The Wrong Bride

54 | Jisoo

I'm absentminded as I take a bite of the breakfast Alanna made for me. I tried not to, but I ended up scrolling through my social media feeds all night, and I found nothing but hatred directed at me.

Despite Taehyung's best attempts, screenshots of deleted content are making their rounds across all channels. We've made it into every single gossip magazine, and they're all scrambling to create timelines of Taehyung and Irene's relationship.

It came to no surprise to me when Dispatch reported on Irene's pregnancy, which only villainized me further. Now I'm not just the woman standing in between two childhood sweethearts, I'm also the evil stepmother-to-be.

Watching my love for Taehyung being turned into a spectacle for everyone to witness is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Photos I can't recall taking are being posted online, showcasing how we used to look at each other when Irene and Taehyung were still dating. The media have everyone convinced that I've been seducing him for years, trying to break up Irene and him.

Everything about this reeks of her. She's always done this to me. Every single thing she's ever done to me, she's made me take the blame for, twisting our story until I'm the villain. This is what she'll do to me for the rest of our lives.

What will it be like once the baby is born? Will she somehow manage to use her own child against me too? I have no idea how long it'll take her to make Taehyung turn his back on me, but I suspect she eventually will.

I take a sip of my coffee, trying to take my mind off the videos of people destroying my designs, some of which were hand sown by me, all of them citing that they won't support a two-faced home wrecker. Then there's the death threats from Irene's fans, and the loss of my own fanbase.

I've had countless modeling contracts canceled without anyone so much as asking me for an explanation. She's destroying me, step by step, and it won't stop until she gets what she wants.

Hanbin chuckles and glances at me. "Kim
bought Dispatch and several other gossip magazines. He banned them from reporting on you."

My heart skips a beat at the thought of Taehyung. I truly thought we could get through anything together, but eventually, he'll tire of this battle too. He can't save me when it's my own sister that's executing my fall from grace.

Hanbin groans when the doorbell rings, his eyes finding Alanna's. "How much do you want to bet that we're about to find more Kims on our doorstep?"

She grins at him and shrugs. "I'd be disappointed if they didn't show up, Han. Jisoo deserves to be part of a family that'll love her the way her own won't. Let's see if the Kims deserve her or not."

Hanbin sighs and smiles at her indulgently. "Ten paper cranes," he tells her. "That what you'll owe me if you make me host more Kims ."

Alanna wraps her arm around me and nods. "I'll give you fifteen."