Fiance For Hire - Mark Tuan vs. Jackson

32

Jackson paces the whole length of his house. He goes to the kitchen, opens the refrigerator, sees nothing he wants and closes it again. He goes to the bar, gets a bottle of cognac and pours himself a glass. He takes his glass back to the living room and starts pacing again, tipping the drink in his mouth. 

All the while, Kimi, the maid and the driver, watch him quietly. Kimi bites her thumbnail, ignoring the fact that it's just newly done. 

"You haven't told my mom yet, have you?" Jackson finally speaks, not stopping to look at Kimi though.  

"Uhmmm.... No." Kimi answers, still on her nail. 

"Thanks." The boy runs his hand through his hair and takes a sip of his cognac again. "Shit!" He stops and turns. "What do I do?"

"Su wouldn't want you to hand the company just like that, Jackson. I'm sure she won't." Kimi tells him. 

"I know." He walks past them and to the bar where he refills his glass with a different alcohol. Su worked so hard to get some deals done when they were both in Hong Kong. "You said he's Liu's bastard?"

"His wife's."

"Could it be because of Sam then?"

"Maybe ... Maybe not." The girl answers. She gets up and pours herself a drink, too. "What I know is, that Mr. Liu doesn't really like him. Ever since he married his wife, the boy never lived with the family. Especially when the couple had Samantha. He was an outcast in the family."

"So, you mean he's doing this to be acknowledged?"

"I don't know."

"Have someone search the country to look for her." He instructs and goes back to pacing as the girl makes a call. 

If Mark doesn't want to be a part of this, then I should just do it on my own. Shit. Just when I need him. Jackson thinks. But, he's right. Unlike him, it's difficult for me to choose. Of course I would want to just give in to Minhyuk's scheme and get Susan safely back. However, the thing I'm giving up is not just a car or a house or even just my whole life. It's somebody else's sweat and blood, my parents' at that. How can I give up something I didn't even work hard for? This is just so unfair. 

"Lloyd's already on it." Kimi interrupts his thoughts. "Jackson," she gets up and walks towards the boy. "You need to go rest. You still have an appointment tomorrow. This is very important."

Jackson closes his eyes, tilting his head up to the ceiling and swallowing hard. "Fuck. Can we move that?"

"No, we can't. It's a project Susan wanted you to continue. She worked hard to get this company to say yes to meeting you. You don't want to put her effort to waste, would you?"

Jackson looks down and shakes his head. "No."

____

"Anything yet?" Kimi is on her phone, talking to Lloyd. 

"No, ma'am. We've also checked the flights for the past week, there was nothing." The man says. "There were no records of her brother either."

"Ok." Kimi's heart gets heavy again. "Just keep on looking. How about Minhyuk? Have you had him followed?"

"He's nowhere to be found, too. We were just on his heels last night and he just disappeared."

"Shit. Alright. Call me if anything."

"Will do, ma'am."

"What?" Jackson looks up from his laptop when the girl enters his room. His eyes are blood shot from sleepless nights and there are evident lines forming on his forehead from all those thinking and worrying.