The Price of Love

Chapter 35: The Truth

Jin

I was staring at the ceiling in frustration. Fiona had barged into my office at KWI after pushing aside my secretary and almost making her fall. She had been haranguing me for the past ten minutes without taking a breath, and I was nearing the end of my patience. I knew that I said I would not argue with her about anything, but she was getting on my last nerve. I was sure the staff was eavesdropping through the door.

"Fiona," I said in a low voice.

"I know you don't care about humiliating me, but you can't treat me this way!" she said for probably the twentieth time. "The photo session is already scheduled! He's the best photographer in the country. I won't let you cancel it! My father won't let you!"

I looked her in the face. "Fiona, my father is ill. He is in the hospital. Have some compassion...if you can find any."

"You're just trying to humiliate me! My father will be so upset!"

"He's your father, not mine. He can't do anything about it. I already told you. I don't want a society photo shoot. I don't want a large wedding. I don't want it to be a spectacle. How is that a difficult concept to understand even for someone like you?"

"Someone like...? Are you calling me dumb?" Her eyes were glittering with anger.

I turned and walked back toward my desk. "I'm tired of this conversation. I do have a lot of work to do, so would you mind seeing yourself out?" I sat down. "Oh, and would you please not assault any more of my staff? If you go to jail, then the wedding's definitely off."

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" she sneered. "You think you can treat me any way you please because you're so handsome that no one can resist you."

"Yes, I'm smart and handsome," I retorted. "Isn't that why you are insisting on this marriage? You don't even know me. You just like the presentation. Look, I have a lot of work, and I can't indulge your tantrum any longer. The wedding's been postponed a week, and I said I will not do that stupid photo shoot. If that's not acceptable to you, we can call the wedding off right now. I am not compromising any further."

Some of the outrage melted off her face, and she looked at me for a few moments.

"You really don't want to marry me, do you?" she asked in a hurt tone. "You really hate me."

I sighed. "Fiona, I...I never meant I hated you. I don't. But I don't want to marry you. You must have realized by now that I don't--I will never love you."

She shook her head. "But I would do anything for you, Seokjin! I will do anything you ask. You have to marry me. I'll be the perfect wife!"

"I don't want the perfect wife," I retorted. "I want the woman I love. I don't care if she's not perfect. I would welcome all her imperfections and all her doubts and everything that is part of her, just like she would accept all of my imperfections." I paused. "I never thought I'd be lucky enough to find someone who loved me so much, but I did. I found a woman exactly like that, and I love her. My heart and my mind can't forget her. She's the air that I breathe. I'm truly sorry. I wish you would understand and just let all this go."

"But Seokjin," she whined. "I love you! I promise I do! You have to marry me!"

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "The truth is I don't want to marry you, Fiona. I'll be miserable. We both will. I am already in love."

"And you'd go back to her if you could?"

I nodded. "Without question. Without hesitation...if she would take me back."

She looked down, wringing her hands. She seemed the very picture of despairing sadness, but I did not say anything to try and comfort her. She had brought this on herself.

I exhaled noisily from behind my desk. "Anything else?"

"No."

I gestured toward the door with my hand and watched as she spun around and left my office. I should have been suspicious of her sudden pliability, but I was just glad that she had finally left me in peace.

The next day I felt my phone buzzing repeatedly during a meeting. I finally reached into my pocket and turned it off. As soon as the meeting was over, I grabbed the phone and checked who had been calling me.

Namjoon. I had five missed calls from him. Two more from Tae.

I waited until everyone had left the conference room before I dialed Namjoon back.

"Hey, Nam--"

"Shut up, Seokjin, and listen," Namjoon growled on the other end. "Bella knows. Fiona Gettis called her earlier today and told her that she--your darling fiancée--is pregnant...with your child."

"Wh-what?" I stuttered, completely thrown for a loop.

"So here's the deal," he continued in an angry tone. "Forget about Bella. Forever! I swear if you try to contact her ever again, I will do something we'll both regret! You don't deserve her, and you will stop making her life miserable."

"Joon!"

"I can't believe you would've lied about something like this," Namjoon snarled. "Bella believed in you. Hell! I believed you! I made a fool of myself telling her to trust you, and you never even told her the truth."

"Namjoon, whatever Fiona said is not true!" I cried.

"Just stop it! Fiona cried over the phone about how you want to dump her so that you can go back to Bella. How easy it must seem for someone like you. You can discard women at will, but you cannot discard a child! Imagine how Bella feels! I warned you! She doesn't want to be your other woman! She doesn't want to be your side piece! Leave her alone! Stop texting! Stop calling! Stop torturing her!"

"Namjoon, listen to me," I began. "I didn't sleep with Fiona! That's the truth! I didn't--" I pulled my phone from my ear and saw that Namjoon had already ended the call.

I should have known Fiona's quiet exit yesterday would spell danger. There weren't enough curse words in my vocabulary to represent the angry frustration that coursed through my body at that moment.