Shinhye was in her room…it was the third day since she talked with her mother about her and Yonghwa’s dilemma. She decided that she loved Yonghwa and that she would talk things with him. She realized that her mother was right…trust was the foundation of a solid relationship.

“Wait for me, Yonghwa, my love, I’m going to get you back”, Shinhye told herself as she went to take a bath.

On the other hand, Secretary Cho was drinking her brandy at his office; he heard the gossip that Yonghwa and Shinhye broke up because of what Joo Hyun did. He was somewhat satisfied with the woman’s work. A knock on his door interrupted him.

“Yes, what is it” Secretary Cho called out.

“Sir, a Mr. Lee Kyu Wan from the Beaureu of Internal Revenues to see you”, his secretary said and a man loomed behind her.

“Ah…Mr. Lee, welcome. Have a seat. Ms. Han, please cancel all my appointments for this morning I won’t be disturbed while Mr. Lee’s here”, Secretary Cho commanded before he settled to his swivel chair.

“Yes, sir”, Ms. Han said before she bowed and left the room.

“Mr. Lee, I assume that you’re here on a positive response on my request”, Secretary Cho said.

“Yes, sir, I’m willing to help you accomplish your goals”, Mr. Lee agreed.

“Would it be possible?” Secretary Cho asked.

“Of course…I paid a small group of employees to accomplish the task”, Mr. Lee replied.

“Describe your plan to me, Mr. Lee”, Secretary Cho requested as he rose and walked to the side table and poured brandy on two snifters and returned to his seat after he handed one of the snifters to Mr. Lee.

“I’ll file a case against the Park Publishing Company…tax evasion case”, Mr. Lee started.

“Aren’t they really paying the taxes due to the government?” Secretary Cho asked.

“According to the insiders that I spoke with, Chairman Park had designated a group of people to take care of things like paying taxes and some such related to government but in the last three years… I found out that the head and assistant head of that group responsible for government transaction squandered the funds they should be paying the government with. They weren’t able to pay for the last three years”, Mr. Lee narrated.

“Is that true?” Secretary Cho asked surprised.

“Yes, Chairman Park is a shrewd businessman but his failing is he trusted those people too much maybe because he thought they would be loyal to him and his company”, Mr. Lee replied.

“Why do they have to be loyal to him? Are they related in some way?” Secretary Cho asked.

“Actually, Mr. Go Eun Suk and Mr. Seo Lee Wan are quite close with Chairman Park because they are able to finish college and start their careers because of the help of the Park family”, Mr. Lee answered.

“Greed must be ingrained with those two to be able to do that to Chairman Park and his family”, Secretary Cho commented.

“Not really greed…vice is the answer. They are both gamblers and the vice has sunk to their bones so deep that they are willing to trade everything to have available cash to sustain their gambling debts and needs”, Mr. Lee answered.

“Chairman Park is not aware of their depravity?” Secretary Cho queried.

“They do not give any indication that they are into gambling. They are good at hiding their depravity. They live simply and cover their tracks very well”, Mr. Lee replied.

“If they were that good, how were you able to unearth these things about them?” Secretary Cho wondered.

“Because you asked me to uncover everything and anything that can be used to blackmail the Park family so that Park Shinhye won’t be able to escape your clutches; thus, I looked too, too closely and scrutinized even the smallest details and had my people do their work well”, Mr. Lee replied.

“I’ll never forget the help that you extended to me, Mr. Lee”, Secretary Cho said.

“Make sure that you don’t Secretary Cho. I’ll count on your gratitude when you’re already a senator of this country so make sure that you win the election. The election for legislative body is moved to April next year, right?” Mr. Lee commented.

“Yeah…I thought it would be this coming December but I’m glad because I’ll have more time to campaign and build my image”, Secretary Cho replied.

“By the way, do you plan to really use the information I gave you?” Mr. Lee asked.

“Yes, to blackmail the Park family…but to bring it out of the public of course I won’t do that. I just want to hold them firmly at the scruff of their neck to prevent them from backing out of the contract. After the marriage…please let them settle the tax case with your agency as quietly…as discreetly as possible to avoid any scandal that might arise from these information you gave me”, Secretary Cho said.

“I understand, Secretary Cho or should I call you Senator Cho?” Mr. Lee remarked.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Lee. I’ll see you at some other time. I hope we’ll continue to have a thriving partnership. I hope you’re satisfied with your appointment as the new director of the beaureu?” Secretary Cho asked.

“Thank you very much for your recommendation to the president”, Mr. Lee smiled.

“It’s my pleasure to be of help, Mr. Lee or should I call you Director Lee?” Secretary Cho also smiled.

“Thank you again. I’ll be going now”, Mr. Lee bowed politely before he left Secretary Cho’s office.

“At last…I can taste victory…my political ambition is already at hand”, Secretary Cho smiled smugly as he asked his secretary to arrange a lunch meeting with the Park family.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Shinhye was wearing a simple checkered yellow polo and skinny jeans with her flat sandals. Her wavy hair hung loose at her back. She applied light make up and sprayed her favorite Lacoste perfume, a gift from Yonghwa. She looked radiantly at the mirror…she looked so simple but beautiful. Her reverie was interrupted by a knock on her door.

“Shinhye, little angel”, her mother called.

“Please, enter, mom”, Shinhye called back.

“You’re going out?” Mrs. Park asked.

“Yes, mom. I’ll surprise Yonghwa at the university”, Shinhye replied.

“Shinhye, Secretary Cho called a while ago…he and his wife are coming here to have lunch with us”, Mrs. Park said.

“Can I not attend, mom?” Shinhye asked.

“I’m sorry, Shinhye, but you have to attend this lunch with us”, Mrs. Park replied.

“Okay, I guess I’ll just visit Yonghwa some other time”, Shinhye sighed deeply.

At 11:45, Secretary Cho and his wife arrived at the Park Mansion.

“Dae Ho, it’s nice to see you again”, Secretary Cho said as he bowed.

“In Su, it’s been a while”, Mr. Park also bowed.

Shinhye and her mother also bowed politely which was reciprocated by Mrs. Cho. The group proceeded to the dining area.

“What brought you here, In Su”, Mr. Park asked directly.

“Can we not have lunch first, Dae Ho?” Secretary Cho answered instead.

Mrs. Park signaled for the butler to ask the servants to bring the foods and drinks at the dining table. They ate silently except for the gentle sound from the cutlery being used. They were trying to guage the reason for the visit of the Cho couple. After they finished eating, Mr. Park again started his query.

“The election for the legislative is postponed for next year…April next year but still I would want the wedding to take place this coming December so that the children can have ample time together before the hectic campaign period”, Secretary Cho said.

“In Su, I don’t think we would want to proceed with the agreement anymore. The contract was made even before our children were born could we not let it go?” Mr. Park asked.

“I’m afraid not, Dae Ho”, Secretary Cho replied.

“See here, In Su…” Mr. Park tried to retort when Secretary Cho dropped his blackmail bomb.

“Do you know that your company is not paying its taxes for the last three years?” Secretary Cho asked.

“What do you mean by that?” Mr. Park asked surprised.

“Someone told me that your company missed paying its taxes for the last three years”, Secretary Cho repeated.

“It isn’t true and you know it. I have Mr. Go and Mr. Seo assigned to a team with a job specifying that they are responsible for all government transactions including tax payments”, Mr. Park said.

“Really, why don’t you ask them and confirm what I told you?”Secretary Cho retorted cockily.

“I trust them but since you’re already here why don’t we see any evidence from you. I won’t have you spinning tales and degrading my trusted employees”, Mr. Park challenged Secretary Cho.

Secretary Cho brought out a brown envelope which contained all the evidences given to her by Mr. Lee. He tossed it to Mr. Park who opened the envelope. Mr. Park’s eyes widened at what he saw.

“Heavens…this isn’t true! They can’t do this to us!” Mr. Park exclaimed.

“Husband, what is it?” Mrs. Park also looked at the documents.

“Do you still not believe me? Call them and ask them to confirm those documents”, Secretary Cho challenged.

“Husband, we better be going to allow them to sort out this mess in their company”, Mrs. Cho said as she stood up.

“What do you want from us?” Shinhye asked bravely. Her eyes shone with unshed tears at her parents despair.

“Do you think that I have an ulterior motive in bringing these documents to your parents? Maybe I just want to help you catch the embezzlers in your company”, Secretary Cho said calmly.

“Do you take us for a fool? Do you think that I don’t know what you are playing at? You won’t bring these to us out of the kindness of a heart you don’t even possess”, Shinhye said acidly.

“Well…you’re a wise girl, daughter. If these evidences reached the government…your dearest father would be imprisoned with his so called trusted employees…your company would suffer from reprimands from the government and of course the scandal. You’d lost everything you have in just a snap. So…in order for me and my man to keep quiet and allow you to settle this case quietly you have to marry my son, Kyuhyun”, Secretary Cho smugly said. He was so arrogant knowing that he had the upper hand over the Park family.

“If we don’t cooperate with your scheme what are you going to do? How can we be sure that you won’t betray us?” Shinhye cynically said.

“Daughter, if your family refused me…I would just reveal those documents and allow you to sink in the mudhole. I guess I can always find another heiress to wed my despicable son; but, if you agreed of course I’d remain silent…I won’t destroy your family’s reputation especially if you’d be one of us…so think about it”, Secretary Cho replied.

Shinhye angrily fisted her hands on the table. She wanted to jump from her seat and scratch Secretary Cho’s face.

“You’re a despicable man, In Su”, Mrs. Park said.

“There’s nothing I won’t do to succeed in my dream of becoming a celebrated politician, Chung Ae, so better convince your husband and your daughter to choose well”, Secretary Cho said before he bowed and with his wife he left the mansion.

Mr. Park angrily swiped the table with his arms…the documents and the coffee cups fell on the floor. He cried in anguish for his foolishness and most of all he cried because that foolishness would sink his only daughter in misery.

“I’m such an idiot…I should never have trusted them. I should never have believed the documents and reports given to me. They made a fool out of me!” Mr. Park shouted agrily as tears fell from his eyes.

“Husband, hush…hush…stop blaming yourself; it isn’t your fault. You…we trusted them because they never gave us any cause to doubt them. Our family helped them and allowed them to thrive and who would have known that they would betray us because of their vice”, Mrs. Park said while embracing his husband trying to infus some sense of calm on him even though she herself was also crying.

“Dad, please, stop blaming yourself. It is my fault…if I helped you ran the business…if I didn’t try being a professor at Incheon…if only I was here…you would have had extra help in the company instead of delegating things to other people”, Shinhye said while kneeling in front of her parents crying.

“I’m also at fault, husband, if I’m more diligent in helping you with the business this things won’t happen to us”, Mrs. Park also blamed herself.

“Dad, mom, please don’t cry anymore…I’ll do it. I’ll marry Cho Kyuhyun”, Shinhye declared bravely through her tears.

“My child, my child”, Mr. Park shockingly looked at her through his tears.

“Yes, dad, they trapped us and there is nothing we can’t do about it. I’ll do it…I’ll save our family if it’s the last thing I’ll do. I guess I’m not the only woman who wouldn’t marry for love”, Shinhye tried to smile through her sadness, her pain and her anger.

“My dear, dear, daughter”, Mrs. Park said.

The three of them embraced and tried to find comfort with each other. At Shinhye’s mind, she saw Yonghwa going further and further away from her.

“I’m sorry, Yonghwa, my love, I’m terribly sorry for what I have to do to us”, Shinhye told herself.

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I wasn't able to update earlier...I had some difficulty with my internet connection during the last few days. Thank you very much for subscribing, reading and commenting on my story. I especially love your comments so please keep them coming...please let me know what you think and what you feel at the turn of events happening to our heroes and heroines here. Again, thank you very much...love you all so very much...