Pay With Your Heart

Dan-Han could not believe Eun-sun had him running after her. He shouldn't be doing this.

He was supposed to be angry, and he had every right to be, but deep down, he knew, and he has always known he couldn't blame her for anything.

If there was anyone he fully understood, it was her. She was a handful, he'll agree, most especially with that temper of hers, but she would never hurt him.

Though she tries to be strong and aloof with people, she is just one weak little girl who wants to do right by anyone who shows her the smallest amount of love. She might have messed up by not telling him about his mother, but she did right by his mother, and wasn't that the most important thing?

He could remember how she behaved whenever it came to his mother. She had prioritised her and placed her above everything else, including him. She made her last days memorable by giving her the complete and happy family she had always wanted. For her sake, he had reconciled with his mother and made memories he would never have had with her. She had filled up whatever void his mother must have had at heart, and she had covered up for him in places he had failed as a child.

She was right. She did her best, but he had been too angry to see that. But it was high time he stopped this madness.

He rushed to her office, but he was surprised to see her desk was empty.

"President Lee." The whole staff of the department jerked to their feet the moment he stepped in. They all shared worried looks on their faces as they pondered why the mighty boss was there with the look on his face.

"Where is she?" He asked Hye-jin who was her desk mate.

"S-she left." Hye-jin stuttered.

"P-president Lee?" Someone called behind him, and Dan-Han turned around to find the director standing behind him. His eyes darkened, and the frown on his face deepened.

"Your resignation letter should be on my table before I return." He drawled and walked away, leaving everyone in shock, especially the director, who looked like he was about to faint.

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing could come out.

Dan-Han dialled Eun-sun's number as he hurried towards his car. He dismissed his chauffeur and took the wheels by himself.

He repeatedly dialled her number, but she wouldn't pick up, and soon she turned off her phone.

"Damn you, Park Eun-sun!" He cussed. She really had a knack for frustrating him. He doubted she'd be home at the moment, but he headed there first. He wasn't surprised when he met an empty apartment. She wasn't there, and neither was her friend.

He hopped back into his car and headed for the family Mansion. She had mentioned his father, and he didn't want to imagine how their conversation had gone. He called Tae-Ho on his way and requested a team be sent to his father's house before he got there. He gripped the wheel tightly and floored the gas pedal.

"Young master." The house staff greeted as soon as Dan-Han stepped into the house, but the deadpan look on his face told them he wasn't in a good mood, and they all scampered out of sight.

He walked straight to his father's office, where he knew he'd be. The man was retired, but it seems he didn't know the meaning of retirement. He was going to teach him.

"I was expecting you." Father Lee said the moment Dan-Han walked in.

"I wasn't expecting to come here." His tone was curt, telling his father he wasn't there for a courtesy visit. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked the old man who looked at him and sighed. Father Lee stood up from the couch and walked over to sit behind his desk.

"Did she come running to you?" He asked. "I expected that anyway." He let out a disappointed sigh.

"I warned you not to say anything to her."

"And I warned you to send her away. She killed your mother!" He snapped at him.

"Cancer killed my mother. Eun-sun didn't." Dan-Han corrected him just in case he had forgotten.

"But she knew, and she kept it a secret."

"And that makes her a murderer?" He couldn't believe his father. "You and I can't keep blaming her because it's the easiest way to make us feel less guilty for our negligence. She did something that we both couldn't do for someone we claimed to love and who loved us dearly."

"And what is that?" The man raised a brow at him.

"She made mother happy. Eun-sun made mother happy when we couldn't. When you were busy plotting to send her away, and I was busy cleaning after your mess and being unforgiving towards mother, she made up for us. Do you know how helpless she must have felt because she was helping mother keep a secret from us, yet you made her life miserable with your antics? And has blaming her made you feel better at all?" They both stared at each other without saying a word.

Father Lee hissed after a while. "That doesn't change anything. And I'm not changing my mind towards her. Never." He declared, making Dan-Han frown. He wasn't expecting him to change his mind either. The man had shown he would never see reason.

"Then you leave me no choice." He said, making his father look at him suspiciously.

He took a step towards the table and stared at his father in the eyes. "You'll no longer leave this mansion or receive guests except I say so." He suddenly announced, prompting the man to frown.

"What's this?" Father Lee asked, but the door suddenly opened, and some men stepped into the office and bowed to Dan-Han.

"They'll be watching over you, and they'll report back to me. And also know henceforth, all your calls will be monitored by me."

"Are you crazy?" The man snapped at him, but Dan-Han remained unfazed.

"I've just started." He drawled.

"Make contact with Kwon-Nara again, and I'll personally send you her head in a box as well as Ji-Tae's, and if you interfere with my company one more time, I'll ship you to an elderly home somewhere at the edge of Africa." He warned, making his father chuckle.

"You don't mean this." He said. Dan-Han couldn't be serious. He couldn't carry out his threat or place him on house arrest. He was his father.

"I wish I didn't," Dan-Han replied.

Father Lee frowned. "I'm your father!" He snapped at him.

"Yet you make my life miserable as if I'm not doing a good job at it already. You pushed me this far." He told him. Father Lee's eyes burned with fury as they both stared at each other.

Dan-Han looked at his watch and turned around to leave.

He paused and turned to him one more time. "And one more thing, father, if you contact Eun-sun again, or if she as much as lose a hair on her head-" He paused. "You wouldn't like to know what I'll do."

"Is that a threat?" Father Lee asked.

"Call everything I've said before today a threat, but this, this is a promise I'll keep." He said and walked out, leaving his father to burn with lividity.

He couldn't believe what his own son was doing to him because of a girl—a low-class nobody.

He'd see how much he would go for her.