Chapter five

Hearing her call me darling or any sweet names makes my stomach roll around on itself and makes me want to throw up. I ignored her like she doesn't exist, my expression stony hard. Her presence here just made everything worse.

Our dining table is sixteen seaters. My dad sat at the head, Mother to his right, Mi Cha who have finally stopped her video and taking a seat, sat to father's left and Soo-ah on mother's side. Beside Mi Cha and Soo-ah there are a lots of vacant seats left for me to choose.

I ignored Soo-ah and her fake sweet smile and headed towards the other side. I don't want to be here and I am not going to spend the agonising minutes I will be forced to endure in this house sitting beside a woman I abhor.

"Son, sit beside your fiancé," Father ordered stopping me in my tracks. My fist clenched at my side as I fought myself to heed his command. I turned to look at him, my eyes furious.

He held my eyes without expression daring me to disobey him. It is like he knows I am too weak when it comes to him. My handicap when it comes to my father makes me so angry that it burns inside my chest like an acid.

"Sit down son," he pointed at the seat beside Soo-ah, his tone condescending, adding salt to the open wound. I breathed in severally to keep myself under control. To force down my frustrations and anger back in their cages.

Just few more months, I said inwardly to myself. In few months I will be marrying Soo-ah and being made the chairman of our company. That is the ultimatum my father gave me. I have given everything in me for his company to watch it fall into the hand of another because of something as silly as my happiness.

If there is something my father and I have in common it is our ambition. I want to achieve more with our company. There are a lot of things going wrong with the company that right now my hands are tied to change, but as the chairman I will be able to effect these changes and help those that really needs the help and not add more money to the coffers of the rich.

My dream, my ambition is the only thing that makes me tolerate everything my parents dishes out to me. I swallowed my anger and turned around to take my seat beside Soo-ah.

"Hi," she smiled at me, dropping her long slender hand on my laps. She knows that I hate her but backs on my parents to always support her which gives her the confidence to keep pursuing me.

I immediately moved to remove her hand, my blood freezing at the touch of her hand. The servants walked in to begin serving the meal. In the Cheong house hold it is always a three course meal. Whether breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mother insists on it.

The appetiser this evening is a bowl of fruits. There was sliced apples, grapes, strawberries, bananas. There was two bottles of red wines on the table which was opened by the servants and poured into the glass beside us. Mi Cha was also served wine even if she is still underaged. She is a Cheong and we are above the law.

After we polished off the appetiser the servants took the bowls away and served the main dish. I already had dinner so I wasn't much hungry so I ate sparingly while trying to beat off Soo-ah's touch under the table. I don't know why she can't take a hint, then again I am not surprised. Soo-ah is used to having anything she wants, so she sees my refusal and hatred for her as a challenge.

Getting any man she wants isn't difficult for her, but a man that plays hard to get becomes more attractive to her than the ones she can easily conquer, and I am that man now.

When we were in high school she was the IT girl. Rich, beautiful, popular. Every guy wanted to be with her, and like I said she has this pretentious charming personality that captivates everyone around her even the ladies, what most didn't realise, I included is that she is an attention whore, and a thrill seeker. Once she captures her prey she looses interest, at least that is what happened in our case.

It was already a popular news around school that Soo-ah eats and throws out guys like food. The longest she has dated any guy is two weeks. Despite knowing this guys still flocks around her waiting to be noticed.

She was a family friend but I have never had any interest in her. I was very studious back then, most will call me a nerd except that I was hot, and rich and drove nice flashy car.

I never knew she and my brother already had a thing before I entered the scene. Like I said I had my nose in the books a lot of times and had no knowledge what was going on around me socially.

Things changed between us when she and her family came around for my father's birthday party and during the party I mistakenly walked into her pouring the wine in my glass down her dress. She was wearing a red dress that day. It was the first time I really looked at her and saw her beauty and I am ashamed to admit that I was captivated like the fools that flocked around her in school.

One thing lead to another before I knew it we are dating. Unlike the other guys Soo-ah dated me for years, throughout sophomore, senior year. It was on the night of our graduation party my parents threw for my brother and I that I discovered her dubiosity.

I caught her fucking my twin brother in his room when I went looking for him to ask him something.

Ki-Moon and I might look alike but we are different like night and day when it comes to our personalities. Ki-Moon is the heart throb bad guy that makes the ladies go wild with a smile, he is a party animal and goes where the drugs and alcohol goes.

He was never serious with his academics and could give a fuck about school. He was a singer, pretty average but the girls loves him.

Like Soo-ah he sleeps and dumps women like he changes his underwear. Actually he fucks and dump them more than he changes his underwear.

Ki-Moon and Soo-ah have been having an on and off fuck session while she was with me.

The knowledge of her betrayal nearly destroyed me because I loved her with all my heart, but I managed to pull through the hell and emerged with my heart locked in a cage with high walls around it, vowing to myself that I will never be that vulnerable again to anyone, nor give anyone that kind of power to hurt me like that ever again.

My studies and now work became my most trusted companion. I was content with my life until Soo- ah walked back into it again after so many years.

After high school Soo-ah's family sent her abroad to study. I didn't see her until she came back ending of last year and my parents introduced her as my betrothed.

"I heard you hired a new assistant? What happened to your old one?" Dad asked badging into my thoughts. She resigned.

My old assistant had been with me since I resumed as the CEO in the company, that was five years ago, but she got married recently to an Australia guy and decided to move.

"She resigned," I answered with lack of interest.

"Oh, and the new one, which school did this your new assistant attend?"

Everyone that works in our company has a degree from a prestigious university, that is one of the things our company is known for, a rule that I just broke when I hired my assistant. Her university isn't one of the ivy leagues but it isn't shabby either, and she came out with first class and her resume was impeccable, but knowing my father he will not be happy with her university overlooking every other aspect of her qualifications so I lied and told him what he wanted to hear.

A coarse cricking sound broke through the mild chatter flowing around the table making everyone to freeze. Mother just ate stone in her food, all hell is about to break loose.