The Manipulated Villainess

Nicole already received a call from Aston who informed her about what happened. The Chairwoman was more than happy to hear the news but when Aston arrived, he was alone.

"My stepmother didn\'t come back with you?" she asked Aston with a confused face.

Aston nodded. "Chairman Jun brought her home. I think she needs a rest."

When Alex Jo heard this, he was quite surprised. "I will go and check on her," he quickly said.

"Thanks for keeping her company," Aston said to Alex Jo who nodded with a little smile. Then the latter quickly left Nicole\'s house.

"Is something wrong?" Nicole asked Aston who was trying hard to act positive. Somehow, she finds his behaviour strange. This wasn\'t like him.

Aston Kang recalled how Peter Jung admitted to killing Zachary Yang. It was already hard enough for Nicole to learn that Peter Jung was the mastermind behind her messed up life and now... she must also know that he killed her father?

He couldn\'t bring himself to tell her.

"The Prime Minister is arrested and Colin Park will follow him soon," he calmly said. "Everything will be revealed to the public in the morning. So, it will be a tough day. I think you should rest for now. It\'s already past midnight."

"You\'re acting strange, Aston," Nicole muttered when she met Aston\'s gaze. "What happened?"

Aston glanced at the curious yet serious face of Nicole. When her sufferings during all those years crossed his mind, it troubled him more.

She didn\'t deserve any of that.

"Peter Jung admitted to your stepmother that... he was the one who killed your father," he finally said yet he cautiously observed her expression.

She always had her suspicion but... now that it was confirmed, Nicole Yang wasn\'t okay at all!

Peter Jung already tormented her for years by using her stepmother and now... he was also the one who killed her father?!

"How?" she muttered.

Her father was always healthy and though his health declined a lot since her mother\'s death, it was a miracle that his condition worsened that fast in just a few months!

"He is yet to confess the details but we suspect that he used a long term poison to decrease your father\'s health little by little." Aston made a deliberate paused and continued by saying, "When I met your stepmother a day ago, she said that she has some suspicions. When your father started to get ill, his secretary for years suddenly resigned saying that she needs to tend to her ailing mother.

"Your stepmother investigate the secretary after learning the true nature of Peter Jung. She said she finds out that the secretary lived abroad in luxury. That\'s suspicious as she is someone from a middle-class family."

"I still remember her," Nicole said as she recalled her late father\'s secretary in her memory. "How can such a kind looking young woman committed such an evil deed?"

The Chairwoman squeezed her dress and glanced at Aston. "Have my family ever offended Peter Jung in the past? Why did he commit such heinous crimes against us? I don\'t understand why he did these! My father -"

"Nicole," Aston muttered in a gentle voice when she was talking too fast to the point where she could barely catch her breath!

Nicole fell silent at once but... a tear rolled down her face right away. "I wish I could kill him," she said in a very low voice. "He doesn\'t deserve to live."

"He is caught now," Aston calmly said as he holds her hand. "It will be over soon. He will be punished by the law and believe me. For someone like Peter Jung, falling from his grace will be worse than death. He will wish to die each day."

* * *

"How can you keep this from me, Nathan? You know how much Uncle Joshua meant to me!"

In her hospital room, Cassandra Lim was sitting on the bed, glancing at Nathan Woo with anger and disappointment.

"It\'s his wish, Cassandra. He asked me not to tell you because he knows that you will be like this once you heard the news." Unlike his girlfriend, the voice of the Reyon Boss was very calm and patient. He was prepared for this reaction and he was trying his best to explain it to her.

"I asked him to help me, not to turn himself in. Why must he -"

"He does it not to drag your late father and the name of your Moyan Gang into this," Nathan answered her before she could even finish asking the question.

When Cassandra Lim heard what Nathan said, she raised a brow and looked at Nathan with a confused face.

"I\'m telling the truth, Cassandra. Besides... " Nathan abruptly paused when he almost spit out the truth which he wished to keep hidden.

"You should finish what you\'re saying," Cassandra firmly said, showing no sign of backing down.

"Cassandra -"

"Tell me the truth, Nathan. I don\'t want you to keep anything from me."

Nathan Woo remained quiet and only stared at Cassandra for a while. Then he finally said, "Peter Jung was the one who gave the order to kill Aston\'s father and... Joshua Kim was the one who fulfiled it. He met Aston\'s father and shot him. It was disguised as a suicide."

Cassandra Lim was stupefied by what she heard! Usually, her adoptive father and Joshua Kim would simply send their men to fulfil the task. The only exception was when her adoptive father shot Nathan\'s father himself but... that was because of the long-standing rivalry between the two gangs.

"I know you don\'t expect this but... I heard that Peter Jung requested Joshua Kim to do it himself as he was the most capable one among your father\'s men. The Prime Minister was very cautious of that task. Maybe because the target was a police officer," Nathan explained when he understood Cassandra\'s thoughts.

As a gang boss himself, they understood each other and were great at reading each other when it comes to their gang affairs.

"Try to understand, Cassandra. Now that Peter Jung is caught, do you think he will hesitate to expose Joshua Kim, especially after he was threatened by him while you were kidnapped?" Nathan asked and shook his head. "Joshua Kim knew the Prime Minister well. That\'s why he decided to turn himself in rather than being caught later."

Nathan\'s words put Cassandra in a daze. When Joshua Kim agreed to help her, does it mean he already knew that he will also suffer if he ever targeted Peter Jung? He still agreed to help her knowing that?!

Nathan Woo holds Cassandra\'s hand when he saw the pain in her eyes. "It\'s his decision, Cassandra. He wants you to respect his choice. He will take the blame alone to make sure that your gang won\'t have to suffer for this."

"He just retired and start to live a normal life," Cassandra Lim muttered. "He can choose to not pay for his sins but... he makes that decision to help me feel better. I told him that it\'s too tormenting to live this way."

"Cassandra -"

"I shouldn\'t have said such words to him, Nathan. No matter what crime he commits, he\'s a precious person to me. If it\'s not for him, I don\'t think I will be able to overcome all those hardships I faced under my adoptive father. All those years, he is always the only one who takes my side no matter what."

Nathan Woo rose from his seat and hugged her. "We can meet him later," he said in an assuring voice. "Once you meet him, tell him everything that you wish to say to him."