The Villain's Wife

6

An hour later, Jennie finished her shopping and observation of Scarlet City. Next on her itinerary was a visit to the columbarium to pay her respects at her late paternal grandmother's niche.

"President, I just received a call from Miss Park. She said that she will be arriving at your apartment in another thirty minutes," Irene said in a low voice. President Kim had been awfully quiet since she arrived at the columbarium and Irene was a little hesitant to disturb her.

Jennie only nodded in response. Silence engulfed the columbarium as Jennie stared at the photo in the niche. It was a photo of an old lady with a gentle smile, she had high brows and her white hair was tied up in a sleek up do.

A little smile escaped Jennie's lips as she remembered how she used to help her paternal grandmother with her up do. It was her favorite hairstyle. The old woman doted on her and there was something she said that was etched in Jennie's mind: "Do not forget that you are a Kim. Just endure for now. When you get married, you can leave this place."

Sadness crept in Jennie's heart. 'Endure', that was what her paternal grandmother always told her. Growing up, Jennie had to endure as her mother, Bec Facci was treated like a slave in the house.

Jennie closed her eyes as she thought about her early years in the Kim family. The moment Jennie was born, she was separated from her mother and was taken in by the Kim family to be raised as the eldest miss. A few years later, her father married another woman by the name of Chaerin. Chaerin hated the existence of Jennie and her lowly mother. Since she couldn't do anything to Jennie, she hatched a plan to take it out on Jennie's mother, Bec Facci.

Shortly after entering the Kim family, Chaerin insisted on reuniting Chaerin and Jennie. She suggested that Bec Facci could come and work as a maid in the Kim Mansion. She told everyone that she could not bear to see Chaerin grow up without her mother. Moreover, she was going to be a mother soon so she could relate to the pain of being separated from one's own child. While the members of the Kim family had their reservations, they eventually agreed to let Bec Facci enter the Kim Mansion with the identity of a maid, at Chaerin's insistence.

After this, everyone viewed Chaerin in a new light. They saw her as someone magnanimous, kind and gentle. When Bec Facci received the work offer, she immediately agreed without much thought, excited to be given the opportunity to be reunited with her beloved daughter. So, she left her job as a waitress.

Chaerin had arranged for the mother and daughter to share a maid's quarters, to Bec Facci's delight. Unbeknownst to Bec Facci, entering the Kim family was the start of her nightmares.

Chaerin would seize every opportunity to embarrass Bec Facci. In front of her close and prominent friends, she would embarrass Bec Facci to flaunt her power in the family. However, in front of everyone else, she held back and maintained a kind image.

But, no matter how humiliated Bec Facci felt, she never retaliated, not even once. Bec Facci only lowered her head and walked away in silence each and every time she was humiliated by Chaerin.

Now that Jennie thought about it, her mother was truly stupid for enduring all the humiliation. Bec or Rebecca Facci was born into a prominent family in Europe. She was treated like a princess who was envied and loved by many. Then one day, her mother Lilian Facci insisted on giving her in marriage to a man hailing from another noble family. But Rebecca Facci was aware that her betrothed already had a lover, and so she declined her mother's proposal.

After the death of her husband, Lilian Facci became the head of the Facci family and she ruled her family with an iron fist. She did not take Rebecca's rejection well. The mother and daughter argued over this issue and got into a big fight. One thing led to another and eventually, Rebecca Facci ran away from home.