AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 163

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"Aren't you forgetting our ace in the hole, Huh Young-Mi?... The game isn't over, until the last card has been played" -- Kim Eun-Ki

 

 

SAPPHIRE VILLA, SEOUL HOTEL ...

 

"You old fool! This is going to ruin everything! Idiot...!"

 

Kim Eun-Hee berates Eun-Ki as she anxiously paces the living room of the private hotel villa where she had taken up residence after moving out of the Yoon house.

 

"How could I know that Atwater would stoop to this level?" he defends himself.

 

"Well, you should have expected it," she persists with her criticisms. "Don't they say 'All's fair in war?' ..."

 

Eun-Ki stands firm...

 

"Everything's not lost... yet," he declares boldly. "I'm not giving up without a fight!"

 

"Fight? ... All that's left is the knockout punch!" Eun-Hee dismisses his bravado with a sneer...

 

"Can't you see Michael Atwater has you on the ropes. It's only a matter of time before he lands the final blow and calls your margin loan, and then it's all over..."

 

 

Despondent, she stops pacing to slosh down the remainder of her drink at the room's wet bar.

 

 

"Careful... you're overdoing it," Eun-Ki warns. "You'll get drunk if you keep that up."

 

"I might as well be a drunk. What do I have to look forward to, anyway?" she sulks as she pours herself another. "Why did I ever think a perennial loser like you'd be able to win at this game?"

 

She sighs deeply, staring into the drink...

 

"I must have been dreaming! Such an idiot!"

 

 

She lifts the glass, but Eun-Ki takes it from her hand, setting it on the bar...

 

"Regardless of what happens, we still have each other," he tries to console her with an embrace.

 

But she pushes him away...

 

"What good are you, when I've lost my only son?" she whines bitterly.

 

 

This is news to Eun-Ki... "What? Yoon Jong-Ki is refusing shared custody?"

 

"Even after seeing the DNA proof that Hyung-Jae is not his own flesh-and-blood, he insists on keeping him as his own son," she grumbles. "And Hyung-Jae is so angry I divorced his 'father', that he won't even talk with me now."

 

"But once you tell Hyung-Jae the truth, too..."

 

"What's the point of that?" she protests. "At least as a Yoon, he'll have a decent life. What will you have left to offer him?"

 

"I'm still in charge of MBS, and with Atwater and the Yoons at odds, I'll have some leverage to play them off against each other...

 

"How long do you think you can hold onto MBS, once the Prosecutor's charges come down?" she disputes his position. "How can you take on a heavyweight, when you couldn't even beat a lightweight like Jin Sun-Mi?"

 

 

Her disparagement stings...

 

"A charge is not a conviction, and it's mostly a matter of he-said-she said," Eun-Ki defends his chances. "Some of those allegations are years-old, and will be almost impossible to make a solid case from. I haven't lost in the legal ring yet."

 

"Win or lose, the Yoon's faction on the Board will demand your resignation, if only for appearances," she argues.

 

"Except right now, there's no viable alternative to me in the picture," he counters. "Atwater will never let his rival control MBS, so that rules out Yoon Hyung-Chul, too."

 

He looks at her confidently, "I plan on broaching a proposal to Atwater for mutual cooperation. He's going to need allies to take on the combined Yoons and Yoos in the next round."

 

"But you're forgetting something... Jin Sun-Mi didn't do this on her own," Eun-Hee insists, "Atwater must have arranged it to get revenge on you. And with her egging him on, what makes you think he'll side with you against the Yoons?"

 

"Aren't you forgetting our ace in the hole, Huh Young-Mi?" Eun-Ki reminds her. "The game isn't over, until the last card has been played..."

 

"But how can we force her to cooperate? She's threatened to expose us!"

 

"Those threats are hollow now. Since you've divorced Yoon, and I'm embroiled in a bigger scandal, does it matter if our secret is found out?" he reasons. "On the other hand, if Young-Mi's secret is exposed, she loses everything..."

 

 

Eun-Ki pours himself a drink as he continues...

 

"Once Young-Mi is ensconced with the Yoons, we can fall back on your original plan of incapacitating Hyung-Chul like before. When I offer his rival's head on a platter, Atwater will be more than happy to strike a deal," he gloats.

 

"Maybe you're right," Eun-Hee replies after consideration. "I don't know why I didn't think about that myself."

 

"Because you're all caught up in the issues with our son, like any good mother would be," Eun-Ki suggests. "Don't worry. Once we beat Yoon Jong-Ki, he'll be ready to negotiate."

 

"Do you really think it's possible?" she replies, her hopes rising again.

 

"Absolutely. After the wedding ceremony, I'll call Huh Young-Mi's bluff," Eun-Ki explains his plan. "From now on, she's doing things our way again..."

 

 

Eun-Hee smiles as she raises her glass to his, and toasts...

 

"Here's to the happy wedding day..."