Stephen glared at his uncle from across the table, his arms crossed on his chest.“I know, I should have told you.” The older man sighed as he stood up and walked closer to Stephen. At least his uncle knew that he was at fault, not Stephen.“Told me? You were fucking dating Alona when I died!” Stephen raised his voice at his uncle. “You’re old enough to be her father, are you that desperate to get rid of me?”“I am not trying to dispose of you, Stephen.” William Cho said in a stern tone.“Without me in the way, your son can inherit.” Stephen reminded his uncle, stating the facts as it lay before them. “I already told you, I can’t have a child.” William reminded his nephew as he pulled a document from his pocket. “Here.”Stephen looked at the folded piece of paper and hesitated. “You can fake that document.” Stephen hissed.“But I didn’t read it, have it authenticated by a doctor. Hell, go to the hospital where I had this done.” William Cho insisted as he shoved the document on Steph
Stephen already knew his uncle’s plans to have him followed. As he walked away, several of his bodyguards accidentally bumped into his uncle’s mean.“Niel!” One bodyguard greeted William’s men. “What are you doing here?”“Master William was here. He had dinner with his fiance and his fiance’s cousin. Why are you here? Is the Chairman here?” The man named Niel asked in a panic as he looked around.If the Chairman was there and William Cho had left, then he would be in big trouble.“Relax, we’re on scouting duty.” The bodyguard chuckled.“What did you do to get punished with scouting duty?” Niel asked. “Messed up something with the schedule, didn’t have enough bodyguards. Luckily nothing happened, but Mr. Kai was furious and sent me and some of my men to scout a few potential venues for a dinner meeting.” The bodyguard said with a shrug. He knew that he needed to give Stephen and Vanessa as much time as possible to leave. So he had to extend the conversation. “Who did Master William
Vanessa sat behind Stephen’s desk at Cho Industries, completely focused on trying to recover the information that had been lost.At first they thought it was impossible, but when Vanessa arrived in the office the day before and studied the laptop, she told them that she could recover the files. She just needed time.Over the past two days, Vanessa sat silently behind Stephen’s desk, while Stephen and his team worked on other aspects of the project. They did their best to stay out of her way, and after the incident, Stephen had asked for the lock of his office to be replaced.His laptop also never left his or Vanessa’s sight. They took it with them to lunch and even took it home. Vanessa had even worked on it while they were at home. She only stopped when Stephen dragged her to bed. He reminded her that she worked best with a rested mind.“Miss Vanessa, Mr. Sy asked me to get you some coffee.” Isabelle said as she placed a cup of hot coffee on the table, careful not to spill it. “
“Please, tell Mr. Sy I didn’t want to do it, I was forced to do it.” Stephen could hear Michael Ho begging. The guards that stood in the room with him remained silent, unmoved by his pleas. “Hello? Stephen?” Vanessa asked as she answered Stephen’s call.“I’ll be a little late. Something came up.” Stephen told his fiance.“Alright. I’m done recovering all your files by the way. Why don’t I just go home then we can head over to the party together?” Vanessa suggested. Stephen was silent for a moment as he considered what needed to be done. “What if I sent someone over to bring you your clothes? I’m not sure how long this will take.” Stephen said as he looked through the monitor that showed him an image of Michael Ho in the other room.“Alright.” Vanessa said. “I’ll call you in a bit.” Stephen told her as he ended the call and quickly went up to their room. He chose a simple dress that he knew would look good on his fiance, he quickly asked a bodyguard to bring it to the office.“Am
“Are you ready?” Stephen said as he held his fiance’s hand. He knew that the last time she had to face her entire family was on the day they were supposed to announce their engagement. “I should be asking you that.” Vanessa chuckled. “I know my family didn’t treat you well last time, and to be honest, you deserve an apology.” “Vanessa, you are the only who’s acceptance matters to me.” Stephen said as she smiled lovingly at her. “Plus, I’m sure that when my real identity comes to the surface, your family will be begging for my forgiveness.”Vanessa laughed and shook her head, of course Stephen was right.If there was anything that mattered to the Ty family, it was their image and their connections. They couldn’t have imagined offending the heir to the Cho family because they thought he was poor.“Let’s go in and get out as soon as we can.” Vanessa said with a smile as she slid out of Stephen’s car. A bodyguard quickly came up to Stephen’s side and took the car keys from him.Eldric
“Stephen, I can handle this.” Vanessa whispered to him as she held him back.Vanessa was a smart and sensible woman, she knew that this wasn’t the time for Stephen to let anything slip, even if it was to defend her. “Vanessa, this is just too much.” Stephen hissed as he held back.“I will be the young madam of the Cho family, don’t you think I should learn to fight my own battles?” Vanessa asked as she glared at her fiance.Stephen sighed in surrender as he glared at his future mother-in-law.If she and the other members of the Ty family were not related to Vanessa he would not have spared them. Even without the Cho family’s backing Stephen could make the Ty family suffer if he wanted. Nothing was too much to protect Vanessa. He hated seeing her hurt like this.“Tell me, mom, would you rather I marry someone who comes from a rich family but can do nothing but leech of his rich relatives?” Vanessa asked.“Of course-” Vanessa held a hand up, stopping her mom from speaking.“Or a man
“I’m sorry about my family.” Vanessa said with a frown as she and Stephen walked out of the restaurant. Stephen looked at her and frowned, he didn’t understand why she kept feeling the need to take responsibility for her family’s actions. “Vanessa, are you a martyr?” Stephen asked his fiance.“A martyr? What? Of course not!” Vanessa exclaimed. “I could never be someone so, so, so selfless.”Stephen laughed and shook his head. He couldn’t believe how unaware his fiance was of how much she had already sacrificed because of family.“Vanessa, they aren’t your responsibility, you don’t owe them anything.” Stephen said as he pulled Vanessa aside. “I’m not.” Vanessa was frowning as Stephen told her the painful truth. “One day they will cross someone who is not as forgiving as I am.” Stephen warned her. “What will you do when that day comes?” “It won’t happen, my family would never offend someone better than them. Have you not seen how they grovel in front of your half brother?” Vanessa
“Did they leave ahead?” Stephen asked as he returned to find Vanessa waiting all alone for him. He had expected his uncle to insist on sending them home.He knew William Cho was starting to get desperate in finding out where Stephen lived.“Yeah, William got called home. Something about his brother being furious.” Vanessa chuckled as they walked out of the restaurant hand in hand. “Vanessa, I’m going to grab some drinks with Robert and Edward, if that’s fine with you.” Stephen told her. “I already asked Amalia to come over to the house to keep you company. I have to discuss work with the boys.”Vanessa shook her head and smiled at Stephen. “Amalia doesn’t need to come over. The house is safe enough, we have a few maids now and a cook. I’ll be fine alone.” Vanessa told him as he nodded in response.Around them, Stephen’s bodyguards walked silently as they observed their surroundings. They were particularly on the lookout for Willaim’s men that he could have left behind to stalk Steph