“Oh, no need,” he answered. “I’ll be out tomorrow. Maybe next time.”

 

“Where are you going?” she went on, keeping her voice as calmly as possible.

 

“I’ve got some people to meet.”

 

Dara’s heart thumped painfully. “Business meeting?”

 

“Of course,” he replied and frowned at her. “Is there something wrong?”

 

“Nothing,” she shook her head. “What made you ask that?”

 

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “It’s just the first time you became interested in what I do.”

 

“Sorry if I appear too nosy to you,” she grimaced. “I forgot I don’t have the right to ask you about your whereabouts. I was just curious.”

 

“What are you talking about?” he exhaled. “Of course you have the right to ask me, you have every right to do so. You’re my wife.”

 

“But that’s just on paper, isn’t it?” she scoffed. Jealousy was making her irrationally irritable.

 

“Not again!” he grunted. “Dara, we’ve talked about this before!”

 

“Yes we did but we didn’t really fix anything, did we?”

 

“How do you expect me to fix things when I don’t even know what’s the problem?”

 

“You’re being unfaithful and you’ve been lying!” she exploded.

 

“I’m being unfaithful?!” he returned. “I’ve been lying?!”

 

“YES! And don’t you dare deny it!” she cried. “I know this marriage is just on papers but you could have at least honored your wedding vows!”

 

“You’re being ridiculous!” he exhaled wearily. “I’ve been true to my vows even if I can only remember glimpses of it. I have never betrayed you!”

 

“LIAR!” she shouted back. “Why do you have to make a fool out of me? Do you enjoy it, huh? Do you enjoy the idea of betraying me and doing some hanky panky behind my back? Why don’t you just tell me the truth? Why don’t you just tell me you’re going to meet Kim Yuna tomorrow?!”

 

He looked stunned for a moment. “How did you know that?”

 

Dara suddenly regretted asking for the truth. The way her chest tightened was more than enough to break her to pieces. But she asked for it so she should face it. “It doesn’t matter!” she then said.

 

“It does to me!” he angrily snapped. “Dammit, Dara! I’m going to meet her tomorrow because I-”

 

“Are you really that cruel?!” she cried. “Are you really that heartless?! How could you stand there and tell me how you’re going to spend your time with your mistress?! Oh wait, she’s not really your mistress, is she? You don’t really consider yourself married in the first place, right?”

 

“LISTEN TO ME!” he roared. “For once, just listen to me!”

 

“Why should I? You were never honest to me from the beginning! You were just pretending, everything’s for a show! And I know you pity me because you think my family doesn’t want me anymore! Well, you’re wrong! YOU’RE WRONG! My family loves me, you heard that? So take your pity back because I don’t need it!”

 

“Pity you?!” he asked. “What I feel for you right now is far from-”

 

“STOP IT!” she shouted. “STOP PRETENDING!!!”

 

“I’M NOT PRETENDING!” he shouted back. “You’re the one who’s pretending here! You pretend you don’t see how your family’s rejecting you! They don’t give a damn about you, Dara! They-”

 

SLAP.

 

“I’m out of here!” she declared and ran away to their room. She pulled her luggage out and started throwing clothes randomly at it.

 

“What the effing hell are you doing?!”

 

“I can’t live here anymore!” she sobbed.

 

“What do you mean you can’t live here anymore?!” he demanded.

 

“I just can’t, okay? I’m tired of everything that’s been going on!”

 

“You’re not leaving!” he announced.

 

“And who are you to stop me?!” she questioned and faced him.

 

“I’m your husband, dammit!”

 

“No, you’re not!” she argued. “You’re just a stranger whom I unluckily stumbled with!”

 

Something awful flashed across his face but it didn’t last a second for it was now replaced by something dark. “You’re not leaving,” he said with finality.

 

“You can’t stop me!” she said, voice filled with determination. She then turned away and closed the luggage. After that, she took her purse from the bedside table but a tight grip suddenly encircled her wrist.

 

“I said you’re not leaving!” he gritted.

 

“I’m not your prisoner!” she said and pulled her hand back. She went to pick up her luggage and was about to leave when Jiyong suddenly snatched her luggage and purse out of her hands. Dara tried to snatch the purse back since the luggage was thrown back to the bed already. They were caught in a tug of war when the purse was suddenly torn, spilling the contents to the floor.

 

“Look at what you’ve done!”

 

Jiyong didn’t pay heed, his attention went to a plastic container on the floor. Bending down, he picked it up with a frown on his face. He turned the little bottle around and read the label. “Birth control pills?” he said out loud.

 

“Why do you sound so surprised?” she stiffly asked. “You didn’t really think of having a child with me, right? You should have known better. We’ve been shagging each other up for six months.”

 

“I thought something was wrong. . .”

 

“Oh, so you think something’s wrong with me that’s why I wasn’t able to conceive?”

 

“No. . . I thought. . . my father and mother had a hard time because my father had a problem with. . .”

 

Silence.

 

“How could you expect me not to take measures when we both know we’ll separate in the end? I didn’t want to raise a child as a single mother, you know. My family even said it would be best if this whole set up won’t produce some. . . unwanted product.”

 

“Unwanted product?” he repeated. “That’s it? You’d call our would-be child just like that because your family said so? Are you trying to tell me that if your family asked you to leave me NOW, you would? That if they asked you to file for a divorce even if the scandal hasn’t died down yet, you would?”

 

“Yes, I would,” she stated matter-of-factly.

 

“That easy?” he breathed. “You’re just going to throw six months just like that?”

 

“Of course,” she said. “Besides, you’re not really their choice for me so it’s not really hard to do.”

 

“Look who’s lying now,” he said. “If you thought you’ll get off the hook that easily, you’re wrong!”

 

“Why do you have to keep on pretending that you want this marriage to last? We both know from the beginning that we’ll eventually separate. It’s just the two of us here, no need to pretend! I know this is what you want! You should be happy because you’re now free to be with Kim Yuna!”

 

“Dammit, Dara! How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want her? It’s YOU that I want to spend my life with!”

 

“STOP!” she cried. “Stop lying! Stop breaking my heart. Please, just set me free!”

 

Jiyong was appalled. Slowly, he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry but I can’t do that. Call me what ever you like but I won’t do that.”

 

I can’t, he thought as he walked away from that room. He’ll give her time to think, just like before. After she calmed down, he’ll make sure to clarify all issues between them. If time would come that her family asks her to file for divorce, he would never sign those papers. He needs to make her see that there could be no other guy for her but HIM. But for now, he’ll give her time to calm down. Maybe she was just too upset to say such things.

 

As he dropped himself in the chair in his mini office, he let out a string of curses. “What did you do this time, Yuna?” he gritted. Ever since he met Dara and got to know her, he actually couldn’t believe he fell for someone like Yuna before. Oh yes, he DID love her. He was head over heels in love with her that he followed her everywhere her career asked her to. At that time, he was still caught up with his mother’s death and Yuna was there for him. He was also there for her. He watched as she steadily rose to fame. He watched as she got swallowed by all the attention, the glitz and the glamour but he still stayed beside her, loved her and cared for her. Then one day, she broke up with him. It shattered his world, but eventhough she broke up with him, he didn’t give up on her that fast. So, like he usually do, he followed her everywhere and did his very best to win her back. It went on like that for a few months until Yuna finally shooed him away and threatened to file a restraining order against him.

 

That’s when he started wandering around – anywhere, everywhere. It lasted for a year until he finally decided to go back home. And he was welcomed by his father and his new wife. He felt betrayed that he started drinking in clubs, feeling more miserable than ever. And then one night, he got the chance to play Clark Kent to Lois Lane. Dara came to his life.

 

Unknowingly, a smile curved his lips at the thought of her. He can remember some of the details that night so vividly. But the smile was soon replaced by a frown. If she thought she could just walk in and out of his life, well, she thought wrong. There’s no way he could let that happen. He’s not really sure when or how it happened but he just can’t let her go anymore. At first, he just wanted to teach her how to be independent, he just wanted to let her feel how it’s like to be free, and he just wanted to take her away from Lady Eun Jo and the rest of the Parks. But something deeper happened.

 

And Yuna’s set to ruin it. No, she already caused damage and he can’t allow her to ruin everything.

 

- - -

 

“What are you doing here this late?” Lady Eun Jo asked.

 

“Well, I-”

 

“Don’t tell me your husband shooed you away?” she insultingly asked. “God, Dara! Don’t you really know anything? Can’t you even do anything? Being a housewife is already too simple but you obviously failed!”

 

“He didn’t shoo me away”, Dara said with indignation. “I left.”

 

“Really?” Lady Eun Jo asked cynically. “That’s really hard to believe. But oh well, what should I expect? That Kwon Jiyong guy’s obviously a nobody who-”

 

“He’s not a nobody!” she came out loudly. “Don’t talk about him like that!”

 

Silence enveloped them. Realizing what she did, Dara’s hand flew to and her eyes grew wide in fear.

 

“Is that what you learned from that nobody? Shout at your mother?”

 

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. . . .” she stammered.

 

“As always,” her mother smirked. “You’re nothing but a huge disappointment. Time and time again, you never fail to disappoint me!”

 

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to shout like that but I really need someone to talk to right now. Mom, please-”

 

“Don’t call me that!” she snapped. “You’re not worthy to be my daughter!”

 

Dara paled. The lump in was too big that she wasn’t able to say anything. Her hand flew to as a broken sound escaped her lips. Trying her very best to stop the tears from falling down, all her body muscles locked down. Then, her phone started ringing. Eun Jo’s eyes squinted as she took the ignored phone of Dara.

 

“What have I told you about crying?! Fix yourself!” Lady Eun Jo snapped before looking at the screen. “It’s your husband,” she informed her before accepting the call. “This is Lady Eun Jo. Yes, she’s here in our house. Pick her up quickly.”

 

After ending the call, Eun Jo slid the phone back to Dara’s pocket before walking away, not sparing another glance at her daughter.

 

No matter how broken she felt, Dara didn’t linger. She went to seek for her mother’s comfort but a different thing happened. She quickly headed out and started running away. She can’t afford to see Jiyong right now. She’s too weak to face him. She doesn’t have enough strength to talk to him. As soon as she reached the road, she quickly hailed for a cab. She’ll stay in a hotel for the meantime.

 

- - -

 

Morning came but Dara was still curled in a tight ball in the bed with her eyes wide open. She’s not sure which was more painful, Jiyong lying to her or her mother’s disappointment. When will she ever make her proud? Make THEM proud? For years, she followed everything they wanted her to do, hoping that somehow, they’ll give her just a small amount of affection. How long would it take her to do something extraordinary that would make them proud? That would satisfy them? Will she ever receive affection from them?

 

Her eyes strayed to the phone on her pillow. She turned it off hours ago as it kept ringing. At first, she hoped that somehow, her mother or any of her family members would call her but it was always Jiyong. Her phone rang countless of times until she finally decided to turn it off. She can’t understand why Jiyong kept on calling her. She can’t understand why he keeps on acting like he cares for her. Shouldn’t he just let her be? Shouldn’t he just go to Kim Yuna’s arms and celebrate?

 

Hours passed but she remained on her spot. A knock then came. She ignored it and was determined to ignore it but it was so persistent that the sound annoyed her. Irritated, she stood up and went to get the door. As soon as she opened the door, she was suddenly pulled into a tight hug.

 

“I found you at last!” the person said.

 

“T-taecyeon?”