Psychopath Billionaire | BBANGSAZ

xxii

The person loosened their grip on my mouth and dragged me towards the door at the foot of the stairs. I tried to scream, but he pressed his hand over my mouth again. I could see his face clearly now.

It wasn't Minji or anyone I knew.

It was the blonde man from the bar who had been watching me. I wondered if he was one of Minji's men.

We were in an underground den, the strong waft of smoke and alcohol almost made me vomit. There was a different crowd of people here, the kind you were supposed to stay away from. I saw a woman passed out on a couch, eyes rolled back, and another man smoking on the armrest. They were doing drugs.

Why had this man brought me here?

"If you try anything, I'll scream," I told him.

"Scream all you want, it wouldn't matter here," he chuckled. "If anything, they'd be entertained."

I glared at him. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I need you to trust me, Hanni," he said, pointing to a door at the other end. "And I need you to follow me to the parking lot where there are fewer people and more privacy to talk."

"I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me who you are," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and trying to appear tough despite being scared to death.

"Jake Sim sent me here. Does that name ring a bell?" he asked.

Of course, it did. How could I forget the man who had freed me from Minji?

"What about Jake?" I asked.

"If you follow me, I'll tell you everything," he said, then added, "You have to trust me, Hanni." I nodded and followed him toward the door marked EXIT in large neon lighting. It felt better to be away from the chaos.

When we were outside in the underground parking lot, he pulled me towards a corner near a car. "My name is Hyunjin, and I work for Jake. He sent me here to warn you about some things," he got straight to the point.

"He knows where I am?" I asked, surprised.

Hyunjin nodded. "And he knows what Minji is up to."

"I don't understand." This time my heart started to race.

Hyunjin looked around as if to make sure we were really alone and whispered, "Is she being unnecessarily sweet? Did she tell you she's changed? Did Minji ask you for another chance?"

"To answer all three questions, yes."

Hyunjin let out a laugh, one I didn't like. "That bitch is playing you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she's been planning this for a long time. She wants to trap you in an elaborate scheme and drag you back into that hell."

"I don't believe you," I said.

At first, I might have hesitated to forgive Minji, but I had seen the way she had been trying to make it up to me for a week, and all I saw in her eyes was regret and a deep desire for my forgiveness. I wanted to believe that Minji had truly changed.

"It's your choice," Hyunjin said. "I just wanted to warn you. It would be better for you to move somewhere else, keep your guard up for a while."

"You don't understand," I shook my head. "I have nowhere else to go. I have a job here and a place to live. I can't afford to move." Hyunjin didn't seem convinced. "Maybe Minji really has changed," I said. "She even made me breakfast this morning."

"Can you hear yourself?" Hyunjin asked. "You sound like you've been manipulated into making excuses for her."

"You don't even know me," I said.

He remained silent. A few seconds passed, and then he said, "Jake told me to warn you, so my job is done. Goodbye."

He turned on his heels and walked towards his car, a sleek black Jaguar, leaving me to mull over our conversation.

It was a bit hard to believe that Minji would come to apologize and do things for me that I knew she wouldn't have done if she hadn't changed. It was nice of Jake to send someone to warn me, but if Minji really loved me, I knew she deserved a chance.