“How dare you, In Su!” Mr. Park was fuming with anger. His anger exploded after the other guests left the mansion.

“I believe that I don’t catch what you mean by that, Dae Ho.” Mr. Cho innocently remarked.

“Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m angry about! You deliberately invited those politicians here and you told them that everything had already been decided about our children’s future!” Mr. Park’s voice was already raised in anger as he stood from the chair where he was sitting.

“What if I deliberately invited them here? It won’t change a thing whether they are here or not because I won’t allow you to get out of that agreement, do you hear me?” Mr. Cho also raised his voice as he stood from his chair.

The two older men looked angrily at each other. Mr. Cho, the manipulator instead of letting his temper rule tried to pacify Mr. Park.

“Please, Dae Ho, let’s talk about this peacefully. If I committed transgression to you and your family, I apologize for it”, Mr. Cho calmly said.

“We’re buying the contract from you, In Su. We’ll pay you a large sum for your silence in order to ensure that this agreement will remain within this house. You might also convey to the members of your party who were here a while ago that everything was just a misunderstanding”, Mr. Park icily said.

“No. I’m not doing anything like that. The contract stands!” Mr. Cho said firmly.

“How much do you want, In Su?” Mr. Park scoffed at Mr. Cho.

“I’m not letting your daughter out, Dae Ho, I can have more benefit from this agreement if the marriage push through”, Mr. Cho answered with a smirked.

“You’ll be using my family for popularity, you worm!” Mr. Park accused Mr. Cho. If not for the presence of his daughter and wife he would have grabbed Mr. Cho and strangled him to death.

“You will benefit, too, if I become a senator…you’re family could also wield the same political power in the society”, Mr. Cho said in a calm voice which bellied his temper.

“I don’t want a politician in the family!” Mr. Park acidly remarked.

“Too bad, your father contracted that agreement with mine”, Mr. Cho was smiling like a demon.

“What if we don’t relent to your schemes?” Mr. Park asked in defiance.

“I’ll destroy your family’s reputation. I’ll release this in media and make a sensation that you’re turning back from the contract contrived between our families. You know that for the rich and the powerful like us; reputation is something we value. Look at what happened to the Jung Family after the turmoil of divorce years ago; they might own the biggest hotel business in this country but the family still carries the stigma.” Mr. Cho was smiling sinisterly.

Shinhye upon hearing the remarked casually thrown against Yonghwa’s family could not control her temper from getting out.

“You don’t have the right to comment like that to the Jung Family. In the first place they aren’t here to defend themselves from your comment and secondly, they might have endured the scandal but I think it would be better for the former Mrs. Jung not to live with that infidel husband of hers!” Shinhye angrily defended.

“So the little angel has horns and fangs”, Mr. Cho said as he looked at Shinhye who was almost shaking with the force of her anger.

“Don’t treat me like a little girl, Secretary Cho!” Shinhye answered back.

“Don’t threaten me, In Su and don’t treat my daughter that way”, Mr. Park warned Mr. Cho.

“I don’t make threats, Dae Ho, I only act on what I said. I will destroy your family’s reputation that it would affect the credibility of your businesses and your reputation as the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. Think about the spotless, unblemished reputation of the Park Family in ruins…your father might come back from his grave, Dae Ho”, Mr. Cho bantered back.

Shinhye could not believe that Mr. Cho was capable of blackmail in order to attain his goal of wedding her to his son. She wanted to vomit the dinner she just partaken out of disgust with the old man.

“Anyway…whether you agree personally or not, this had been decided years ago. I just wanted to make sure that we understand each other by means of having this dinner”, Mr. Cho said nonchalantly.

“You’re a worm, In Su, you trap my family in this agreement. I guess you backed us in the corner to impose to us this marriage but I’ll tell you this…even if my daughter came to be married to your son, she won’t stay married to him for long”, Mr. Park declared.

“She would divorce my son, wouldn’t she? It’s fine with me my family can always say that it’s your daughter’s fault for not being a good wife”, Mr. Cho said.

“I’ll deal with the scandal by going abroad and I can always say that I filed for divorce because I discovered that your son is insane…that he bullies me and hurt me physically”, Shinhye bantered sarcastically. “By that time, you’re threat of destroying my family’s reputation won’t apply anymore because we kept our part on this marriage agreement and it won’t hardly be my fault if I would declare your son a lunatic as a ground for divorce, wouldn’t it?” Shinhye added battling the flare of anger she saw on Mr. Cho’s eyes with her own.

“Impressive, Shinhye, Impressive…let’s see how you might accomplish that, daughter”, Mr. Cho praised her which bordered on controlled anger and realization that Shinhye was a young woman he would not easily manipulate unless he could think of ways on how to trap her well.

“Enough of this discussion…we’re leaving you ‘hospitality’, In Su. There’s no point in discussing this agreement with us since you already made up your mind and tried to coerce us through blackmail. I didn’t know that you’ll stoop to this level, pathetic creature that you are”, Mrs. Park mockingly said as she stood from her chair and looked down on Mr. Cho.

“Since we’re all in agreement already, let’s have the wedding on the second week of November and the engagement party on the second week of October”, Mrs. Cho suggested.

“Prepare for it as you will…send messages to me if you needed my ‘help’ in the preparation”, Mrs. Park acidly remarked. She, Mr. Park and Shinhye also stood and in defiance walked ahead of their hosts.

Yet, before they could descend the stairs to ride their Jaguar, Kyuhyun called Shinhye.

“Shinhye, I would like to speak with you”, Kyuhyun said with his stoic expression.

“I don’t have anything to say to you. I hate you”, Shinhye replied before she entered the Jaguar followed by her parents.

“Of course…you hate me, Shinhye, but you can’t avoid me forever”, Kyuhyun told himself with a smirked.