Pay With Your Heart

Chapter 453: Spiraling Out Of Hand

Mi-Cha wasn’t sure calling her uncle and asking him about a private matter about her father was the right thing to do. She didn’t think it made sense to talk to him when she could easily speak to her father and ask him what that test result was all about, hence why she had decided to drop the call immediately she said her greetings.

She had been too nervous; disconnecting the call felt like the right thing to do, and seeing him call her back made her more nervous.

Should she answer it? What should she say? Should she just go ahead and ask if he knew if his brother had another child he knew about outside their family?

Did her dad cheat on her mother, and a child has resulted from it? These were the question running through her mind as she stared back at her nervous self from the mirror.

Mi-Cha didn’t think her father was such a person. She had known him to be ded to her mother and even to her, his adopted child. She was fully aware that she was adopted. She was a bit over sixteen when she fell sick and needed a transfusion, and that had been the moment she discovered she had been adopted.

She still couldn’t forget how desperately they had tried to convince her that she would be their only princess and that they saw her as a child they had birthed themselves.

So what was going on? Did her father have a child elsewhere? Did he do something behind her mother?

.....

Mi-Cha was beyond troubled. She sighed when her phone rang again, and it was her uncle calling. She hesitated about it for a while before answering the call.

“Hello, uncle-”

“What happened? You just ended the call without saying anything. Did something happen?” Yong-Gun asked with a concerned tone.

Mi-Cha sighed at the worry in his voice. “I’m sorry about that, but nothing happened.” She said, hoping he would leave it at that, but unfortunately, he wasn’t.

“Are you sure? You must have called for a reason.” Yong-Gun said.

Of course, she had. But she had changed her mind at the last minute.

Hearing her hesitate, Yong-Gun prod. “Is there something troubling you? You know you can talk to me.”

Yong-Gun had been an incredible uncle to her. He was closer to her than she had seen other uncles with their nieces. Though he didn’t visit frequently, he maintained a close relationship with her, which was why she had considered speaking to him about what she had seen.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you something.” She said.

“What is it?”

“It’s Uhm, it’s about my dad.” She said, and Yong-Gun perked up the moment he heard that.

“What about him?” He asked with interest, and once again, he heard her hesitate.

“Is it something you want me to talk to him about for you? Are you in some sort of trouble?” He pressed.

Mi-Cha bit her lips as she desperately pondered on what to do. She was close to her uncle, but she was closer to her father.

Wouldn’t it be better if she had this talk with her dad? She would confront him and tell him to talk to her mother as soon as possible and not hide it from her as it seemed that might be his intention. She had seen his effort to hide the result yesterday, and she knew that was what he had gone to retrieve when he took the car keys from her.

She dismissively sighed. “I’m not in any trouble. It was just something I saw. Never mind. I’ll speak to my dad directly.” She explained.

“But what did you see?” He inquired.

“It’s nothing serious. I’ll drop by your hotel to visit you tomorrow. You haven’t given me your souvenirs.” She rambled.

“But-”

“Sorry for disturbing you, uncle. I’ll call you later.” Mi-Cha said and quickly ended the call. She didn’t want to be pressured into spilling anything out, but even if he did, she wouldn’t blame him. She was the one who had called him.

She seriously stared at the mirror. She had to talk to her father, and she had to do it now. Mi-Cha hurriedly fixed her hair and dipped her legs in her flips flops, and rushed out of her room to her father’s study, where she was certain she’d find him.

He didn’t go to work anymore, but he still kept up the habits of a working businessman.

“Mi-Cha.” She heard her mother call from the base of the stairs.

“Mommy, I’ll be down for whatever you need me for later. I want to speak with dad.” She said in a rush, and even without stopping.

Sena raised a brow and watched her speed off to the private study. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to see her in haste about something. She had wanted to ask her if she’d go shopping with her, but she guessed she’d have to wait.

She turned back towards the kitchen to continue making breakfast.

Mi-Cha barged into her father’s study without knocking, and just like someone caught in the act, he seemed flustered as he tried to shove a piece of paper into his drawer.

“There’s no need, dad. I’m here because of that.” She outrightly told him, making the man freeze. He blinked as he stared at her.

Mi-Cha locked the door and approached the desk. She lowered herself to one of the seats across the desk. She stared at the paper in his hand before looking at his face.

Her gaze was hard and piercing because she knew if she wanted to have this conversation for her mother’s sake, she had to be tough.

She tipped her chin towards the paper without tearing her gaze from him. “What is that, dad?” She stoically inquired.

Ki-Jun blinked twice as he tried to compose himself. He let out an awkward smile, “Oh, this, it’s not-”

“Don’t bother about it, because I already saw it yesterday. What I want to know is, is it true? Did you betray mom?” She asked. She sat up, and her face hardened even more, when the gravity of the situation dawned on her. “Dad, do you have a family elsewhere?”

Ki-Jun furrowed his brows. “Family? I don’t have any family elsewhere.” He told her

“Then what is that? Which child is that?” She urgently inquired.

Ki-Jun sighed when he saw the look on her face. He should have known she wasn’t going to look for her phone yesterday. He couldn’t believe she had fooled him.

He resignedly hissed as he placed the result on the table. “It’s not what you think, Mi-Cha. It’s a bit more complicated than that.” He said, wondering what he was going to tell her about it.

Mi-Cha narrowed her gaze at him. “I don’t know what I think right now, dad. But I was hoping you could give me some explanation. If you’ve done something to offend mother, I will not forgive you.”

“I didn’t do-” Ki-Jun hissed out in frustration.

He looked at the result and then at her. “It is our child. Mine and your mother’s.” He confessed while Mi-Cha froze.

Ki-Jun sighed again when he saw her shocked state. “Mi-Cha,” he softly called.

“W-what did you....what did you say?” Mi-Cha stuttered out. Her face looked slightly pale, as if she had just heard the biggest news of her life. He guessed it was. It was the biggest news of his life as well.

“This child is your mom’s child and mine. Your sister.” He said, and Mi-Cha’s eyes widened again with shock.

“Remember the lady that came with Dan-Han?” He asked.

“H..his girlfriend?” She asked in shock and surprise.

Ki-Jun nodded. “Yes. Didn’t you see the way she looked like your mom?”

Well, she did. But she didn’t think too much about it because there was nothing to think about. Wait, what was he saying now?

When did he and her mother have a child that was all grown?

Mi-Cha paused on her thought. She blinked and stared at her father, wide-eyed. She put two and two together, and she let out a soft gasp.

“Are you saying that that child...” Mi-Cha paused, unable to even voice out her thoughts. “Is she the...one?” She asked, and her eyes widened to the extreme when he nodded.

That was unbelievable. She thought the baby had died? Ki-Jun had told her about their baby, that had died after she had discovered she was adopted about seven years ago.

“How is that possible?” She curiously inquired, and Ki-Jun shrugged. That was an answer he also didn’t have.

“Mi-Cha, this is all new to me as it is to you. I just got the results yesterday, so I don’t have the answer to whatever question you want to ask me now. This was why I was trying to keep it a secret-”

“You can’t keep it a secret.” She urgently cut in.

“-for now.” He completed.

They silently stared at each other till Mi-Cha spoke up. “So we can’t tell mother?” Obviously, that was what he meant by keeping the secret for now.

Ki-Jun ruly sighed as he shook his head. “You can’t tell anybody, especially not your mother. We have to get answers first before we tell anyone.” He said, and Mi-Cha suddenly felt grateful she hadn’t mentioned it to her uncle.

She sighed in relief even though her heart was still beating heavily. “So what are you going to do now? Who are you getting these answers from? You have to get them fast so that we can tell mother.” She eagerly asked.

Ki-Jun nodded in understanding. He also wanted to tell Sena. Oh, the joy she’d have as well as all the other emotions that would spin her off her feet.

“I’m meeting with Lee Dan-Han.”

Mi-Cha furrowed her brows. “Lee Dan-Han? Why?” Why were they meeting him? What exactly did he know in all this?

And as if understanding her silent questions, Ki-Jun spoke up. “Dan-Han is the only one with the answers right now. He offered to come over, but I refused. I couldn’t risk your mom eavesdropping on us. So I’ll be meeting him at his hotel this morning.”

“I’m coming with you.” Mi-Cha hastily declared.

“You can’t.”

“You can’t stop me. You know that, Dad. If everything you said is true, then I want to go with you. If she’s my sister, then I guess I might have acted a bit poorly with her yesterday. I should apologize.”

Ki-Jun blankly looked at her, but before he could say something, she jerked up to her feet and dashed towards the door.

“I’ll go get dressed. Don’t you dare leave without me, else I’ll tell mom all I know.” She threatened and rushed out of the room, leaving Ki-Jun helplessly sighing as he had no other choice.

Meanwhile, in Yong-Gun’s suite, he silently pondered what Mi-Cha’s call was about.

Did she say she saw something? What was it? And if she called to talk about it with him, why did she suddenly change her mind? That was unusual.

He had intentionally maintained a good relationship with her all these years; after all, she was his child and the trump card to his plans, so what was it she had decided not to tell him at the last minute?

Was it related to the issue at hand? Did she see something that she shouldn’t have seen?

Yong-Gun knew he was being overly suspicious about everything right now, but what else could he do?

.....

He stared at Stephen. “Find that doctor now, and bring him to me. I have a feeling things are spiraling out of hand. And find out where Dan-Han is staying. If there’s a need to see to her end, I want it done today.” He ordered.

There was no room for dallying