To Be or Not To Be A Family - Chapter 53

Hae-Won immediately left for the Park mansion. She knew Ashma’s two mothers would be under stress because of her. Even though she too was tense because of her she knew she had to be a rock now. The whole way she kept an eye out for Ashma but she had no luck. She reached the Park mansion, parked her car and ran outside. She even forgot to chat with her fans today. Her mind was occupied with Ashma and her whereabouts.

“Are you okay?” she hugged Eun-Kyung the moment she walked in.

“I am fine, just worried about Ashma,” replied Eun-Kyung.

“We all are,” assured Hae-Won. “Where is Vidhi?”

“Crying her eyes out in her room,” replied Eun-Kyung.

“And Bongie?”

“Crying her eyes out with her.”

“We need to separate them,” said Hae-Won.

“You are right.”

“Let’s bring both of them to the living room. Have anyone of you eaten anything?” asked Hae-Won.

“No, too preoccupied.”

“I understand. You bring them both, I will get something to eat,” said Hae-Won and went into the kitchen. No servants were working all were standing idle talking to each other. Nothing like that ever happened in the house what happened today. Seeing her coming in, they all became active. She ordered them around and they started plating the food for everyone.

Eun-Kyung went inside the guest room where Bongie and Vidhi were staring at their phone waiting for it to ring. When nothing happened, Vidhi called Ashma’s phone. The phone rang completely but there was no answer. Bong-Cha called her phone next, the same way there was no answer. Eun-Kyung saw their face and a tear dropped from her eyes. The worry, the concern on their face was disheartening.

Eun-Kyung wiped her tears and said, “Come on you two, let’s go.”

“Where?” sniffled Bong-Cha.

“To the living room, you both need to eat.”

“What about my child, Eun-Kyung?” cried Vidhi.

“Everyone is out there searching for her,” replied Eun-Kyung.

“I cannot eat,” said Vidhi and looked at her phone waiting for Ashma to call.

“So we will find her immediately if you don’t eat,” scolded Eun-Kyung.

“I am sorry, I don’t know what to do,” Vidhi broke down. She hugged her knees and started bawling.

Eun-Kyung went up to her, side-hugged her and reassured, “just have patience and hope. All will be well. Our Ashma is a grown-up girl and a fighter. She will be okay, my heart knows that.”

“You love her like your daughter. How are you so calm right now?” asked Vidhi.

“This is the calm before the storm. Trust me when all this is over I am going to have a meltdown. Now, both of you get up and come with me,” ordered Eun-Kyung. They both got up and followed Eun-Kyung while wiping their tears.

When they arrived in the living room, Hae-Won and In-Ho were placing the centre table with food and beverages.

“Take one plate for Shiahbuhji,” Hae-Won ordered In-Ho.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

All sat down and were eating their food half-heartedly when Hei-Ran arrived. She ran and hugged Eun-Kyung and then Vidhi. She held Bong-Cha tightly in her arms and Bong-Cha kept crying for her sister.

“I am sorry about what you guys are experiencing now,” said Hae-Ran while caressing Bong-Cha’s hair.

The next moment Vidhi’s phone rang. Everyone looked at her thinking that Ashma called. Vidhi looked at her phone and was disappointed. It was not Ashma who was calling her, it was Priyanka.

“Hello!” greeted Vidhi.

“Namaste Aunty, I need to talk to Ashma urgently. She send us a couple of emails and asked us to call her but she is not picking up the phone now,” informed Priyanka.

Vidhi removed the phone away from her ears, covered the receiver of the phone and cried for a bit. Her face was contorted, her eyes were closed, tears kept falling from her eyelashes down her cheeks, her lips quivered. She kept crying for half a minute. She then cleared her throat and said, “there is an emergency so she is not picking up her phone. She is away from home right now, as soon as she arrives I will ask her to give you a call.”

“Is everything alright?” asked Priyanka, suspiciously.

“Yes, yes, she just stepped outside for a moment. Don’t worry,” lied Vidhi.

“Okay, fine, tell her the PR team is handling her issue and there is nothing to worry about. Salt will be posting a written apology on her Instagram and her company will be issuing a statement as well,” notified Priyanka.

“That’s good, that’s very good.” Vidhi went silent.

“Aunty!” said Priyanka.

“Yes.”

“Please also ask her about the dress. Is she coming back with the dress? If not how does she plan to send it?” inquired Priyanka.

“Fine, I will inform her,” said Vidhi.

“Thank you, aunty.”

Vidhi disconnected the call, let the phone drop on the carpet and started crying. Her plate of food remained virtually untouched. Bong-Cha went to her and wiped her tears.

“Everyone is looking for her. They will find her,” comforted Bong-Cha. Vidhi just nodded and kept crying. Eun-Kyung’s heart broke after seeing how much Vidhi was concerned for her daughter. After all, she raised her daughter on her own. Both mother and daughter lived their life with one another. They had no one else, just one another. They must have a special bond.

Meanwhile, In-Ho took food for Young-Jae. He didn’t go to the office today. He was sitting in his room on his couch, sad and crestfallen. His room was completely dark. He didn’t even bother to open the curtains.

In-Ho knocked at his door and went inside.

“Sir, your food,” said In-Ho and placed the plate in front of Young-Jae. He poured a glass of water for him, uncovered his food and started walking away from the room.

Suddenly, Young-Jae spoke, “do you think I am a villain, Pyo-ssi?”

“Sir?” In-Ho turned towards him and faced him.

“Am I a villain?” Young-Jae inquired again.

“How can I answer that, sir? I am just a servant,” said In-Ho.

“Speak your mind,” answered Young-Jae.

“I think you were a little harsh. You should have heard what she had to say. If she had a plan to get out of the mess, you should have given her a chance,” suggested In-Ho.

Young-Jae inhaled sharply, “so you too think I am wrong.”

“You hit a child, sir. You have never done that.”

“She is not a child,” shouted Young-Jae.

“The way I see, she is a pampered child. She was very much loved in India, but here she is no one. Here she has to share her love. She does not need this family yet she is here for her mother. A kid who loves her mother like that can never do anything wrong. Instead of thinking about her reputation she always thinks about what will happen to this family if the secret comes out. She never thinks about herself, she always thinks about others,” stated In-Ho.

“How do you know so much?” asked Young-Jae, curiously.

“A servant knows everything, Sir.”

“Everything?”

“Everything, Sir. So you can fool everyone but not me,” said In-Ho.

“I am not fooling anyone, Pyo-ssi,” replied Young-Jae.

“Then why are you sitting in darkness, why are you not celebrating that she is gone. After all, that was the one thing you wanted most,” taunted In-Ho.

“I don’t know.”

“Because you are feeling guilty for what you did,” pointed out In-Ho.

“What is hurting me is I hurt my sonnyuh,” said Young-Jae.

“Then help in finding her sister.”

“I will try.”

“Eat something, Sir,” said In-Ho and pointed towards the plate.

“Hmm.” Young-Jae looked at the plate.

In-Ho left him alone and went back to the kitchen.

The ladies kept calling Ashma but in vain. She never picked up the phone. The whole house kept searching for her without eating or drinking.

When evening arrived Eun-Kyung called everyone and asked them to come back to the house to eat something. When they didn’t listen to her, Vidhi called everyone and after much pressure, they agreed to come home and eat. But they made up their mind that as soon as they will eat they will go out again to search for Ashma.

All kept driving around looking for Ashma but couldn’t spot either the car or Ashma. One by one the search party started coming back to the house. First to reach was Young-Soo. Vidhi ran to him and asked about Ashma but he had no answer. He hugged her and let her cry on his shoulder.

Next to arrive was Jong-Woo, he came back to Park Mansion, defeated. He too had no answers. He looked at every mall in Korea but she was nowhere to be found. Next Baek-Hyeon and Chin-Sun came back. Hei-Ran and Hae-Won brought food for them as soon as they arrived. They kept calling their security personnel for an update. But there was no news yet. It seemed as if Ashma vanished from the face of the earth.

The only person to come back was Yong-Sun. He was still far from the Park mansion. Young-Jae spent his whole day in his room.

Abruptly, Young-Jae’s phone rang and he picked it up immediately.

“Yes,” said Young-Jae on the phone.

“I have the news,” said the voice from the other side of the phone.

“Forward it but discreetly and look after the good. We must not lose it again.”

“Yes, sir. I am sorry sir. I lost it for the day.”

“I hope you don’t repeat your mistake again,” scolded Young-Jae.

“I will never lose sight of it ever again.”

The phone was disconnected. There was a peace on Young-Jae’s face. For the first time since morning, he let himself relax.

While Baek-Hyeon was having something to eat, his phone rang. It was Yong-Sun.

Baek-Hyeon was stuffing his mouth with food as he had to run as soon as he finished eating. Chin-Sun was matching his pace. “When are you arriving?” asked Baek-Hyeon.

“I am not, I know where she is,” Yong-Sun shared the news.

This made Baek-Hyeon choke on his food. He coughed for a while, drank water and then asked, “What? Where? I am coming too.”

“No, no you are too far, I am close. She is at Guryongpo Beach,” replied Yong-Sun.

“At the beach? At Guryongpo Beach? That far?”

Vidhi heard the word beach and shouted, “Holy shit! Why didn’t I think of that? Of course, she is at the beach.”

“Of course,” Bong-Cha facepalmed.

Eun-Kyung looked at them and asked, “What? Why?”

“She loves water. It calms her down,” informed Vidhi.

“Wherever she goes, to a new country she always visits the beach,” educated Bong-Cha.

“Find her and bring her home,” commanded Baek-Hyeon.

“Wish me luck..” Yong-Sun disconnected the phone and raced his car to the beach.