Author's birthday special chapter:
JAE AND MARK'S WEDDING
DAY
Taehyung and Jae has already decided what they want to do — part ways.
Jae still sent Taehyung an invite to make the twins happy and to keep the situation more civil. She mentally hopes and prays that he does turn up. She's currently in a battle with her mind — blame herself or not to blame herself.
Meanwhile, Mark ensures that his perfect day isn't ruined.
He doesn't want a scene nor a ruckus to be caused by Taehyung, so he decides to take care of things in his own way once again.
Taehyung left early in the morning, while everyone was asleep. He can't bear watching the woman he loves get married to his archenemy.
He has been fighting back his entire life. Trying to battle his demons that wanted to tear him down
— Mark and Bomi being included as those demons.
Taehyung leaving isn't him being a coward and not fighting back — that's him putting himself first. He is prioritising his mental health. He fought back physically and mentally. He fought back already when he challenged Mark, when he gained that bottled up love for Jae, when he created that special bond with his daughters, when he opened up to Jimin and Namjoon about what he went through.
He realises that he isn't alone. He has incredible people supporting him — people he's proud to consider as family.
Taehyung's departure isn't permanent, it's until he is able to fix himself slowly and come to terms with everything that's happened. He is doing this until he has recovered, both, mentally and physically — for the betterment of his health.
He's arrived at the airport with his luggage in hand and Jaehyun helps him out.
Jaehyun faces him and stares at Taehyung in worry. "Are you sure you want to do this, sir?"
Taehyung sends him a small smile and nods. "Yeah. For once, I need to think about myself too. With everything that's happened, I feel like I should do this, but it's not going to be forever."
"I'm glad." Jaehyun smiles. "You're so strong, sir. I really admire you. You've been my role model since I first joined the company. Well, you're the reason why I joined, anyway. I wanted to be like you."
Taehyung shakes his head and places his hand on Jaehyun's shoulder. "I want you to be better than me. I know you're capable of achieving more and bigger. Which is why", then he hands Jaehyun a file from his suitcase, "you're going to be taking over Gucci during my time away."
Jaehyun's eyes widen. "Sir, no. I can't accept this. I can never do what you've done for the company. I'm not fit for that position."
"If I didn't think you were capable of it, I wouldn't have handed the position over to you. You know the company inside out. For the past five years, I've seen you flourish into the fine man you are. I'm proud of you." Taehyung responds, smiling at him.
Jaehyun listens and slowly takes the file from him. "You didn't have to do this. I won't let you down and I won't make you regret this."
Taehyung hugs him. "That's my boy."
Jaehyun smiles with tears brimming and hugs him back. "You know, sir, I've always looked up to you as an older brother I've never had. You're the best."
Taehyung tries to hold back his tears and parts. "Don't make me cry, please." Then he chuckles and picks up his luggage. "Now you should be heading off to the wedding. The boys will probably be expecting you there."
"Are you sure you will be alright, sir?" Jaehyun asks with worry laced in his tone.
"Of course, I will be, don't worry about me." Taehyung responds with a reassuring smile. "Off you go."
Jaehyun nods, enters his car and starts the engine. Him and Taehyung both smile and wave at each other before Jaehyun drives off.
Taehyung lets out a sigh. He turns around and faces the airport with his luggage in his hands. So, this is it. Time to leave. I'll miss you, Jae, my beautiful daughters and my brothers.
2 HOURS LATER . . .
The wedding venue is filled with murmuring and chit chat, as they all, including Mark, are waiting for Jae. Only one person is nowhere to be seen and it is Jimin. Rave tries to phone Jimin repeatedly. Where is he? He was supposed to be here by now. She contemplates.
"Eomma, where is Appa?" Jesung asks Rave.
"That's what I have been asking myself, baby. Even I am wondering where he is." Then she smiles at him. "I'm sure he will be here soon."
Jesung nods and swings his legs back and forth in his seat. He peeks at Mae and his cheeks turn pink, contemplating on how reminiscent she appears of a Disney princess.
The doors open, revealing Jae. She walks in with her mother. Her father was supposed to turn up, but he had a last-minute call and ended up attending somewhere important.
As she enters the hall, she walks down the aisle with her mother, making her way towards Mark.
Mark turns around and eyes her dress, ogling at her from head to toe. He was impatient for the day to end already, so he can spend time with her later tonight.
Mark reaches his hand out for her to hold, due to which she hesitantly accepts his hand and steps on to the stage with both of them exchanging glances.
He grins at her, which raises Jae's suspicion. Is that normal? She contemplates.
The registrar then proceeds until the end. "If any person has a reason for why they may not be joined together. Speak now or forever hold your peace-"
Suddenly the doors of the wedding venue slam open, revealing a familiar figure rushing in and yelling, "I object! This wedding can't continue!"
Everyone looks back at the figure who's panting heavily with his hands on his knees, staring right at the couple. Jae's eyes widen. "Jimin?"
Rave walks to Jimin and notices his blood all over his shirt and his hands. "Jimin, what happened? Why is there blood all over you?"
He steals a glance at his wife, his eyes glistening and beginning to water. "Something's happened."
"What's happened? Tell me." Rave questions with a concerned countenance written all over her face.
Jimin continues to breathe heavily and tears fall down his cheeks. "It's Taehyung."
Jae's heart immediately hurts when she hears his name but in such a way that something untoward has happened. She steps down the stage, makes her way towards Jimin with a gaze of worry. "Jimin? What happened to Taehyung? Is he okay? He's not hurt, is he?" She questions.
"He....he.....he's in the....hospital. Lost a lot of blood." He tries to get his words out in between heavy breaths.
She deciphers his words and her countenance morphs from worry to disbelief. "Wait, what? How did that happen?"
Jimin sends a deadly glare to Mark's direction. "Why don't you ask....your husband-to-be?"
Confusion drapes Jae's face as she glances over at Mark. "What is he talking about, Mark?"
Mark scoffs. "Me? I had something to do with it? Yeah, right." He shakes his head and speaks to Jimin. "Of course you needed someone to blame and you pick me as an easy target."
Jimin gradually begins to calm his breathing down as he straightens himself up, not caring that he has blood all over him and tears on his cheeks. "Mark, quit your nonsense. It's time to own up now."
"Own up to what, Park Jimin?" Mark raises his voice.
"That you tried to murder Taehyung!" Jimin snaps with his eyes glaring at Mark.
Jae could not believe her ears.
Mark shakes his head. "As if anyone will believe this rubbish."
"Oh yeah and another thing, I don't recall hearing a certain conversation with an old friend on the phone. He was planning on having the twins kidnapped and pin the entire blame on Taehyung so he doesn't interfere with you and the girls and was going to turn you against Taehyung. Mark wanted to ensure that Taehyung will be out of your lives for good." Jimin adds, explaining Mark's scheme.
"What..." Jae mumbles, almost stumbling still in disbelief.
"So who's with Taehyung, right now?" Ace questions in a worried tone.
"Jaehyun's with him. Apparently he's in a critical condition." Jimin responds.
The voices Jae hears in the hall, drown in the background. She was still in disbelief as to how low Mark stooped to involve her innocent daughters in his evil plan. The same man who she was engaged to, even had feelings for, at one point, trusted to bring up her daughters who they call father, planned to have them kidnapped.
She feels her breathing almost coming to a stop but she composes herself.
Mark steps off the stage and walks towards Jae, holding her hands in his. "Come on, baby. You can't possibly believe that I would do something like that."
She gazes sternly, not convinced by his words.
Jimin glances at the pair, hoping that Jae won't fall for his words again. He already didn't approve of them being together in the first place, so supporting their marriage was out of the question but he had to tolerate it for the sake of Jae's happiness.
"Remember who truly hurt you." Mark attempts to convince her. "It was Taehyung. You moved on from him and found love from me. He hurt you."
"At least he wouldn't even think about kidnapping innocent children, let alone his own daughters." She lets go of his hands. "It's all beginning to add up. Now I'm convinced that the person who forced Taehyung to hurt me was you. You and Bomi."
Jimin has the sudden urge to smirk but he holds it back.
"I wondered why a lovely boy like Taehyung had suddenly changed in high school when he started dating Bomi straightaway. It was because of you and her. Believe it or not, he was actually really friendly towards me. We got along pretty well. That was, until you both entered the picture and ruined it all. Right?" She explains, demanding an answer from Mark.
He scoffs. "Come on, Jae." Then he gets interrupted.
"Just answer it." Jae snaps.
"Look, I don't know why you're making up such a story, but I don't appreciate you treating me like this, especially since you're embarrassing me in public." Mark glares.
Jimin's jaw clenched when he witnesses Mark's behaviour.
Jae raises an eyebrow at Mark's answer and takes a step towards him with a threatening gaze. "Oh, I have every right to treat you like that. I can tolerate a lot of crap being spat at me but one thing I will never tolerate is you thinking about hurting my daughters. Let's establish something clearly, Mark Tuan. You even so try to lay a finger on them, trust me, you won't see the light of day again. I'll make sure of that. Do not underestimate me."
Mark's jaw clenches as well as his fists while staring at Jae with such rage in his eyes. The one thing he has struggled to manage with for a long time, is his anger. He had trouble with that since the start.
Jae glances down at his fists then back up at him. "You're going to punch me? Go on. I dare you." She encourages him fearlessly. "I've dealt with enough of your rubbish lately, as it is. I knew that ever since Taehyung returned, you changed. Drastically. You turned into a monster. Oh wait, sorry. You always were the monster. I just failed to see right through you because I loved you but my feelings for you diminished the moment you tried to raise your hand on me, last time."
Utter shock is displayed on Rave, the girls and Jimin's face when they hear that Mark tried to hurt Jae.
Jae adds. "You think I'm such an easy target? Think again."
Mark scoffs and shakes his head. "You really think I would do that to them?"
"Well, Jimin wouldn't lie to me about this. Neither would the twins." Jae retorts, causing Mark to stare at her with a perplexed countenance. Once she understands his confusion, she begins revealing. "I will mention this now, in front of everybody, so they will witness more of your true colours. Yesterday, Mae and Ava told me that they overheard your conversation with someone on the phone. They heard you mentioning that you intended to possibly harm them because of Taehyung."
Gasps and chatter resonate within the hall. Mark is frozen in his position, staring at her in shock with a 'she wasn't supposed to find out' countenance. Jae eyes him in disgust.
"I actually thought you were a decent guy when we first met. When you helped me through everything, even with raising the twins, I felt belonged, and I thought I could love again. But you turned out to be a jerk. You know what, I am glad that I discovered your true colours before the wedding and on this day. I can't imagine how our marriage would have turned out." She says in a stern tone.
Mark sneers. "And you spoiled everything. So did your daughters. I was going to marry you just to exact my revenge on your parents. They wronged my father and my mother. My parents did everything for yours and what did they receive in the end? Betrayal. They just had to give the promotion to Taehyung's parents, all because of their childhood history together."
Jae shakes her head. "A promotion? That's what this was about? You're so childish! It was just a promotion, there was no need to wreak havoc over this—"
"It wasn't just a promotion!" Mark snaps. "My parents lost everything – their money, their reputation, their respect. It angered them, so they hatched a plan and I offered to help. I knew what to do, I had to use Taehyung. Poor innocent Taehyung, who was such a nerd and a freak, who happened to fall in love with you. Then all because of me and Bomi, he turned into such a jerk towards you. He did it as part of our ploy."
Jae was shocked to hear the truth from his mouth. She was in disbelief. Then that's when things started to make sense and add up for her – the conversation she had with Taehyung in the café. He practically told her Mark's plans and schemes, but she mentally scolds herself for not realising sooner that it was Mark, all along.
Mark continues explaining. "He hated loathing you because of us, but since he didn't want to do as he was told, we decided to hurt him. And I enjoyed every second of it—"
A hard slap meets Mark's cheek from Jae's hand. She glares at him. "You sick person. I cannot believe I even met you let alone agree to spending the rest of my life with you. And to think that my daughters call you their father."
Mark holds his cheek in shock, glowering at her with angry eyes. He is about to raise his hand on her when Jae grabs his wrist and tightens her grip, but not so painfully. "If I were you, I'd think twice before raising my hand on a woman."
Mark successfully removes his wrist from Jae's grip. "I won't let you guys get away with this. One of my workers is in this room and they will-"
"Oh, her? I already know." Jungkook interrupts, removing a hat and mask from a familiar figure. Jae's eyes widen in shock when she sees a face that she has not seen in years — Bomi. "See, you need to work on the disguise, it was too obvious." He adds.
Mark growls in anger, taking his phone out to call someone, until Yoongi snatches it from his hand. "Not so fast." Then he checks Mark's phone screen and spots a contact name. "He was about to ring his father."
Jimin joins in. "What a shame. You don't know where your parents are, right now."
Upon hearing Jimin's comment, Mark glares at him. "What did you do to them?!"
"Not to worry, it's all been handled." Jimin responds.
Mark is about to lunge for Jimin when all the boys stand in front of him, shielding him. "If you want to get to him, you'll have to go through us, first." Hoseok says, raising an eyebrow at Mark.
Jae walks to Jimin while the boys attempt to take Mark down.
"Jimin, can you take me to the hospital, please?" Jae questions with worry mixed in her tone.
"I will take you over there, now. And don't worry about the twins, your sisters will look after them. Let's go." Jimin explains, motioning her to leave with him.
"I don't think so!" Mark stops Jae. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To see Taehyung." She responds simply.
"You're off to see your ex on your wedding day?" He questions.
Jae scoffs. "What wedding? There isn't going to be a wedding. After all this, you probably will never get married to any woman at all, forget me."
"You are staying here, or else-" Mark scolds before Jimin interrupts him.
"Or else, what? Hm? What are you going to do? I'd like to see you try your next move."
Jae hastily exits the venue, not wanting to waste any more time, she wants to see Taehyung and that's all that matters right now. She gets into Jimin's car and waits for him.
Jimin stares at him sternly. "I will make sure you rot with your parents. After the way you ruined Taehyung's life, yours will be worse. That includes Bomi. She will be charged. She is not getting away with this either, especially since she raped and tortured my best friend who I consider a brother to me. None of you will get lenient sentences and that's something I can guarantee." He turns around to walk away.
"Hang on, what are you talking about?" Mark questions, with a hint of fear.
Jimin stops and faces him. "Your game is over, Mark. Goodbye." With that said, Jimin walks out of the venue.
He gets in to his car and drives Jae to the hospital. During the hospital journey, he explains every single detail about Mark's hatred for Taehyung, the revenge on Jae's and Taehyung's families by Mark and his parents and the time when Mark visited Jimin's house and threatened to murder him. Including Taehyung's abuse and compulsion into hurting Jae during their marriage.
Jae's POV
I end up arriving at the hospital with Jimin, rushing in to search for Taehyung. I can't believe Mark did this. How could he hurt Taehyung like this?
Jimin explained that he knows someone from overseas who has connections with the higher authorities here, so he contacted them to get Mark, his family and Bomi punished. Jimin also had help from my father hence why he didn't turn up to the wedding last minute.
We approach the doctor and question him about Taehyung. He gives details about Taehyung's condition and what they are going to do for him. In the meantime, we are told to wait outside the room he's currently in.
"I can't believe Taehyung was going to leave. All because of me." I utter, tearing up.
"Hey, don't blame yourself for this. He wanted to leave purely because of his mental health. And I'm sure the decision you made must have been tough, as I know that you were probably trying to protect him." Jimin responds, consoling me.
I shake my head and sniffle. "I hated it so much. I didn't want to let him go but I had no choice. I didn't want Mark to hurt him. My plan all along, was to test him. I only agreed to marry him just so that I could discover what's going on with him and his behaviour towards Taehyung. Then once I unravel his secrets, I was going to leave him and take the kids. I finally got my answer and found what I was looking for but at least I don't have to marry that monster now."
"I would apologise for ruining your wedding day but I don't think I will because of the guy you were going to marry." He says. "He even attempted to hurt me at one point when he found out that I confessed to you that time in high school."
I furrow my eyebrows and stare at him in shock. "What? I hope he didn't hurt you, too?"
"No, he didn't. He approached me, but he didn't hurt me like he did to Taehyung. Back then, I couldn't defend myself. I couldn't deal with confrontation and I was bad at lying because of my stutter. However now, I don't stutter at all and I can deal with whatever comes my way. At first, I was confused as to why he didn't harm me that time, then I realised why — because Taehyung was trying to protect me, too. Mark wanted to torture me also but Taehyung wouldn't let him and told Mark to hurt him instead of me." Jimin elucidates.
I gasp softly and tears stream down my face. "I'm so stupid. How did I not notice what Taehyung was going through?"
"That's the thing. None of us did, because he masked it so well. He had to be a jerk and cold-hearted towards you on Mark's and Bomi's behest. Now all that trauma is affecting him mentally, and he's reached that limit where he can't take it anymore and decided to leave. He wanted to leave for the sake of his sanity and then return when he's much happier." Jimin responds then releases a sigh.
"I wish I had known, even just an inkling about this when we were married years ago. At least I would have helped him." I sniffle and wipe my tears.
Jimin nods. "I wish I knew about it, too. But we can't turn back time and fix the past. We can only make our futures better."
I smile softly. "I agree. I just want Taehyung to recover."
"And he will be. He's a fighter. He's fought this long and came so far, he won't back down now." Jimin smiles. "I can assure you."
The doctor walks towards us and tells us that we're allowed to see Taehyung now but they're doing everything they can to save him. My heart stings upon hearing the doctor's comment so I rush into the room, desperately wanting to see Taehyung.
I stare at him and gasp at the sight of him. He has a swollen lip and bruised cheeks. I spot blood stains seeping through his clothes. What has Mark done to him? This is horrific.
I sit beside him, holding his hand in mine. Tears begin to fall.
"I'm so sorry, Taehyung. I don't want to lose you. That would kill me. Our daughters need you. I need you." I bring his hand to my lips and give it a kiss. "You're the love of my life and you mean everything to me. I love you. Please don't leave us."
I watch how he's still laying there with his eyes closed and not moving an inch. "I ended up not marrying that jerk, finally. He's going to prison for what he did to you and Bomi's going with him. You're free from them and it's all thanks to your brother, Jimin. I'm relieved for you because I can't imagine the pain and suffering you must have went through without my knowledge." Then an overflow of tears stream down my face.
There's only silence from him, but the sound of the heart monitor still resonates across the room.
"Please wake up. For Mae, for Ava, for your brothers...for me." I plead tearfully.
As I'm still sitting here, just watching the heart monitor makes my heart sink. I never thought this would happen. Not to him.
The doctor told us that he was brutally attacked and stabbed more than once. The doctor mentioned that they are unsure as to whether he'll survive this or not.
I hope I don't lose him.
He means everything to me.
I love him...
_______________________
My birthday was on Thursday so I decided to do a birthday special chapter. I chose to do a really long chapter for you guys to make up for the long wait. Pls excuse any grammatical and punctuation errors, I uploaded this chapter at 4am, lol.
The next chapter will explain what happened to Taehyung. It will have some intense yet triggering scenes so I'm doing a warning in advance and I will do a trigger warning in the next chapter. Do not read the next chapter if you think you aren't able to handle it. I know scenes about attempted murder and knife crime can be triggering for some people and it's okay to not read it, for the sake of your mental health and anxiety.
The book is almost finished, so the chapters should be good to go with regular updates now.
I love you all and thank you for being so patient. 💜