The Manipulated Villainess

"I really wished to come. I don\'t even feel Iike working."

Leon was sitting all alone in his study. Pressing his phone against his ear, he was talking to Shara who was at Nicole\'s house.

"Your father might tell his men to tail you. You should be careful for now." Shara calmly told Leon. Though the latter called her first after leaving like that last night, he didn\'t mention anything about what they said last night. Maybe he was still not ready.

"It\'s unfair, right? I finally got to see my mother again after ten years. But I can\'t even meet her when I wish to," Leon uttered.

His hatred for his father was growing more and more and he didn\'t know what to do. If only the hatred didn\'t hurt him too, it would be better for him.

"I will put her on the phone. You should talk with her," Shara said and handed the phone to Norina Lee who was sitting in a wheelchair beside her.

The mother took the phone with a little smile and put it next to her ear. "Leon."

Shara slightly smiled and left the room to give her some privacy.

"Mother, are you doing fine there?" Leon promptly asked. His face brightened a bit when he heard the familiar calm voice of his mother.

"Not even a day passed since we parted." Norina Lee said with a smile. "I\'m doing fine, son. Just take good care of yourself."

Leon remained silent for a while, debating if he should say what he had on mind. After a few seconds, he finally said, "Shall we make Father pay for what he did? I don\'t think I can endure if this war goes on."

Now, it was his mother\'s turn to fell silent. Despite having many things on mind, she maintained a calm face. Even when Leon was a child, he always tried to live up to his father\'s expectation. She knew how much the little boy liked his father though the latter was never good at being a father. Wouldn\'t it be too cruel for him if he had to fight against his father? After all, Peter Jung was the one who raised him.

"I know he is wrong but... wouldn\'t that be too cruel for you?" she asked. She keeps on wondering how their lives might be better if she didn\'t marry and raised Leon alone. All she wanted was to give her son a father and a family so that people won\'t look down at him saying that he was born out of wedlock. That\'s the kind of society they lived in.

Leon took a deep breath and thought of all the crimes that his father committed. "I can endure it if we are just the ones who are hurt by him but... " he paused, feeling hesitant to continue. However, he thought that his mother must know, so he continued by saying, "He not only destroyed Nicole\'s family but also killed Aston and Shara\'s father. These are too much, Mother."

The usually calm Norina Lee clenched her fists when she heard her son. Peter Jung also did such things?! She always hated herself for failing to see through him and it was only getting worse and worse!

"For your sake, I can ignore what he did to me but not those you mentioned. It\'s too unfair for the victims and their families," Norina Lee firmly said. She still finds it hard to believe that she married such a monster!

Leon rose from his seat. He walked towards the window and blankly stared at the outdoors. "Whenever I see Aston, Nicole and even Shara, I feel too ashamed. Each one of them is dear to me but... for them, I might just be the one who reminds them of my father and their family tragedies. I don\'t even know what to do."

Norina Lee finds it hard to listen to her son\'s words. She wondered how much he would go through in the last ten years where she was absent from his life. It made her felt bitter but still, she forced a little smile. "I\'m glad that you have grown up into a kind man despite my absence. I always worry a lot.

"What if his father\'s influence on him grew deeper and deeper? What if he struggled a lot?" She paused and said, "However, I always concluded that you won\'t be like him as long as you remember my teachings."

Leon wondered how much he struggled to be different from his father. Growing up, he saw how his father handled things and it was more than easy to follow in his footsteps as he was raised that way. However, he didn\'t want such a life, all thanks to his mother\'s teachings. Now that he heard his mother\'s words, he felt as if all his struggles paid off. He was glad and he felt relief.

"I used to think that I will hear such words from you in the afterlife. It still feels like a dream." He muttered.

"I used to be scared too," Norina Lee said. "Thinking if I don\'t have a chance to say those words to you. I\'m glad that I finally got the chance."

Her mother\'s words made Leon\'s eyes teary red. Briefly covering his eyes with his left hand, he said, "Wait for just a while, Mother. I will make sure that my father pays for all his crimes. After that, I will come for you." His voice was low but there was a hint of determination in it.

*

After talking to her son, Norina Lee puts down the phone and talked with Shara. She asked the latter about Nicole\'s family and what Peter Jung did to them.

Shara told the mother about the things that Nicole said to them the day before yesterday. That night when she was in the secret room with Leon, Nicole told them about her stepmother\'s story and Peter Jung\'s involvement. Another crime by the Prime Minister and it truly shocked both she and Leon.

"Nicole went through a lot," Shara said in a low voice. "It\'s a miracle that she still wants to defend her stepmother."

Shara never had good feelings about the Minister of Justice as she knew many things about her from Leon. However, after hearing her story, she somehow understood her. She also had a brother and if Aston ever died a wrongful death, she was sure that she would seek revenge and that might even blind her just like Garcia Han.

Norina Lee thought of how Nicole introduced her stepmother to her a while ago. "They are so pitiful," she murmured and looked at Shara. "Don\'t you know that blood is not the only thing that bonds a child and a parent together? Leon is one example and so is my brother. Nicole turns out to be the same as them.

"You are also the same. Though I\'m not your real mother, you treated me like one and you suffered so much just to keep me safe. I don\'t know how I can repay you."

Shara quickly shook her head. "Don\'t say that. If you don\'t appear in my life, I don\'t think I will live to see this day. I\'m still alive, thanks to you."

Norina Lee slightly smiled. "When I brought you to my home, I never know that you will become a saviour for both me and my son. You and Leon really grew up well." Then she holds Shara\'s hands. "I heard what Peter Jung did to your father but... can I be greedy and ask you just this?"

Shara\'s eyes grew a bit widened, taken aback by Leon\'s mother actions. Then the latter continued by saying, "Please promise me that you will never give up on my son. I know that he is hard to handle at times and right now, he is having a hard time. You already stayed beside him for years and he is more than dependent on you. Though I\'m back to his life, I don\'t think he will be able to be happy without you."

"Mother -"

"Please don\'t judge him for his father\'s crime and look at just him. He already suffered so much." Norina Lee said in a low voice.

Shara looked at the mother for a while before she slightly smiled and hugged her. "Rest assured. What you\'re scared of, I can assure you that it won\'t happen. Leon isn\'t the only one who feels that way. I grew up with him and I can\'t imagine a life without him. I actually think that I\'m the one who needs him more. He means so much to me."

Her words put Leon\'s mother at ease. She was feeling too scared when she heard that Peter Jung was the one who killed Shara\'s father. She knew and feel how much Shara meant to her son and if Peter Jung\'s crime gets in the way of the two, it would be more than tormenting for them while they already suffered so much!