18 Wretched girl

"Young Master Jaehyun, Mistress is calling for your presence in her room."

The butler, dressed in his black and white uniform, bowed respectfully and closed the door to Jaehyun's before he left.

"Your mother dearest is calling you; It's my turn to leave now," Myunghoon expressed in his usual light-hearted tone— his hand touching over his subtle beard.

Jaehyun nodded. He could guess what his mother called him over for. Leaving Han Taeho's party was a decision on his own part as he was not interested in communicating with the guests present. Moreover, the infatuated gazes from Lee Jinkyung and other females pestered him. Nevertheless, the biggest reason was that without Jinhee, nothing in the party could catch Jaehyun's attention.

It tremendously angered him when he saw the girl framing Jinhee at the party earlier, and rage filled him when he could not step further due to his mom grasping his hand tightly.

This was a warning to him that Jinhee would further suffer if he interfered. Therefore, he could only concede. Nonetheless, he felt proud of Jinhee when she spoke out for herself. The girl he chose was not someone ordinary after all.

Although Jaehyun couldn't help Jinhee in front of everyone, he will surely take actions behind the scene and establish her position in front of the crowd. Only then, many would think before messing with her.

°°°

"Is there something you needed, mother?" Jaehyun questioned.

A blue vase was directed towards him, and Jaehyun moved to the left to avoid it. The vase hit against the brown door before crashing against the marble floor— pieces scattering.

A glass piece scarped Jaehyun's wrist, causing blood to flow out. Growing up, Jaehyun was used to his mother's attacks for he was known to be quite disobedient, and his mother had low control over her anger.

There were times when he was injured to the extent of being hospitalised by his mother— one example being the time when he applied for idol auditioning.

Jaehyun was aware that his mother had no emotional attachment to him, and he felt the same way towards her. The only thing she demanded from him was to not cause her to be humiliated among the crowd; She wanted to hold her head above everyone regardless of what tricks she should play to achieve that.

His father, on the other hand, fancied his mother greatly, and rarely, there were requests of hers that he would reject. This was the reason Jaehyun was the one scolded everytime he was seriously injured by his mother.

Sometimes, he scoffed at his dysfunctional family, but currently, he was powerless to do so. As the sole heir to Haneul Group, his mother wouldn't loosen her reigns on him, but what his mother was unaware of that he was similar to a parasite.

In total, both of his parents held 45% of shares to the Haneul Group together, and 15% of the shares was under by Jaehyun. Due to his current age, there was not many thing he could achieve. Nonetheless, Jaehyun had already taken steps to persuade the other shareholders and overthrow his parents from their position.

Jaehyun did not care about what position his parents had. However, in his plans to make Jinhee his, one of the deadliest thorn was his mother, and he had to remove that from his path.

"HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE ME BY LEAVING EARLY!?" Eunhye yelled out— throwing another piece of relic towards him which too was swiftly avoided by Jaehyun.

Silence was the answer Jaehyun gave for he knew that this would quell his mother's anger faster than the naked truth. There were times Jaehyun had thoughts of revealing this side of his mother to others, but gradually destroying her seemed a better option to him. He had no desire in concealing his mother's ugly side.

"You either get engaged to Jinkyung or Youngmi! Someone to their standards was acceptable too, but if you go for someone low, like that wretched sister of Jinkyung, I'll be sure to show them what suffering means."

A frown formed on Jaehyun's face, as he asked, "What's wrong with Jinhee?"

In his opinion, he was being congenial by giving Eunhye another chance, and whether she accepts it or not was a choice she had to made.

"She's a lowlife with no talent. Getting engaged to her is like one placing a curse on oneself."

A subtle smirk formed on Jaehyun's face. His mom had clearly declared her enmity, and in order to pursue Jinhee, he had to remove her. After all, losing her again was something he couldn't bear.

With no words, he accepted all the attacks either physically or with words his mother sent towards him and did not complain against what she decided him for the most part. However, if she plotted something against Jinhee, she would see what Jaehyun's true wrath was like.

"I'm not interested," Jaehyun bluntly spoke out.

His mother's face contorted with anger, and redness became visible in it. Her eyes reflected the anger she felt as she spatted out, "It would be better if you died in the position of Yejun!"

Jaehyun's fist clenched tightly at the words, as he turned his back on his mother, pretending to her unaffected by words, contrary to what he felt inside.