SeungHyun's POV

I somehow didn't quite know how to react to the current situation all of a sudden. I knew I should be happy. Relieved. But instead of feeling pleased since the weight was lifted away from my chest, I felt some kind of emptiness inside me which I somehow could not explain.

Everyone left the room, except Hilary and I. I sat down next to her and held her hands in mine. I stared at our hands and couldn't speak a word for a long while.

Hilary squeezed my hands and asked, "Are you alright?"

I slowly looked up at her and asked, "Will you find me weird if I tell you I don't quite know how to explain how I feel right now?"

She smiled. The most beautiful smile that I have ever seen. The smile that stole my heart from the very beginning.

She pulled away her right hand and gently place it on my left cheek, "You are feeling a little disappointed that he's not your child. Am I right?"

I gasped at her words, "Am I not normal? Are you mad at me?"

She shook her head with a smile, "Why would I be mad at you? It took you much effort to admit that you had a son. It's totally normal to feel strange and a little disappointed to finally find out it's all scam. It's really alright."

I leaned forward and nudged my forehead on her shoulder. I just wanted to stay like that for a while.

She wrapped her arms around me and gently brushed the back of my head, "Everything is going to be fine. It's all over now."

I slid my arms around her waist and hugged her close, "I really don't know what to say. I'm sorry that you have to go through all these because of me."

"Shh... If anyone should apologize, that will never be you. We are all being fooled. It's totally not your fault."

I squeezed her tight in my arms, "No matter what, I'm sorry."

Hilary pushed me away a little so that we could look into each other's eyes, "Stop apologizing! Otherwise, I would think you really had done something wrong. Let's us forget about all this, OK?"

I smiled in relief and nodded. Just when I was about to lean forward to kiss her, JiYong walked in and said, "Maybe not so fast!"

Hilary and I both looked up to find CL pushed Jenny forward. I almost burst out laughing since I have never seen Jenny like this. Her hair was like a bird nest and her make-up was messed up. Not to mention, she only had one shoe on.

"Guys, is this necessary?" Hilary looked at Jenny and asked.

"Hell, yea, it's necessary! If DaeSung didn't come in and stop me, I would have pulled all her hair out." CL threw Jenny a death glare as she pulled herself a chair and sat down.

SeungRi chuckled as he followed her, "You guys should have watched her in there. She kept pulling and pulling. I was so scared that the crazy woman would end up bald."

I looked behind Jenny, and found Krystal hiding behind DaeSung. I let out a heavy sigh and asked, "Why? What on earth were you two thinking? Why did you pull such an act? What could you get from all this, Jenny?"

Jenny brushed her hair with her fingers, straightened her dress and said with her chin up, "You shouldn't have provoked me in the first place."

I protested, "Provoke you? Me?"

"Yea, you. You shouldn't have given me hope and then took everything away." Jenny yelled back.

"Gave you hope? You are talking about me? When?" I asked.

SeungRi put his hand on my shoulder to stop me and said, "Why are you trying to have a civilized confrontation with a delusional? Does it really matter why she did what she did? I don't think so. All it matters is how we are going to deal with her. And her stupid chess piece."

"SeungHyun, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have listened to Jenny, but she made everything sounded so real and I really thought we would still have a chance. I am just a mother who..." Krystal took a step forward and defended herself.

"Shut up, Krystal! Stop pretending you are innocent! Your intention was never pure either. You used your son as bait to get what you want. You should be ashamed to call yourself a mother." CL cut her off before she could continue.

"Hyeong, just take them both to the police. Charge them for fraud. Lock these freaks up." SeungRi suggested.

Before I replied, Hilary said to me softly, "They didn't actually take anything away from us and we didn't lose anything either. Is it necessary to involve the police? Think about the child, SeungHyun."

"Hilary, please forgive me! I can't go to jail. I'm all my son has. He will become an orphan if I go to jail. Please, Hilary!" Krystal fell on her knees as she begged.

I looked into Hilary's eyes and could see from them clearly that she has made her decision.

"Mind if I give you guys a suggestion?" JiYong asked. I nodded.

He bowed his head and stepped up to Krystal, "This woman, I suggest we spare. After all, like SeungRi said, she is just a stupid chess piece.  And for the sake of that poor child…" Krystal lowered her head and weeped.

JiYong then walked up to Jenny and the smile on his face disappeared, "But this woman, I'm taking her down no matter what you two think."

"Kwon Ji Yong!" Jenny yelled.

JiYong stuck his finger in his ear and drew his brows together, "Yea, yell while you can, Jenny Park. Either way, I'm putting you in jail. You and your little lab technician playmate."

Jenny gritted her teeth as she glared at JiYong. JiYong faked the trembling and said, "Oh, I'm scared. Don't glare at me like that. I'm not catching your eyeballs for you if they fall."

CL and SeungRi both burst out laughing at the same time. Jenny reached out to grab JiYong by the arm but JiYong swung her off, "Put your filthy hands on me and I will make sure you come back out with a new nose."

CL, SeungRi and DaeSung all laughed out loud. Even, Hilary couldn't help but shake her head with a slight smile.

I let out a sigh, "Alright! I really am not interested in any body parts of her."

Hilary immediately threw me a stare. I put my hands up in the air, "Did you hear me right? I said I AM NOT interested." She rolled her eyes as she smiled.

"JiYong, do what you think is right. I really don't want to see these two women for the rest of my life." I said.

"Great! The police officers are just outside." DaeSung cut in.

Hilary looked up at him and asked, "When did you call the police?"

"Since I walked out this door to go stop CL." DaeSung answered.

"Kang DaeSung, you called the police while I was dealing with this woman?" CL complained.

DaeSung shook his head fiercely, "Technically, I called before I walked into that room. I had no idea you were already HANDLING the situation."

CL made a face at him and sat down. SeungRi chuckled, "Tell them to come get this woman. Take her away. I really can't stand to look at her anymore."

"Yes. Right away!" DaeSung ran out of the room as he replied.

"You guys can't do this to me. I didn't do anything. It's Krystal who lied. Not me." Jenny wanted to step forward but she was stopped by JiYong before she could.

"Jenny Park, I suggest you stand still. If you dare do anything stupid, I'll make sure you pay for every single bit of it." JiYong gripped on her arm to make her stay where she was.

Jenny threw him a quick glare and said to me, "SeungHyun, please! You haven't lost anything. You are still engaged. Let's just put this behind us and pretend nothing has happened, OK?"

I looked away to avoid any eye contact with her. I simply didn't want to look at this woman ever again. I could never understand her motives and reasons behind.

Hilary squeezed my hand and I looked her in the eyes.  She slightly shook her head and I knew what she meant.  I let out a soft sigh and said, “Let her go, JiYong.”

“WHAT?” Everyone shouted at the same time.

I could see Jenny smirking out of the corner of my eye.  I didn’t want to let her get away from this so easily, but if this was what Hilary wanted.

“Let her go!” I said to JiYong, who still gripped on Jenny’s arm tightly.  I continued, “Jenny, don’t ever let us see you again.  In fact, leave Korea.  Start a new life somewhere else.”

“Hill, are you sure?” JiYong asked Hilary for one last time.

Hilary nodded with a slight smile, “Let her go, JiYong.”

JiYong let out a heavy sigh and said to Jenny before he let her go, “Bear in mind that I still have evidence against you.  One wrong move, I’ll take you down for good.  Don’t ever let me see you again!  Otherwise, the next time I see you again, you’ll definitely be in jail.  You hear me?”

Jenny gritted her teeth and slightly nodded her head.  JiYong then let her go relunctantly.  She straightened her dress and brushed her hair a little before she turned around to leave.

CL shouted from behind, “If I were you, I would get a ticket for the earliest flight to wherever it is right away.  Leave while you can, Jenny!”

Jenny snorted before she walked out the door without looking back.

I turned to Hilary and said, “Now, it’s really over.”

Hilary nodded with a smile.

“What about her?” SeungRi pointed at Krystal.

Hilary spoke before I did, “Go back to your son.  Take care of him and be a responsible mother from now on.”

“Thank you, Hilary!   I’m really sorry!” Krystal said while she got up from her knees.

Hilary smiled.  This was the woman I loved with my life.  So generous that she could forgive the people who deliberately hurt her.

*  *  *

Hilary's POV

Peace came after the storm.  Things were finally back to normal. 

According to DaeSung, Jenny Park fled the country and went to Europe.  DaeSung was confident that she would not be coming back in the years to come since she seemed to have sold everything she had in Korea and withdrawn all the cash from banks.  JiYong even sent her a reminder text message to ensure she dared not coming back again or else he would hand the evidence to the DA immediately.

SeungHyun’s mother was furious after she found out the truth.  Not that she was upset about not having a grandson but she was angry that she got scolded by her husband and son for nothing.  My mother and WooBin Oppa were both pleased about the outcome since I didn’t have to be a step-mother before I had my own kids.  WooBin Oppa was quite angry about what Jenny Park has done that he actually called the Officials to see if they could ban Jenny from entering Korea again.  Of course, they could not, but he said it was definitely worth the try since he didn’t want her to ever come near me again.  My brother still thought I was a little girl who could not protect herself or handle any unexpected situation.  People around me became even more protective towards me after this incident, as if I was a porcelain doll or something.  No matter how hard I tried to prove to them that I was well capable of taking care of myself, they just wouldn’t buy it.

Krystal went back to the State with her son.  I had lunch with them before they left.  I personally gave Krystal some money which I reminded her not to let anyone know, especially SeungHyun.  After all, I just wanted to make sure the little boy would be well taken care of, even though he was not SeungHyun’s.

*  *  *

SeungHyun and I moved our things into our new house.  I have added a few things like paintings and decors to make the house livelier.  Dino Bianchi's "Inhale Love" and "Exhale Love" were now hung on the wall on each side of the fireplace in the living room.  The pair were together now, finally.

SeungHyun and I decided to get a puppy after we got married.  We did not plan to have baby too soon.  We wanted to spend more time with each other before we actually started to build our own family.  Although SeungHyun’s mother didn’t quite agree on our plan, she hasn’t given us any pressure since SeungRi promised he would get married soon after and have a baby immediately.  CL got frantic after she heard what SeungRi promised his mother since she never thought she would be a mother so soon.  She even refused to see SeungRi for a week, but SeungRi still won over her at the end by filling her bedroom with pink roses.

WooBin Oppa and Dara have set the date for their wedding, which would be around six months after mine.  SeungRi was not happy about it since that meant he and CL would have to have their wedding after that.  Dara joked that SeungRi and CL could have their wedding before hers.  But CL thought it would be too rush and our wedding would be way too close to each other’s.  That left SeungRi had no choice but to wait a little longer.

*  *  *

Time flew before we all knew it.

SeungHyun and I exchanged our vows in front of all of our families and friends. 

We successfully persuaded our parents that we only invited family members and close friends to our wedding and held an afternoon cocktail party for our business partners and executive staff on a different day.

Our wedding day was the most memorable day I ever had so far.  I would never forget about that day since SeungHyun and I had come so far to where we were.  And we were so lucky to have all our families and friends by our side along the way. 

SeungHyun’s wedding vow not only made me cried, but made almost all the ladies cried.  Minzy told me she thought she saw my mother wiped her tears with a handkerchief.

Everyone had a great time that day.  SeungRi and JiYong drank until they dropped.  CL was so mad at SeungRi and her brother that she simply left them behind and went home herself, leaving DaeSung to be the one to take the two drunk men back to SeungRi’s love suite since DaeSung was too tired to take them home one by one.

That was the first time I saw Mother smiled so cheerfully.  I even saw her chatted with WooBin Oppa happily.  Grandfather was also very happy that he and my father-in-law almost got themselves drunk like SeungRi and JiYong.

After our wedding, SeungHyun and I went to London for our honeymoon.  We went to museums and watched musicals.  We had a leisure one week there before we returned to Seoul.

The first thing I found when we came home from honeymoon was a beautiful Bichon Frise puppy, which we named him Toby after, running towards us.  SeungHyun had DaeSung prepared everything during our honeymoon.  Everything the puppy needed were there when we arrived home.  Dog bed, food, collars, leash and toys.  Tody lived a pretty luxury life for what I saw.  He had two fancy leather sofa-style dog beds, one next to the fireplace in the living room and one in our bedroom.  His beds were even fancier than ours, if you asked me.

DaeSung even managed to get the puppy a trainer.  Toby was quite smart that he already knew where to go potty in a week.  DaeSung got Toby quite a few outfits.  All pretty fancy and trendy.  I never knew DaeSung was an expert in raising pets and pet supplies but he sure did a superb job that I somehow thought he spoiled the little pup too much.

Toby was really cute though that I somehow paid too much attention on him.   I was either playing with him or holding him almost all the time which made SeungHyun a little upset and jealous.  He even said he kind of regretted getting me the puppy.  Toby loved to get cosy with me and tried to climb on our bed every night but he was forbidded to do so.  One time he successfully jumped up on bed himself, but before he found his way to me he was snatched away by SeungHyun and ended up back in his own bed.

Everything was too perfect now that it somehow scared me a little.  I had this paranoid fear that something somehow might happen or something might go wrong one way or another, but I dared not tell anyone about it.  Not even SeungHyun.

But like Dara had said before, SeungHyun was probably the one person who could read my mind even when I tried so hard to hide my thoughts.

“Shall we invite your mother and brother to come for dinner this weekend?” SeungHyun said.

I heard him saying something, but was totally in my own headspace that I didn’t give him any response at all.

“Hilary, did you hear what I just said?” SeungHyun came around and sat down next to me.

He gently patted me on the top of my head and said, “Honey, what are you thinking?”

“Hmm?” I looked up at him.

SeungHyun gazed into my eyes and asked, “Tell me what’s bothering you!”

I squeezed a weak smile, “Nothing.”

He shook his head, “It doesn’t seem nothing to me.  There must be something bothering you.  Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you are not quite yourself lately.”

“Nothing.  Really.” I insisted.

He took my hands into his and looked me in the eyes, “We are a team now.  Meaning if there’s anything troubling you, you should let me know so that we could deal with it together.  Big things or small things.  Even if it something as small as you scratch your Birkin, you should share it with me as well.  You know?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as what he said.

He smiled as he brushed my cheek, “So, is it the black one or the orange one?  Or it’s the Kelly?”

I laughed a little.

“Judging by your cute laugh, I assume your bags are all doing well.  So, what is it?”

I put away my smile and said, “Nothing.”

SeungHyun furrowed his brows a little as he said, “You know I don’t buy that.  And you know I will not let it go until you tell me what it is.”

I let out a soft sigh, “It’s really nothing.  Can you just think it as I’m on my period or something?”

SeungHyun let out a laugh, “No, coz you never act like this when you are on period.”

I slapped him on the arm.

He rubbed his arm as he smiled, “I’ll keep asking you every five minutes from now on, until you tell me what’s bothering you.”

I rolled my eyes at him as I picked Toby up.

“Don’t think of hiding.  This house is big, but not that big.” He teased.

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