“So I guess that’s it. We’re done.” Sandara whispered, not daring to look up at Jiyong.

“That’s not what I mean. It’s just that-”

“But that’s what I mean. Look Ji, after our trip to Cape Verde and after spending amazing moments with you, I thought I had found the person that I was going to spend the rest of my life with. After that, I was done with everything else. Daejung, the parties, the bars… I didn’t care about it anymore, because I had chosen you. But you didn’t choose me. You chose the medias, the parties and the girls…”

“Sandara, please try to understand. I like you, but-”

“See! This is the problem! Whenever you say something nice to me, a ‘but’ always follows right away. I am done Jiyong, do you understand? Please, don’t chase me anymore, unless you’re ready to catch me.” After saying that, Dara got up from her seat, signaling him that she was done with their conversation.

By the time her parents got back home, Jiyong had already left her apartment. Apparently he now had many things to deal with, starting with trying to keep his job as the Mayor of Seoul. Jiyong had ended up being honest with Sandara. He had told her liked her and that he found her both physically and mentally attractive, yet he said he wasn’t in love with her. Right after hearing Jiyong tell her he didn’t love her, she understood it was time for her to take a few steps back in whatever relationship they had going on.

While waiting for her parents, Sandara had prepared her luggage and found every convincing argument possible so that her parents would let her go to her aunt for spring break. She told Seung-hyun that she was thinking of going to England for three weeks and he seemed to agree with her. He also thought that she needed to get away from the drama, at least for the moment. He promised her he would send her the lessons though since she was going to miss school for a few days.

She hugged Seung-hyun and thanked him again for being by her side every time she needed someone to lean on,  and he went back to his place. Soon after, Sandara called her aunt. Apparently she would be very happy to have her home for a few weeks, if that was okay with her parents. And to the contrary of what Dara thought, it had been pretty easy to convince them. As soon as her parents got back home, they talked for a few minutes about what Jiyong did and they understood that Dara needed some time away from Seoul and her problems. Her parents perfectly knew how scandals worked and they knew if she stayed here and went to school, she would have to face the curious stares of everyone, along with their intrusive questions.

After making sure Sandara was feeling okay and that she really wanted to go to her aunt’s, her dad took her to Incheon Airport and put her on the first flight to London. It had been a couple of years since she last saw her aunt and her cousins; nevertheless they always managed to keep in touch via Internet. Her aunt was her mother’s sister. She had gone to London for her studies, loved the life there and when she was in her 30s, she fell in love with an Englishman working as a global equity manager for London’s Stock Exchange. They eventually got married, and after the death of Sandara’s grandparents, her aunt sold her shares of Hyundai to her sister, making Park Jinah the main shareholder of the company.

But Jia Bradford, her aunt, always came back to Seoul for the holidays since she wanted her two children to embrace their Korean culture. However, since Sandara was one of the only cousins who could speak English fluently, she had gotten very close to her them, a boy and a girl. They were both a bit older than her. Caroline was already 26 and engaged to an Irish engineer and Lucas was 23, two years older than Sandara. Even though Jia had tried to teach them, her cousins couldn’t speak Korean very well, but they understood the basics. And not speaking the language didn’t prevent them from enjoying their vacations every time they would go to Korea.

During the flight to London, Sandara was not feeling very well. She felt like she was running away from her problems instead of facing them, but at the same time she felt like she needed a break from her Seoul lifestyle. This last talk with Jiyong made her realize that she changed when she fell in love with him; she did things for him she would have never done in her right mind. Love had made her blind and now she had to step back in order to see again. She hoped these little vacations to London and spending time with her crazy her cousins will help her regain the dignity and self-love she had before Jiyong got in her way. And Harry Bradford, her uncle, might even be able to help her in her researches for her graduation essay. As she was trying to pursue Jiyong, Dara had stopped caring about her studies. She was studying international business but since she wanted to get Jiyong’s attention, she had started to read more books about politics, instead of business related books. She still did well at school; it’s just that she wasn’t as much into it as she used to be. Jiyong had managed to turn her into the kind of woman she had never wanted to be: The type of woman who only thought about her man’s well being, at the expanse of her own. And the worse is that in the end, the man wasn’t hers. Sandara still managed to get some sleep in the plane; her father had bought her a business class ticket so she was pretty comfortable in her seat. And soon enough, the place landed at Heathrow Airport.

Sandara took her two luggages and started exiting the airport, as she took her phone to call her aunt to tell her she had just landed. As Sandara was making her way to the nearest taxi station, she felt a strong pair of arms hugging her from behind. As she was about to scream while turning around, she recognized the man hugging her. It was her cousin Lucas Bradford. He was looking at her smilingly, obviously hap