The Villain's Wife

44

"Is this about the past?" Kai immediately shifted his body towards Jennie, avoiding her face as he gritted his teeth in annoyance or maybe even fear. "You are a successful woman now Ruby Jane. Why don't you just move on and forget about what happened in the past? Surely, no one would look down on you now."

"Jennie..." she corrected as she dipped her finger into the glass and tasted it in her mouth. "Ruby Jane is long dead." She then gave Kai a fake smile. "You should already know that by now. Right? Master Kim?"

Kai stared at Jennie, this time his gaze contained a tinge of anger and fear. This woman in front of him now was so different from the one that he met at the reading. It was as if this was a totally different person. "Jennie... I am warning you... If you do something to Nancy I will..."

"What?" she interrupted while raising an eyebrow at him. "You will have someone drug me? Like what you did years ago?"

"You know it was not me! It was Chaerin," he hissed.

"Ahhh... I remember... The actress Chaerin from the Lee family." Jennie nodded. "How could I forget?" She smiled at him.

In response, Kai lifted the glass of wine and drank it in one go. His face immediately contorted as the aftertaste of alcohol hit his throat.

"I like it with a little more gin," Jennie said when she noticed Kai's expression. "I did say it wouldn't be to your taste."

"Tell me honestly Jennie, why are you here?" Kai asked, ignoring Jennie's words as he gestured for the bartender to give him another glass of the drink.

"You know that Nancy is pregnant. Why don't we leave the past in the past? Do not be vengeful and take revenge anymore. In return, I will compensate you for the damage that was done to your reputation all those years ago. We can discuss more about that. And I also won't ask you to sell the villa that Nancy likes. How does that sound?" he asked, hoping that Jennie would agree to his propositions without a fight.

"Master Kim must be joking. Revenge? I, Jennie Facci-Kim, had many chances to have you and Nancy killed, for the wrong that you two did to me all those years ago. But...I didn't." She laughed. "With the current status that I have, no one would even know who did it. That's the extent of my capabilities!"

"I am not here for revenge Master Kim. I am here to collect the interest of the debt that you owe me," she added while looking straight into Kai's eyes. Her lips then tugged upwards into an evil smirk, it was sinister yet beautiful - so beautiful that Kai was not able to look away.

At that point Kai could have chosen to walk away and forget about Jennie's words. But, he didn't. Instead, he continued to stare at Jennie, his expression unfathomable. For some reason, Kai felt his heart skip a beat as his gaze lingered on Jennie's lips, then slowly back to her eyes. Though there was something about Jennie's eyes that made Kai a little uneasy, he still found himself staring into her.

Not that Jennie's eyes were showing anything. No. In fact, Jennie's eyes were blank. It was almost as if she was just staring at the wall. They were dead with no emotions. And for the first time in his life, he found the look of detachment in Jennie's eyes attractive.

Seeing him in a daze, Jennie rose from her seat and turned her back to him. She already achieved her primary purpose. There was no reason to stay in this party anymore.

"Where are you going?" Kai asked, following after Jennie.

"To the next party that I will be attending tonight," she answered honestly.

"Is it the Bulgari one?" he asked.

In response, Jennie nodded.

"I'm coming with you." His words immediately surprised him. "I... I mean... I..."