Page 72 of Lust & Lies

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’d started to like me or anything. It was because he didn’t want to hurt Gertrude and Samuel.

“Sam and my father were friends,” Seo-Jin explained. “Sam helped train me. He calmed me down after my first kill. And Gertrude still makes me a cake for my birthday every year. I don’t want to hurt them.”

“I know,” I whispered. “You said earlier that Aiden had already made his choice. What did you mean by that?”

“Mr. Park said he’d given Aiden an ultimatum: marry Ellie or he’d make you disappear.”

He’d lied. He hadn’t given Aiden that ultimatum yet.

“Did he tell Ellie that Aiden had chosen her?”

Seo-Jin nodded. I sighed. More manipulation. No wonder Ellie had been so cocky earlier. Mr. Park’s words had given her the confidence she needed to brazenly slide into Aiden’s bed. She didn’t even realize she was being played by the Old Man.

“What’s wrong?” Seo-Jin asked.

“Even if we’re forced to be together, you know I can never love you, right?”

“Don’t worry. I see you as family. Earlier, I was just...”

“Playing your part,” I finished for him. “Let’s play our parts together and protect the people we care about.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry, Mist.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” I started to walk away, but stopped to face him. “You want to tell me why you look like you’ve been on a three-month mission with no sleep and no razor?”

He swiped his hand over his face. “Let’s just say you aren’t the only one who’s had to end things with someone they care about in order to protect that person.”

Damn. I hadn’t even thought about whether or not the Leader had someone he loved.

“I’m so sorry, Seo-Jin.”

He gave me a sad smile. “It’s not your fault. I should’ve never given myself a weakness in the first place. I’ll go meet with Mr. Park. You head home. Get some rest. We have a team meeting in two days to prepare for our next mission.”

I nodded and watched him walk away, hating that we were all just supporting cast in Mr. Park’s twisted story. We were all puppets in his play, and he was the cruel puppeteer. I wouldn’t be able to cut his strings until my contract ended.

Once it did, I would cut more than just his strings. And the only reason I wouldn’t do it before then was because if he died before the end of my contract, the next head of the Park family would inherit my term.

I trusted Tristan. He was like an unwanted big brother to me. But I didn’t want anyone to have that kind of power over me again. So, I’d wait until my term ended. I’d follow Mr. Park’s rules.

I’d break up with Aiden to keep him and the Hatfields safe. But as soon as my contract ended, Mr. Park was going to see a very different side of me. That night, I went home and cried myself to sleep.

The next morning, I visited Aiden and pretended to be shocked to see him in bed with my sister. I was so damn glad he wasn’t naked. If he had been, if I’d caught them truly cheating, I probably would’ve lost my shit and killed my own sister right then and there.

Even though I knew he hadn’t slept with her, I’d still been angry as hell to see them snuggled up together. I’d been hurt. I’d felt betrayed. I couldn’t help it. Those feelings had washed over me so suddenly that, for a second, I’d almost believed the lie.

I’d held back my emotions as I told him it was over, forcing myself to ignore his pleas and his tears. Seeing the man I love cry had gutted me. I kept telling myself that I was doing this for him. For Gertrude. For Samuel.

For them, I had to be strong. For them, I had to pretend I liked Seo-Jin. For them, I had to hold my tears in until I was alone at home. Only then could I let them fall. In front of others, I had to be Mist. I had to be strong. I had to be uncaring.

Behind closed doors, I could be Noelani, the little girl who was never given a chance to live. But no matter who I was, Noelani, Noah, Noa, or Mist, every version of me spent the next few years pretending I hated Aiden Park.

And a part of me died each and every one of those days.