Prologue

She fiddled with her fingers as she walked towards her destination. The feeling she is feeling at the moment is mixed. She wanted to jump and shout for joy while the other part of her is scared. She bowed her head and counted her steps.

On her thirty-seventh step, she looked up and saw that she has arrived at her destination. She walked across the park and sat in the bench. This has been her spot whenever she wants to think of something deep. And at the moment, she needed to make a decision.

She just went to the doctor because she has been feeling ill the past few weeks. And the doctor said that she is pregnant. She doesn’t know if she should tell it to Jiyong since she didn’t know what her role in his life is.

Will he be angry? Is he going to accept the baby? Questions filled her mind as she imagined the scenario once she will drop the news to Jiyong. After some time, she stood up and headed to their apartment. She will not get any answers if she will just sit there. But before dropping the news to him, she must know first what is her role in his life.

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She opened the door to their room and was surprised to see Jiyong standing at the window. He wasn’t supposed to get back until tomorrow. He said he still have to finish something abroad. She smiled at tiptoed quietly towards him. Then she wrapped her arms in his waist and kissed his back. Jiyong turned her around and smiled down at her before giving her an intense kiss.

“I thought you’ll be back tomorrow?”, she asked after he withdraw from their kiss.

“I missed you”, he said as he smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist.

“I missed you too”, she replied. She looked at his eyes and saw gentleness floating around it. He said nothing as he tightened his hold around her.

“Ji, I have something to ask you”, she said after sometime. She faced him and looked at him straight in the eye. He remained silent but his eyes encouraged her.

“I…….uhm.. I just want to know what I am to you?”, she asked. She was startled when Jiyong dropped his hold on her and stepped a little further away from her. She started feeling a little panicked. What did I do wrong? She asked herself.

“Are you getting tired of us?”, Jiyong asked silently as he looked at her straight in the eye.

“Of course not”, she vehemently shook her head and smiled at him. “I was just thinking if we will take a step higher in our relationship, you know? I was wondering when we will be able to go out and eat at a restaurant and hold hands while walking along the park. All we do is be locked up in this room and make love all the time.”

“Isn’t that what a mistress should do?”, he said as he turned his back on her and looked at the window.

What? Did she hear him right? A mistress? A woman he paid for to have ? Her hands went to her stomach unconsciously where hers and Jiyong’s baby is growing. She needed to tell him. Maybe a baby would change his mind about her. She was about to open and say something when the room opened.

“Mr. Kwon? You’re assistant is downstairs. She said it’s urgent”, Jiyong’s butler then closed the door and headed downstairs.

“Wait here”, Jiyong said simply as he walked passed her and went straight to the door. Dara just looked at his back blankly as she tried to process her mind.

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“What is it, Sohee?”, Jiyong asked his assistant with irritation on his voice as he slumped his body on the couch at his living room.

“Seo Man is building up a hotel in Paris with the same design of our suppose-to-be hotel”, Sohee, his assistant, said with alarm on her tone. Jiyong immediately stood up from the couch and stared wide-eyed at his assistant.

“What? How is that possible?”, he asked no one in particular.

“Maybe someone stole the design from our company and sold it to your competitor”, she said as she looked at the distressed man in front of her.

“And who could that be?”, he asked as he started to walk around his living room. The hotel they are about to build cost their company a fortune. And now their hotel design is now rising in Paris but on their competitor’s name. He cursed loudly as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Then a small sight caught his eye. He saw a piece of paper that looked like their specialized paper they used for their designs of hotel. He walked towards it and paled when he noticed that it is inside Dara’s bag. He angrily got the paper.

“Call my brothers, Sohee. Tell them that the situation is now under control. You’re right. Someone stole our design”, he said through gritted teeth as he marched towards their bedroom.

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She was startled when the door banged opened. She turns around and looked at the door and she shivered in fear when she saw Jiyong. His eyes can bore holes into her and she doesn’t know what happened. She was about to walk to him and ask him if everything is alright when he marched towards her and threw the paper to her.

“You have thirty minutes to leave”, he said dangerously.

Dara was confused why Jiyong is so angry at her. She bent down and picked up the paper he threw her and her forehead crumpled when she saw the paper.

“What is this, Jiyong? And why are so mad?”, she asked as she went near him.

“You’re really a good actress. You fooled me for the last six months and now that you have successfully stolen from me, I can’t see any good reason why you must still stay. You should be grateful that I’m not calling the cops”, he said as he opened his door wide for her. As If saying that she must leave as soon as possible.

“What are you saying? You think I stole this from you? I don’t even know what this is”, she said exasperatingly as she waved the paper she is holding in front of him.

“You have twenty-seven minutes”, he said lifelessly as he taps his foot impatiently. She bowed down her head and walked towards the door. When she was in front of him, she stopped and looked up.

“You really believe that I would do such thing to you?”, Dara asked.

“I don’t trust you”, Jiyong said as he went inside his room and went towards the bathroom. He shut the door firmly and when she heard the cascades of the water, she weakly went to retrieve her bag.

She walked towards the elevator and pushed the upper ground floor. She hugged herself as she felt cold wind gushed. She felt hurt, betrayed, and stepped. She can’t believe Jiyong would accuse her of such things. She didn’t even know what the paper is all about. All she can see in the paper is a beautiful drawn hotel. She still hasn’t told Jiyong about the baby. And she decided that she will come back tomorrow to make Jiyong see sense. To make him believe that she didn’t do anything.

She hugged herself even more tightly as she stepped outside his penthouse. But she was startled when two men held her in her arms. She was about to scream the place down when another hand went to . She felt herself being carried and her eyes widen in fear when she saw a black van. The men pushed her in and she felt the car moved.