Angel Smile 218 Scene 218

"The thing you talked about today with Hyun Bin... will you give it some thought? You have a lot of potential, Yeo Ri-ah. If you're willing, I'd like for you to sign a long-term contract with us. I promise you, I will definitely make you into a superstar," Park Soo Yeon said before she left.

"I'll think about it," Yeo Ri replied neutrally. In truth, she was also conflicted. On one side, she craved to act more and experience more, but on the other side, she was scared of the attention that came hand-in-hand with the job. She was not yet ready to put herself under the scrutinisation of the public's eye.

"Mm. Contact me when you've made your decision. Take your time; you don't have to give your answer so quickly."

"Thank you, Auntie. For everything."

"Yeah. Have a good rest, Yeo Ri-ah."

After bidding farewell to the older woman, Yeo Ri silently made her way to her apartment while contemplating Mrs. Choi's words.

Gun was not home when she got back, but upon checking her phone, she noticed that he had left a message telling her to call him as soon as she was free.

Yeo Ri pretended she didn't see his text and dropped her belongings on the floor before taking off her coat, unceremoniously throwing herself onto the bed.

Feeling the softness underneath her, Yeo Ri let out a contented sigh. Finally, she was able to rest.

She laid down for several minutes before she finally regained some strength to check her ever-buzzing phone. She'd set it in vibrate-mode the moment she got to the set and still had yet to change it.

Yeo Ri held her phone on top of her with both hands, still lying down.

23 missed calls, and over 300 unread messages.

Yeo Ri sighed. She knew that most of them must have been related to Yoo Hyun Bin's SNS post. She could imagine the people around her, especially Min Chae, going crazy over it.

Sure enough, Min Chae had left three missed calls, and over a hundred of the messages were sent by the girl alone.

Just as she was casually skimming through her messages, her screen changed, signalling an incoming call.

[Meddler], the ID displayed.

It was Heo Woo Seung.

Yeo Ri stared at the screen for a good minute, doing nothing until the call died out on its own. However, before she could rejoice, another call came in from his number.

Yeo Ri let out an audible sigh. Was he going to continue to be so persistent? He had let her be for so long, so why would he suddenly want to have a conversation with her? Next thing she'd know, he would probably ask to have a meal together, just like those two other people who kept bothering her tactlessly.

Defeated, she tapped on the green icon.

"What do you want?" She asked indifferently before he could even utter a greeting. Seeing that the other party was her accursed gene donor, Yeo Ri did not bother with pleasantries.
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"Yeo Ri-ah, are you thinking of acting in a movie?"

As expected, he had called her to inquire about the post.

"Why? You're scared that you might get implicated?" She scathingly replied.

"Are you really thinking of becoming an actress? Are you sure about this? You kno—"

"—Know what? Why are you suddenly so interested in my life? I can do whatever I want!"

"But, Yeo Ri-ah, it's dangerous—there's a lot of risks in becoming a celebrity... with your background, it'll be... difficult—"

Yeo Ri scoffed, "So?"

"It'll only be a matter of time before they find out about your past. Are you really sure you want to do this?"

"What's gotten into you, suddenly? Scared that they might find out you have a secret daughter?" Yeo Ri smirked derisively. If anybody she knew were to look at her then, they would probably call her an imposter. Such a negative and baleful expression did not suit the Yeo Ri they all knew and loved.

"Well, don't you worry, Uncle. I'm not your daughter, so is there really a need to be so uptight? Stop meddling in my business."

"That's not it, Y—"

"—Besides, it was just a small role. Get off my back."

Yeo Ri could hear the older man sigh. "I'm not trying to stop you. I'll support you no matter what you do. But, are you doing this for yourself or are you doing this to follow your mother's footsteps? To accomplish what she couldn't?" There was a trace of melancholy in his voice as he recalled the stunning yet short-lived woman. Back then, Han Yeoreum had constantly spoke of her brief acting stint—it had only lasted for two years before she eloped with that man, and some parts of her longed to get back to those days no matter how tough they were. It was clear how deeply she loved acting.

Yeo Ri harrumphed, "So what if I am, so what if I'm not?"

"Yeo Ri-ah, listen to me," Heo Woo Seung was beginning to grow frustrated due to the girl's unyielding att.i.tude. "The life of a celebrity is not as good as you'd think. You need to take this seriously. Take your mother for example—she had to move three times due to crazy fans breaking into her home. It was only after it got worse and she could no longer endure it alone was she forced to retire," he lectured. "It's too dangerous and there won't be any privacy at all. Everything about you will be released to the public—no matter how deep you hide something, they will always find ways to expose it. Are you prepared to face all that?"

Despite his warning, Heo Woo Seung had already resigned himself. If, in the end, she was still adamant in going through that path, he would need to hire a separate team to look out after her. She would definitely need more bodyguards in the future, he thought. It was only a matter of whether she would accept his good intentions or not.

"The one who wants to hide things is you, Mr. Heo. Me? I have nothing to be afraid of. So what if my past is revealed? I was the victim; they'll probably feel pity at me." Yeo Ri's tone was gentle, but frost was seeping out of her voice. "What about you, Mr. Heo? Is it that shameful for you to have an illegitimate daughter who was vilified by her stepfather? Is it?"

"...!" Heo Woo Seung's body stiffened from her cold remarks. He staggered and fell down on top of the couch behind him.

Yeo Ri was right. Although he claimed to be taking all these actions to protect her, in the end, it was all for his selfishness and his desire to satisfy his guilty conscience. He couldn't let the world know that he had a daughter with such a stained past.

He wanted to erase it. The fact that Yeo Ri went through such a wretched childhood was all because he couldn't own up to his mistakes.

She was his sin; the largest blemish on his records.

And he, truthfully, could not allow people to find out about her terrible past even if they were unaware of their relations. He knew that as a public figure, anything he wanted to keep out from the light would eventually be revealed, whether he liked it or not. It was only a matter of time before his compet.i.tors dug up this shameful secret of his and use it against him.

"I—" he sighed, unable to refute her biting words.

"—I know I was wrong. Everything was my fault. But, Yeo Ri-ah, can you please let me protect you? Just... let me do this, please? Think of it as my last-ditch effort to act as your father. I promise I won't interfere with your life anymore. Just, please, don't refuse my protection. I don't want you to get hurt."

"..." Yeo Ri listened to him quietly. His pained voice did nothing to stir her compa.s.sion. Her heart had already died that day she lost her chast.i.ty.

"Dad is really, really sorry. I won't ask for your forgiveness. I just want to keep you safe," he continued to beg the young girl. He slouched on the couch, holding his phone with a trembling hand. He looked utterly miserable, but alas, there was no one to witness his sorry sight and take pity on him.

"Whatever. Do whatever you want; I don't care." Yeo Ri ended the call right there and then, not bothering with formalities.

As soon as she let go of her phone, the anger on her face dissipated. She stared at the ceiling absentmindedly. The corner of her lips tugged upwards for a millisecond. Yeo Ri's eyes reflected nothing but emptiness.

One tiresome 'family' relations.h.i.+p had been put down.

It was time for her to let the other one lay to rest as well.