Page 165 of Lust & Lies

I held back my sob as my heart slowly broke into a million pieces. Forgive me, Aiden. Please, forgive me. Please don’t think my love for you is fragile. It’s because I love you so damn much that I can’t let anything happen to you, and I can’t let you think you’re the reason something happened to me. Forgive me, My Heart.

“Answer me, Mist. Will you leave him or...”

“Yes,” I whispered, feeling depleted of all energy, all emotions.... Everything. Without Aiden, I felt... nothing.

“Yes, what?” he said, forcing me to say it.

“Yes, I will leave Aiden.” To save him and the Hatfields.

“Good girl. In the morning, I want you to stop by his place and catch him in the act with Ellie. I want you to break up with him and say it’s because he cheated on you with your sister.”

“Aiden would never cheat on me.”

Mr. Park continued as if I’d said nothing. “When he comes to me, blaming me for the incident, I’ll issue an ultimatum: marry Ellie or Noe dies. We both know what his choice will be. He may fight it for a while. But I can be very persuasive. In the end, he’ll make the right choice as long as you stay away from him.”

This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t fucking fair at all. Aiden didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve this. Hell, even Ellie’s crazy ass didn’t deserve this. She thought her Grandpa Park loved her because of the way he spoiled her. The truth was, he spoiled her to keep her in line.

“From this moment on, you and Aiden are enemies,” he told me. “Do whatever you have to, to make him hate you. But if I see or hear rumors that you and Aiden are trying to rekindle things, I won’t ask you about it. I’ll send a team to the orchard. And I’ll tell him the same. If I think he’s trying to get you back, I’ll make you disappear. Break up with him in the morning. Do you understand your mission?”

I stood there, staring at him, wondering why I’d ever respected him in the first place.

“Answer me!” he yelled.

I nodded with tears spilling down my cheeks.

“Say it,” he ordered.

“I understand,” I hissed.

“Good. Go home. Get some rest. You and your team will have a mission in two weeks. Seo-Jin will fill you in on things.”

I turned to leave.

“Oh, Mist...” he called.

I stopped, but didn’t bother looking back. I didn’t want to see his smug face right now.

“You and Seo-Jin should focus on growing closer. You don’t have to love him. But you should become more intimate with him. After all, he will be the man you marry in the future.”

Like hell.

“Okay?” he said.

“Okay,” I whispered and stormed out of his office.

I only had a few more years left in my contract. After that, I could be done with Mr. Park. I didn’t even want to call him Granpa Park anymore. This man wasn’t my family. As for Ellie, she was nothing to me either. Just someone I shared a face with.

But Aiden... I took a deep breath as I walked down the hallway, trying to hold it together. Aiden, I would have to break his heart. If I didn’t, if Mr. Park truly made me disappear, and he could, there was no telling what Aiden would do.

I’d rather break his heart than have him do something crazy because he thought I was dead. And there was Gertrude and Sam to consider also. I couldn’t let anything happen to them.

In a few years, my contract would be over, and no one would be able to hold that over my head again. And it wasn’t like Mr. Park could live forever. Tristan would take over as the head of the family one day.

But would Aiden wait that long for me? After breaking his heart, could I even expect him to? I wiped my cheeks as I passed Seo-Jin. I didn’t want to talk to him right now. Yet, I couldn’t stop him from speaking to me.

“There’s no getting around it, Mist. Please don’t push Mr. Park and make him order us to kill the Hatfields.”

I stopped and met Seo-Jin’s gaze. No wonder he’d grabbed my hand earlier, acting out of character. It wasn’t because he’dstarted to like me or anything. It was because he didn’t want to hurt Gertrude and Samuel.