Sooyoung and Taeyeon walked into the cafe as they noticed someone waving their hands at them. Both of them made their way towards the two person who were waiting at the table. After exhanging greetings, Taeyeon took a seat opposite her Grand-Aunt while Sooyoung took a seat opposite of Mr Im. They waited for the waiter to take their orders before they began talking. 

"Taeyeon, can I ask you something?" 

Taeyeon looked at her Grand-Aunt and nodded her head.

"Are you close to your Harabeoji?" The elderly lady asked as Taeyeon shook her head. "Really? Not close at all? But why?"

"I don't know. It just came naturally. Maybe because I spend most of my time away at boarding school. The few times that I've seen Harabeoji, I've never had a good impression of him." Taeyeon replied honestly.

"How about your brother, Heechul? Joohyun?"

"Oppa? I guess you can say that I'm closer to him than Harabeoji and I'm closer to Irene than Oppa." Taeyeon replied with an innocent face as Grand-Aunt slowly broke into giggles. "Wae?"

"You're so cute. Just like your Omma. I had a feeling if I asked you about Sooyoung, you would reply that you're closer to her than your own sister." Grand-Aunt continued laughing when Taeyeon nodded her head in agreement as Sooyoung just smiled. "You must have been a good friend to her."

"She's a good friend to me too, Halmeoni." Sooyoung replied before she her eyes widened when she realised something. "I'm sorry, Mdm Kim. I shouldn't have disrespected you by calling you in that manner without your approval."

"Calling me Halmeoni is the most respectful thing in my opinion and I like it. Something different from my grandchildren who keeps calling me Grandma. Taeyeon, you should call me that too." Grand-Aunt smiled before she turned to look at Mr Im. "Kiyoung, thank you for arranging this meeting. I really appreciate that."

"Taeyeon was the one who requested for this since we couldn't finish our discussion yesterday after Tiffany left the table in anger. She wanted to make sure that she understood the reason behind this arranged marriage because it concerns matters of the heart. If possible, Taeyeon also wants to see if there's any better options available as she thinks that Tiffany will never agree to the arrangement and she didn't want to force her to accept it." Mr Im replied.

"Just like what your Appa had expected. He said that this was just his arrangement with me but when the time comes, Taeyeon will decide if this plan is really going to work or not. He believed that you'll make the right decision and I believed him too." Grand-Aunt commented with a tinge of pride in her.

"Appa said that to you? But how would he know about my character at that time? The last time you saw me was when I was only 1yrs old, right? That was the time my family left LA."

Grand-Aunt started to laugh again after hearing what Taeyeon had said. She told Taeyeon that she had been keeping in touch with her Appa throughout the years and there were times where her Appa would drop by to visit her.

"Your Appa had met Tiffany for the first time about 10yrs ago. He met all 3 of my grandchildren at that time when my daughter was still alive." Grand-Aunt explained further with a smile even though her eyes showed some sadness. "Your father was a good man... Actually, he's a great man. Trying to seek apology on behalf of what your Harabeoji had done to others, especially to your Grand-Uncle."

"Grand-Uncle? You mean the one that went to jail and held a grudge against my family? The one who killed my parents?" Taeyeon gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as the atmosphere became silent.

"Taeyeon, what made you say that? What do you mean he is holding a grudge on your family? And why are you saying that he was the one who killed your parents?" Grand-Aunt had a puzzled look on her face as Taeyeon sensed that something was not right.

"That was what Heechul Oppa told me." Taeyeon replied as she looked at her Grand-Aunt and Mr Im who had a stunned expression on their faces except for Sooyoung. "Why are you both looking at me like that?"

"I'm glad that you had decided to meet me and talked about our family. Because what your Oppa told you was not the whole truth. Your Grand-Uncle would never be able to kill your parents because he died a few months before your parents while he was still in the prison." Grand-Aunt had a deep frown on her face when she ended her sentence. "Could you tell me what exactly do you know about your Grand-Uncle?"

Taeyeon started telling her Grand-Aunt everything that her Oppa had told her before, especially about the talk that he and Appa had before. When she ended her story, she was confused when the expression on her Grand-Aunt was that of disbelief.

"This story that your Oppa had told you about with regards to the talk he had with your Appa, doesn't seem to be right. Because your Grand-Uncle was never the one who misused his position in the company. Even though he was the step-son, he was very indebted to my father and would do anything to save the company from any problem. He was actually framed by your Harabeoji and had to leave the country, right after he completed his military service. Your Appa knew the truth which was why he went to look for your Grand-Uncle in Thailand but by then, he had already passed away. The day that your parents died in that accident was supposed to be the day that they visited his grave." Grand-Aunt commented which caused Taeyeon to be totally taken aback. "So right now, I'm feeling a little bit worried. Did your Appa lied to your Oppa by hiding the truth or did your Oppa lied to you about the whole story? If either one of them had lied, what's their reason for doing so?"

"Wait. I'm already confused." Sooyoung raised up her hand as Taeyeon nodded her head in agreement. "Who is lying to who? What is the truth actually?"

"Maybe I should start by explaining my family background. Before that, can I check with you, Taeyeon, about how much you know of the family?" Grand-Aunt looked at Taeyeon who grinned nervously as she replied that she didn't know much and didn't actually bothered to find out more because of the animosity between her and Harabeoji. "It's okay. I can understand your reason. I suggest we go to some place discreet to continue our conversation and I know just the place."

Grand-Aunt took a last sip of her drink before she stood up as the rest of them followed her out of the cafe.

***************************

(Flashbacks)

"Appa, why did you allow Junsu-Oppa to leave the country? He's innocent and you know it."

"I did it for his own safety, Tae Mi- ah. I want him to live longer. I'm no longer strong enough to protect him. Your dongsaeng, Tae Hoon, is getting out of hand and I know, It's all my fault. I taught him the wrong things and I pampered him too much. I thought I was a bad person but Tae Hoon is worse than me."

The old man let out a heavy sigh as he tried to stand up from his desk. The lady who was seated across him, quickly stood up to assist him towards his bed.

"You need to take care of yourself too, Tae Mi. Stay away from this family. Persuade your husband to take up my offer about migrating. I have a few business overseas that he can take care of. Businesses that Tae Hoon does not know about. Just stay away from the family, far away if possible."

"Appa, how can I leave you alone when I know what is going on in this family? Tae Hoon has really crossed the line. He was the one who made the deal with the hooligans and providing them with the financial assistance but he pushed all the blame to Junsu-Oppa. If not for your connection with the police, Junsu-Oppa would have ended up in jail. Although I'm not actually proud about the fact that you bribed the police officer investigating the case, but at least Junsu-Oppa was not wrongly blamed for something that he didn't do."

"I didn't actually bribed him. I knew he didn't have enough evidence in the first place but because he has always been helping me out over the years, I sort of gave him some 'pocket' money to close the case. He's already retiring soon and everyone in his office looked up to him as a senior officer. Both of us have done a lot of things that we were not proud of but we needed to survive in our own ways. But never had I expected my own son to pick up all my bad ways."

No one said anything for a few minutes until the old man held his daughter's hand.

"Tae Mi, promise me something. Take care of Taehyung for me. I can see that he is different from his father. The one thing that I'm thankful of. I'm just glad that I married Tae Hoon off to a good lady but I know she's helpless too by herself. Help them out. Your nephew and his mother will need your help some day."

(End of flashback)

"My father passed away, a few months after I migrated to LA. When I attended the funeral, your Harabeoji asked me about the reason as to why I migrated so I told him that my husband had some family businesses to take care of which is why we decided to migrate. Luckily for me, my husband did have some family relatives in LA so your Harabeoji didn't really asked further. I met your father and your Halmeoni at the funeral. At that time, I felt that your Halmeoni wanted to reach out to me but was very wary of your Harabeoji's presence. I didn't stayed long at the funeral but before I left, your Halmeoni did managed to pass me a letter."

"A letter? Written by Halmeoni?" Taeyeon asked as Grand-Aunt shook her head.

"A letter from your great grandfather. My father." She smiled for a moment before her expression turned sad as tears started to appear at the corner of her eyes. "He was murdered and he saw it coming. But he couldn't do anything about it."

"What? He knew that he's going to be killed? That's frightening. But how?" Sooyoung was the one who had a scared expression while Taeyeon was in deep thoughts.

"Harabeoji."

Before Grand-Aunt could even reply, Taeyeon had blurted it out.

"How did you manage to guess?" Grand-Aunt asked, looking really surprised.

"From your expression earlier. Those tears... They were not because of your father's death. It was tears of anger because there was nothing you could do to my Harabeoji, your own brother, even after knowing the truth. Before you left, great grandfather was already not well. That's why he asked you and Grand-Uncle to leave the country. Which is also why he mentioned the fact that he couldn't protect anyone anymore." Taeyeon replied with calmness.

"That's right. My father was on medication during the last few years of his life. In that letter, my father said that he was confronted by Tae Hoon one day with regards to his latest will. I don't know how he managed to get hold of it but I guess money works. In that latest will, my father had put my husband's name as the one who will inherit the company and almost half of his properties. The remaining properties will be distributed among myself, Tae Hoon and some charitable organisations. Obviously, Tae Hoon was unhappy about it. My father explained to him, even if Junsu-Oppa is no longer around, the next in line was still my husband and I. In that letter, Appa explained that Tae Hoon only laughed after hearing his explanation and walked out of his room." Grand-Aunt paused for a moment.

"So how was he murdered?" Sooyoung seemed a little impatient as Taeyeon nudged her elbows when she noticed that her Grand-Aunt was about to lift up her cup of tea to drink. "Sorry. Please have a drink first."

Grand-Aunt smiled before gesturing to Mr Im to speak on her behalf.

"I'll take over the explanation as it might still be hurtful for Mdm Kim. From the letter that Mdm Kim had shared to me years ago, it seemed that Elderly Kim had noticed that the dosage of his medications had been increased gradually. When he questioned his helper, the lady only replied that it was by Tae Hoon's instruction. It was then Elderly Kim knew what was going on but he didn't have the desire to put a stop to it. He blamed himself for what Tae Hoon had turned out to be until his last day." Mr Im stopped talking as he stole a glance at Grand-Aunt. "Nobody knew the truth except for both of us. When I did my researched on the case, I found out that the doctor that was called in to check on elderly Kim on the day he died, was someone who had owed the company a lot of money. Tae Hoon was the one who had arranged for him to come down to do the checks when Elderly Kim actually had his own personal doctor. His death was claimed to be due to old age, natural death. After the funeral, surprisingly, his loan was wiped out from the company's list."

"I guess money really works. No wonder a lot of people hated us and our company due to the nature of our business. The power to control others is something not everyone has." Taeyeon let out a heavy sigh as she shook her head slowly. "But how did the company ended up being under my father's control? Because ever since I was born, he was already in-charge of the company."

"Even though according to my father's will, my husband was supposed to inherit the company and most of his assets, the process got delayed due to interference from my brother, Tae Hoon. He kept saying that the will was written when our father was under the influence of medication and was not in the right state of mind. This case was brought to court and we had to keep flying in to Korea to settle it. My husband was on the verge of giving up the company due to all the hassle before he passed away." Once again, Grand-Aunt paused as Taeyeon saw her eyes became teary. "I... I..."

Taeyeon suddenly reached out her hand and took Grand-Aunt's hand to console her. Both of them looked at each other as if they could read each other's mind.

"Let me guess. Harabeoji had something to do with your husband's death also?" Taeyeon asked as Grand-Aunt took her time to nod her head. "If it's too difficult for you to continue, then you should stop."

"It's okay. It's just that I keep blaming myself for his death. If it was not for me, if he was not associated with my family, he might still be alive now." Grand-Aunt let out a heavy sigh. "Initially, I thought it was a normal car accident. But then, I found threatening emails sent to him by your Harabeoji so I confronted my own brother by calling him. With so much arrogance, he admitted he had planned the accident but only to scare my husband. He didn't expect him to die. Then he started laughing it off. I had goosebumps when I heard his laughter."

"Your Harabeoji sound like a crazy person, Tae. He already killed his own father, then his brother-in-law. Who else did he go after to get the company?" Sooyoung had a very worried expression as she looked at Taeyeon before turning to face Grand-Aunt.

"A few months after my husband died, Tae Hoon contacted me. He asked about the company. Since my husband had died, all his properties became mine, including the company. I told your Harabeoji that I had wrote up a will which clearly states that if anything was to happen to me other than natural death, all my properties will be donated to charity, including the company. My natural death will be certified by my own personal doctor, chosen by me. At that time, he warned me about my decision but I took it lightly. Because of that, I lost my daughter."

"What?" Both Taeyeon and Sooyoung had the same response as they were totally taken aback.

"It was another accident. Almost a year after my husband died. I immediately called my brother after I found out about the accident but your Harabeoji denied any involvement which I don't believe at all. He just laughed it off and said that even without his interference, my family is doomed because he is not the only one going after the family. Even so, he continued to pressure me about the company. So I decided to give him an offer. As long as he leaves my family alone, I would consider handing over the company to Taehyung. Your father. He will look after the company on my behalf."

"So Harabeoji stopped disturbing you and your family?" Sooyoung asked as Grand-Aunt gave a small smile while nodding her head.

"Before you were born, your father came to LA with your mother and his step-sister. He told us the story about his step-sister because I only knew that your father was his only child. After I met your father, I started to believe what my father had told me before. He saw something different in your father, who seemed like an upright man. So I told him the truth about the family background to him. He was shocked because just like you, he was not that close to his father, your Harabeoji. Thanks to your Halmeoni, your father actually spent more time at the boarding school. I guess your Halmeoni didn't want your father to be influenced by your Harabeoji."

"So my father knew about what happened to Elderly Kim and Grand-Uncle?" Taeyeon asked to which Grand-Aunt nodded her head. "By the way, Heechul-Oppa mentioned that Grand-Uncle was sent to prison. Was that true?"

"It is. I didn't know actually. It was your father who managed to track him down and found out that he was in a prison in Bangkok. He was charged for trying to smuggle weapons into the country but it seemed that he was innocent. Your father managed to investigate the matter on his own and he told me that Junsu-Oppa was blamed for something that he was not aware of."

"Was it the doings of Harabeoji also?" Sooyoung asked eagerly but both she and Taeyeon were surprised when Grand-Aunt shook her head.

"Your Harabeoji didn't seem to care anymore about his brother, the moment he was told to leave the family. Taeyeon's father was supposed to investigate further on that matter to find out who had framed Grand-Uncle but he died before managing to do so." Grand-Aunt let out a heavy sigh. 

"So how did this arranged marriage came about?" 

Everyone turned to look at Taeyeon who had a very focused expression while Grand-Aunt broke into a smile.

"Remember when I said that your father had came to meet all 3 of my grandchildren?" Grand-Aunt's question was met with a nod by Taeyeon and Sooyoung. "He had actually visited us everytime he needed to oversee some family business in LA. Your father took a liking to Tiffany. He said that Tiffany was very bubbly and full of zest which was the opposite of his daughter."

"That.. I have to agree fully." Sooyoung intercepted quickly, which triggered a sneer from Taeyeon, causing everyone to laugh.

"Anyway, your father commented that it'll be good if Taeyeon was there to mingle with Tiffany so that Tiffany can rub off some of her positive vibes to Taeyeon. At that time, I didn't think much about his comments until a few years later. He called me as usual and asked about my health. I told him that I'm getting older by the day and that I'm always worried about my family after I am gone. Remember earlier, I mentioned about my daughter's death and your Grand-Uncle going to jail for something that he didn't do. Your Harabeoji kept saying that he had nothing to do with it and I seemed to believe him.

"So someone else is really after our family?" Taeyeon asked but Grand-Aunt could only shrugged her shoulders. "But what has that got to do with the marriage?"

"Relax, Taeyeon. I'm coming to that." Grand-Aunt gave a warm smile as Taeyeon apologised for being impatient. "Your father said that he can't confirm yet if it's really true that someone else is after our family or Harabeoji is really not involved in both matters. But he said that he understood my worries and told me that he had found a solution. Which was to matchmake you with Tiffany."

"Huh? How did Appa even came to that conclusion? Harabeoji can still end my life just like how he killed my parents." Taeyeon showed a tinge of anger in her tone of voice but calmed down when Grand-Aunt took her hand and rubbed it.

"The only thing that my brother cares about beside the company is his own family. So I don't think he was the one who killed them. I have my own theory and that is the person who killed your parents is the same person who went after Junsu-Oppa and my daughter." Grand-Aunt frowned a little as if she was thinking hard.

"I'm still confused. Why is Taeyeon's Harabeoji so obsessed with the company?" Sooyoung asked as Grand-Aunt turned to look at Mr Im who understood her gesture.

"Bcause the company is worth billions of dollars. It's the main source of generating wealth. Even though you have other smaller subsidiaries, your family is well-known for your money-lending business. Since it's a family business from generations before, the image and reputation had been built upon there all along. Connections made over the years, whether good or bad, it's all part of what made it to become a successful well-known business." Mr Im explained as Sooyoung nodded her head because she was aware of how easy it was to get things done, especially when she's being known as the lawyer of KIMs Group.

"What's the point of having a successful business and having a lot of money when you can't have a peace of mind." Taeyeon seemed to be talking to herself but her words could be heard by the other three person there.

"There's a reason as to why your father suggested the marriage, Taeyeon." Grand-Aunt responded, her tone of voice sounded very motherly.

"Because he knows that Taeyeon is into girls?" Sooyoung tried to guess as Taeyeon rolled her eyes.

"Maybe... But it's not the main reason."Grand-Aunt smiled warmly, before turning to face Taeyeon who seemed to be in deep thoughts. "Taeyeon, have you been taking your medications regularly?"