Noe Jin-ae's tears poured out anew, her body shaking with sobs. Her voice was laced with venom as she spat out, "Torture them, put them on a plane to Taiwan, and detonate it." Amelia's eyes narrowed, her expression thoughtful as she replied, "Now, love, that's much too boring. Might you want to hear the depths of their depravity?"
As Amelia revealed the shocking truth about Park Nana, Park Gulduk's secret North Korean wife and Park Jun Pyo's mother, Noe Jin-ae's face flushed with rage. "She's also Park Gulduk's first cousin," Amelia added, her voice dripping with disgust. "She's being kept by him in a fine villa here in Gangnam, under the name Lee Dali."
Noe Jin-ae's eyes widened in horror, her voice barely above a whisper, "How could he lie to me?"
Amelia looked at her crushed friend, her expression sad as she continued, "They plotted the assassination of your heir, Noe Eun Ho, and killed Noe Joon-su, simply because they couldn't bear her inheriting the business."
Noe Jin-ae's knees weakened, and she collapsed, overcome with pain and anger. "No, No, Noooo." Jin-ae cried.
Amelia's voice remained steady, her words dripping with disdain, "He couldn't tolerate your own son and daughter because they didn't carry his name. He's been manipulating Park Jun Pyo, using him to further his own twisted agenda against his own daughter."
Noe Jin-ae seethed as her friend laid the truth bare to her. Amelia spared no detail and continued patiently, "Switching out Selena was paid out by your own husband, I guess he's technically not, since he made you his concubine. The ultimate insult to your lineage and marriage."
Noe Jin-ae cried audibly, her body shaking with sobs, "My son, my Joon-Su, my Joon-Su." She rocked back and forth, her eyes streaming with tears. Amelia's heels clicked on the marble floor as she walked over to Noe Jin-ae. She looked at the woman with sympathy, her expression soft.
"Empress Jin-ae, my mother used to say Don't get mad, get even," Amelia said, her voice gentle. Arthur, seeing his wife's look, pulled out his own handkerchief and walked up to Noe Jin-ae, offering it to her. The guards looked on with appreciation, their faces somber.
"Well, I did not foresee losing my handkerchief," Amelia said. Noe Jin-ae briefly laughed at her friend, trying to cheer her up in her absurdity. She did it on purpose.
Noe Jin-ae sat in a pool of silk robes and a nightgown, her eyes still streaming with tears. She looked up, her voice barely audible, "How dare they? Bring her here. Now." Her words were laced with venom, her eyes blazing with anger.
"Wait for her. I want them both to watch you kill their son. Do it slowly. I do not want to hear their words. Torture your way in. 10,000 cuts. Remove their tongues and phalluses," Noe Jin-ae spat out, her voice dripping with hatred.
Amelia's face formed a smile, her eyes reflecting the anger and disgust she felt. "The list of names I called out?" She looked to the translator. The translator rummaged and pulled out the book as the door opened and tore out the sheet of paper with a shaking hand at the same moment the door opened.
Just then, Jonah and Edward walked into the manor, and Jonah ran to help Noe Jin-ae, his face etched with concern. Noe Jin-ae's eyes flooded with tears, remembering her Joon-Su. Suddenly, a cacophony of screams was heard as the guards dragged in the entire Kim family, including Selena's own Korean guard, Kim Nari.
"These people will also need to be brought here. You can tell the guard to bring them in. I promised Jun Pyo they would be eliminated from this world, and I keep my promises." Amelia said as she handed the list to Jonah. Jin-ae was always shocked by the accuracy of Amelia's guesses about which future would happen. It was very accurate without her guidance.
Amelia looked at Jonah, her expression grim. "Your grandfather and Park Jun Pyo tried to kill you in that accident, your sister and he wanted to poison Rose. You should probably get down there and get your revenge." Jonah's eyes widened, and he trembled with rage, his face set in a determined expression.
Arthur looked at his wife with a caring look, "Well, let's go and eat. They should be ready with all the desserts, my love." Amelia staggered from the deep dive she had down into the little man. He could tell she was weak.
Amelia bent forward and touched Jin-ae. She felt sad for the woman; she had turned her life upside down. "Chin up, remember Choi Jae-won?" Jin-ae's eyes widened, remembering the man from her youth. "He lost his wife, not but 2 years ago, and he still holds quite the heart for you. I see him making you very happy until you die of old age at 97, should you change your heart and want to love another man. Tell him, he can keep your secret. He was a guard. Your mother reassigned him."
Noe Jin-ae looked at her friends with kind eyes. "Yes. It will take some time. I believe I could use a little time mourning my husband's sudden death with my friend and move on again."
***
Jonathan clicked the button on the speakerphone in the office. He could tell that she was heartbroken underneath the rage. She had been on tenterhooks the past two days. The only thing that helped her was that she had things to focus on. Selena had asked her to help her pick out stuff for the nursery.
Eun Ho's facade crumbled, her eyes dripped with tears. "It was true?" Eun Ho's breath hitched in her chest. She sobbed.
Jonathan looked at her with sadness and empathy. He poured them each a generous double of scotch and popped an ice cube in them silently. He was a wreck inside. Were they responsible for all the hurt?
No wonder Park Gulduk supported him in asserting McKenna's legitimacy; he was using him as a weapon to hurt his own daughter. He let his own granddaughter rot in two lifetimes in a low-income house. He killed his own son and tried to kill his own pregnant daughter. He encouraged Park Jun Pyo to try to take Jonah's life. If Selena was not been found, they would have been slaughtered like sheep. Jonathan wanted to smash things
Eun Ho's face twisted in disgust and outrage as she spoke, "My own father wanted my family dead to raise a bastard he had with his cousin," she spat, her voice dripping with venom. "It's unfathomable. The man I thought I knew, the man I loved and respected, is capable of such evil." Eun Ho took the glass offered by her husband and gulped it, her hands shaking.
Eun Ho shook her head, her eyes wide with horror. "And to think, I've been trying to protect him, to keep him safe from those who would harm him because of his ties to us. But it's him, all along, who's been behind the threats to my family."
Eun Ho's voice cracked with emotion as she continued. "I feel so betrayed, so hurt. How could he do this to us? To his own flesh and blood?"
She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "It's all over, but it is going to hurt forever." Eun Ho bitterly threw her glass at the wall. She sobbed again. It felt like her heart was torn apart. She thought her Father was her tie to the regular world, one that was not full of problems. He was a man who said he protected her and batted the annoying flies away from her. If that was true, he laid the shit that drew them, fanned them towards her while slapping her in the face.
Jonathan walked up to embrace her, "You are not a reflection of those who did not love you. You are a reflection of those you love." Jonathan paused and cupped her delicate and broken broken-looking face. He rarely saw her like this. "There is no one left alive to hurt you anymore, and thank god that did not happen…again,." Jonathan said, reflecting on his daughter's words about her past.
They had 16 years to move. That was not a long time in the grand scheme of things. Their parents had infinitely more time. He reflected on how hard her past life had been and how she had received the scope of her vision. She literally lived it.