Page 71 of Lust & Lies

NOELANI

I NEVER WANTED IT TO get to this point. To the point where I no longer respected the man who raised me after my father died. To the point where I was no longer thankful for the things he’d done for me.

Yet, here we were. I was once again losing the people closest to me. Grandpa Park was no longer like family to me. Neither was Ellie. Family didn’t treat you this way. Friends didn’t either. This was enemy territory.

The little girl in me, the one who’d never gotten a chance to have what was considered a normal family, cried at the loss of them. I couldn’t lose Gertrude and Sam, too. And Aiden, he was the love of my life. How could I let him go?

I would love to say the Old Man was just bluffing. But he never bluffed. I slowly slid my phone into my pocket while glaring at the man who’d helped me become the person I was today, while hindering me from being who I was truly meant to be.

“You wouldn’t dare hurt Gertrude and Samuel,” I challenged.

“Of course, I wouldn’t. And I hope you wouldn’t also.”

“Stop beating around the bush and just say what you want to say,” I yelled.

“It’s up to you whether Gertrude and Sam are safe or not. If you continue to be rebellious and disobedient,” Grandpa Park stated. “I’ll have no choice but to reinstate Samuel Hatfield’s contract, forcing him to return to duty.”

“What? You can’t do that. You already released him early because of his bad knee.”

“I did not let him go because of his knee. I released him early because you agreed to extend your term. Now, look at you, trying to break your contract. Someone must fulfil that term, Mist. If you’re unwilling to do it, I’ll send Sam out on a mission.”

I couldn't let Sam return to his assassin duties. He was old now. Yeah, he could still shoot. But he couldn’t fight. He had back problems and knee problems. Plus, he and Gertrude had retired to their orchard.

They were happily waiting for me and Aiden to have kids so they could spoil them... their words, not mine. They'd worked as Watchdogs for years. It was the only job either of them ever had.

Blood and death had been their companions all their lives. But even assassins deserved to retire and get away from all that darkness. They’d earned this chance to be free. I couldn’t be the reason they lost it.

But I also loved Aiden and didn't want to give him up. That man loved me unconditionally and deserved only the best from me, the best of me. I guess I took too long to respond to Grandpa Park’s demand, because he suddenly took things from bad to worse.

“Since Sam wouldn't last long as a Watchdog at his age and in his condition, how about I just kill him to save him the pain of being captured and tortured by the enemy. And since Gertrude loves him so much, I should send her with him, right? Isn’t that what people in love want, to live together and to die together?”

“Do you even know what love is?” I asked, honestly wondering if he did.

“It’s a weakness. And for some, it’s like a disease that eats away at them.”

“Is that why your own son left as soon as his boys were teens? He left to live a life that wasn’t controlled by you. And their mother won’t even return to the country because she fears you.”

“My son and his wife were not strong enough to handle the family businesses and the responsibilities that came with them. But since you brought him up, let’s use him as an example of what love is.

He claims to love his sons. Yet, he left them with me.

If I were such a bad father, why did he leave his three sons in my care? ”

“You wouldn’t let him take them.”

“If he truly loved them, he wouldn’t have let me prevent him from taking them.

Neither would their mother. It was their freedom or their children.

They each chose freedom. Sure, my son still helps with the overseas businesses, but he will never inherit my wealth or the family businesses.

And though Tristan almost made the wrong choice, in the end, he chose wealth and power over love.

Aiden will do the same. In the morning, after you catch him in the act with Ellie, he’ll storm to my office and blame me for it all.

And I’ll issue him an ultimatum: either he marries Ellie, or he’ll lose it all. ”

“Aiden doesn’t care about wealth and power.”

“But he cares about you. When I say lose it all, you’re included.”

“There it is,” I said, releasing a sarcastic chuckle filled with pain. “I knew you hated me.”

“I could never hate you.”

“Yet, you’re willing to kill me if Aiden doesn’t let me go.”

“You like assuming the worst. I won’t kill you.

But I can make you disappear from his life.

I can send you far away where he’ll never see you again.

I can make him think you’re dead. That’s the only way he’ll give up on you.

And if I take your precious Gertrude and Samuel from you, that’s the only way you’ll give up on him.

I didn’t want it to come to this. I’m not a cruel man. But you two forced me...”

“Enough,” I yelled, done listening to his bullshit. “You already control everything. But you don’t get to decide who Aiden and I love.”

Grandpa Park cocked his head to the side. “My grandson is so weak when it comes to you. Sometimes, he acts as if he can’t live without you, and that worries me. If he thinks you’re dead, would he decide to kill himself also?” Grandpa Park asked, a smug smirk on his face.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, unable to stomach the pain of Aiden thinking I’d died because he’d chosen me over his family and wealth. The guilt he’d carry for the rest of his life would be unimaginable.

Life? What life? He’d told me numerous times that he wouldn’t live without me. Every time I went away on a mission, he told me to come home safely or he’d come to me, whether I was in Texas, Hell, or Heaven, he’d come to me.

“And how would the Hatfields feel if they lost not only their daughter, Layla, but their honorary niece also? At their age, would they be able to handle such a loss?”

How dare he say that after everything they’d lost because of him? I hated that he got to see the tears streaming down my face.

“Those tears tell me you’ve made a choice.

See what love does to you? It makes you weak.

It makes you place others above yourself.

If you don’t want me to send you away, and make them think you’re dead, if you don’t want me to have the Hatfields killed because of you, then leave Aiden.

You have thirty seconds to answer, or I’ll send your own team after Gertrude and Samuel. ”

My mouth dropped open. This sick fuck. I thought of my team members: the Leader, Viper, Fuse, and Scope. They respected Sam and Gertrude just as much as I did. If ordered to kill them, they’d complete their task because that’s what they were trained to do.

But it would break something in them. And Grandpa Park knew that. Getting my team involved was just another way to ensure I bent to his will. Just another form of manipulation. I balled my hands into fists, barely resisting the urge to jump over that desk and beat him to death with his cane.

“I guess now I'm the one who should be asking you if you hate me,” he mused, smile gone. “Do you hate me, Mist?”

“Yes,” I whispered, no hesitation, no need to think about it.

I hated this motherfucker with everything I had in me.

He sighed. “You’ll understand my intentions one day.

You’ll understand that following your heart would only lead you to an early grave.

Your thirty seconds are long up. Tell me, will you leave my grandson, or do you want me to order your team to destroy the Hatfield Orchard and everyone there? Tell me your answer. Now.”

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.