[2] The Vicious Wife

If I were a man

"President, the heir of the Dongfang family is walking our way." Lia's words woke her up from her stupor.

"Mrs. Park." It was Old Man Dongfang, the same man that Roseanne met during the bidding. "I heard that you donated five million for the cause? Thank you."

Roseanne nodded in response. "I heard that you will take care of the hospital's construction. What a remarkable thing to do." Roseanne was talking about the children's hospital that this gala was about.

The old man let out a laugh. "Thank you. Ah... here. I want you to meet my grandson. Dongfang Lan. He is already working as my vice president now."

"Nice to meet you." Dongfang Lan was about Roseanne's age. Maybe a little older. High cheekbones, phoenix-like eyes, and a sly smile were the first things that Roseanne noticed.

"Same here." She responded as she shook his hand. She gave the man a polite smile.

"I was expecting to see Mr. Park with you. But I guess... he was busy." The Old Man said. His voice did not have a tinge of malice in it. But the unfathomable glint in his eyes was unmistakable. Roseanne sneered inwardly.

"He is taking care of some relatively unimportant problems."

"Really..."

"Hmmm... Of course, it was already handled." Roseanne smiled at the old man.

"Interesting." Dongfang Lan muttered.

Roseanne responded with a smile. The Dongfang family had a grudge against Park Jimin late grandfather. However, even though the Park Family was already under a new patriarch, this grievance did not stop, instead, it had even become bigger. Of course, Roseanne already expected the old man to know that Park Jimin was from the original line of Park's- the people that he hated the most.

While Roseanne does not know where this grievance came from, she was still intending to defend her husband and stand next to him against these people.

"Hmmm..." the old man nodded as he eyed the man behind his grandson. "Well... I wish you luck in your business endeavors in Gangnam." The old man handed Roseanne a glass of champagne as he held his glass towards Roseanne. "To more projects."

Roseanne smiled in response. She accepted the glass and tilted it towards the old man. "To more partnerships."

"You are not going to drink that?" the Old Man said when he saw Roseanne only offered a toast but did not drink the champagne. He gave Roseanne a stern look, a direct response to her rudeness.

"I don't do alcohol." Roseanne smiled. "I used to... but not anymore."

The Old Man grunted until her gaze fell into Roseanne's stomach. Then a tinge of understanding flashed in his eyes. "I see." He nodded. "My apologies then."

"I will drink that." A voice interrupted them and before anyone could say anything, Park Moonbyul already got the glass and drank its contents. She held the empty glass and gave both Roseanne and the old man a smile. "I hope you don't mind."

"You-"

"Oh... please... Miss Roseanne here is a good friend." Moonbyul's sudden declaration instantly caused some murmurs from the people who heard them. "I mean... I considered her as one. After we met in Paris... In one of my recitals. Ah... was that two years ago?"

Roseanne lifted an eyebrow before she nodded. "Almost three years. Actually." She gave them a sweet smile. "How have you been?" The turn of events was unexpected. Even Roseanne did not think that Park Moonbyul would do something like this. However, she still went with the flow.

"Good. Everything is good." Moonbyul gave her a sweet smile. She then shifted her gaze at the Old Man. "I was looking forward to seeing you tonight, Miss Roseanne. When I heard that you are coming, I totally got excited."

"I didn't know that Miss Park is actually very well informed." Dongfang Lan joined the conversation after Moonbyul started talking about stocks.

"I love music and everything about it. However, I also majored in business administration and management when I was in Paris. I got a lot of experience when it comes to managing the... family business too." Moonbyul answered. The confidence in her voice was unmistakable.

Roseanne only smiled as she listened. According to her files, Park Moonbyul was smart. Smarter than her two younger brothers. She graduated college before her twenty-first birthday and started working in the Park Co., immediately. But a few years ago, she just stopped.

She stopped working and started doing drugs. She also decided that music was her calling, so she started playing Piano more. This made the current patriarch furious. Some say that he almost disowned Moonbyul after her first concert. While some say, he had slapped her so hard, she lost a tooth.

These were all rumors. However, the Dongfang family knew that some of these rumors were true. It was true that Moonbyul received a slap from her grandfather. It was also true that he almost disowned her. However, her two brothers begged their grandfather to give her a chance. They convinced him that there is still a chance that their sister will change for the better.

Sadly, this did not happen. In fact, her reputation became worse as months passed by. She started drinking too much. She slept around with various men, second generation heirs and people that she just met.

This made it hard for the old man to find a husband for her. Roseanne knew that the purpose of this gala was to make people think that everything about Park Moonbyul were all rumors. She also knew that the old man found a possible husband for her. Someone that would not care about her reputation at all. The old man thought that they could use this gala to at least show that Moonbyul is not as scandalous as the rumors say. But... Roseanne knew this won't change a thing.

Not after she drank the champagne from Old Man Dongfang.

Roseanne watched as more and more people joined them. Men and women started to gather around, joining in the conversation with smiles all over their faces. While everyone in this room already knew of the Park family's motive, many people still pretended that they were unaware.

Some of them chose to get close to Park Moonbyul. They smiled and gave compliments as they chuckled, making sure that they let the world know that they were acquainted. After all, she was a Park. She was someone whose family could easily crush most people from this room. Moreover, her future husband is another influential person who was born in South Korea but grew up in the west.

"Hehehe... I was going to say that you have a really... really hot bodyguard." Moonbyul's whisper towards Roseanne woke her up from her stupor. "I didn't recognize that this was someone from the Yang Family. Good... Good choice."

Roseanne nodded as she glanced at the woman who was already beaming inappropriately at everyone.

"You are very pretty too... Hehehe... If I were a man I would never let you go." Moonbyul whispered. Before she looked at one of the women surrounding them. "Miss Chen... I heard that you married someone from a prominent family? Someone rich but..."

"Alright. Let's go. We are going." Roseanne suddenly interrupted as she held Moonbyul's arms. "She's already drunk." She sent a meaningful look towards the old man. "I will make sure that she gets home safely."

"But Miss Park will still perform, right?" the woman called Miss Chen said. Concern laced his tone but her eyes contain some mockery. "I came here because I heard that Miss Park will perform one of the piece that she composed all by herself."

"Oh... right! The performance. I need to perform first... Okay, old friend?" Park Moonbyul said as she tried to remove Roseanne's hand from her arm.

"No... she is drunk." Roseanne said sternly as she roamed her eyes to the people around them. "I will invite everyone in an orchestra in the next few days. By then... Miss Park will perform her masterpiece. If you say that you came here because of her performance and not because of the charity cause, then... please give your name to my secretary. I will pay you back for your tickets and triple it as a compensation for the inconvenience that I have caused." She gave everyone a cold smile.