The girl still couldn't stop thinking about the situation last night. She will never forget her brother's worried face, her mother's beaming smile, and Jungkook's eyes scowling at her throughout dinner.
He was right.
Her family had planned Jin's life behind his back, so the same thing was about to happen to her if she didn't take the plunge.
What was she supposed to do? She didn't even have anywhere to go. This family was her only security. Without them, she might as well have died.
It was late afternoon, and it seemed to her that she was alone in the house. Besides her and the maids, there was no one else around.
Her father was probably sitting in the company, Jin was accompanying him, her mother was roaming around the mall with Jieun, and Jungkook was taking care of his company, which his father had entrusted to him.
There was only Chanmi, who had no activities.
She sat in the living room, browsing web pages on her phone with boredom. She tore her gaze away from the screen when a friend dressed in an apron sat down next to her. Her watery eyes signaled that she had cried all night.
- I'm sorry, Jisoo. - That's all she was able to get out of herself, looking at the brunette's grim face.
- Let's be honest... What did I expect? That I would be Cinderella? That I would marry a fabulously rich guy while being a maid in his house? Why didn't I anticipate that in real life there is no room for a happy ending because a man like your brother has to get involved with a woman who matches his status. Why on earth did I give him a chance when I had the opportunity to end it all? Now I only suffer even more.
- Jisoo...
Chanmi grasped her friend's hand, looking at her with compassionate eyes.
- I have no intention of fighting. I noticed that your brother has also given up. After all, he won't abandon his family, all the property he is supposed to take over, to live with a simple, poor girl. He would be a fool to do so.
- But despite everything, you love him and hope he will do it.
Jisoo didn't answer, but the redhead read it from her eyes.
- That's why it's best if I leave this house. Your parents pay me well, but I'll find something else with a smaller salary. I will manage.
- I don't know what to say in this situation because I realize how you feel. Staying here, it will be a hard challenge for you to see my brother at the side of his future wife.
- Your mother won - Jisoo announced, forcing a crooked smile. - Why did I even want to fight her for her son? It's pointless. This woman is too powerful, I am no match for her.
The maid unexpectedly rose from the couch and walked away a piece further, wiping tears from her face. She was frightened, hearing the sound of the door opening. After all, it was not appropriate for her to sit on the couch in the company of her employers' daughter.
Chanmi looked over her shoulder, spotting Jungkook, who had returned from work. Dressed in a gray suit, he loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first buttons of his shirt.
- I'll get back to my duties. I need to occupy my head with something - Jisoo spoke quietly, heading up the stairs to the second floor.
The redhead busied herself with the phone, hoping that her sister's fiancé would ignore her and go to his room, but the wry smile on his face was a sign that he intended to tease Chanmi.
He sat down next to her on the couch, throwing his arm over the backrest, just above her head. Pressed into the cushions, the girl raked him with her eyes.
- Not too close? Servants like to gossip - she pointedly addressed him, and he squatted even closer, even pressing himself into her. The redhead lay back on the pillows, and he leaned over her, looking pleased. - Move back, or I won't vouch for myself.
He grabbed her hands, blocking her and making it impossible to escape.
- Why are you so cute, Chanmi? I can't stop looking at you.
- Are you crazy? Let me go, right now! - She raised her voice, wide-eyed watching him. - My sister and mother can go home at any time.
- I don't give a damn.
- My sister is your fiancée!
- Your sister deserves a lesson, you deserve a kiss. - Chanmi turned her face away as he leaned in even more, intending to kiss her on the lips.
He laughed and moved his face away, watching as she fulminated him with her eyes.
- I don't understand... if you hate her so much, how can you sleep with her?
- She is attractive, so sleeping with her is not a problem at all, even if during sex I feel like killing her.
- Seriously, what is wrong with you! - She was horrified by his train of thought.
- How mad do you think her face will be when she finds out that all this time she slept with someone she wanted to kill ten years ago?
Her heart stopped beating. She went pale on her face and watched him as if she had seen a ghost.
- What are you talking about, Jungkook?
- Your little sister is sure that Chansung is dead. What kind of madness will she fall into once she finds out that she is in love with him up to her ears and plans to marry him?
- What are you playing at? Why do you talk as if you are Chansung?
He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him the whole time.
- You have to know the truth, Chanmi; otherwise I won't gain your trust. The clock is ticking, and you are moving away from me.
With frightened eyes, she watched him as he unbuttoned the remaining buttons of his shirt with his other hand. He exposed his body, and her attention was drawn to the birthmark he had under his collarbone. The same birthmark that Chansung had since birth.
Her lips trembled, she could not utter a word.
- I'm sorry, Chanmi, for deceiving you from the beginning. I hoped you would recognize me yourself, but your empty head failed to grasp that I am no friend and Chansung.
The redhead raised her hand and tentatively touched the boy's cheek with it.
- You don't resemble him in any way. You can't be him.
- I underwent several plastic surgeries because I was burned.
- What - she choked out in a weak voice, feeling tears gathering under her eyelids. One of them flowed from the outer corner of her eye, falling on the pillow. - You're playing games, aren't you, Jungkook? You can't be Chansung.
She was in amok when he rose from the couch and, holding her hand, pulled her with him. She didn't react to this in any way. She simply watched his profile, trying to find at least one feature of his appearance that her best friend possessed.
He walked with her into her room and sat her on the bed. He locked the door so no one would disturb them. Here they were safe and could talk about everything.
- I know everything about you, Chanmi. I remember every moment of our childhood.
- So why didn't you confess from the beginning? Why did you mock me?
- I couldn't tell you right away! - He raised his voice, coming closer to her. - You didn't know the situation, so I was afraid you would turn me in.
- So why are you telling me now?
- Because I will not watch this family destroy you. You will understand that both your sister and mother deserve to be taught a lesson, and you will help me destroy them.
- I won't do it! This is my family!
He grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her off the bed, placing her in front of him.
- As a kid you heard your parents talking. You are their surrogate product. They will do to you what they did to your brother. He'll take over the company and live a good life because he's their real son, and you'll go into the hands of just anyone. Do you want to suffer for the rest of your life? Because I'm not going to let you do that.
- So what do you want to do? Kill them?
- Take revenge. I want nothing more than to watch the smile disappear from their faces. I intend to destroy them.
With weeping eyes she watched him, unable to believe that this was her beloved Chansung from her childhood. He did not resemble him in any way, even though he knew many aspects of their shared history.
It seemed as if he knew her too well.
- Are you really Chansung? - She whispered, once again touching his face with her hand. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she couldn't stop it. - I find it so difficult to believe.
- Your mother killed my family. Your sister helped her kill me as well. They trapped me in an abandoned house and set it on fire. I miraculously avoided death, Chanmi. My body and especially my face were burned, and I let out my last breaths as I walked along the side of the street, begging for help. It was a gift from the heavens that a man drove by and gave me help.
- Are you talking about the man who is your father?
- Yes, I'm talking about that American millionaire who had such a good heart that not only did he save my life, he later decided to adopt me and give me a new look.
The redhead put her hand to her mouth, looking at him with shocked eyes.
- So you really are Chansung? My childhood best friend? The person I missed most in the world?
- Yes, Cha-Cha. I came back to you to protect you and take you as far away from here as possible. You don't even know how much I missed you.
He took her in his arms, and she completely burst into tears, cuddling her face into his bare chest.
- I have to take responsibility for you, since at the age of ten, it was because of me that you acquired a scar on your calf when you fell from a tree.
So much time, Chansung was beside her, and she had no idea. She was such an idiot, so far, hating him in his new guise.
*
- How can you live with my sister, pretending to love her? How can you look her in the eye after all that has happened in the past? The same when it comes to my mother. How do you manage to do that, Chansung? - She asked him as they both sat on her bed. He embraced her hands, his fingers stroking her delicate skin. She followed every inch of his face with her eyes, still not believing that he had undergone several plastic surgeries at such a young age.
The young man forced a crooked smile.
- There has been so much hatred and desire for revenge in me for the past ten years that pretending in front of them gives me unimaginable joy, Chanmi. It's nothing difficult, especially when I say false words to your sister and watch how happy she is, believing how much I love her.
- So you're going to break her heart? - whispered the redhead, feeling a strange prickling in her heart. Despite everything, she was worried about Jieun.
- That's where I will start.
- And are you sure I will help you? This is my family, Chansung.
- This is not your family. Realize that at last. Besides, these people killed my mother and little sister, they tried to kill me too.
Chanmi closed her eyelids. Although she missed Chansung every day and longed to see him again, now that he was sitting next to her, and in a new guise - one she had not liked from the beginning. She was horrified at the thought that this boy, in an act of revenge, was trying to destroy her family, and she was going to help him do it.
She was put in a difficult position.
- Ten years ago I didn't even think about it, I wanted to run away with you, but now I'm afraid. You are different, Chan. You in no way resemble your former self, and besides, I don't like the fact that you want to take revenge on my family. I trust you, although I find it difficult to believe that my mother and sister tried to kill you.
Jungkook grabbed her shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes.
- I would rather not dwell on how brainwashed you are by this family, but as I mentioned before.... my priority is to free you from the hands of these beasts. I will do it with or without your consent. I care too much about you, and I certainly won't leave you here.
- What if I reveal your plans and tell your family who you really are? - She herself did not think about the words she spoke, but she was worried about her family.
- You won't do it, Chanmi said. - She didn't look away when he looked into her eyes. - Because I know how much you care about me. You waited for me for so many years, believing that I would return.
- Ten years have passed. I have changed, and so have my feelings.
The corner is the mouth, lifted upwards.
- I have a contingency plan, Cha-Cha. If you turn me in, I will become violent, your family will suffer faster and more, and you will still end up at my side. Nevertheless, I won't leave you here alone.
- You are crazy - she said.
She got up from the bed and walked to the window. Biting her finger in her mouth, she turned to face him.
- I don't care if your feelings have died out. My heart does not cool down so quickly," he announced to her, rising from the bed. - I've learned over the past years that you have to take revenge for the harm you've done and keep the people you care about by your side at all costs, and I only have you, Cha-Cha.
I think she would have preferred, however, that Jungkook didn't turn out to be Chansung because he made her perplexed.