Chapter 235 - Cho Mansion (1)
The entire mansion was shrouded with darkness. Not a single person was on the premises that night because all the servants were sent away. Only Youngjoon remained in the mansion to prepare for the ceremony.
He was in the living room which had been emptied for the ceremony. A large bed lay in the middle, decorated with rose petals. Fairy lights hung over it while the pillows were puffed up and scented. The bed looked as if it was adorned for a wedding night but there was one exception to the lavish decoration.
A pair of handcuffs was attached to the headrest.
Youngjoos drew a large pentagon with a star and a cross engraved in it. The drawing was larger, circling the bed. He was panting by the time he was done with the preparations. Once he was done, he looked at his work.
"Very good, Mr. Cho."
Youngjoon jumped and saw that the shaman had appeared out of nowhere. He scowled at the man but Hongshik did not care about Youngjoon's discomfort at all. Instead, the shaman was staring at the drawing on the floor. It was the perfect time to carry out this session and bring the son of a demon to this world.
"Remember," the shaman said. "We must keep on chanting the spell until the mating ceremony is over. If we break it any time during the ceremony, then it will fail and you will never get an heir!"
"Are you sure that this will work?" Youngjoon asked.
"It will."
The shaman did not elaborate. He was tricking the two morons into doing this ceremony but little did they know that their time was limited in this world. Their contract clearly stated that it would be complete once a son was conceived. Which meant that as soon as the mating ceremony was over, the Cho's would have their souls snatched from them and thrown into Hell.
As for Sungki...he was going to be a challenge. The shaman wanted to send him back but the demon was adamant on taking Jisoo with him. It was going to be tricky because Jisoo seemed to be smarter than these two. If she was clever enough to hide her identity from the Cho's then she was not going to fall for the demon's trap.
Which is why possessing Kang Siwan became a necessity.
The shaman had been observing the duo for a while and deduced that they have a past connection. Unlike what Sungki claimed, Hongshik knew that Siwan and Jiwoon were not together as a couple but rather shared a deeper level of understanding, perhaps even hidden feelings.
And that was enough to keep Jisoo as their hostage.
"Where are they?" he muttered.
They heard a car pull up in front of the mansion. Within a few minutes, the front door opened and Sungki entered, carrying an unconscious Jisoo in his arms. Ciara followed them and they laid Jisoo on the bed. Sungki handcuffed her at once to the bed and backed off to stare at his once beautiful wife.
"Look what she did to herself," he whispered in disgust. She was leaner than before and her dress up was like a man's. Unlike his pure Jisoo who used to be feminine and perfect, as Jiwoon, she was too chic and masculine with her short hair.
He touched her hair and cursed out loud.
"This is all Siwan's fault!" he growled. His eyes fell on a mirror which was placed next to the bed. The cursed face of Kang Siwan was reflecting there, making Sungki's temper rise. He loathed this man for winning over his Jisoo. How long have they been together? Did they have sex? Was his Jisoo already cursed with Siwan's seeds?
"I HATE HIM!" he yelled. Before Ciara and Youngjoon could stop him, Sungki picked up a vase from the discarded furniture and threw it at the mirror, smashing it.
The resulting sound woke Jiwoon up. She weakly stirred, her eyes slowly fluttering open. For a moment, she was confused about where she was. It took a few seconds for her vision to clear and for the first time in years, she was gripped by fear.
Her eyes fell on the familiar living room, the same place where she sat ten years ago as a naive teenager who signed away her freedom to a monster. She slowly looked to her side and nearly gasped.
Sungki was possessing Siwan's body. His back was face to her but she could feel his rage and anger, erupting like lava. Ciara and Youngjoon were trying to calm their son but he was in a manic mood. He stomped on the broken pieces of the mirror as if trying to destroy every bit of it.
There was another man in red clothes but his eyes were also on the family so he did not notice that Jiwoon was awake.
Jiwoon quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. Her mind was full of dread but she knew that fear was going to make her weak. She needed to keep her head clear and think. It was not only her life in danger but also Siwan's. If Sungki was possessing Siwan, then she must help him. It was the least she could do for the man who helped her unconditionally.
With her eyes closed, she was listening to the crazy family's conversation.
"Son, calm down!" Youngjoon begged. "You have to be rational. We already have Jisoo here! Why don't we start the ceremony?"
"I hate him!" Sungki roared. "This…"
He pointed at Siwan's body as if blaming Siwan for everything that happened.
"Did you know that Kang Siwan was the one who tried to treat that bloody kid all those years ago?" Sungki whispered, his voice filled with malice. "He reported our activities and snatched Jisoo away! I bet she ran away with him that time. While we were suffering, she ran off with her lover!"
"And now look at her…"
He pointed at her seemingly unconscious figure.
"She's dressing like a guy!" He spat. "Her hair is short and she works with men at...at...at a police station!"
Ciara and Youngjoon froze. Police station?
"Works at a police station?" Youngjoon demanded. "What do you mean? Jisoo is a cop?"
"Yes!" Sungki roared. "A lowly cop! Can you imagine this?"
"Wait!" Ciara exclaimed. "This is even more complicated than we thought! If she's a cop, then the police will come looking for her. A little digging into her past and they'll know that we're her enemies!"
She turned to the shaman, her eyes filled with worry and dread. "We can't use her!" Ciara reasoned. "If the cops look for her, our remaining reputation will be ruined and we can't recover from it. She'll throw us in jail for rape and abuse!"
"All that doesn't matter," the shaman said in a calm tone. "I can take care of it. The Brethren will help you. I can assure you that no one will come looking for her."
"But-"
"Do you want an heir or not?"
Ciara and Youngjoon looked at each other. They wanted an heir but was it worth it to incur the wrath of the country's police force?
"We will take care of it," the shaman went on. "Besides, all you have to do is wait for the mating ceremony to be over. After that, Jisoo will be taken to an isolated place where she will give birth to your heir."
Jiwoon's skin crawled and she was disgusted by their thoughts. They were going to assault and rape her again?
Her soul was shaken to the core. The familiar fear was gripping her again, snaking its way into her heart. It was trying to paralyze her and make her weak but she fought against it. For years, she had trained hard to overcome her trauma and emerge as a stronger person. She thought that if she ever faced her past again, she would be able to beat it.
But now that her past was literally in front of her, she was feeling scared. Why? Why was she so weak? Why did they scare her so much?
"I hate Siwan for ruining my Jisoo!" Sungki gritted. "Once I'm done with her, I'll give this guy a slow death. I'll pin all the murders on him and have him rot in jail where I'll torture him everyday till he begs me to kill him off!"
Jiwoon's fingers clenched into a fist. In the midst of her fears, a new feeling was emerging as well: anger.
"Jisoo has been tainted by Kang Siwan," he went on. "But now, I'll fix it. She'll be mine again."
He motioned at the shaman who nodded.
"Ciara, go stand on the right side of the bed," the shaman ordered. "Youngjoon, on the left."
The couple hesitated but soon obeyed. They stood on both sides of the bed while the shaman stood at the head of the bed, right behind Jiwoon. Sungki was taking off his shoes and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. He was not in a rush. In fact, he was going to enjoy every moment of punishing Jisoo.
"And now, we begin!" the shaman declared.