***
Gideon smirked at Claire's panic-stricken expression. Who would want a mother like her?
That was the reason the Lee Family was very confident that Chaeyoung would side with them, instead of siding with Claire.
Claire and her team were elites. Yet, they had fallen into the trap of greed. One of their superiors had ordered them to accomplish a simple mission: Eradicate a group of terrorists that had been camping in a remote village. It was seemingly a very simple mission.
They were supposed to just go inside, plant the explosives and detonate them, that was all.
However, what they did not know was that one of the officials was using that place to hide the kids that had been kidnapped and used for organ supplement to the black market. The official needed someone to clean up after him. So, he decided to use his connections in the military to issue that order.
The official's plan worked perfectly.
Claire and her team killed more than twenty innocent souls and other people who were guarding them. Not that the Lee Family ever cared about killing innocent. In fact, they didn't really care about things like that. However, that particular incident was a special case as it involved Claire.
That information was actually the product of Mason's endless research on Claire. When Gideon found out, he immediately told the Lee Family about that, with hopes that they could use that information against Claire.
Now, many people might be wondering, why would Gideon betray Mason? Gideon was willing to even be poisoned for his King, yet he betrayed the King for telling the Lee Family about Claire.
Why?
Because Mason had left him for that woman...
Not just once but already twice. He never hesitated when he walked out of the Lee Family's mansion and chose to be with Claire. Gideon was jealous. That was right! He was jealous of Mason's feelings towards that woman! How could he abandon the Lee Family for Claire without even batting an eyelid? How could Mason… abandon him?
They grew up together! They were best friends! He couldn't deny that he… he loved Mason. He loved him to the point of sacrificing everything for him. Yet, Mason just left.
Mason's actions made Gideon almost mad from anger! Because of that, he searched for Claire's real identity. He hoped that he could use that to threaten her away from Mason. However, what surprised him the most was that Claire actually left Mason on her own accord.
He originally thought that it would be over after that. And indeed Mason came back and he was there… being his right-hand man. He was contented. He was happy. However, deep inside he also knew that Mason had never stopped looking for that woman. He wanted to know what had happened back then. What made her leave him. He even asked Gideon to help him.
Gideon never refused any of his requests, no matter how much it hurt him. That was all because he hoped to uncover something that would make Mason hate Claire. And he succeeded… he found out about that incident, which became the reason that Claire left Mason.
It was because she found out that the mission was actually to kill those children.
But did Mason hate her? No! To Gideon's horror, Mason smiled at him gently and told him how relieved he was to finally know that Claire had not left him because she had stopped loving him.
What kind of man would be so absurd to still love the person who had already left?
A foolish one.
Just like Gideon. He was such a fool to think that Mason would choose the Lee Family this time.
He was a fool to even hope that Mason would hesitate to leave.
He could never forget how Mason left, without even saying a proper goodbye to him!
How hateful! He was dying! But Mason did not even care about that.
Because of that, he had done everything that he could to convince the Lee Family to accomplish the plan that they had come up to kill Claire. He even personally invested his time and effort to convince Chaeyoung to come to Luxembourg. And it was all just so they could trap Claire.
And their plan worked. Now, he was sure that Chaeyoung would hate Claire after he finished telling her what had happened back then. Who would want to be with a murderer?
Gideon was almost sure that Chaeyoung would even allow Simon to kill her mother. After all, Chaeyoung had a righteous heart. Just like everyone in the Lee Family. She would not be able to stand what had happened to those children.
Gideon smugly looked at the mother and daughter duo as he thought about Chaeyoung's possible anger towards her mother at that moment.
After taking care of Claire, Gideon would declare Chaeyoung as the next Queen, so she would be able to lead their country. He couldn't wait to see the Vercello Family suffer from losing someone as valuable as Chaeyoung.
Chaeyoung just narrowed her eyes at Claire, her mind elsewhere. If her guess was right, then the children they were talking about were the ones from the article that she had found. Her mother and her team should be the ones responsible for that explosion.
She then remembered the letter that came with the articles. Was that what Jia Yan's father wanted to tell her? That they were innocent? The people who had killed him… were they the ones her mother was afraid of?
Chaeyoung instantly understood that the people who had ordered that explosion might be tying up loose ends. They wanted to silence the people, who could provide evidence on that explosion.
Her face turned colder as she stared at her mother, making her mother more nervous. That was the moment that Claire dreaded the most. The moment that her daughter would find out about her previous deeds.
"Is that the reason you left my father?" Chaeyoung asked while staring intently at Claire.
Claire's eyes were warm as she stared at her daughter. This was it. Just like what she expected, her daughter was staring coldly at her. Just like in her nightmares. She would hate her and walk away. Maybe, even forget that she had a criminal mother.
She slowly nodded at Chaeyoung's question. "I did not know that we... I killed them. When I found out… I was already with your father and…I started looking for evidence… then someone just started hunting us." She made a deliberate pause. "All my colleagues are dead because I... I went looking for evidence. I was so stupid to go against the people who could destroy countries with their missiles and obliterate island overnight."
"I am a murderer. I have killed those kids and my colleagues… I…" she lowered her head, trying her best to not break down in front of her daughter. The memories of her past were floating in her mind. Henry and she were the only remaining people who knew the identities of the people who had ordered them to do that.
That was also the reason she couldn't kill Henry no matter what. They were the only proof that someone else had ordered that mission. Someone…
Claire closed her eyes as she waited for Chaeyoung's to be disgusted and make remarks about her. That was her crime. She should accept the consequence of her sins. However, nothing came… she held her breath as she slowly lifted her head. To her surprise, Chaeyoung's head was also lowered, her hand was clutching the gun, making her knuckles white.
So, this was it?!
Would her own daughter kill her?
"So, you want to kill my mother because… she is my father's weakness?" Chaeyoung's voice suddenly echoed inside the bunker. It was followed by dead silence.
Gideon did not choose to answer her, instead, he tried to carefully observe her reaction. But with her head lowered, Gideon failed to see the expression of her face.
"Child, being with this type of woman will only hurt you. As a ruler, you should not have any weakness. You should be firm. Someone indestructible. Look at your father. Every time your mother's name is mentioned he will flinch. He did not even hesitate to run off… and leave the Lee family when he found out that there was a possibility that your mother was in the West." He explained.
"If I am right, it was also you and the Lee family who made him think that my mother was in the west, yes?" She asked directly.
"It was nothing but a test." He immediately answered. "Who would have known that he would run away and leave us again?" That was the fact, the Lee Family was not aware of. It was actually Gideon who told Mason about Claire's possible location. He just wanted to know if Gideon would still leave the family… and he did.
"So you did it because you see my mother as a loose end, someone that can be used to control my father. Am I right?" She asked as she looked at Gideon. Her gaze turned sharp as a realization dawned on her, slowly making her heart beat faster. "What about Lisa?"
She gritted her teeth before she added. "Do you see Lisa as a weakness as well?"
Gideon squinted his eyes at Chaeyoung. "Of course, she is. Lisa is a threat, through and through."
Chaeyoung paled at Gideon's words. "Then…" her eyes widened in horror as she thought of Gideon's words just now. She then made her way towards her computer but was directly blocked by Simon.
"What are you doing?" She looked at Gideon, then at Simon. "Let me through!" She commanded.
"Lisa's death is nothing but a warning, my little Queen. If you disobey us… your whole family will suffer. Your grandfather… Uncle… Your little cousin." Gideon gave her a creepy smile.
"You see now? You will become the Queen of this country! Conquer the Vercello Family and lead us!"
"Whether you like it or not!" He added.
However, his words had already turned into echo inside Chaeyoung's mind. The atmosphere of the room became even colder as she slowly turned her head towards Gideon. Her eyes were bloodshot and chilly. Even Claire and Henry instantly felt the murderous aura, seeping out of Chaeyoung.
"What did you say?" She asked. "Tell me, Gideon…" Chaeyoung paused as she tightened her grip on the gun in her hand. "Did you just say 'Lisa's death'?"
Stillness rolled over the entire room after Chaeyoung's words. A chilly air seemed to hit Gideon, making him tremble. For some reason, the current version of Chaeyoung seemed a little scarier than the usual. However, he still tried to compose himself as he looked straight into her eyes.
"Yes... my dear, you heard it right. Lisa will also die tonight."
Chaeyoung froze when she heard Gideon's confirmation. Her body became rigid as she felt a gush of coldness in her soul. Like a bucket of cold water was poured all over her being. His words seemed to still echo inside her.
Lisa's death…
Lisa's death…
She lowered her head and closed her eyes, as fear tightly clutched her chest. For the first time ever, Chaeyoung felt so much fear, she was shaking inwardly. She took shallow breaths as she tried to find a way to release the tension inside her. She couldn't let her emotions overpower her judgment. She needed to use her logic and think rationally.
She couldn't let her raging emotions muddle her mind…
Lisa…
Lisa…
Chaeyoung clenched her other hand, her knuckles turning white.
"You don't have to be so sad… You can always find a new fiancée. Weaknesses are actually life-threatening. They must be taken care of sooner or later." She heard Gideon add. His voice was righteous as if he was a father… giving her some advice.
A piece of silly advice.
"She…" Chaeyoung took a long, deep breath before she continued. "Lisa is not my fiancée!" She said, her head still lowered, eyes still closed.
"Oh? Don't tell me… you broke up?" Gideon mused. "Or… is she already your wife?" His face instantly changed when he realized the meaning of his words.
"She is already your wife?!" It was not a question but more a declaration this time. Gideon's face then turned into a scowl. How dare Lisa marry Chaeyoung without getting the Lee Family's blessing? Lisa was simply courting death!
Chaeyoung did not answer him. She remained silent. Her mind was trying to calculate everything. Her inner self was praying, hoping that Lisa was able to escape the attack that Gideon was talking about. Lisa should be safe, right?
Her mind began spinning, as she started thinking about the worst possible outcome of that day.
Chaeyoung immediately shook those thoughts out of her mind. In this kind of situation what if's and almost were the worst kind of words to describe the outcome. She needed to step up her game and let her mind overcome her raging emotions.
Seeing Chaeyoung's dark face slowly becoming serene, Claire heaved a sigh of relief. She could accept if Chaeyoung hated her… or got angry at her… however, seeing Chaeyoung's broken-hearted face was something that she, her mother, couldn't take.
She then watched as Chaeyoung lifted her head.
Chaeyoung looked at Gideon… her eyes showed nothing but stillness. Her eyes traveled from Gideon, who was ten feet away on her left, to Simon, who was towering in front of her. Then, once again, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You will regret adding the word 'death' next to my wife's name," she mumbled before she lifted her head to meet Simon's intimidating gaze.
Then, she gave him a vicious smile. "Die!"
With one swift movement, a knife sliced into the muscles of Simon's right forearm. That move surprised the latter a lot, making him motionless for a while. She then took a step back and revealed a six-inch combat knife in her hand.
Simon immediately clutched his arm as he felt his whole forearm getting numb. "What did you put on that knife? You bitch!"
Seeing that, Claire did not waste any second as she got a hold of her gun and pointed it at Gideon. However, the latter was fast enough to dash towards Claire, tackling her onto the floor.
At that point, Simon and Chaeyoung were already exchanging some blows with their knives. Chaeyoung might not be an expert when it came to knife combat but her agility was something that Simon could not compare.
"Die!" Gideon shouted as he swung a fist towards Claire. He might be poisoned, but the medicine that he had taken earlier had already done its job, boosting his strength and agility.
"I'm going to kill you!" Claire snarled as she stepped out of his attack range before bringing her hand up to defend. However, before she could strike back, she saw how Simon slammed Chaeyoung into the wall, making the latter throw up a mouthful of blood.
"Chaeyoung!!!"
A gush of pain jolted Chaeyoung's whole body as she felt her whole body being slammed on the wall. She felt how her limps began to weaken as her vision blurred, her eyesight became fuzzy. Then, she felt how her body was thrown away like a rag doll.
"Chaeyoung!" She heard her mother's voice. It seemed so far away.
Simon's strength was something that Chaeyoung never anticipated. The wound that she gave him seemed not to affect him at all. She tried to shake awake her ebbing consciousness and jolted up, sitting across Simon who was walking towards her.
"You are no match for me." She heard him say. There was something eerie in his voice. Chaeyoung assumed that Simon should be a trained assassin. Someone specially trained to kill without batting an eyelid.
Chaeyoung narrowed her eyes at Simon before looking at the gun lying five feet away from her. It was not that far away from Chaeyoung, yet she was sure that if she dashed for it, Simon would easily catch up and might throw her onto the wall again.
On Chaeyoung's right side Claire and Gideon were exchanging blows. She turned her attention to them. This was the first time that she saw her mother in action. Chaeyoung could not deny that Claire's movements were packed with power. They showed that she went through hard training and her mastery in hand to hand combat. She was the exact opposite of Chaeyoung.
Seeing that, Chaeyoung heaved a sigh of relief, at least she did not need to worry about her mother anymore. Once again, she turned her attention towards Simon before she slowly got up.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said, standing just a few feet away from her.
"Isn't it a little too late for that?" She asked, her tone laced with sarcasm. She tried to move her left arm, only to flinch from the pain. Possibly, she had an arm or a rib broken. Just the force of shoving her onto the wall was enough to do that. After all, Chaeyoung's body was not really muscular and strong to be able to withstand the impact.
"Stop fighting and surrender. I won't hurt you once you agree to be with us."
"Dream on!" Chaeyoung blurted out before dashing towards Simon. Punches and kicks were thrown, as the two tried to counter each other's attacks. Blood pooled in Chaeyoung's mouth as she felt Simon's fist hit her face. She also watched as Simon gagged when her fist hit his stomach.
Another ten seconds passed and Chaeyoung could feel her arms becoming numb as time passed by. She was not trained to fight an expert, yet she was doing her best to keep up.
Meanwhile, Claire was also doing her best to counter Gideon's attacks. Though the latter was sick, he was not giving her any leeway as he used a barrage of kicks in attacking Claire.
From time to time, Claire glanced at Chaeyoung who was already exhausted.
"Pah!"
A loud sound was heard when Gideon's fist hit Claire's jaw. It instantly made her dizzy. She stumbled on the floor as she shook her head, trying to shake away the pain. Then, she felt how Gideon tackled her, his hands instantly wrapping around her neck.
"Die!" Gideon snarled, his eyes were swollen and red, as he clenched his jaws in anger. He must kill this woman. That was what she deserved for taking Mason away from the Lee Family… from him.
Claire tried to overpower Gideon by using her lower body to lock his arms, but to no avail. He was too strong for her. She felt how her body was slowly draining away.
To her surprise, the blackness that she was expecting did not come. A loud thud was heard. She seemed to see Gideon being thrown away on the floor.
"Cough"
"Cough"
"Claire are you okay?" She heard Henry's voice echo. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again just to see Henry's pale face.
"Go… save Chaeyoung… I will take care of him." He said before slowly standing and limping towards Gideon.
Claire shook her head and furrowed her brows. She turned her eyes towards Chaeyoung who was also struggling below Simon. Her eyes immediately turned red in anger. "You monster! Get away from my daughter!" She bellowed before running towards Simon. She immediately threw the man away from Chaeyoung.
"Chae! Chaeyoung! Are you alright?" She asked while helping her daughter up.
"Who…" Chaeyoung did not finish her sentence as she realized that it was Henry who was already fighting Gideon.
She steadied herself as determination spread on her face. Chaeyoung spit another mouthful of blood before looking at Claire. Their gazes met as a silent agreement formed between the mother and daughter.
Two minutes before, outside the palace...
Lisa was looking at the wounded Jungkook and Jimin in front of her. Her gaze was dark and cold.
"Young Miss, there were a total of twenty men. They were all experts. I think they are from the Lee Family. However, I did not find any proof of that." Jin respectfully said.
"How many have died?" Lisa asked.
"There are a total of two deaths on our side and fifteen wounded, including Mr. Jungkook and Mr. Jimin." Jin answered. "We have captured four people from their side and killed thirteen. Some of them were able to escape. Our men are in pursuit now."
Lisa did not answer Jin as she walked out of the now ruined room.
"Young Miss … Your wound… where are you going?"
"Bring me the tablet. I'm going to the palace."
"Young Miss… your wound is bleeding… I…" Jin hesitated. "Going to the palace now will simply be suicide! They are on high alert! With all due respect, Young Miss…" Jin haltered his words when he met Lisa's cold eyes.
"Tablet! Now!" Lisa ordered sternly before shoving Jin out of her way.
Jin could only helplessly follow Lisa's order before running after her. His face was full of worry. Couldn't his Young Miss, at least, let the doctor finish treating her wound? It was a bullet wound for goodness sake. A bullet! She even was very pale! How could she rush to the palace at that point?
Jin made sure to grab a jacket for Lisa to wear. It would, at least, cover her bloodied shirt. Going to the palace was a very wrong decision in his opinion. Jin was almost sure that the security of the palace would immediately surround them once they see Lisa's bloodied state. However, no matter how much worried Jin felt inside, he could only follow Lisa's orders. After all, he also understood that Lisa was doing this for Miss Park.
Jin then remembered how Lisa was able to figure out that someone would also attack them when she heard Gideon's words. His boss's quick-thinking saved everyone as she immediately ordered them to vacate the place their team was. However, they were still not fast enough, which caused some injuries and death on their side.
However, the enemy did not expect Lisa's reinforcement to arrive so fast and that made them lose focus and eventually caused their defeat.
Both Lisa and Jin then got into an armored car and the latter immediately drove his Boss to the palace.
"Ma'am, I'm afraid we can't let you pass. We are on high-security alert at this moment. Please, drive back." Military personnel stopped them the moment they arrived near the palace gates.
Lisa immediately showed her ID to the soldier and told him to get Secretary Jia and tell him that she knew something about the terrorists.
After a few minutes, Secretary Jia asked Lisa to come inside for a talk. That was because Secretary Jia was not aware of the current events happening inside the bunker. He was just busy taking care of the aftermath of the attack.
"Miss Manoban... You don't look too well." Secretary Jia blurted out the moment he noticed Lisa's state. "Is there a problem?" He furrowed his brows as he examined Lisa's clothing.
"Go to the bunker. Chaeyoung is in danger," Lisa said before showing the recording from the tablet. Lisa was sure that Secretary Jia did not know anything about Lee Family's plans. After all, his position was not high enough for the Lee family to inform him about their plans. He was just someone working for the King and providing his service to the people.
"Where did you get this?" Secretary Jia asked as his face instantly turned dark. The video that he was watching was when Henry Lee revealed himself inside the bunker. Secretary Jia's expression then changed as he remembered something important. "What shall we do now? Only the King can open the bunker from the outside!"
....
Inside the bunker…
Claire and Chaeyoung were throwing some punches against Simon, while Henry was the one fighting with Gideon.
"Fool! Why are you still defending that woman!? You are a Lee! You must come back to the Lee Family!" Gideon shouted in between defending against Henry's fists. Henry was someone who continued working in the underworld after leaving the military. Because of that, his skills were still something that couldn't be underestimated.
Henry only scoffed at Gideon's words before throwing another kick, hitting Gideon's stomach. Seeing him stumble backward, Henry made a roundhouse kick, sending him tumbling away from him.
He might be wounded, but his training and years of practice were something Henry was very proud of. Seeing how Gideon tried to stand up but failed, Henry walked towards the gun on the floor.
"Henry, behind you!"
"Bang"
"Bang"
.....