The Manipulated Villainess

As soon as Aston left Nicole\'s apartment, he went to the address given to him by Leon. They already agreed to meet tonight.

As usual, he rode his bike and after around twenty minutes, he reached his destination. It was a contemporary mansion that wasn\'t too big compared to other mansions but it was more than enough for a small family.

He gets off his bike and when he pressed the doorbell, the gate was opened for him in no time. He made his way inside the mansion and Leon was sitting on one of the couch. The latter rose from his seat as soon as he saw him. "Welcome, Mr. Kang."

"I heard that you left your family mansion, Mr. Jung. Is this your new home?" Aston asked, walking towards Leon.

"Words spread fast." Leon simply smiled. "You\'re right. This is my new home."

Hearing the voice of the two men, Shara came down the stairs. She raised a brow when her gaze landed on the actor. She reached the floor in no time and walked to Leon. "You have a guest?" She asked, confused.

"We have a guest." Leon promptly corrected and chuckled. Turning his attention back to Aston, he said, "Please have a seat."

"You too, Shara." He added, glancing at Shara. The latter complied without saying anything. She was surprised to have a guest and on top of that, the guest was Aston Kang, the lover of Leon\'s ex-fiancee!

When Leon realized that Aston was flustered with the presence of another person, he clarified by saying, "You must hear from Nicole about the marriage registration. This is her. Her name is Shara Lee."

"Oh! Is that so? I was wondering who she might be." Aston still felt lost but Leon\'s next words gave him an answer.

"There won\'t be a problem. She is also a member of Blackhood." Leon assured him which made Shara raised a brow. Wasn\'t their identity a secret?!

"What is the meaning of this, Leon?" She quickly asked. She felt too lost!

"He is the Pacesetter," Leon replied which made Shara\'s mouth gape open!

No freaking way! The Pacesetter whom they searched for six whole months was none other than Aston Kang, the top celebrity of the country?! Does that even make sense?!

Aston simply smiled when he saw her reaction. "It\'s great to meet you. You seem to be shocked." He remarked.

Shara nodded while still staring at Aston. "This is beyond expectation. It\'s too hard to find you and I now know why."

"I\'m glad to hear that. It feels like the efforts I made to keep my secret pays off." Aston commented with a small smile. Then he turned to Leon. "I met with the leader of Reyon Gang. I ask him to stop the Red Tigers from forming an alliance with the Moyans. We will hear good news soon."

Aston made a deliberate pause and continued by saying, "You might not know why stopping this alliance from being formed is important. Once the Moyans turned their back on the Red Tigers, the Reyons won\'t take their side because the Red Tigers betrayed them. The gang will reach its lowest point and destroying it won\'t need much effort."

"I understand what you said. In your opinion, how much time will the Reyons need?" Leon promptly asked.

"I made a plan with the leader of Reyon Gang. I think it will be about a week. For our plan to succeed, the Moyans and the Red Tigers must meet up first but... " Aston paused when something caught his attention. He realized that Shara was gazing at him the whole time.

As a celebrity, he was used to getting attention but... it\'s different this time. Somehow, he felt like this woman was observing him. Did she even listen to him?

"Is something wrong?" He asked, slightly tilting his head to the left. What was wrong with her?

Shara was completely zoned out and it wasn\'t until Leon called her name that she was back to her sense.

"Shara, is something wrong?" Leon asked, turning to Shara who was sitting beside him.

Shara flinched and turned her head around. She saw the two men staring at her with a confused face. She was back to reality. "I\'m sorry. Did I distract you?" She promptly uttered with an apologetic face.

"You can rest if you want. I can inform you about the details later." Leon couldn\'t hide how flustered he was. It\'s more than rare to see Shara being this distracted!

"I\'m fine." Shara forced a little smile and turned to Aston. "Please continue, Mr. Kang. I apologize again."

"No problem," Aston recalled his meeting with Nathan Woo. "There\'s a chance that we might need more than a week. Our source said that the meeting between the two gangs is scheduled to take place after a week but the Moyans can\'t say anything clearly for now. I think it\'s them being careful. After all, the Red Tigers are the long time ally of the Reyons." He explained.

"Okay. I will remember that." Leon bent a little forward to Aston when he realized one thing. "By the way, our informant wish to meet you."

"Edwin Zo?" Aston\'s lips curved into a slight smile. "I was expecting that."

"Does that mean you agreed to meet him?"

"Yes, but not tonight. It\'s late and I\'m tired." He simply replied without much thought.

"It must be tough to help us in this mission while you are very busy." It was Shara who spoke up for the first time in minutes.

Aston glanced at Shara and saw a shadow of concern on her face but he didn\'t think much about it. "I also do it for myself, Nicole too. I don\'t want Lester to get involved with her. I have enough of his manipulation." His calm voice was suddenly replaced by a firm one.

If it wasn\'t because of Lester Yun, he wouldn\'t have to be ashamed of himself and his past! His life won\'t be this messed up either!

When the mansion became very quiet due to the sudden change of mood, Aston felt apologetic as he was the one who caused the change. "I won\'t talk about myself. I have a question for you." He was talking to Leon.

"What is it?" Leon promptly asked back.

"Nicole is quite worried about you. She said that you don\'t answer her calls. You cut ties with your father and even left your family home." Aston was never the type to meddle in other people\'s business but he couldn\'t refrain himself this time. After all, Leon suffered because he took the blame, alone.

"Home," Leon muttered and narrowed his eyes at the floor. A little smirk was seen on his face. "I don\'t think I have a place where I could call home."

His family home? It was the same place that never gave him peace ever since his mother\'s death. If it wasn\'t for his father\'s sake, he would already move out long ago! That place called his \'home\' only suffocated him.

Aston remained quiet, thinking about what Leon just said. Did he say what he shouldn\'t? It was clear that the only son of the Prime Minister didn\'t have a rosy life either!

Aston was an orphan, so he used to long for a family. A warm parents. That always haunted him but... this man who was sitting opposite to him had a father which he didn\'t. However, the father was the one who made Leon\'s life miserable.

He wondered which one of them was more unfortunate. He, an orphan or Leon, who suffered because of his father.

"Tell Nicole that I\'m fine." Leon briefly glanced at Shara before he turned his attention back to Aston. "I\'m not alone and that\'s enough for me. I cut ties with my father but it\'s not Nicole\'s fault. It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway. So, she doesn\'t have to feel bad."

After hearing out Leon, Aston wondered if he should say what was on his mind. Then he spoke up. "Nicole also said that your father must be in shock. Her step-mother said that she hadn\'t seen your father since that night."

Shara darted her eyes to Leon. As the one who knew him the best, she knows that this news would affect him but Leon was quite calm.

"I have nothing to do with him now. We\'re just strangers." Leon uttered. His voice was unyielding.

All those years, he suffered and put up with everything just because of one reason. He loved his father. But now, he had reached his limits. No. His father had forced him beyond his limits. He couldn\'t take it anymore!

He cut ties with his father and left the house because he couldn\'t take it anymore. If he remained there, he might end up hating his father and he didn\'t want that to happen.

Now that he already made up his mind, there was no going back for Leon.....