The car pulled into the driveway of the Kim castle. The doors on both sides were pulled open and Park Tae-yong and Kim Seo-yeon stepped out. The two of them walking side by side looked like a power couple. A tall, handsome man with a dominant aura and a tall, beautiful woman with a cold aura. The appearance was visually appealing.
"The Ninth Prince is here?" He asked in surprise. The man who spoke was the Duke of O-yeong, Kim Min-ho.
"Yes, he came with a woman." The butler bowed and said.
"That scoundrel! Rejecting my Harang and then bringing another woman to my home." Kim Min-ho fumed. He was quick to anger.
"Your Highness, he says it's of utmost importance that both you and Her Highness see him." The butler said.
"Does he want to come beg for my help? Tell him to go to hell." Kim Min-ho barked.
The butler left but returned later.
"He says he won't leave until you come see him." The butler said.
…
Kim Seo-yeon and Park Tae-yong stood in the living room, unmoving.
A tall man came running down the stairs. He paused as soon as he saw Kim Seo-yeon. A gruesome smile painted his face. His eyes fixed on Kim Seo-yeon, suggesting he would have run over and killed her immediately, if Park Tae-yong wasn't standing beside her. His gaze was sinister and cold.
Kim Seo-yeon met his gaze expressionlessly. Her heart shook slightly. This man looked exactly like her greatgrandmother. Kim Seo-yeon recalled the black and white photo her mother had shown her of the Japanese comfort women of World War II, which her greatgrandmother, Koo La Hui, was a part of. Staring at him now, Kim Seo-yeon felt like she had seen the male version of that grainy Koo La Hui in real life. So, this was Kim Yi Hun.
Kim Yi Hun looked away from Kim Seo-yeon, his eyes settling on Park Tae-yong.
"Park Tae-yong! Do you think you have the right to come here after rejecting my sister?!" He roared.
"Whether I have the right to come here or not, is not for you to decide." Park Tae-yong mocked, as he cast Kim Yi Hun a deathly glare.
"Leave! Now! Or I'll make them take you out by force." Kim Yi Hun shouted as his handsome face contorted.
Park Tae-yong remained silent. He reached out his gloved hand and held onto Kim Seo-yeon's arm, as he pulled her closer to him. Kim Seo-yeon inhaled the smell of his cologne mixed with the faint scent of tobacco and male hormones. It was rich and intoxicating. She blinked, but did not move.
"Yi Hun, let them." A deep male voice sounded from the top of the stairs as a middle aged man walked down. He was tall and dressed in a brown suit and looked immaculate.
His eyes rested on Park Tae-yong.
"Father, we don't have to listen to what he has to say. Harang is still receiving therapy for her depression." Kim Yi Hun persuaded. He couldn't let what was about to happen, happen. He would be ruined. He needed his father to throw them out, so that he could cleanly exterminate Kim Seo-yeon.
"Park Tae-yong!" Kim Min-ho ignored Kim Yi Hun and shouted. "How dare you show your face here again after what you did to my daughter?! Don't think that because you're the Ninth Prince, I'll let you go."
Kim Yi Hun who was about to interject, paused.
Park Tae-yong stood, unfazed by the authoritative aura Kim Min-ho radiated.
"Duke, I did nothing to your daughter. She threw herself at me. And I brought you your real daughter today." Park Tae-yong said calmly.
Kim Min-ho felt his ears ringing at Park Tae-yong's fearless words. His eyes reddened as he looked like he was about to go mad.
"Park Tae-yong!" He barked and the guards in the room moved towards Park Tae-yong.
He hated Park Tae-yong to the bone. His daughter, Kim Harang had fallen for him since she was in her early teens. Earlier this year, when she had turned 19, she had finally opened up and told him, despite her parents' disapproval that he was much older than her. In the end, his shy daughter who mustered up courage to confess her feelings had been rejected by him without a second glance. She had immediately attempted suicide and was diagnosed with depression. And yet this man dared to stand in his home, and say that his daughter threw herself at him. He had balls of steel!
Park Tae-yong hadn't brought any bodyguards along with him today. It was only him and Kim Seo-yeon and the chauffeur in the car. Kim Seo-yeon looked at the men who had cornered them and her heart tightened. She did not want to be beaten. She looked at the man beside her who was calm despite the men who were about to subdue them. She didn't understand. Even if he had tremendous physical strength, he couldn't possibly beat all these men. Or was he relying on his status as the Ninth Prince?
"Min-ho, please." A clear voice cut through the tension in the room. The woman who owned the voice was standing in a red robe and looked like a queen. She was slim and very beautiful and possessed a regal aura. Her figure was imposing as she came down the stairs.
"Park Tae-yong." She called calmly. Unlike Kim Min-ho who was visibly fuming, this woman was composed. "Explain yourself." She said and stopped.
"I've said it before. I am here today with your biological daughter." Park Tae-yong said with an expressionless face.
"And when did I have this daughter?" She asked in amusement and sized Kim Seo-yeon up.
"Mom, please, send this man away. He's just here to cause trouble." Kim Yi Hun interjected with an ashen face.
"Kim Yi Hun is not your biological child. She is." Park Tae-yong said with the same expression he had on when he was telling Kim Seo-yeon, and pushed her forward.
Kim Min-ho who had been silent for some time started fuming again. Park Tae-yong had clearly gone mad.
"Park Tae-yong, leave while we're still asking nicely." He said through locked teeth.
Park Tae-yong did not move. He looked at Kim Myeongju, the Duchess instead.
Kim Myeongju stared back at Park Tae-yong. Noting his serious expression, her heart quivered slightly. Knowing Park Tae-yong, he wasn't the kind of person to joke about anything, especially something like this. He wouldn't have come here today just to bluff her. Thinking up to here, her heart couldn't calm down.
Kim Yi Hun had naturally noticed Kim Myeongju's expression. He wanted to kill Park Tae-yong, but now was not the time for that.
"Guards, subdue the Ninth Prince. Lock him and that woman up until I say you should let them go." He ordered.
"Duchess, will you stand there and watch as an outsider locks your real daughter up?" Park Tae-yong said.
"Mother, don't listen to him. Guards lock him up." Kim Yi Hun frantically ordered.
Kim Myeongju held her head in her hand. Her head hurt terribly.
"Do something now, or you won't escape this alive." Park Tae-yong who was behind Kim Seo-yeon whispered into her ear.
Kim Seo-yeon blinked, trying to think up solutions.
Just then, there was a scream. Everyone's attention was drawn towards the source of the sound. At the top of the stairs, a thin and frail girl was standing. She looked ghastly pale like she'd walked out of a tomb. Her thin lips lifted into a smile as she shakily, but quickly ran down the stairs.
"Brother Tae-yong, I knew you would come back for me." She shouted as she got down and ran towards Park Tae-yong and Kim Seo-yeon.
"Harang!" Kim Min-ho and Kim Myeongju shouted simultaneously.
Park Tae-yong looked at the girl who was running towards him with a disgusted expression. If she dared to touch him, he would immediately snap her thin neck.
Kim Seo-yeon took in everyone's expression in the room. She knew Park Tae-yong did not like to be touched, but she didn't think it was this severe.
She took a few steps forward and grabbed the shoulders of the girl—who was running too fast for anyone to catch her—before she could touch Park Tae-yong.
There was silence in the room.
Kim Seo-yeon held onto the girl's shoulders to stabilize her.
"Who are you? Get away from me!" Kim Harang shouted.
Kim Seo-yeon did not move.
"Get Harang up to her room quickly." Kim Myeongju ordered and the men rushed over to her and dragged her away amid her screams.
"Park Tae-yong, we are not in a good position to entertain you right now. Please, come back another day." Kim Myeongju said and turned around.
Kim Yi Hun silently rejoiced in his heart. It was so close.
"Mother!" Kim Seo-yeon's voice stopped Kim Myeongju dead in her tracks.
She turned around with an icy expression. "Who is your mother?"
"Woman, what are trying to do? Climb the ranks from being a nobody?" Kim Yi Hun shouted.
Kim Seo-yeon ignored him and fixed her gaze on Kim Myeongju. She had already gotten her attention. That was enough.
"I'm Kim Seo-yeon. I was born in the same year and same date as Kim Yi Hun. We were switched at birth at the hospital." She said.
"Woman, do you not fear the wind will cut off your tongue?!" Kim Yi Hun shouted.
"Kim Yi Hun, shut up and let her speak." Park Tae-yong ordered.
"Park Tae-yong, you—"
"How do I know that's true? How do I know you're not trying to climb the ranks?" Kim Myeongju asked, cutting Kim Yi Hun off.
"I come from Gang City. My father is Kim Jae-jun. My mother is Kim Ye-sol. I've been living with them for 23 years and we make enough money to feed us and put a roof over our head. I'm a CEO and I love my company. I have no reason to be here and I'm uninterested in being your daughter. But your son, Kim Yi Hun, killed my sister, and I've vowed to kill him at all costs." Kim Seo-yeon said, her expression cold.
"Kill my Yi Hun?" Kim Myeongju laughed out loud. "You'll have to get through me first." She said decisively.
"I would, but you are my mother. Half the blood in my veins belongs to you." Kim Seo-yeon said in a chilling tone.
"Mother, this woman is challenging you..."
Kim Myeongju raised her hand to silence Kim Yi Hun.
She stared at Kim Seo-yeon with her eyebrows raised. This woman did indeed look like her. She looked like the younger version of herself. She had thought that Park Tae-yong had just found someone who looked like her, but there was something about this woman she couldn't put a finger on. Perhaps, it was the coldness she carried, or the fact that she spoke as courageously as her, Kim Myeongju.
"Even if you are our daughter, we're not accepting Park Tae-yong." Kim Min-ho said. He was starting to believe it as well. This woman was exactly like his wife in her youth. But he still couldn't accept Park Tae-yong behind her. How could he not see Park Tae-yong's intentions bringing this woman to him today?
"Butler, call the doctor over. I need a DNA test and the results today." Kim Myeongju ordered. The butler bowed and left.
"Come over here." Kim Myeongju said to Kim Seo-yeon.
Kim Yi Hun seeing that the situation was not good, stormed off into his room.
Kim Seo-yeon attempted to walk forward, but her thin wrist was grabbed by Park Tae-yong's large palm.
"Duchess, I'm afraid you'll harm my fiancée if she gets close to you." He said with a smirk on his face. Kim Seo-yeon turned to look at him sharply.
Kim Myeongju's face darkened.
"Park Tae-yong, if she really is my daughter, you'll need my approval to see her in the future." Kim Myeongju said with sharp eyes.
"I don't need your approval to see my fiancée." Park Tae-yong countered.