Chapter 1

Tiffany talked to herself as she counted her dwindling money. All fifteen dollars & eighty-three cents of it. Sighing, she looked at her stuffs & had to swallow the bubbling, mocking laugh which was rising bitterly in . What a cruel joke. All the branded stuff & yet, here she was, as broke as she could be.

It was just her luck that she was born into the Hwang family. The royal family of the movie industry. She had lost count on how many times her father had been on the front of the Entertainment magazine over the years. Years after years, he had been voted as one of the brightest stars & lately, most talented director in the world & years after years, his fame & fortune had skyrocketed, making him one of the wealthiest people in the country & with her mother, one of the most loved actress, it was inevitable that she & her sister had very limited space to go unrecognized but Michelle was luckier than she was. At least, she wasn't the one involved in the incident. It was fifteen years ago when she had been kidnapped for ransom. Her nanny had given her a sack filled with her favorite candies. Her doctored favorite candies. It was all a blur to her now. All she remembered was a whirl of a shabby cottage, frenzy phone calls, her mom's sobs, her dad's panic shout, her nanny's greedy face & the ruthless guy who had held her but then, the police had come & she had been taken back home to safety & since then, she had never tasted freedom again.

Guards were always one meter behind her anywhere she went. No public school for her. Not even a private school. While her sister had gone to a prestigious private school & had numerous of friends, she had been at home with a private tutor & no friend. She had even had to argue endlessly with her father in order to go to a university but when she had finally won & gone to a private prestigious university of her father's choice, her victory had tasted bitter. Her bodyguards had gone with her, shielding her so closely that making friends had been one impossible task & then, the time for another argument seemed like in order as she had finished her master degree & wanted to live her dream & she couldn't afford to back down even a step if she wanted to start living so she & her dad had got into an argument as always & as usual, her father had pulled the ‘I know what's best for you’ card & inevitably, she was forced to bend to his will. The click of the door as her father left had sounded like a clang of a jail door to her. All her dreams, all her freedom were locked on the other side & so, without thinking, she had leapt & grabbed onto it by running away.

Oh, she brought money alright. All the cash she could get at the moment & all her credit cards but with her father's men chasing after her, she had to change cars ever so often in order to slow them down a bit until her black mundi file master solid wallet got more empty & now, she didn't dare to use her credit card as her father had been tracing her whereabouts from them. Adding to her financial burden, were her babies, her responsibilities. They were asleep so peacefully at the back seat at the moment as if they had no other concern in life but to enjoy it. Caressing their soft heads, she resignedly accepted the fact that maybe her father was partially right. She had led a life where money was of no concern that she had taken it for granted that she would always have it but now, the reality stared at her in the eyes. She was broke & on the border of panic because she couldn't think of how to start earning money. It seemed like all she could do was sell the ancient car, the only car she could afford to buy at the last stop but without any car, how could she go if her father's men caught up with her?

Sighing, she started the car & drove towards the used car lot she had passed before. First thing first; she would think about what to do next later. Right now, the most pressing matter was to get her hand on some cash. Her babies needed food & so did she.

Eight minutes later, she could see the flag of the used car dealership in a distance. Stepping on the accelerator, she zoomed towards it, not caring about the horn honking as she cut lanes. One of her babies jolted awake as he heard the blaring noise. Yelping, he leapt towards her for safety, startling her into turning the wheel to the other side in reflex, crashing into another car.

Groaning, she closed her wide, brown, almond-shaped eyes in despair as the image of dollars flying out of her reach flashed in front of her eyes. Then she glared at Romeo who guiltily looked at her from lowered head & rubbed his cheek against her arm in apology. Heart melting, she could only rubbed his head & cuddled him & looked helplessly at an irritated guy who was striding towards her purposely, looking as if he was ready to cheerfully strangle her for bumping into his green audi.

Straightening her shoulder, she opened the creaky car door & stepped out on her rubbery, slim, long legs, not even remotely ready for the bargaining of her life.

Joowon Hwang glared at the phone in his hand then slammed it back into its cradle. Cursing the useless men he had hired to bring Tiffany back, he stormed around his office while image of horror & terror filled his thought. He could still feel the clammy sick feeling in his gut when he had received that call saying that Tiffany was kidnapped when he had imagined those bastards had had his precious child in their hand & he still remembered his promise that he would never let his child go through the same thing again, but now, his daughter was missing & he had no idea where she was, what she’s doing or whether she was safe or not! Feeling his fear escalating, he quickly made an effort to breathe in & out repeatedly to calm himself down, “Don’t think about it. Never think about that possibility.” He warned himself. She must be safe. She had to be safe because he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything bad happened to her. Pausing in mid-stride, he recalled glumly the last conversation he had had with her which had been in this very room.

*Flashback*

Tiffany was sitting on the couch, sulking as she usually did when her wish wasn’t granted. He looked at her indulgently. How he loved this daughter of his. Not that he didn’t love Michelle because he surely did. Both were his precious jewels but as the youngest child, Tiffany was her father’s golden child. Beautiful, smart, lively & feisty. Her only fault as far as he was concerned was that she’s too stubborn & naive for her own good.

Noticing Tiffany’s expression, he shook his head resignedly.

It seemed like one of his heavier lecture moment had just arrived. He only hoped that this time it would knock some sense into his daughter. After all, what did a parent have to do when his beloved daughter was going to take the wrong step? It just made sense that her parents would want to lead her to the right path, right? & who better to do it other than her father who naturally knew what’s best for her? He had puffed on his cigar & tapped her cheek lovingly to wake her up from her sulky land.

“Tiffany, listen to me. I know what’s best for you. Trust me on this. I have lived for more than twice your age so I know more of this world than you do. You won’t be happy with your choice, believe me. Why do you want to become a social worker is beyond me. Such a career won’t give you enough money. Or enough challenge. It would be a waste of your brilliant mind, honey. How much could it give you? I could give you three even five times that every month. Just name your price & you have to think about your safety, too. The man I hired to protect you wouldn’t be able to do their job well without interfering with your work, you know that. Don’t think too much about your future; I will provide everything for you. Just stay home & help your mom with the social stuff. Who knows, maybe you could find some suitable guy & get married. Or if you want, you could work for me.”

As if frustrated by his lecture, Tiffany stood up & paced around. Stomping her foot for emphasis, she said, “But I don’t want to be in movies. I don’t want to be a debutante either. I don’t want to be married yet & I don’t want that much money. I don’t need that much money. A social worker, that’s what I want to do. Helping people. Making a difference. Or a kindergarten teacher where I would be working with kids. Spending my day with innocence.” She turned towards him & pleaded, asking him to understand, “It’s my life, daddy. Please let me live my life just as I want it? If I make a mistake then let it be my mistake.”

He shook his head & said more firmly, “No, sweetie. You see, I can’t let you make that mistake. I can’t let you take the risk that you would be harmed. Protecting you as best as I could was in my job description as your parent & it was so naive of you to think that you don’t need money much. You are too used to luxury. All your life, you have never had to think about money. That’s why you think the way you do & I don’t want to see you counting pennies as long as I’m able to provide for you. So, it’s either you work for me or you can stay home, helping your mom with the social stuff. It’s your choice.”

He stood up & patted her back, “It’s for your own good, Tiffany. I don’t want you to be a lowly social worker that has to deal with drunkard, drugs addict & violent people. Or teaching other people’s unruly kids about potty training. You are meant for something bigger. Take your time to think about it. You know where to find me when you have made your decision.”

“What about my happiness?” Tiffany turned her eyes on him, asking him to understand her this one time, “What about my dream?”

His heart melted as it usually did whenever she had turned those eyes that way at him. Bracing his heart against her power, he said firmly, “You won’t be happy without money, Tiffany. Be realistic for once. We will talk again, when you could see my point & accept it.”

*End of Flashback*

A knock on the door startled him & he turned around just as Michelle’s head popped in, “Come in, honey.” He greeted her warmly. He watched with a fatherly pride as Michelle stepped into the room. Another one of his jewel. Sophisticated, beautiful, smart & gentle.

“Dad, dinner’s ready. Mom has already waited for you in the dining room.” She said, as she took his arm. Patting her hand, he sighed dejectedly, “I have no appetite. Those dumb guys still haven’t found Tiffany yet. The last time they saw her was in Seoul when they chased her away from her hotel & after I had already told them to approach her quietly & made sure she had no escape route. Where would she go next, you say?” Michelle shook her head as she thought about it, “There’s no telling where she would go, dad. You know how impulsive she is. Dad, how about posting an ad in the papers? Give rewards or something for anybody who could tell us where she is.”

Mr. Hwang shook his head vehemently, “No, that’s the one thing we can’t do. I don’t want her to be sought out by unscrupulous people who wanted to take advantage of her. What if they kidnapped her for ransom again? No. That’s the one thing I won’t do.”

Michelle quickly calmed her agitated father down, “Okay, okay. We will think of something else & don’t worry about her safety, dad. Tiffany would be alright. When she decided to run away, she must have a disguise in mind so that not many people would recognize her & I think she would pretend to be as different as the real her. Hmmm, maybe look for an ugly girl. Big glasses, ugly braids, ugly clothes & all that.”

As Michelle’s logic seeped into his mind, Mr. Hwang felt as if the weight had been lifted from his heart & he bobbed his head fervently in agreement as he thought about the possibility of Tiffany in disguises.

“As for her whereabouts.” Suddenly, Michelle smiled & looked at him excitedly, “Dad, she has her babies with her, right? & there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for their welfare & knowing her, her money must be next to nothing at this point. She must have still bought that dog food for her babies even though it cost a bomb. She would settle on eating banana for dinner if that was what it takes not to deprive Romeo & Hani of their food. Now, how many upscale groceries carry that stuff? Eight? Three?”

His eyes suddenly widened as Michelle’s words began to form an image in his mind & for the first time in a month, a ghost of a smile started to curve on his lips. Laughing in relief, he hugged Michelle in pride & gratitude. All he needed to do was to trace the dog food trails & make sure his men were just in time to catch her when she falls.