The Manipulated Villainess

The shooting of a promotional video had just finished. Aston and Anna Park were still sitting in their places, chatting with each other. That\'s when Nicole came up to them with the General Manager of Yang Apparel.

"Thanks for doing a great job today, Ms. Park." Nicole nodded at the actress and then turned to Aston. "Mr. Kang." She formally said with a slight smile.

"It\'s an honour to take part in the launching of the first-ever Yang Apparel brand." Aston politely responded.

"All your management is perfect, Chairwoman Yang. I never experienced such a great and flawless working environment before. It proves how much effort you make for Yang Apparel." Anna Park remarked with a friendly smile. Her eyes showed how sincere she was.

"It\'s a relief to hear that. Thank you for your kind words, Ms. Park." The Chairwoman replied.

"Is there a reason why you personally supervise Yang Apparel, Chairwoman? It seems like it is very dear to you." Aston was curious. She must be very busy but she always finds time for it when it comes to Yang Apparel. Meanwhile, Anna raised a brow at his question. The Aston Kang she knew was never curious about other people\'s business!

"Well, it\'s a longtime dream of mine to expand Yang Group and step inside the world of clothing. Maybe that\'s why." Nicole simply replied. She observed the actor and realized that he was looking at her with a doubtful face. He resembled a man who was lied to by his lover!

They already agreed to keep their relationship a secret but why was he making that face in public? What if he draws suspicion?!

"Oh! I never knew that but it\'s a great dream, Chairwoman Yang. Do you have any plans to expand the business fields of Yang Group, other than Yang Apparel?" Aston asked. For others, it was him being curious but in Nicole\'s case, she knew that it was his way of showing how he didn\'t buy her response! Was he playing with her, in secret?!

She could barely resist the urge to roll her eyes at him. Can\'t he just act normal?! No need to be playful at all times! However, there were many people there and she can\'t afford to lose her cool!

"I\'ve never known that you are such a curious person, Mr. Min." She simply said, trying her best to be normal.

As soon as he heard her, Aston\'s lips curved into an amusing smile. She didn\'t even know what made him smile but when she saw Anna\'s confused face, she wondered if she had said anything wrong.

The General Manager who was quietly standing next to her, deliberately cough. "It\'s Mr. Kang, Chairwoman." He corrected her.

Nicole\'s face almost turned pale in defeat! Did she just call him \'Mr. Min\'? Why the hell does she did that?!

"I apologize, Mr. Kang. I think my tongue slipped." She promptly said but her displeasure was still evident.

Aston could barely resist the urge to laugh but he still gazed at her amusingly and Anna didn\'t fail to notice it. "No problem, Chairwoman."

Nicole was not pleased but when her phone went off, it completely distracted her. She walked away to answer the phone and the General Manager took her place in the conversation.

"What is the matter, Jerome?" She asked as she entered the empty restroom.

"Chairwoman, have you read the news? Are you aware of this beforehand?" Anxiousness was evident in Jerome\'s voice.

"What news? Is something wrong?" Nicole asked. She was starting to feel a bit uneasy. Did her step-mother do something to surprise her again?!

"I\'ll send you the link. Please check it out." Jerome said and ended the call right away.

In less than ten seconds, the link arrived and when Nicole read the heading of the article, her eyes instantly flew wide open. It was published 10 minutes ago but what was the meaning of this?!

\'Breaking: Leon Jung and Nicole Yang reportedly breaking off their engagement!\'

\'The only son of the Prime Minister who is also a famous potter, Leon Jung announced that his engagement to the Chairwoman of Yang Group, Nicole Yang is called off. The latter is also the step-daughter of the current Minister of Justice.\'

The Chairwoman repeatedly blinked in surprise as she read the news further.

\'According to the source, Leon Jung said that the engagement was broken off under mutual agreement. Both their parents also approved and respect their decision to end the relationship.\'

"Leon Jung, what are you thinking?" Nicole muttered as she fixated her gaze on her phone. Then she received a call from Leon. Speaking of the devil! She promptly answered the call.

"Hey! What is on your mind? Why didn\'t you tell me about this sooner?" She snapped the moment she put her phone next to her ear.

"I bet you already read the article." Leon calmly responded. He was sitting alone in his office in the Gold Porcelain Museum.

"Do you know how much trouble this will create?! We already agreed to notify them after we have a backup plan! Just what are you thinking?" Nicole grunted. She was really struggling to keep her voice low!

"Do you think I will do this without having any plan? Don\'t worry, Nicole. Your step-mother won\'t blame you. The whole blame will be put on me. I won\'t make things difficult for you." Leon was so calm to the point where it even scared Nicole. Just what was he planning to do?!

"I\'m sure that the two politicians will summon us together. But don\'t worry. I will sort everything out at that time. If your step-mother asks you, tell her that you know nothing about this." Leon said to Nicole from the other line and before she could respond, he hung up the call right away.

Staring at the screen of her phone, Nicole was puzzled. What was the meaning of what he said? He should tell her everything! How dare he hung up when she was dying out of curiosity?!

While she was alone, confused and lost, Aston came to the restroom. "Is something wrong?" He asked her.

Nicole glanced at him and frowned. "You should be careful. Why did you come here?"

"You take quite long, so I wonder if something is wrong. Don\'t worry. I make sure that no one sees me." Aston replied as he stood beside her.

Nicole gave him the phone and showed him the article. "I don\'t know what Leon is thinking." She muttered.

Aston read the article but he was not shocked. Was it because he was aware of Leon\'s secret? Maybe. "You should trust him. If he went as far as making it public before you notify your step-mother and his father, he will surely know what he is doing." He assured Nicole.

"Do you mean it?" Nicole was feeling uneasy. She still needs to make Garcia Han trust her, so she shouldn\'t make any mistakes for now. She didn\'t want things to go wrong when she was just starting.

"Yes. Don\'t worry. Everything will be alright." Aston said with a slight smile as he holds her hand. His gesture calmed down Nicole a bit.

Just as Leon said, they were both summoned right away due to the unexpected news. Along with the two parents, they gathered at the Yang family mansion. By this time, it was already 7 p.m.

Both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice sat next to each other on the couch while Nicole and Leon were sitting opposite to them. The atmosphere was very heavy and there was a hint of rage and disappointment on the two politicians faces.

"What do you think you are doing? The whole country is talking about your broken engagement and now, there are dozens of articles about that!" Peter Jung growled. As he talked, he repeatedly slammed the small rectangular shaped table which was placed before him.

"You should put everything back to place. Reporting the news of getting back together won\'t be hard. We can just wait a while for that to happen." He instantly comes up with a solution to solve the mess.

Meanwhile, Garcia Han remained quiet the whole time yet her keen eyes observed Leon Jung. However, she couldn\'t read him at all! Well, this young potter had piqued her curiosity for a while now. Didn\'t he love her step-daughter?

"I cannot do that." Leon finally spoke up. He courageously met his father\'s gaze, proving how firm he was in his words.

"What are you saying?!" Peter Jung instantly flew into a rage again. He abruptly rose from his seat, fiercely gazing down at his only son.

Leon stood up and looked at his father straight in the eye again. "I refuse to do that. I have the right to decide on my life. I have no intention to continue living as a tool to satisfy your greed."

He slightly smiled and made a deliberate pause until he continued by saying, "Besides, I have a woman who I wanted to be with. I already registered my marriage. I mean, I already got married to the woman I\'m talking about."