Pay With Your Heart

Chapter 385: Ambitious And Dangerous.

Father Lee snorted when he saw Dan-Han leisurely stroll into his bedroom. “I thought you wouldn’t come.” He said.

Dan-Han observed him putting away his mother’s scarf underneath a cushion. He strolled towards the foot of the bed and plopped himself there.

“I almost didn’t want to, but Eun-sun made me. She was worried you might be lonely given mother’s absence.” He casually replied while his father scoffed.

“I’m sure she wants me dead.”

“That’s the darkness of the Lee blood speaking, not hers.”

Father Lee shot him an amused yet meaningful look. “Yet you want to bring her in...into the so-called...darkness.” He raised a brow.

Dan-Han gave a non-committal shrug. “Because she’s the light we need as we’ve both lost the one we once had. A little light to hold off the darkness, father...my darkness. That’s what she is.”

.....

Father Lee watched him in silence. He hissed and turned away after a while of silent staring.

“The clip I sent you, have you listened to it?” He asked, returning his gaze to Dan-Han.

“Yes.”

“Do you know how I got it?” Father Lee asked with a roguish smile. Dan-Han peered at him and turned away.

“I’m sure you have your ways, father.” He uninterestedly replied, making his father tut and glare at him. He crossed his legs by the knee and lazily put his hand across the couch as he looked at his son.

“So what do you think about it, the record?”

Dan-Han studied his father with furrowed brows, suspicion brimming in his eyes. “Why the sudden interest, old man Lee?” Dan-Han suspiciously inquired. His lips twitched when he saw the flash in his father’s eyes which had more to do with the fact that he had called him an old man, but that’s what he was.

How the old fear the time. He chuckled inwardly.

Father Lee managed a scowl when he couldn’t find a retort to his son’s question. “What do you mean by sudden interest?”

“I mean, why are you getting involved in my business?” He directly asked. It was never like his father to interfere in any of his business except when Eun-sun was involved, and this clearly didn’t have her name attached to it, so what was the catch?

Glaring at his son, father Lee replied. “Last I remember, it was my wife’s business, not yours.” He drawled.

“Don’t blame me, but you didn’t involve yourself when she was alive.” He cruelly pointed out, making the man’s veins twitch. Fault him for having such a son!

“Well, now I am! Deal with it!” father Lee irritably snapped. “So out with it, boy!” He ordered.

Dan-Han sighed. He took off his jacket and placed it by his side. “Before I share my thoughts just as you’ve ‘nicely’ asked-” The word nicely dripped off so much sarcasm his father didn’t miss. “I have a few questions I’d love to ask about the matter, of course.” He added his last words when he saw the displeased frown about to frame his father’s face. The man hated being asked questions when he needed answers; he was just like him. He was the apple that didn’t fall far from the tree.

Father Lee skeptically looked at him before giving a curt nod. “Go on.”

“When the Kims lost their child, why didn’t they try for another?” He asked. His father shot him an awkward look as he wondered what that question had to do with anything.

“Because...” Father Lee paused. His countenance slightly turned somber. “Because they couldn’t.” He answered.

“Why?”

“Well, because Sena was incapable of bearing any more children.” He told him. “They had discovered some growth in her during the early days of her pregnancy, I think. That child was their only chance at parenthood, but they had lost it, and the doctors had taken out her womb alongside it because that was the initial plan after she had the baby, and it was the only way she could survive. Too bad she lost the baby.” He dejectedly sighed as he remembered horrid and sad memories.

Dan-Han’s brows furrowed tightly. With his father’s explanation, Dan-Han finally understood why Aunt Sena had been too broken after the death of her child and why his mother had also been sad for her friend. They had lost more than a child. It was a horrible thing to experience, the loss of parenthood.

That day really wasn’t a good day. It had taken a lot from too many people, and he guessed the only good thing that happened on earth that day was Eun-sun had been born. It had been the same day and the same hospital. If only he could find the third person, then he’d...He inwardly sighed and brought himself back to the situation at hand.

He nodded after some deliberate pondering. “If I remember, Chairman Kim had adopted a child weeks before moving abroad, right?”

“Yes.” Father Lee nodded.

“Whose idea was it?”

“Everybody’s.” He replied. “But...”

“But what?” Dan-Han pressed when his father suddenly paused.

“It was Yong-Gun who found the baby and recommended the orphanage.” Father Lee’s eyes narrowed as he turned to look at his son. They both locked eyes, and they could see the unspoken question lingering in both their eyes.

“Do you think...” Father Lee slurred.

“If you’re thinking it, then so am I.”

Father Lee shook his head in disbelief. “Yong-Gun wouldn’t do that. It wouldn’t make sense.”

“How so?” Dan-Han cocked a brow at him.

“Because it wouldn’t be necessary. He’s currently in charge of the Kim Group, and Ki-Joon had no heir. In his demise, their family empire will naturally go to the surviving members of the family.”

“But not if your friend truly adopts outside the family. There’ll be someone to join in the share of wealth, or maybe he might just have lost out in everything.” Dan-Han reasoned while his father frowned at the truth of his words.

“So you’re saying-”

“That humans can be anything. Even the holy book says the human heart is the most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Dan-Han chuckled.

He knew Yong-Gun to be an ambitious man, and it wouldn’t be out of his character if he did something like this. What a shrewd man he’d be if their speculation was true, but Dan-Han was already certain about it. He has adopted his child to his brother to secure a future for himself. How ambitious and dangerous!

This was indeed a secret worth killing over, and maybe there could be more.

Dan-Han wondered what other atrocities the man could have committed. A certain thought came through his head, but he shuddered at it. He quickly dismissed it out of his head. That would be terrible, he thought.

“What do we do now?” Father Lee asked.

Dan-Han’s lips curved upward, amusement lingering in his eyes. “It’s funny having you ask for my opinion. You always did as you liked. What’s changed?” He teased.

“Be serious!” Father Lee chided, and Dan-Han sighed.

His serious look returned to his face. “I think it’s about time your friend and his family returned to the country. What do you think about giving Kim Yong-Gun a surprise.” An impish smile curved his lips, and squinted his eyes.

Father Lee narrowed his eyes at his son. “How do you intend to do that?” he inquired, making Dan-Han shoot a brow up at him.

“Me?” He innocently asked while his father frowned.

Dan-Han chuckled. “You’re the one bringing them back, and I’d advise you do it discreetly. You don’t want to alert Yong-Gun. If he’s as shrewd as I think he is, he’d have eyes on his daughter, so sort that out too.”

Father Lee wasn’t sure he was hearing him well. What did he mean by he should bring him back? “And how do you expect me to do this?” He inquired.

Dan-Han stared at him before picking up his jacket and rising to his feet. “Last I remember, father, you made a boast of your impeccable acting skill. Well, I think it’s time you bring those skills out again. If you do well, I might venture into the entertainment biz. Instead of retiring you fully, you could make a good career. After all, you never know what you can still do at your age.”

“You...” The old man seethed.

Dan-Han chuckled as he shrugged his jacket on. “You really have good expressions, dad. Practice more. You might need it at the next board meeting.” He said with a cryptic smile while his father seethed.

“You damn child!” He drawled, almost throwing a pillow at him as he watched him leave. Dan-Han couldn’t help but laugh. It was nice getting under his father’s skin.

“Be nice, father. You don’t want to be overly wrinkled on my wedding day. It would break my girl’s heart.” He teased as he walked away, leaving his father to glare at his back.