Despise to Desire - JJK

43 : The Grim Justice and the Painful Truth

K I M T A E H Y U N G

I turned away, my jaw aching from the pent up building inside me. I wiped my eyes and looked back at Genevieve.

"She is dead, and yet here you are, living your life like she never existed. You replaced her as soon as she was out of sight." She scoffed, looking away in disdain. I stepped closer causing her to meet my gaze.

"You're standing here telling me she is dead? Death could never claim someone like her. Not when she is rooted so deeply within me." My jaw clenched, gaze intense as I declared.

She was standing in front of me, and asked, "Why couldn't you save her parents? All she did was blame herself for their unfortunate demise" Her eyes teary as she kept wiping her face occasionally.

"They believed their daughter was being manipulated and trapped because of her dreams of becoming an actress but they didn't reveal the cause of their thinking, and at the same night, we found them in the hospital. They took their last breaths in the sterile white of the emergency room due to poison consumption. I dig their house and get to know why they did that." I briefed.

Though I felt miserable at the time for not being able to save those innocent lives when they had done nothing wrong. They believed Hyeon must have either fled somewhere far away or be dead by now.

I took over the security company and implemented every measure I could think of. Even if others assumed Hyeon was dead, I held onto the belief that she was still alive. I vowed not to rest until I found her, no matter what it took.

I was determined to bring her back, to uncover the truth, and to ensure that those responsible faced my cruelty. My resolve was unshakeable — I would not give up until I found her and made the culprits pay for their crimes. This was my mission, my promise.

"You did nothing to find her," she accused, her voice taut with anger as her fists clenched at her sides. I met her gaze with a sharp exhale. "Every breath I took was a step towards her. You only see the surface, but beneath... there's a world you don't know." I grabbed her wrist, my grip firm, and led her down the corridor. My men stood like sentinels, opening the heavy door to the vast hall as we approached.

As we stepped inside, her eyes widened in shock. The room was a grim sight of suffering, with people bound to every pole, their feet, legs, and mouths tightly restrained. The captives were males and females, were a sea of hollow faces, their eyes vacant from years of torment. Around them, 65 of my men stood watch, ever vigilant, ready to enforce my will.

This was my hidden territory, a place of suffering and despair. Here, I showed no mercy. Some captives had died over the years, their bodies giving up under constant torture. Those who survived were given just one small meal a day, with water rationed to keep them barely alive. They were alive just because I couldn't find Hyeon soon.

There had once been 423 captives, but now only 218 remained. The rest had succumbed to the harsh conditions and endless torment. Their broken bodies had been dragged away, tossed into the inferno that burned night and day at the edge of the compound.

"This is what I did after her," I said, pointing towards the captives who remained, their eyes hollow and their bodies battered by the relentless cycle of punishment.

"W-Who are they?" she asked, as she tried to comprehend the horror before her.

"Culprits of Baek Hyeon," I replied and chuckled. "Every single person, regardless of their age and gender, who witnessed and relished her misery was brought here, dragged from countries and cities alike. No one was spared. They were hunted down, ripped from their lives, and delivered to this hell where their screams would go unheard."