Forbidden Desire

Earlier that day…

I felt like a complete idiot as I drove towards my parents’ house. My mother had barely spoken, and every time she did, it was to insult Jane… At the time, I was so stunned that I couldn’t even defend her. I knew she must be disappointed, and it weighed heavily on my chest. She didn’t deserve the things she went through just for liking me. Sometimes I wished I could turn back time to never get close to her, so she could live in peace. She didn’t deserve all this crap that had been happening. She offered me such pure love, and all I did was hurt her, allowing my mother to humiliate her. I never saw her as just a maid, nor did I ever care about her clothes. I was only insisting she wear branded clothes so she wouldn’t be looked down upon. Unfortunately, in the world of business and powerful people, all that matters is how much you’re worth, and they seem to judge that by how you dress. The higher the price tag on the clothes, the more you’re worth, and to me, she was worth a lot. She was the sweetest person I had ever known, and I hated the feeling of hurting her, even unintentionally. I was snapped out of my thoughts when my mother caught my attention.

“Ajeita a postura Jason,” she said.

I looked at her and saw her piercing eyes watching me; she always had the power to make me comply with her requests with just a glance. I knew what that look meant since I was a child.

“You said you wanted to talk to me, but you haven’t said anything yet,” I replied.

“I wouldn’t discuss your future in a mall or inside a car. Let’s have lunch at home, and then we’ll talk,” she said.

I knew I couldn’t disagree with her without getting into a fight. My mother had always been very cold with me, and I got more affection from the nannies she hired to take care of me. But whenever I got too attached to them, my mother replaced them. She had always been extremely strict with me, and I always fulfilled all her wishes. When we arrived at the huge mansion where I grew up, I realized it had been quite some time since I last set foot here. The colors of the walls were as dull and gray as my life was when I lived among them. My mother immediately started yelling at some of the staff, as she always did.

“Serve o almoco na sala de jantar!” she snapped her fingers, and they went to fulfill her orders. I was worried about Jane and was sending a message saying Jin would pick her up, but she immediately replied that she would return by taxi. Damn it, she was hurt, and I felt terrible every time this happened. My mother and I sat at the table, and I saw the staff serving us, although nothing seemed to appeal to me.

“Mother, could you tell me what you want? I have to travel to Thailand tomorrow for business and still have some details to sort out,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows and sighed before speaking.

“You didn’t seem concerned about time while parading with that ‘thing.'”

I could sense the disdain in her voice, and I could imagine how devastated Jane must have been after everything that had happened. She was probably crying somewhere alone, and just the thought of it broke my heart.

“Mother, she’s not…”

Before I could continue, she interrupted me.

“Insignificant? Tasteless? Too different from you to even consider having something with her?”

“Mother…”

“Is this girl just your toy, and of course, it must be fun, after all, she has various ‘qualities’ that men desire behind closed doors, but not to be your wife, not to be a Park,” she continued.

“I thought there weren’t many criteria to be a Park since you chose Jinhee to be my wife,” I retorted sarcastically, and she reprimanded me with a look.

“And I didn’t choose wrong, after all, I know you love her,” she said.

I stared at the plate in front of me because I knew I couldn’t deny it.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“She cheated on me, mother…”

She didn’t seem surprised.

“Do you know how many times your father cheated on me?”

I looked at her completely shocked.

“So, what are you saying? That I should do as you and accept all her betrayals just to keep up appearances and become a bitter person like you?”

She was taken aback by my words and reprimanded me with her gaze.

“It wouldn’t be just appearances if you love her like I always loved your father…”

She lowered her head, and I felt guilty for calling her bitter. I knew about her feelings for my father, and he never seemed to care much.

“Mother, it wasn’t just a simple affair. She had a relationship with her lover since before the wedding. She tried to have me arrested by saying I hit her…”

My heart tightened as I remembered her saying she was disgusted by me.

“She humiliated me, mother…”

My voice was low and broken, and since she left home, I tried my best to keep distracted from thinking about her because when I did, I felt my heart ache.

“And she regrets everything she did?” Jason asked, his voice trembling with emotion.

“Yes, Jason… She regrets everything,” his mother confirmed, her tone softening with sympathy.

Jason’s mind raced as he contemplated his next move. He couldn’t deny the depth of Jane’s feelings for him, nor could he ignore the guilt he felt for involving her in his tumultuous life. Despite not reciprocating her love in the same way, he had already made a decision. The warmth of being loved was something he couldn’t easily let go of.

“It’s enough…” Jason muttered, more to himself than to his mother.

“Enough for what?” his mother inquired, her curiosity piqued.

“To make her my wife,” Jason declared, surprising even himself with the decisiveness of his words.

His mother looked at him incredulously, clearly taken aback by his sudden resolve. “Don’t talk nonsense, Jason… This girl is only infatuated with you out of self-interest. She must be with you for your money, for the name of our family.”

“Because in your opinion, that’s all I have and that’s all I am… The billions of dollars from the company and a Park,” Jason replied sarcastically, recalling every sketch she made of him, every detail she noticed that no one else did, but she did. He thought of all the times she surrendered to him with such desire that made him a prisoner of her. He knew he would never let go of that girl, no matter what happened because throughout his life, he always had plenty of money, but her love was the only thing that made him feel truly fortunate.

“I’m not going to try to explain it to you because you would never understand how good it feels to be loved,” Jason retorted, his voice tinged with bitterness.

“But, I do know…” a voice interjected.

Jason froze, his entire body going cold as a shiver ran down his spine, his hairs standing on end. He turned to see Jinhee standing in the dining room doorway, her hair loose, looking as beautiful as ever.