My Perfect Lady

For him to come here at this time, what was the matter?

Jimmy frowned, and motioned Park to take a seat. The old man did so, but his movement was somehow weak. He didn"t know how to tell Jim what Charlie had found out.

To be completely honest, Mr. Park also didn"t want to.

He still couldn"t a.s.sociate that kind of history with someone like Miya at all. When he had woken up only a few minutes before, he had seen the girl lying on the floor, snoring softly. She was curled up into a ball, and she had immediately reminded him of a soft toy. And his heart had melted when he saw her sleeping on the ground.

It wasn"t too hard to guess her thinking process.

She must have done it so as not to look disrespectful. But she could have simply woken him up! But she chose to roll into a ball and lie on the floor instead.

Park had really wanted to wake her up and put her to bed, but she was fast asleep. And when he had seen her small face, and remembered Charlie"s words, his feet had automatically stopped moving.

Could this girl really have burnt Tao, her father?

Because if she did, they had a killer in the house.

He had been feeling so restless at the thought, he didn"t know what to do. Also, he was worried about Jim"s feelings towards her, that seemed to be more than mere desire. The boy needed to know of her history.

At the same time, he didn"t want to ruin what these two children could possible have between them, given time. What if Charlie had made even the slightest mistake? The possibility of that was almost nil, but what if? Park had never seen Jim take an interest in any other girl in the past thirty years, the way he had taken a liking to Miya.

Not to mention, even if under unusual circ.u.mstances, the two were still married.

What if she went, and Jim never really liked anyone else?

Thinking along those lines, Park was reluctant to tell Jimmy. But his sense of loyalty overruled every other emotion. Not to mention, Jim would someday ask him to report on her. He wouldn"t be able to lie then.

Taking in a deep breath, the old man looked at Jim firmly.

"I got Charlie to investigate Miya"s childhood," he said directly, without beating around the bush.

Jim didn"t like the look in Mr. Park"s eyes. Somehow, his heart thumped, and he started feeling unnaturally nervous. Swallowing too, the young master folded his hands and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.

"And?" he asked in a steel voice.

In one breath, Mr. Park blurted out all that he had found out.

Silence pervaded between the two after that.

A cold, killer silence, that threatened to rip apart time itself.

"J-Jim," Mr. Park began, worried now, as he looked at the boy"s neutral face, "I… I really think she needs to go. You can��t have someone like that by your side for an entire year. I-If its any consolation, I blame myself for this crisis."

Silence again.

Jimmy"s eyes were fixed to the ceiling, and they were cold as ice. His gaze was wounding, dangerous as he avoided looking at the old man. His heart was clear though.

Park had said Miya"s actual name was Kasu. And Miya had told him only hours before that that exactly, was the name of her child"s father.

She had burnt a man named Tao, who Park claimed was a man with a sheepish personality, and also her father. The mother had then shot her own daughter, and, the girl had also previously been bitten by a wolf.

She then went missing for ten years. And only five years ago, she had suddenly returned.

And pregnant.

"Oh, Miya," Jim"s heart was cold as he thought, "What exactly did you survive?"

He couldn"t feel anything at all, his brain was not in the mood to be sentimental, it seemed. But it was calculative. And the way his heart beat lightly when he remembered that small face, he knew what his stance was going to be.

Yes, he had seen the woman look murderous when she was fighting off goons. She didn"t seem a very good mother too, swearing in front of her kid and lost in her own world most of the time. But that didn"t make her a cold-blooded murderer or a psychopath.

Park thought the best solution was that she leave?

Jimmy actually laughed out loud at that.

Mr. Park, who had been looking at Jim nervously after making his small speech on being the one to blame for everything, flinched when he heard Jim laugh. The sound was dark.

"And what do you think will happen, if you ask her to leave, Park?" Jim"s voice was poison, and he was still looking at the ceiling, "She will."

Park was dumbfounded.

"I"m the one who pulled all of that c.r.a.p to get her married. She"ll leave at first chance. It"s my inheritance which is at stake, not hers."

"T-Then… what do you suggest we do?"

"Do you think she"s a spy, or someone suspicious put here by one of the enemies? Keeping aside her personal history."

"N-No. I haven"t found any evidence to –"

"Good. Here"s what you"ll do. Stop the investigation on my wife, Park. Now."

Park was surprised. He didn"t dare retort though.

This was Jim in business mode after all. That was when he was the one giving orders, and no one in the room so much as breathed.

"As far as her being a murderer is considered, let me remind you no one ever knows what happens behind closed doors. Maybe this Tao was abusive. Maybe she didn"t burn him at all. If you"re going to a.n.a.lyse her character, look into the men who I arranged to attack us the day before. Those men, we know for sure she hurt. Were they really all innocents?"

"B-But that"s not the point, Jimmy! She"s violent and dangerous, and possibly –"

"Simon Hunter didn"t get to where he is with clean hands. Neither did I. She burns people, great. I got a rival thrown naked on streets and beaten by the public after he molested my secretary. He died. Anything else?"

"That"s different!"

"How?"

Park shut up. He knew he couldn"t argue. What else he couldn"t derive was why Jimmy was defending the girl.

But… he was correct though. If Jim told her to leave, she would. And gladly too.

Meanwhile Jim took out another cigarette and lit it. He remembered Miya"s aura, her smell, as she had grabbed at his torso and given him a kiss. She had also married him because she thought he had saved her kid. She had held old Hunter"s hand even after listening to his insulting c.r.a.p.

She might have had shady actions, but as long as she wasn"t planted to harm him, he knew pretty much what to do. If anything, the girl needed to be protected. Even if it was only for a year.

Jim watched a curl of smoke rise to the ceiling and sighed. There was the other more potent possibility though.

Charlie had been bought out. Somehow, bribed in by Simon Hunter, if he really was intent on pa.s.sing on the Corporation to Amara.

Park, of course, he trusted. Charlie, too was one of his confidante, but she had her weak points. Especially since she considered him as her son.

It wasn"t totally impossible for her to actually have sided with the Chairman.

When the room had fallen into dead silence, Mr. Park felt uncomfortable. He stood up and took his leave. While he was about to shut the door though, Jim didn"t forget to remind him, "Stop the investigation, Park. If Charlie convinces you otherwise, I won"t take it lightly. Miya is a Hunter now. Make sure n.o.body touches her."

Park nodded, then left the room.

Jimmy got up from his chair, somehow, at ease. Even though his head felt heavy after knowing all that he had found out, his protective instinct towards the little mouse had intensified. And as far as that Kasu guy was concerned, Jim now didn"t care at all. Because if Miya had dared to return to her dark past after that long a time, that too when she was pregnant, it was obvious she wasn"t in love with the man.

The more potent possibility was, she was running away from him.

And if the guy dare strike again, he would meet his death this time. And this death would have a name.

Jimmy Hunter.

Time to change his plans.

Miya frowned in her sleep, suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. It was as if she was lying under a mountain that was suffocating the life out of her.

Annoyed, she opened her eyes.

Her vision was blurry at first, but when she saw the figure looming over her, sleep ricocheted out of her very soul.

"You…!" she almost shouted, when Jim quickly put a hand on her mouth.

"Ben"s asleep," he whispered, too close as Miya froze beneath him.

They were both lying on the floor, with Jim crouching over the girl. She didn"t know how, but while she was in her sleep, the man had pinned her to the ground by holding both her hands over her head with just one hand of his own. Now, with the other, he shut her mouth.

Their position looked very, very misleading.

Miya herself couldn"t help but feel frightened.

What was this man doing?!

Jim smiled.

His gaze was odd, almost as if he was staring into her soul, at the same time looking like he was there to eat her up.

Miya swallowed.

When he spoke, Jim"s voice was seductive, hoa.r.s.e.

"I"m leaving for Country S in the morning. Come with me."

The girl blinked.

What?

Miya heard the words, but couldn"t find any sync between his actions and his statement. Why did he have to do this, just to ask a simple question? Couldn"t he have asked normally?

d.a.m.n it, was he stupid?!

Well, of course he was!

Furious, Miya was about to revolt, when Jim smiled and removed the hand that was grabbing her mouth. He then traced her lips with his thumb.

If it were possible, Miya froze even further. Her eyes widened to the size of bulbs.

"Say yes," the young master"s voice was strange.

His fingers traced her lips, and then went on to hold to the side of her face. Miya"s heart almost jumped out of her gut. Her breath turned rapid.

"Miya."

When the fingers threatened to reach her neck, Miya was instantly on alert.

This was not good!

"Yes!" she screamed, horrified as Jim touched her ear, "Yes! I"ll go, yes!"

The young master instantly stopped.

Then slowly relieving both her hands from his grasp, he gave her a dazzling smile. He crouched down, kissed her cheek, while whispering roughly in her ear, "I"ll see you in the morning."

Then getting up and brushing his pants, ever so slowly like a gentleman, he gave her a broad smile and walked out.

Miya was dumbfounded.

What had just happened?

No, wait… what had that man just done?

She didn"t understand, but anger swelled in her and spread to every inch of her body.

This rude, insolent, perverted, flirting b.a.s.t.a.r.d!

She was going to kill him!

He was so, so, so dead!