3 Months later

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chun Sung Im was fuming. She walked briskly along the gleaming hallway, her long hair fluttering behind her.

How dare they. How dare they! Oh how she was raging inside.

She could now see the large patterned door that would lead her into the study. But she didn't pause to knock.No, instead she threw open the door with all her might entering the room like a whirlwind. 

A middle-aged man was sitting in the centre of the study behind a large desk and upon her entry looked up, distaste evident on his face. 

" You!" He scoffed. " I hoped that you would have learned at least some manners in the past few years. Seems like I was wrong."

Sung Im didn't bother replying to his taunt, neither did she bother to acknowledge the presence of a second person in the room. 

" Why are you here? " the man asked, once again focusing his attention on the documents lying in front of him. 

" You set me up for a marriage " It wasn't a question nor was she asking him to confirm.

"So?" The man still wouldn't look up from his papers.

Sung Ims face contorted in anger " You didn't ask for my permission."

The man laughed. It was the most unpleasant sound Sung Im ever heard in her life, so full of malice and darkness. 

" Don't be full of yourself. I don't need your permission to set you up for marriage. I am you 'father' remember." he jeered.

" You are not my father and you never will be! I have no obligation to dance according to your whims " Sung Im spat at him.

" SUNG IM!!" " YOU FILTHY...!!!" both the man and the second person in the room had sprung up at what Sung Im had said. 

Sung Im now looked at the other person present in the room. It was a woman in her mid-forties. Her beauty from her younger days still shone through and she eerily looked like an older version of Sung Im herself 

She sneered at her " Of course you must agree with your wonderful husband 'mother'? 

The women stepped forward her eyes ablaze with anger. " Don't you dare speak to your father like that you ungrateful child! He took us in and raised you like his own daughter." 

Sung Im laughed. Really the Irony. This man had raised her? It was more appropriate to say that she had raised herself. The words parent meant nothing to her. They had cared for her less than a human would for a bug. 

The man sighed and returned to his seat. " Really it was my mistake, for thinking that I could make a human out of a vermin like you."

He looked up at Sung Im his eyes ice cold. " You will do as told as repayment for raising you" he growled. 

Fury rose up in Sung Im. " I have repaid you already. I worked like a slave in that company of yours. I made it raise up to where it is now!" she was screaming now. Why? Why couldn't they just let her leave and be herself? Was she never allowed to have her freedom, the one thing that she so desperately wanted?

" You agreed. You said you didn't want to see my face anymore. That raising your company from the slumps to the high position it holds now would be enough!"

The man leaned back and regarded her silently, his eyes stone hard. 

" I heard your uncle is unwell?" he asked casually.

"W-What?" Sung Im asked taken aback at the sudden change of topic. 

" And it seems there is a bit of trouble with his Company and stocks too because of his illness?"

Sung Im remained silent but wary. What was this man up to?

" Now what do you think would happen...let's say if i bought off some of the stockholders shares for the company?" he asked picking up a pen and twirling it like a child playing with a new toy. 

Sung Im paled as the weight of the meaning of the words he had just uttered hit her. " You..you wouldn't!" she whispered almost desperately. 

The man, her 'father' looked at her with emotionless eyes and she knew then, that he was planning to do exactly that. That evil beast was planning to buy off so many shares for the company that he could throw out her uncle from the company under the presence that he was an incompetent director. From the Company her uncle hard worked so hard to build. 

" It all depends on you Sung Im" he said nonchalantly " If you do as I say, I will actually offer to help you know. "

Really sometimes being a human was the hardest thing. So many Emotions that you have to deal with all at once. That was exactly what was happening to Sung Im at that moment. She felt utter despair and hopelessness at her inability to do anything. The anger she felt at her so-called parents and herself and the world. And the fear that she would end up losing the things precious to her once again if she didn't become their puppet. 

Sung Im looked over at her mother " You won't say anything?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. 

Her 'Mother' did not reply and instead busied herself with a book in the shelf. She did not even acknowledge the plight her daughter seemed to be in.

It wasn't as if Sung Im had expected anything else. She sighed closing her eyes. Then ever so slowly she nodded. 

" All right. I'll...agree to this marriage," she said her voice depleted off any energy she had. " But under one condition: you will not touch uncle, his family or his company."

It wasn't a plea, neither was it a request. She looked at him her eyes displaying the same iciness as his.

Her 'Father' observed her a little longer before nodding " Wise choice Sung Im. I am a man of my words. I won't touch them."

Sung Im snorted. ' Man of his words?' There couldn't have been anyone less befitting of those words than him. 

" The family we have set up the marriage with is most befitting for our Bussiness. They are the top Bussiness empire and are famous not only in Korea but also in many other Countries Worldwide. Actually, I am more than surprised that they agreed to this marriage set up with the wealth and fame they have.

The Madame of the family requested a meeting with you and I have agreed. You'll be meeting her this Saturday so be prepared. And remember don't try to do anything funny. I'll let you know the details later on. "

Sung Im had no interest in what he was saying. She had no interest in this marriage in the first place so why would she. She just listened blankly and soon as he finished she turned and left without a word slamming the door shut as she was leaving. 

She wasn't going to be playing to his rules. She wasn't going to cry and succumb to that Beast. She wasn't weak like that. If she had to fight out a war then she would do so. The only problem was her uncle. She needed to find a solution to that first and foremost. She clenched her fist. She would get through this come what may.