Hello~ Here's an update for you~ 

Note: I wasn't able to proofread well because I fell asleep while doing it ^^" Please excuse any errors/typos :)

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CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Mark watched the scene unfold before his eyes. He formed a fist with his hands the moment Jaebum kissed his fiancée. Seeing how Jina did not even fight back, he knew that his plans to use her and her money for his benefit are now in danger.

“Don’t.” Jackie grabs his arm. Mark looks at the woman. “We need to plan our next move carefully.”

The red-head nods and walks away with his girlfriend.

Mark is very thankful to have Jackie in his life. She’s probably the only person who can knock some sense into him whenever anger clouds his mind and keeps him from thinking straight. He sometimes wonders why she betrayed her bestfriend, Jinyoung, and Jaebum.

‘Was it all because of me?’

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As soon as Mark arrives home, he goes straight to his study and lets his body fall hard on the dark blue leather sofa. He closes his eyes as he rubs his temples.

'This isn't happening...'

He was so close to his dream of becoming rich and powerful then Jaebum ruined his plans.

'Who would've freaking guessed that they'd fall for each other?!'

Mark aimlessly throws the first thing his hand grabs from the coffee table in front of him. He could feel anger pulsing through his veins.

All his life, Mark strove hard to achieve his dreams and reach where he is now. He was an orphan who was adopted by an abusive couple. His real parents died in an accident when he was five years old. When he could no longer take how he was being treated by his adoptive parents, he ran away from home and fended for himself. The first few months were hell for him until he met Mr. Raymond Tuan, then Vice President for Finance of Kim Foods.

The latter and his wife could not bear a child of their own so they decided to adopt one. On their way to the orphanage, they came across Mark who was being bullied by a homeless man, rudely asking the child for the alms he was able to obtain. Moved by pity, the couple decided to adopt Mark instead and took the latter home with them.

Mark proved to his new adoptive parents that they made the right choice with how well he did at school and how much he cared for them. In their eyes, he was a bright lovable child, a blessing. However, behind his warm smiles hid a person full of hatred in his heart. While he did love his new parents dearly, Mark swore to himself that he would make everyone else pay for the hardships he had to endure early on in life. While Jackie tried to put some sense in him, he was too blinded by hatred to see and understand what his girlfriend was driving at.

The thought of his girlfriend somehow calms Mark. Again, he wonders why Jackie stood by his side all this time. They met in high school as friends but later became a couple. Years later, they are still together despite all the awful things Jackie has found out and realized about him.

While his evil self tells him that Jackie is probably only after the money and power he wants to achieve, Mark knows that this is not the case. If there's someone he can trust other than his parents, it'd be Jackie.

One thing though that bothers Mark is the fact that while Jackie always helps him with his plans, he can tell that she's not as cruel as him. Mark somehow feels that Jackie is only forcing herself to do all the dirty work he asks her to do and this makes him feel guilty. However, the hatred in his heart overpowers this and Mark despises himself for taking advantage of his girlfriend. ‘I’m so sorry, my love…’

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Jackie sprawls on her bed then lets out a long sigh. She knows that the worst is yet to come especially now that Mark's plans are in danger. She's scared of what her boyfriend might do given the circumstances.

'I need to stop him... but how?'

Jackie never really wanted to betray Jinyoung but her jealousy blinded her and had caused her to do all the horrible things she had done in the past to her best friend - spreading rumors, trying to break Jinyoung and Jaebum up, stealing Jinyoung's cookbooks then setting them on fire, stealing recipes then giving them to Kim Foods, ruining Jinyoung's entry to a famous cooking tournament in France, and many more.

Jinyoung and Jackie were childhood friends and both had the passion for cooking. While both were gifted and cooked well, people always favored Jinyoung's cuisine. This made Jackie jealous and she eventually lost confidence in her cooking. From a chef who can go head to head with someone as good as Jinyoung, Jackie slowly became Jinyoung's shadow as people lost interest in the former's cooking. This made Jackie hate her best friend, leading her to betray not only Jinyoung but her whole family as well.

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"I... I'm sorry... No, wait, uhh..."

Jaebum avoids Jina's gaze. They are now seated across each other in the former's living room. Bambam apparently went outside to look for his father only to find him kissing his Auntie Jina.

Seeing the two, the child happily dragged both as he chanted, "Mommy and Daddy in love" to Jina and Jaebum's embarrassment.

'Is he regretting it...?'

As if he knew just what Jina is thinking, Jaebum counters, "Wait, no, no... I really wanted to kiss you, I mean... I have no regrets doing that but... well... you're engaged..."

Jina finally meets Jaebum's gaze as she tells him, "I only got engaged because it's what my father and his parents wanted--"

"And being with me is not something they'd want..."

"Really? We just found out that we have feelings for each other and you're being all negative like this?"

"But I have a point, right?"

"Jae... We both need to be strong, okay? I trust you and you need to trust me, too."

Jaebum feels embarrassed that early into their relationship, he is already losing hope. 'Man up, Jaebum!' he tells himself.

Jina stands and moves closer to Jaebum, trying to get him to look at her. "Hmm?"

The man smiles at her before placing a peck on her lips. "Okay."

“Really though... Since you’re worried about Mark... Isn’t Jackie your girlfriend?”

Jaebum laughs hard at Jina’s question, “What made you say that?”

“...Because you look really close?”

He grins at her, “Are you jealous? We just admitted our feelings and you’re already expressing your jealousy over my late wife’s best friend?”

Jina nods her head. “I see... Well, speaking of Jinyoung...” She takes out a piece of paper from her purse and hands it to Jaebum. “Now’s probably not the right time to hand this to you but this letter deserves a read... This is Jinyoung’s letter to you before she died.”

Jaebum stares at Jina in awe for being mature and letting him read the said letter. ‘You must be heaven-sent. What did I do to deserve you, Kim Jina?’