Masquerade | Johnyong

★ Chapter thirty-one

Chapter 31: salt and sugar look the same

Chanyeol arrives home in the morning. As soon as Amanda hears the door, she rushes to him. "Bastard!" She curses as she slaps Chanyeol across the face.

"Where's Nahyun?" Chanyeol questions as he holds his cheek.

"Sleeping." Amanda answers before she's slapped across the face. She looks at Chanyeol in disbelief. "You put your hands on me?" She scoffs. Chanyeol stares at her with little to no emotion. "Don't test me, Amanda. I don't have time for you this morning." He pushes her out the way as he walks past her.

"Where have you been?! I don't know why you keep leaving Nahyun to me! You know how much I hate that damn child!" She explodes. Chanyeol turns. "Who's the one that wasted no time jumping into a marriage with me?!" He asks.

"I'm not even her mother! Take her back to where she came from!" She yells. Chanyeol gives up and goes to sit in the living room. Amanda follows him, basically screaming in his ear. "Yes, I made the mistake of jumping into this stupid marriage but I didn't sign up for taking care of some stupid child! I hate having to act like her mom and when I try you hate it! You leave me with her , you force me to take care of her— ugh I hate it! Get rid of that child!" Amanda screams, fuming. Chanyeol clenches his fist together. It takes everything in him to hold himself back.

"Nahyun is my daughter! My flesh and blood! I will not tolerate any disrespect towards her." Chanyeol says in a stern tone, trying to keep his cool.

Amanda walks away but she can't contain her anger. She screams as she throws everything off the dining table. "Fuck you and your mistake of a daughter!"

Chanyeol's had enough. He gets up, going after Amana. He grabs her by her throat. Amanda steps on his foot, distracting him so she grabs his arm, twisting it before turning him around and slamming him against the nearest wall.

"Try me again and I'll report you to Mr.Seo."

"Of course. You'll run crying to daddy." Chanyeol grumbles, gritting his teeth. Amanda lets him go, having had enough, she storms off.

Chanyeol groans as massages his shoulder. He looks at the mess that was made, shaking his head.

Great. Now he has to clean up.

After cleaning that mess, Chanyeol sits down. He opens the envelope. He takes a deep breath. The photos make him feel eerie. They weren't just any normal photos. They were photos of bruises,marks, black eyes, scratches, bloody wounds, burn marks, cuts, and so on.

Chanyeol looks closely, trying to recognize the woman in the picture. He wonders why on earth his father would have such photos just sitting around. It makes him gag.

He gathers the photos and places them back in the envelope but realizes there's one he hasn't seen. He takes it out. The photo is off. The camera angle is weird. It's like whoever took the photo was seeming stalking the woman in the photo.

Chanyeol looks closer. "This woman. . .This is Johnny's mom." His eyes grow wide as his mind begins to run with this, trying to find a logical explanation. "What is that?" Chanyeol nearly jumps at the sound of Amanda's voice. His hands race to hide the photo.

"What are you looking at?" Amanda questions. She looks at Chanyeol with a rather suspicious look. Chanyeol gulps, his throat feeling suddenly dry.

"Can you get me water?" He asks.

"No. I'm not your maid." And with that Amanda leaves, going back upstairs.

Chanyeol brushes off her annoying attitude, not having the energy and time to deal with it. A few theories keep coming up in his mind. He doesn't want to jump to conclusions but he can't help himself. He goes upstairs to his daughter's room. He watches as she sleeps peacefully.