Sending Off

With a forced smile which was well played framed on his lips, he said;

"Later, I will tell you about it later."

For some reason which was unknown to me, Hyun Min successfully brushed off that talk and he took me back home just before the curfew started.

I wasn't satisfied with his resolve anyway.

Why lift my hopes on a crucial issue if you're not going to say anything about it?

Why make a pronouncement about something very important and just ghost me about it?

Maybe he wasn't ready yet.

Maybe tonight wasn't the right timing.

Just maybe.

He had helped me figure out a way to stop the agenda my father was plotting against my grandparents and I should get into my sprinting boots to stop this.

But what if I fail to achieve this goal?

A trial would make me feel better if things go dire, right?

★

That Saturday, I left the house with the intent of going to pay my grandparents a visit.

When they questioned me about my journey, Na Yeon came to the rescue.

She had called just in time and they all heard her say;

"Aera! The girls are ready so is the party. Tell me you are on your way already." She screamed at the other end and they were satisfied with this call.

"Call in when you're in trouble."

Stop bluffing!

You care little about me.

My booked ride was waiting for me at the front gate and without further ado, the journey to my grandparents villa began.

Arriving there after a couple of hours, I was ushered into the mansion like the princess I was.

I would readily accept to live with my grandparents if they ever brought up that topic.

Their mansion was far bigger and better compared to ours, but that wasn't what was important.

In their mansion, there is love.

Everyone is closer to each other than one could think despite the amount of heavy space in the mansion.

The maids and workers all had genuine smiles on their faces and when the news about my arrival reached my grandparents, they came down to tug me into a warm comforting hug.

My grandmother wouldn't let my hand go and grandpa wouldn't take his eyes off me.

"Why didn't you tell us you were going to visit? I could have pulled my private fly from its pad to come pick you up." My grandpa said planting a kiss on my cheeks.

"That's poor behavior, Aera." Grandmother said, gently stroking through my hair. "You should have called in at least and I would have bought a lot of designers for you. You're still a young beautiful woman… you should live and splurge while you can." She giggled.

"I suddenly missed you both and I was a little sad grandma couldn't attend my birthday, so I had to show up abruptly." I replied, flashing both my full fledged smiles.

"How's your sister, Areum? Is she doing well."

I nodded and was pulled away for a 24k carat feast.

As we ate, my grandfather talked about the ongoing processing in the transfer of 1% share into my name and told me everything will be sorted out soon.

"Are you ready to become a shareholder at the K group little princess?" Grandmother teased, unshelling a prawn for me.

Just the same way mother has done for Areum.

But it was a lot more special to me.

She should have been my mother instead of my real mother.

I love her so much.

Such a tender woman who's full of love and all.

I have to save her from death at all costs.

I cannot let her die yet.

I nodded again and this brought a smile to my grandparents faces again.

How much do they love me?

How much do I love them?

Immeasurable!

After we had dined, I knew I had to get straight into business without looking suspicious.

My grandfather got bombarded with phone calls for an urgent meeting at the office and I had to hug him goodbye for the meantime. He promised to call me when the arising crisis at the office finally gets settled and he assured me everything was fine.

My mission in their mansion ended quicker than I could imagine. I was able to convince my grandmother to go on vacation with her other friends who were also big shots and at the point of decline due to shareholders meetings at the company, I interrupted her flow.

"You only live once, grandma. What if you die tomorrow? Not like it will happen, but I want you to enjoy a little massage on a vacation, get tanned a little at either Santorini or Malibu… Qatar sounds like a nice place to shop for exquisite jewelry and I would love to get some handpicked by you." I sulked pouting like a kid so she could soften up a bit.

She laughed heavily at my cute little facade.

"An African country sounds really good as well, grandma." I continued.

"Why don't you come with me then? We will definitely make a good shopping list if we go on this vacation together."

"Grandma, I can't. I'm a high school kid and I need to focus more on learning for now."

Okay, that was SUS, but anything to get her on that plane and out of this country is all I need.

"When did you fall in love with those stale buildings?" She teased again. "Anyway, I will wire you some money before I go to bed today. Make sure you treat your friends to a nice restaurant… Areum can tag along too."

I will wire you some money before I go to bed.

That was bliss.

She will never let me go out of her coven without splurging some money on me.

Perk of being granny's favorite girl.

Perk of being born into a rich lineage.

"You really don't have to."

"You don't tell me what to do for my granddaughter, young miss."

I laughed and when it was time to leave, she sent me off in her personal car and I was happy my mission was accomplished.

She will be getting on a plane in a day or two and I know I have to find certain excuses to keep her out of the country for a long while till the tide settles.

And finally, the news reached me about her departure and I couldn't be more grateful our plan was greatly executed.

Back at home, my father was deeply enraged when he got back from work and I need not to be told he has caught news of my grandmother's soonest departure and his plans will soon be crumbling down to the lowest bit.

And that night, our mansion suddenly felt stuffy and I honestly needed some air.

Maybe it was because I wanted to get away from the strange energy that has been coursing through each hallway since the news reached my father.

What a beast he is.

I couldn't imagine I had been living with him with no clue of what was happening in my family.

My very own family.

I couldn't help but wonder if he had also instigated a plan to kill me in my past life.

Or maybe…

A thought suddenly rushed into my mind sending chills down my spine.

Maybe he is the one surrounding my mysterious murder?

I hope not.

Finding the culprit was also in my bucket list.

I shouldn't fade on that too much while I am fully engrossed with protecting what belongs to me.

★

Hyun Min's call came through and he called me out for a bit.

Mother reminded me about the curfew before I walked out of the mansion and again I didn't fail to cast a quick glance at the analog clock.

I wondered to myself; what did I and Hyun Min do for so long to not notice the time?

When we got conscious of this, it was already past the curfew time and I knew going back home was not an option for me.

No matter what, the great estate gate would not be opened for me unless I had the premium pass card with me which I had failed to bring along.

"Do you want to sleep at my place tonight?" Hyun Min had asked after a while of contemplating what we should do next.

"Can I do that?" I replied, suddenly growing some shy wings.

I accepted his invite and the night was splendid. A little bit of casualty and the chirps of birds woke me up the next day.

I stumbled out of his room and walked towards the fridge in his house like I was another resident in their home.

"Uh, the bitch is awake." Hyun Ha, who was watching TV without volume cussed at me as I took a small gulp which almost spilled out of my mouth due to the sudden jolt her presence had struck me with.

Make some sound too, please.

"Did you fuck my brother overnight?" She continued pressing the remote to increase the volume.

"Watch how you speak, Hyun Ha. Not every girl is as nice as I am."

"Bluffs. What are you going to do? Hit me? Get me arrested?" She snarled.

I shook my head.

Puberty is probably still kicking in.

Still holding the glass of water in my hand, I turned to take my leave, not ready to deal with her trouble that early morning. The news anchor suddenly began to read the lastest news for that morning.

•—BREAKING NEWS—•

"Aircraft B357 which departed Incheon and headed to Morocco last night crashed down into the Moroccan seas. It was announced by the airline that all 135 passengers including the cabin crew were killed in this accident."

"The exact cause of the crash is yet unknown, but speculations point to bad weather or aircraft failure. Twenty athletes including coaches going for preparation for the international friendly football match were in the airplane making the tragedy worse. The Korean government has not yet made an announcement on the incident."

"Further news is reaching us now that the largest shareholder of the K group, Kim Sun Ha, the wife of the president of the K group was also in the airplane during the time of the accident."

The glass of water in my hand slipped breaking into tiny pieces the moment they reached the floor.

My grandmother is dead?