73
Their Kingdom Panorama
His heart pounded nervously, anxiously. He was almost…afraid. Victoria appeared at the doorway and they glanced at each other quickly before she started her way in.
“It’s late,” she said, “why are you here?”
“It’s only 7.” he told.
Victoria pressed her lips together, but she didn’t take a seat. He figured it be best if he didn’t ask her to take a seat.
“Is there something you want to talk about?” Victoria asked.
“Where did you come from?”
She slightly hesitated.
“Were you with Lee Donghae?”
The way she raised her eyes to look at him was her answer.
His lips curbed into a smile of disbelief. “Is there anything else you haven’t told me about Lee Donghae?”
“What are you talking about?” Victoria asked.
How clueless could this smart person who’d been deceiving him the whole time be?
Kyuhyun kept calm, “There was no ambiguous relationship, was there?”
Victoria’s pursed lips fell apart.
“How long have you been seeing each other?” he asked. “Before I made a fool of myself declaring my feelings for you? Or were you two together ever since the beginning?”
Victoria angled her eyes elsewhere before turning back to him, “After the engagement ceremony.”
He let out a loud sigh. “I feel so stupid now. I even suggested a fair competition.”
Victoria didn’t say anything. She slightly backed up surprised when he got to his feet.
“Marry me, anyway.”
Shock and surprise landed on her face. He knew it was absurd, but he also knew what So Rae was up to.
“I know now, why you don’t tell me anything about yourself,” he began.
She looked up at him cautiously.
“Let me ask you one question.” he said. “Did you go to jail?”
Death flushed over her face.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized and turned away taking a step to his left so that she was staring at his back, “but I’m going to marry you anyway. You have no way out.”
“Why?” Victoria asked.
“I won’t lie,” he began, “I learned all this from So Rae.” He spun around to face her. “If this gets leaked to the media, do you realize the consequences that will take place?”
He wasn’t talking to her anymore. He was persuading her, lecturing her.
“You’re not a simple person anymore. If people learn of the truth, you’d be scorned and labeled as a shame. Your father will lose the reputation he’s worked so hard for. Stocks will fall because stock holders no longer believe in the company. Do you know what will happen then? A husband, a wife, or a person who supports his family will lose his job. What kind of money can he make to support his family then? They’re not like us. They don’t have the money we do.
“And Lee Donghae. If your father finds out, what’ll he do to him? Think about it. Lee Donghae would lose his job and the things he has in his life right now. Your father will make sure that he’ll never be able to stand again. You’re not the same Victoria Song who could run around wherever, you’re President Bang’s daughter. Someone who will be recognized by the media, by people all around.
“It’s not easy for you to move around anymore. Do you understand why your father set you up with me now? It’s not just because our fathers are friends, but so that the companies can keep surviving for years on. Our children will take over and better the economy.
“It’s all logic here, Victoria. Sometimes, we have to give up the things we love most.”
Victoria’s face scrunched up in immense shock, surprise, and pain. What he’d just said had been too much for her to understand, but he needed her to understand. He needed her to realize that things wouldn’t work out if she kept living with the same principles she always had.
She couldn’t mutter a word nor make a single sound.
“Victoria…”
“Just what is this…really…” Victoria said blinking her eyes uncontrollably. “Enough, I’m not about to lose everything that still has meaning to me. You keep living on with the company, because none of that matters to me.”
She turned and walked away.
/\_____/\
Victoria couldn’t breathe. She was suffocating. It seemed like everything was slapping her from all sides.
When her father left the table that next morning she looked up at So Rae.
“Why did you do it?” she asked.
So Rae slowly looked at her, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cho Kyuhyun, why’d you tell him when it had nothing to do with you?” Victoria raised her voice.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” So Rae asked quietly. “Because you’re in the wrong.”
“What have I done wrong?”
“You know well, what you’ve done wrong.”
Victoria couldn’t help but glare, “You’re pitiful, so pitiful that you can only pick on those you hate to make yourself feel even stronger. Do you know what it makes you look like?”
So Rae’s eyes burned up.
“A hyena because they are the icon of betrayal.”
“Yah!” So Rae screamed standing up.
Victoria stared at her angrily.
“You want to see me out, don’t you?” Victoria asked standing up to face her. “I’m telling you, that not until you’re gone, I will always be here. I will take your spot of being daddy’s little girl. I will live my life the way I want it. This family will not control me and you will realize one day why you’re pitiful, because, Bang So Rae, you should look at yourself before you pick on others.”
A loud slap resounded in the air and Victoria’s cheek stung from menacing pain. She could feel her cheek immediately flush red as it became more painful to bear, but she couldn’t show So Rae that it hurt. It would only give her more pride and more confidence to step on her.
Dark silence prevailed. Victoria half wondered why So Rae wasn’t saying anything.
Turning, Victoria glanced at So Rae before walking down the hallway.
Her phone rang over and over again but she couldn’t bring herself to answer it.
/\_____/\
So Rae didn’t walk out of the dining room until she was sure Victoria’s footsteps had faded away. She didn’t want to foolishly walk out into the hallway and see Victoria lingering around. It was hard enough to face her as it already was.
Firmly pressing her lips together she started toward the front door. So many thoughts rushed through her brain at once, but as always, her pride was too strong. Maybe she’d go to Mi Sun’s apartment and relax there until dinner.
When she opened the gate door, all thoughts ceased. Before her, Donghae spun around, his face lit with a smile which slowly dissolved when he realized she wasn’t the person he’d been waiting for.
A mocking smile appeared on her lips as she stepped toward him, “You’d even come all the way over here. You do realize the risk you’re taking, don’t you?”
Donghae stared at her quietly.
“Victoria won’t come out to see you today,” So Rae told. “Have you taken my words into consideration?”
He remained silent.
“My father wouldn’t welcome you into the family as Victoria’s husband,” So Rae started, “that spot has long been reserved for its rightful owner, Cho Kyuhyun. I’ll bet you, that she’s going to make her final decision sometime soon.”
“I didn’t come here to listen to your nonsense. Where’s Victoria?”
“Oh, inside the house, definitely,” So Rae answered.
She still wasn’t taking him seriously.
“Lee Donghae, give Victoria up. The two of you aren’t qualified for each other.”
“You’re not one to tell me that.”
“Aren’t you worried about Victoria’s future?” So Rae started. “Where else can a person like you find a job? By the time you quit the company you’ll be kicked out of your luxurious suite and all the money you’ve made will slowly dwindle down. With that, how will you support Victoria when my father disowns her? Are you willing to watch her toil laborious work day and night? The financial difficulties you will face in the future, have you slowly thought about it? Have you put Victoria before yourself?”
She watched him purse his lips and smiled. She was finally getting to him.
“On the other hand, Cho Kyuhyun can give her anything. She can live in a large household without having to lift a finger,” So Rae went on, “it’s time to give up, Lee Donghae. If you don’t leave her first, Victoria will never give up.”
“Do you think I’ll let your words sway me?”
“Oh really?” So Rae tried. “Then, it looks like I’ll have to show you two reality because certainly you two are still daydreaming.”
She brushed past him and disappeared down the street.
/\_____/\
When Victoria started toward the front doors of the company the next morning, a mob of reporters ran toward her surrounding her within seconds. Confusion swept through her as she was unable to make sense of the current situation. All their voices slurred into a bunch of chaotic noises, like a million stereos being blasted at the same time. Cameras flashed causing her to turn her face away from the light. She couldn’t anything to defend herself. It was all happening so fast.
“We received an anonymous tip that you’ve hidden your past from your family….”
“Miss Victoria, will you answer a few questions…”
“How did you grow up…”
“What school did you go to?”
“Did you really live with your grandma?”
“There are rumors that you were caught setting a house on fire…”
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” a voice screamed.
The reporters turned around to see who the voice belonged to. When they backed up a bit, Victoria saw Donghae rushing at her with a few security guards beside him. He grabbed her hand and led her into the company.
“Are you ok?” Donghae asked after the doors closed behind them.
Victoria glanced at him before turning to glance back out the glass door. The reporters were hopelessly struggling against the body guards and the sight of it was relieving.
Donghae tugged at her arm spinning her back to him, “Are you ok?”
“Oh…yes, I’m fine.” Victoria replied. “How did you know I was out there?”
“Because you weren’t coming in so I had to come out and see.”
They became silent as if they knew what the other were thinking. The troubles they’ve kept from each other seemed to float in the air.
“Lets go.” Donghae said taking her hand.
Victoria held back and slipped her hand out of his. He turned to look at her, his expression full of questions she wasn’t ready yet to answer.
“We’re at work.” she said, but what she actually meant was, “What if someone sees us?” In particular, her dad or one of his close associates.
Without a word she walked pass him and toward the elevator. Mi Sun was standing by her desk that morning. It was as if she were purposely awaiting news about the reporters, but make it look like she wasn’t she had a folder of papers in her hand.
“You’re up kind of late this morning.”
Victoria stared at her before silently taking the folder. “I woke up late.”
/\_____/\
When Victoria finally left her desk for the copy room, Donghae glanced toward So Rae’s office. He knocked on the door once before pulling the door open. Mi Sun and So Rae turned to look at him waiting for him to say something. Without a word he walked in with the door slowly closing behind him.
“Can I talk to you?” he asked So Rae.
They were silent. It made him wonder if the two had been talking about this morning’s event.
So Rae gestured toward Mi Sun with a nod of the head. His eyes silently followed Mi Sun as she made her way out. As the door closed he turned to look at So Rae who had probably been waiting for him.
“This morning, was it you?” Donghae questioned.
So Rae took a small breath clasping her hands together, “And what if it was?”
“You went too far.”
“Me?” she asked in an offended tone. “I think you’ve misunderstood.”
“What’s there to misunderstand when you’re completely setting Victoria up? If she loses face, it’ll bring shame upon your family as well. Victoria wouldn’t be the one going down alone. Bang So Rae’s reputation would be tarnished because she’s Victoria’s unnie.”
So Rae snorted, “Don’t joke around. The media already has their attention on Victoria’s poor background.”
She leaned forward in her desk.
“Don’t think you can come in here to teach me a lesson,” she warned, “I’m your boss right now, not your friend.”
Donghae stared back at her.
“Wake up, Lee Donghae,” So Rae demanded with a thick voice, “and take my words into consideration. It’s time to stop joking around. You being with her will only bring senseless problems. You can’t face my father head on, he’s a scary man.”
***So it's finally starting
***Kyuhyun only said those words at the moment because he knew So Rae would use the information about Vic's drug trafficking incident against her somehow, and to protect her he said all that because as along as they get married Vic will be safe. But he'll definitely regret his words later becuase his words will drive Vic toward the edge. Oh....just watch how Kyuhyun turns out later
***So Rae is starting to top it with her evil plans. Will weak Donghae fall into her words of logic?
***A/N: I seriously think So Rae is my most evil character ever. In all my past stories, my bad characters usually always had a good side to them. LOL
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