Vengeance

Chapter 18

The ride home was quiet as apprehension lingered in the air.

Jiae received a call from Jaebum saying they've elapsed the safest time frame he could give, and was told they would have to take a longer route to head home for Mapo as there were spottings of the similar vehicles from the video feed he passed on to Mark's personal assistant only a few meters from the clinic.

The leader of Mino's elite squad even suggested that should things go any worse Irene and Arin should ride a different car from him, this way they might slip both back to the headquarters by using different routes to avoid being detected but Mark declined, his best chance to return them safe would be to stay as close to them as possible.

It's risky but he's not letting his daughter out of his sight until he's sure she's perfectly safe, not to mention he promised he would return Irene unharmed as well, and it's not something he's willing to break, not when she already suffered so much by simply being with him.

"Whatever it is you're dreading, it's starting, isn't it?" Irene murmured so softly he almost missed her words, pale hand intertwining against his as she huddled closer to him, "Jinyoung's been far too protective than usual, it's kind of scaring me as well."

"I don't think it's right to worry you any more than-

Mark started to say but she shushed him off with a lingering kiss, soft lips almost a ghost of warmth against his, and then contentedly snuggled on his shoulder, pulling at his free arm to drape over her frame. Arin was still peacefully asleep on his other side, cocooned in one of her blankets as she curled on his chest, blissfully unaware of the danger they might face.

"Except from being so much quieter, you and Jinyoung are literally so alike in that you both need to stop thinking I'll break at the slightest pressure. I'm twice as tough as you two, you know." Irene told him, right eyebrow lifting in a challenge, which Mark easily had to concede to.

Irene might never be comparable to Seungwan in his eyes but no words could ever encompass the amount of respect he has for the woman she is right now, facing her mother's death at such a young age only to discover that it was part of her father's ploy in his insatiable hunger for power, the disaster of her teenage years when Junho decided to ship her off so no one could use her anymore and ultimately married her off to Mark in an effort to expand his growing reach. And yet here she still stands, pristine as the first breath of spring, a fragrant blossom that stood by the harshest of winters, and a woman limited only by her overwhelming capability to understand.

"Apologies, then, Madame." Mark said with a wry smile that Irene returned before returning to where she buried half of her face on his shoulder, sighing softly, "I'm not sure how much you understand about Kim Jongdae's involvement with our past but I'm quite certain this is his doing, and yes whatever that bastard's planning, it's starting."

"There's just these few couple of months back then where Jinyoung would randomly stay quiet for the whole day speaking to no one, not even me, but he'd never told me why or what happened for him to do so. I always just assume it's something so terrible he'd rather not reminisce about it." Irene started, eyes curious as she tightened her hold on Mark's hand, as if bracing herself for the magnitude of the truth she wanted to know.

"I'm not in the position to tell you his side of the story, but Kim Jongdae... was involved with the death of-well not just involved, he was the one who killed my mother. Said she had it coming, I had it coming being my father's family, and that he wanted me to remember that he would wait for me to rise and succeed the Mafia, and when I'm finally strong enough he'd come back and this time he'll finish what he started." Mark said with a dry chuckle, pissed beyond relief upon remembering that particular incident.