he light of my future
Lee Yeon
© Lee Yeon, 2022
ISBN 978-5-0056-5750-3
Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero
PROLOGUE
«Where are you?» A demanding rough voice of a man was heard, and the young girl who was standing in the old, shabby telephone booth unconsciously shuddered with fear and disgust. The memories of the man who was on the other end of the line returned to her.
Now that she had learned the horrifying truth about the cases he was actually involved in, she had no choice but to run. And she was going to take advantage of the chance given to her.
«I took Alina away. We won’t be back. Please don’t look for us,» she pleaded in a trembling voice, continuing to shake all over, fearing that she was being followed.
«Valya, you know that I will find you wherever you go,» the man answered in a menacingly calm voice, «I will do everything so that my daughter is with me.»
The woman pressed closer to herself the bundle with a little girl who, at three months old, looked at her mother as if she understood what was happening.
«Goodbye, Andrey,» the woman ended the call and hung up on the payphone, then got out and headed for the taxi, which sped her along with her little daughter to the airport.
The woman knew that she must leave the country and protect her child from the fate that was prepared by the monster, so skillfully hidden behind the mask of nobility, kindness and reliability. Her love for him dissolved into lies and fear.
But now she had only one goal – to protect her child at all costs…
CHAPTER 1
Cutting through the noisy streets of Seoul, which were buried in smog and bright summer sun, I added gas and rushed forward. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and the loud music on my headphones couldn’t stop the roar of my brand new sports bike’s engine.
I stop abruptly at a traffic light and notice a «tail» in the rear-view mirror. Looks like my father sent his minions after me again. The green light of the traffic light turned on and I moved from my place, hoping to break away from the chase. But turning into one of the alleys, I tried to avoid passers-by, when I suddenly noticed a powerful bike that blocked my path. I had no choice but to stop. Removing the helmet from my head, I sighed heavily, straightening my long hair, which was tousled.
The man blocking my path on his sportbike, which was about one and a half more expensive than mine, took off his helmet and pierced me with black eyes that shone with pleasure and adrenaline.
«Who are you?» I called out to him.
«I am the one who guards your father’s peace!» he replied with a wry haughty grin as he slid down from his «iron horse», «he is waiting for you at home. And I am instructed to see you off,» he announced and took a few steps towards me.
«What makes you think that I will obey you?» I asked mockingly, and when I wanted to put on a protective helmet again, I felt that someone had enclosed my hands on both sides in their tenacious grip.
«Your father asked us to bring you to him,» an emotionless male voice called from above me, «we are allowed to bring you by force.»
I turned around and found two guards from my father’s armory. Assessing the opportunity to practice one of my new fighting moves on them, I knew that I would be the loser, despite the fact that the third (the one on the bike) had a rather frail physique and looked like he had been drinking only water for several weeks.
His dark blond hair fell over his forehead and was obviously dyed, and the skin on his face was perfectly even and fair, which emphasized light makeup and the rays of the bright sun.
«Do you think if you put on a leather jacket and leather gloves – you can do whatever you want?» a young man asked me with a haughty air, who did not even try to hide the fact that it gives him pleasure to have at least a small, but advantage over me.
«Who are you anyway, huh?» Losing my patience, I asked the question again.
«Miss Kim…,» one of the guards called out to me, tightening his grip on my arm.
«All right! All right!» I exhaled irritably and gestured that I had given up and was going to get off my motorcycle, after which I followed them into the car, throwing one last wistful glance at the motorcycle, which I had to give into the hands of strangers.
An hour later, I was sitting in the living room of my parents’ two-story penthouse and looking at our family photo, located on the wall above the large fireplace. Mom in an evening chiffon dress with a blooming and rested look after her next trip for a portion of inspiration for a new book and dad, who was standing nearby in a strict expensive suit, hugged us and was just happy that we were there.
My father (my Korean father) married my mother when I was three. From day one, he took care of me like I was his own daughter. He did not have his own children. And he keeps saying he doesn’t plan on having children in the future. Therefore, all his paternal instinct (and there is quite a lot of it) still pours out on me. And not infrequently, in his attempts to protect me from the outside world, he does what he did today.
I looked around at the spacious bright living room and glanced at the dining room and kitchen, which were combined and separated from the living room by a small transparent partition. The entire second floor was intended for living rooms. One bedroom was for my parents and the other was mine. Two more bedrooms were guest. Now the apartment seemed empty and uncomfortable, since I was completely alone on the territory of two hundred square meters.
«Usually children greet their parents standing up and bow their respect,» my father’s taunting voice echoed, and I chuckled as I looked up from our family photo.
«Well, let me greet you Mr. Kim Jae-hwa!» I responded, rising to my feet to bow to him with exaggerated reverence, «what made you show your precious attention to my humble person?» I asked as I returned to my seat.
«You haven’t been home for a long time. And, unfortunately, the only way to contact you is to send messengers. Gone are the days when you could be lured home with candy,» he chuckled and sat down in a chair that was to my left, «you been away for two days, and today I got this,» he took a white paper envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to me, «you almost doubled the speed limit. Do you want my mother and I to go crazy with excitement?» he addressed me in a calm but demanding tone.
«I was just having fun,» I shrugged indifferently, «and it’s not the first time. You know.»
«To be honest, we tried to make you a princess, not a bandit,» he frowned and took a slow, deep breath.
«Looks like something went wrong at some point,» I laughed as I unfastened the rivets on my leather gloves. These were my favorites from my large collection – black leather with small holes and no fingers.
«Well, let’s move on to what I called you here for,» my father leaned forward slightly, and only now I noticed that there was a folder next to him, which he handed me, «you received invitations from the top five universities in Korea. And you didn’t apply to any of them. Didn’t you plan to go all out
