Chapter 8 - I'm Sorry, Dad

"I don't like him, Ji-eun."

"Dad! I love Han Wei! He's a good man. Why can't you see it!?" Tears rolled down my cheeks as I fought with the man who raised me for the man who I considered the love of my life.

"Love?" Dad scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain. "What do you know about love, Ji-eun? You're just a girl blinded by infatuation, and he's nothing but trouble. Why don't you understand it!?"

I clenched my fists, the heat of anger and frustration burning through me. Han Wei might not be perfect but he loved me! He really did.

"You don't know him, Dad. You haven't even tried to understand him! He's kind, he's hardworking, and he loves me. Isn't that the kind of man you always wanted for me? Dad, please... I'm begging you," I whispered, my voice cracking under the weight of my tears. "Han Wei is everything to me. Why can't you just trust me?"

Dad stood still, his face cold, eyes sharp like shards of glass. "Trust you? Ji-eun, do you even hear yourself? What makes you think I don't trust you?You're throwing your life away for a man who will only break you. I trust my daughter. I never doubted her. I doubt the man she loves. Ji-eun, please listen to me. Don't do anything like her."

His words hit harder than any slap ever could. "Her?" I repeated, my voice trembling. "This isn't about Mom!"

"Isn't it?" His laugh was bitter, a sound so foreign it made my chest ache. "She left, Ji-eun. For a love she thought was worth more than her family... her husband. And now, you're standing here, ready to do the same damn thing. Am I that bad? I gave everything to the two of you."

I froze, the air knocked out of me. His words slithered into my mind, wrapping around my heart and squeezing tight.

"I'm not her," I whispered, more to myself than to him. "I'm not trying to abandon my family for love, dad! I want you and him both. I need you both!"

"That's not possible," he shot back, his voice rising. "I refuse to accept Han Wei as my son in law."

The silence that followed was deafening. My chest felt like it was caving in, but I couldn't let him see me falter.

Dad's expression hardened, his jaw tightening.

"I want what's best for you, Ji-eun. And Han Wei? He's far from it. You're too naive to see it now, but one day, you'll thank me."

"Thank you?" My voice cracked, and I could feel my chest tightening. "For what? For tearing me apart? For refusing to believe in my happiness? You don't get to decide who I love! He's the only one for me."

Dad turned his back to me, his silence more deafening than his words.

It was like I didn't matter... like my feelings were just a nuisance to him. If only I could turn back time...

I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a shaky breath. "If you can't see Han Wei for who he is, then maybe you'll just have to see who I am without you." My voice trembled, but I stood tall, the weight of my words heavier than I expected.

I decided to leave the man who raised me after my mother abandoned us and ran away with her lover. Thinking about it now, was I any better than her?

Dad froze for a moment, his shoulders stiff. "Ji-eun, don't you dare—"

But I didn't stay to hear the rest. My feet moved before I could think, my heart pounding as I slammed the door behind me.

Bang!

Sounds of shattering glasses filled my ears from the other side of the door. My vision blurred as I walked. Each step away from the house felt like a sword being stabbed in my heart. However, I didn't turn around to look.

Han Wei was waiting for me.

I'm sorry, Dad.

----

"Evelina!?"

"Huh?" The voice of Duke brought me out of my thoughts as I blinked for a moment to come back to the lavish dining room and the two men staring at me like the world just cracked open infront of them.

"My Lady, why are you crying?"

"Evelina! What happened? Is the dress too rough? Do you want me to punish the dressmaker? Is it because I yelled? Why are you crying?" The Duke sounded genuinely worried.

Shouldn't he be happy according to the script? Didn't he turn his back on Evelina when she was arrested by royal knights?

Kael's chair scraped back so suddenly the sound echoed across the hall, his face alarmed. He moved toward me as if he were about to kneel, his hands reaching out like I was some fragile thing ready to shatter.

Shouldn't he also not care? Why this concern? Why this... Ugh! This headache.

"My Lady," he murmured, his voice softer now, edged with worry that didn't suit him. Why is Kael worried about the villainess. "Talk to me. What's wrong? Tell me. Is it because I proposed marriage?"

I blinked rapidly, forcing my tears to stop falling.

Damn it. Evelina didn't cry. I didn't write her to cry. She was supposed to be indomitable, the thorn in everyone's side. Why was I suddenly so weak? And, why did Kael, the coldest character in the entire novel care about me?

Everything is going wrong.

"It's nothing," I managed, my voice trembling like an idiot's. I dabbed at my eyes with the edge of my napkin, glaring at both men as if daring them to push further. "Just a speck of dust or something. The corset's too tight, I suppose."

The Duke's eyes narrowed as if he didn't believe a word of it. "Don't lie to me, Evelina. I know you better than that. If the corset was tight, you would just leave. Not cry. Did some servant mistreat you? Tell me the names. I'll fire them immediately."

"Do you?" I shot back, my voice sharp. "Do you really know me?"