeon Ji-a left, Kim Seo-yeon had scolded her saying that if it was her, Kim Seo-yeon, she wouldn't leave. But right now, Kim Seo-yeon didn't know how she was feeling.
Regret, pain, sadness, anger, spite. She was feeling everything at once.
Kim Seo-yeon drove around for a few more hours until it was late at night and the car ran out of fuel. She sat in the car. She didn't want to leave. She was afraid that if she opened that car door and left, everything she had seen in those results would become true. She didn't believe it was true.
That night, Kim Seo-yeon cried herself to sleep in the car.
…
The clanking of high heels could be heard. Park Tae-yong sat leisurely on the sofa, puffing smoke in his private penthouse.
During his investigation, he found that this wasn't the first time Kim Seo-yeon had been targeted. It seemed she was protected by the stars. The first attempt occurred during a business trip: the plane she boarded was scheduled to crash, but another plane was switched at the last minute and crashed instead. The one that went down had no passengers, and the pilot had escaped. The second time, during her coming of age ceremony, she had been drugged, meant to be raped and killed, but she survived that as well.
Park Tae-yong had wondered why Kim Yi Hun would devote so much time to trying to eliminate a nobody CEO. This suspicion led him to request a DNA test, using Kim Seo-yeon's disposed cup of latte and Kim Ye-sol's used glass from a restaurant. It was as he predicted: Kim Ye-sol was not Kim Seo-yeon's mother.
He was planning on returning to the Royal Family because of pressure from his father, but he didn't want to be a puppet. He intended to fight for the throne and needed powerful allies. He currently had none. Therefore, he needed Kim Seo-yeon to return to the Kim family in Capital City and claim her title as Duchess before Kim Yi Hun could secure it. He and Kim Yi Hun were enemies, standing on opposing sides. Securing the Duchess was his main move, which was why he proposed the marriage to Kim Seo-yeon.
He was sure she was smart enough to understand his intentions.
The door was opened and Kim Seo-yeon walked in. She was dressed leisurely in a blue jean long skirt with a sleeveless jean top and green jade earrings. This casual look contrasted with her usual monochromatic dressing.
She sat opposite him and stared at him with the same equally calm gaze as him. The eyes looking at him were clear and the grief of yesterday was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's the certificate?" Kim Seo-yeon asked.
"Jin Heon." Park Tae-yong called. His assistant who had been standing behind him walked towards Kim Seo-yeon with the marriage certificate.
"I plan on returning to the Royal Family as soon as possible." Park Tae-yong said calmly, as he looked at Kim Seo-yeon signing the certificate.
"And I plan on killing Yeon Ji-a's killer as soon as possible." Kim Seo-yeon said without emotion and gave one final stroke and dropped the pen.
"Good." Park Tae-yong nodded. "I'm leaving in a week." He said as Kim Seo-yeon stood up.
"I won't keep you waiting." Kim Seo-yeon said and left.
Park Tae-yong stared at her cold back without any expression on his face.
…
Kim Seo-yeon returned home. She hadn't mentioned anything to her parents and acted normally. For now, she couldn't act rashly. There was a bigger threat lurking in the shadows. Her father was not home. He was at the company.
She called Son Ji-woo who picked up on the first ring.
"Ms. Kim." Son Ji-woo's small voice said from the other end of the phone.
"Prepare yourself. We're going to Capital City for a month." Kim Seo-yeon said and hung up, not waiting for Son Ji-woo's reply.
Kim Seo-yeon went to find her mother.
"Umma." She said and knocked on the door of her mother's studio.
"Seo-yeon dear, come in." Kim Ye-sol's clear voice came in.
Kim Seo-yeon opened the door and went in. She stared at her mother who loved to wear the hanbok whenever she was painting.
"Umma. I think I've found a man I like." Kim Seo-yeon said and paused.
Kim Ye-sol looked up immediately. "Really?"
"Mm." Kim Seo-yeon nodded.
Kim Ye-sol dropped her paintbrush and stood up. She removed the hairpin holding her hair together and quickly changed her clothes with urgency. The hanbok seemed to her, too inappropriate for a matter of this gravity.
Kim Ye-sol grabbed Kim Seo-yeon's arm and led her away from her studio to her room, like the information Kim Seo-yeon was about to tell shouldn't be said in her studio.
She sat Kim Seo-yeon on her bed.
Kim Seo-yeon looked around the room. The light purple sheets, the light purple curtains and the light purple-themed room. A room whose interior design she had gotten too accustomed to. She felt terrible and her head hurt.
She was saddened by her parents' shit luck. The two women they had raised had left them both.
"Tell me about it dear." Kim Ye-sol said. She knew her daughter. She wouldn't have come to her if there wasn't any response from the man she liked.
"It's Park Tae-yong..." Kim Seo-yeon said.
"Park Tae-yong..." Kim Ye-sol savored the name in her mouth. "No! It can't be." Kim Ye-sol cupped her mouth.
"Yes, Mother. H Corporation's Park Tae-yong." Kim Seo-yeon said calmly.
"Seo-yeon, how did you get such a man?!" Kim Ye-sol asked with wide eyes.
"I'm going to Capital City with him next week." Kim Seo-yeon said calmly like it was nothing.
"You're going with him?!" Kim Ye-sol could not hide her shock.
"Yes." Kim Seo-yeon said and forced a smile.
"Oh my God. Seo-yeon, that's really good news." Kim Ye-sol smiled and hugged Kim Seo-yeon.
Kim Seo-yeon hugged her back without any expression on her face.
Her heart was cold. She couldn't believe this woman wasn't her mother.
It turned out that she had been switched at birth with Kim Ye-sol's biological son. Kim Ye-sol didn't know her baby's sex prior to the birth, so she wasn't aware. The man who was going to be succeeded as the next Duke was Kim Ye-sol's son. Crazy her luck was for her real parents to be surnamed Kim as well.
After a while, Kim Ye-sol broke the hug.
"So how long are you staying with him?" Kim Ye-sol asked.
"He's very serious and hopes that if we're very compatible, we'll get married. So for a month. I'll be bringing my assistant along." Kim Seo-yeon said.
"Okay. That's great." Kim Ye-sol said. "But you have to keep your dignity. If he does not put a ring on your finger, don't let him get to your—"
"Mother, I'm fine. Don't worry, I'll be responsible." Kim Seo-yeon interrupted. She couldn't so quickly tell her mother she was married. She would notice something wrong.
Park Tae-yong had also said that he needed to return to the Royal Family first before anything and that would take some time, so they wouldn't be announcing their marriage soon. They also needed to stabilize her position as the Duchess.
…
Kim Seo-yeon put her hand in Park Tae-yong's gloved hand, as she walked aboard the yacht.
Kim Seo-yeon's face was cold and Park Tae-yong was cold as well. They did not look like a couple at all.
Son Ji-woo followed behind her silently. Son Ji-woo could not believe her eyes. How long had it been? She had been with Kim Seo-yeon 14 hours per day this last week. When had this development occurred?
Kim Seo-yeon sat and crossed her legs. With a pair of sunglasses and a low hat covering her eyes, her emotions were hidden.
…
It was mid-afternoon when the fleet of sleek black cars pulled into the driveway of the mansion with an imposing aura.
The car in the lead was pulled open and a tall man stepped out. He was dressed in a pair of black pants and a black cotton short-sleeved shirt with a white round neck sweater over it. He was also wearing a pair of black gloves. He looked immaculate and refined.
The car beside him was opened and a tall woman in a white English dress with a nipped in waist and a pair of white high heels stepped out. The hat resting on her head blocked her eyes and only a hint of her sunglasses, her tall nose and her cherry red lips were visible. She looked elegant and expensive.
When the servants in the house saw the beautiful woman walking behind their Young Master, they couldn't believe their eyes. A woman was walking in with their Young Master and he did not seem repelled by her at all.
Although Park Tae-yong and Kim Seo-yeon weren't holding hands and looked cold and aloof like ice, anyone who saw the bags being brought in, could easily tell the situation.
Besides, the head lady had told them before they had arrived, that the Young Master was bringing home his girlfriend. They all bowed.
"Young Miss."
"Hello." Kim Seo-yeon nodded at them as she stared at Park Tae-yong's back.
He walked off and went up the stairs.
"Young Miss, I'll show you to your room." The head lady said. She was surprised they weren't staying in the same room, but she didn't ask.
Kim Seo-yeon nodded and followed the head lady up.
This mansion was extremely big, much bigger than the Kim family mansion.
She settled into her room quickly.
There was a knock on the door and a middle-aged, genial man walked in.
"Hello. Ms. Kim. I'm Butler Ha. My Young Master has a few rules." He said and passed her a small booklet and left. Funny, he didn't call her Young Miss. It seemed he knew the terms of the marriage as well.
Kim Seo-yeon read through the rules and found them extremely simple.
Park Tae-yong did not like to be touched, intentionally or unintentionally.
She was not allowed to go into his bedroom; she was not allowed to touch his things.
He wouldn't eat with her, unless it was a public performance.
Et cetera.
They were mostly things about privacy and personal space. Kim Seo-yeon found the rules easy to obey. Since they were in a platonic marriage, she wouldn't go look for him unless she needed to. She wasn't looking forward to eating with him or any other thing he wrote in the book.
This was going to be a long month. She sighed and lay on the bed without changing her clothes. She fell asleep immediately.