The Manipulated Villainess

"Do you want to go on a date? I think it would be fun." Aston was sitting on a couch with a phone in his ear. He wondered how fun it would be to have a real date with a woman he truly loved. It will be so different from his past dates which he only did to play around, hoping to distract himself from the negativity and his traumatic past.

"Do you think we would be able to do that? Forget about my step-mother, you are a public figure." Nicole mused. She too was alone in her apartment.

A date? The last time she went on a real date was back in college. Garcia Han didn\'t forbid her from indulging herself in love at that time. The devil didn\'t hate too much when she went on a date, as long as she behaved.

"I have one place in mind. Don\'t worry. It\'s not a public place. Tomorrow is a public holiday and my schedule is clear. What about you? But it\'s fine if you think it\'s dangerous." Aston asked. He understood her situation so he didn\'t want to pressure her.

If he could bring her to the place he had in mind, he wanted to tell her everything. His past and all.

Nicole heard in the evening that Garcia Han will be leaving the city tomorrow to attend an event. She will spend the whole day. She can just use the secret door if she wished to hide that she went out.

"Okay. Let\'s do that." She also admitted that she was feeling excited. Putting aside the fear of being exposed, she wanted to try living freely, even if it\'s for just a day.

"I will pick you up early in the morning. It\'s better to reach there before the roads are crowded." Aston said to which Nicole agreed. They ended the call, waiting for their exciting first date.

* * *

When Aston arrived at Nicole\'s apartment, it was 6 in the morning. Nicole came out and get inside the car. The actor had made sure that no one followed him, be it a paparazzi or Lester\'s men. He didn\'t want to hurt Nicole by being careless.

Nicole saw many groceries in the backseat of the car. It made her curious about what their destination might be. "Where are we going?" She asked, failing to suppress her curiosity.

"A house. It\'s about one hour drive." He briefly glanced at the groceries and turned his attention back to the road. "I ask my manager to pick up those groceries yesterday, in case you would agree to have a date." He clarified. With his public status, it\'s not easy for him to go shopping.

"I see." Nicole nodded. A house? What house?

Aston quietly drives the car for minutes. Being their first date, the always confident celebrity somehow feel awkward. He even finds it challenging to start a conversation! Besides, the confession he planned to make troubled his mind.

Well, Nicole was pretty much the same. She glanced at him again and again until she decided to be just quiet. Much to their joy, they reached their destination after an awkward one hour.

Standing in front of an old small gate, Nicole was puzzled. Briefly glancing past the gate, she saw a small house with a small campus. Being born as the only daughter of Yang Group, she had never been to such a small and worn out house before! 

With the groceries in his hand, Aston stood beside her. "Let\'s get inside. I will tell you the details." He grabbed her hand and led her inside.

A very small playground, a swing in one corner and many trees surrounding the house; Nicole was quite fascinated by it. Maybe because she had never been to this kind of house or campus.

"This is my family residence while I was young," Aston said, standing beside her. He was amused by Nicole\'s reaction. However, he didn\'t know if it was a good or bad thing. Was this house too small and old for the owner of Yang Group?

His family residence? Nicole realized that she knew nothing about his family. Even when she looked up articles about him, there was no information on his family. The only thing she remembered was what he told her in the hospital. He said he hated to be in a hospital because he was reminded of the time he was hospitalized for months. His mother attempted to kill him.

"I don\'t know anything about your family, " Nicole muttered, glancing at him.

Aston forced a little smile and grabbed her hand again. "I\'ll show you the interior of the house."

Walking inside the house, the appearance was neat but lonesome. It\'s so evident that it\'s an unoccupied house. There was a big photo frame in the middle of the common room walls. A couple and two children, a boy and a girl. Was the little boy Aston?

"That\'s the only family photo I have left. When a bought this house years ago, somehow I dig that out from the storeroom." Aston commented when he saw her gazing at the family photo.

"My parents are dead." He whispered and point at the little girl beside him in the photo. "That\'s my twin sister, Aria. It\'s been 17 years since I lost touch with her. We were 10 when we were separated."

"Why?" Nicole asked. What caused the twins to be separated at such a young age?

Aston made her sit on the couch and glanced at his family photo. "It\'s a long story. It will be beyond your expectation and... you might not look at me the same anymore after I tell you everything." His voice trailed off as the unfamiliar feeling that he now often felt due to this woman resurfaced. He was scared; scared of losing her.

Nicole wondered how he put his life on the line just because he loves her. She didn\'t know what he was about to say but she doubted that he would scare her away.

"The first thing I want to tell you is that my real name is not Aston Kang. It\'s Aston Min. I\'m the only son of the Min family who used to live here seventeen years ago." He started to which she raised a brow.

This was news to her. All his profiles said that Aston Kang was his real name. However, she already knew that she was indulging with a mysterious man. This didn\'t shock her that much.

"My father Ethan Min was always a devoted and upright police officer. He loved his job as much as he loved us. But he was accused as a traitor of the police forces. He was shunned and fired because of that. When he was due for a court hearing, he was suddenly found dead but the case was closed as a suicide."

"I don\'t know the details as I was too young at that time. People said that he committed suicide because he was ashamed. I admit that life was difficult for him at that time because the whole country shunned him and pointed their fingers at him, calling him a traitor. But I know one thing. He will never leave us behind and end his life. He is not that kind of person."

Aston quietly gazed at his father\'s photo. He was his role model and the person he respected the most. That\'s why he wanted to live a good life to make him proud but... his desperateness to reunite with his sister was stronger.

As such, he ended up joining a gang and ever since then, he was always ashamed of himself. He often wondered how his late father would think of him. He was convinced that he would really be disappointed in him.

He shifted his gaze to Nicole and her eyes told him that she understood him. She also lost her father at the age of 10. Come to think of it, they were strangely similar. Both their lives turned upside down following their father\'s death! He wondered if she would still understand him when she heard his past which he truly wanted to erase.

"My father died after being accused as a traitor, so life becomes so hard for our family. My mother suffered so much and one day, she lost her mind. She dragged me up in the mountains saying that we should die together. Aria was not at home, so she wasn\'t dragged along. Some people in the area who saw us called the police and they came to my rescue but me and my mother fell together before that." He paused before adding, "She died right away but I survived."

Nicole just understood what he told her in the hospital. She knew that his life wasn\'t that smooth either but this was beyond her expectation! How much pain would this man suffer as a young boy? She couldn\'t even think about it!

"Is that how you part with your sister?" She asked, looking at him the whole time.

Aston nodded his head. "I injured my head when I fell from the mountains. I was in a coma for weeks. The incident was reported in the news but our identity wasn\'t revealed. By the time I regained my consciousness, my sister was already gone. They said she was taken to an orphanage but no one can say the details."