Chapter 193 - 192: The Unconditional Support Of Family
"What do you mean?" Everyone was clearly in denial. They didn\'t want to believe everything that Eunji was saying.
"I was an assassin. A mercenary to be exact. I have killed a lot of people and shamelessly got paid for it. And I\'m not proud of that." Eunji\'s voice was threatening to crack as she tried to compose herself.
She didn\'t know that confessing about her truth was going to be so difficult and mostly suffocating.
It was far different when she confessed her truth to Nathan because at least the latter had an idea of the world where she came from.
She knew Nathan was not naive when it comes to the underworld where mafias, gangs, mercenaries and all wanted criminals exist.
Looking at the elderly women in the room, she felt anxious and her body felt tensed as she could not read what was going on in their minds. If after this confession, they would still like and treated her like the way they used to.
But she had made this move. So she better take full responsibility of her actions and bare with the consequences. It\'s now or never for her.
"But I had no other choice but to follow that path even if I was against it from the very beginning."
She sighed as she fidgeted her fingers together like a troubled kid being surrounded by the intimidating adults who were waiting for her to confess that she had done something wrong.
"I am both my parents\' daughter. And it\'s my duty to help them in every way possible after my sister was gone. I have to replace my twin sister\'s place in our group. She was the original mercenary assassin whom a lot of people feared not only in group but in the whole mercenary organization. And I had to be just like her to make them believe that I am her when I took over her place."
"But...I have had enough of that life. I was not happy to kill them. The only consolation I had was that my subjects were criminals whom your law could not put them behind bars."
"But still I was not happy. I wondered when will I got out of that hell hole. That opportunity came to me when I encountered an accident while I was on a mission that almost caused me my life. I went off-grid for almost a year. That time, I got the chance to interact with the natives who were a bunch of selfless people. And with them, I finally got the idea of what happiness really meant."
She then told them the events when she came back to their base. How her parents were delighted to see her alive. And how she asked to be free from the organization by means of her death.
"I drank the drug that made my heart stopped beating and would declare me dead within a second and might not be able to return to life after forty-eight hours should I not taken the antidote before it. I thought my plan had worked. But I woke up sooner than expected and a nightmare welcomed me. The nightmare that was worse than death itself."
"My...my selfishness caused them their lives. Had I known, I...I should have not left them on that crucial day. I should have fought with them when a bunch of enemies came and slaughtered the people living in the camp. The people that belonged to the union. I should have not decided to die on that day... I was a coward...I kil-" but before she could even complete it, Nathan interrupted her.
"No! Listen to me! You didn\'t kill them, okay? You didn\'t expect for it to happen that day. All you wanted was to have your life back to you back then and not to live for the sake of that damn responsibility. You are a good person deep inside your heart." Nathan said as he wiped the tears that she didn\'t know were there.
Nathan was worried that she would pass out just like the last time and would be lost deep in her thoughts.
Eunji sobbed when she heard Nathan\'s comforting words and Nathan hugged his wife to comfort her.
Everyone were glued on their seats as they could not process this overwhelming information.
They didn\'t know how they should react with all these.
The emotional Kelly took the initiative as she stood up and left her husband\'s side as she spread her arms to hug her best friend.
And Eunji didn\'t hesitate to let go from Nathan\'s hug and came into her arms.
The arms that had been giving her the comfort, reassurance and support before Nathan came.
"I\'m sorry." Eunji sobbed in her arms.
"Shhh. It\'s okay. Nathan\'s right. It\'s not your fault. Stop crying now. Okay? The babies will get sad inside you. Do you want them to be born as crying babies?" Kelly coaxed her.
"Of course newborns are always going to be crying babies." Eunji refuted while her sob muffled her giggle.
Kelly always knew how to make her smile in situations like this.
On the other hand as everything had sunk in to them, they gasped a mouthful of air in shock.
They could not believe how much she had suffered in her past. Her past was very tragic, traumatic and horrible. That in order to be free from it, she had to literally ask it as her eighteenth birthday gift and had to literally experience death in the process.
For most people, the thought that the day they would die would freak the hell out of them but she, she had experience the feeling of death and came back to life!
Now they fully understood why she was so reserved back then when they first meet her.
How she was so careful with her actions around them.
Yes she was flawed but so what? They were not perfect either. So who were they to judge her?
Should they judge her for the things that she had committed in the past and she heavily regretted of doing?
She herself was clearly suffering from it so they should not add salt to her old wounds or she might break down.
She was so young back then and was out of choice but to follow the path that she was destined to walk through for the sake of her parents.
Every filial child would do the same thing for the sake of their parents even if they were wrong.
But what was right and what was wrong?
In the eyes of a young child, what his or her parents are teaching and telling him or her will always be right.
She chose to fight with them. To protect their honor.
Yes, their way of living might be wrong but probably they were out of options. There\'s always another side of the story.
And they were sure that her parents were good people deep down because they would not be able to raise a kind-hearted and well-disciplined daughter should they lack manners and values themselves.
Yes, she was a criminal as what she had described her past self to be. But looking at her now, she was nothing but a gentle and well-mannered lady that would not be able to hurt even a mosquito.
They had grown to love and treasured her like their own flesh and blood as the days went on.
She had slowly taken their hearts by her sincerity and authenticity. They were captivated by her irresistible charm.
Should they fear for their lives? After all she was capable of killing them even without them knowing.
No. Why should they? The fact that she had mustered all the courage she had in her body to reveal her truth to them was the living proof that she had placed her trust on them.
The person who found it hard to trust other people had done that because they believed that in her heart she recognized them as her extended family. The family that she hoped she could lean on.
And they believed that they won\'t be harmed by her. On the contrary, she would protect them and they would protect her, too because that is what true family should do.
Now they understood why the founder of Paradise Foundation International had been incognito all these years.
She never revealed herself in public.
She was right. The media and the press would not stop at nothing to know her background should she reveal herself.
Now they understood why she didn\'t want to be photographed. She\'s afraid to be recognized and gain a lot of attention.
She probably had made a lot of enemies that would stop at nothing just to find her.
After some time of coaxing her, Eunji had finally managed to calm down.
Now she was sitting on Nathan\'s lap while Kelly was sitting on the chair beside her.
"I...I\'ll understand if you\'ll hate me now. I have taken a lot of lives in my hands. But please...don\'t call the cops just yet. When the time\'s right, I will turn myself over to them. But please not now. I am not yet ready." Eunji said sadly as she looked at Madame and Master Mo.
Especially because they were from a military family.
Everyone gathered around to comfort her too. They expressed their sorry and sympathy for her hoping that it was not to late.
"Silly girl, why should we do that?" It was Master Mo who spoke first.
"I don\'t care if I am not your biological father but in my heart, you are my daughter and I will beat anyone who would point finger at you and would dare to bully you!" He added which made Eunji to smile as tears once again welled up on her eyes.
"Y-you\'re not afraid of me? Yo-u don\'t hate me after everything that I had revealed to all of you?" Eunji asked all of them in disbelief.
She was so ready to receive their criticisms and their disappointments towards her. She was also expecting that Mei and Sana would ask Nathan to divorce her after they learned about her past.
"Dear. Thank you for being honest with us. For trusting us. No. We won\'t do such terrible thing. All of us here are treating you as our daughter. And I am even lucky that you gave me the chance to be your mother-in-law when you married my Nate." Mei chimed.
"And I don\'t care if people would sue us or would call us terrible parents for tolerating you but you have suffered enough! So no! You\'re not going anywhere but be with your family, with your soon kids and husband who doted on you dearly. With us, your new found family who would always come to your rescue whenever you needed us." Madame Mo joined in too.
With this, Eunji cried even more and Madame Mo and Mei hugged her while the former was sobbing on their embrace. She was overwhelmed by this maternal love that this two mothers had been showering her.
"Let me join too. I am her third mother you know." Madame Hua joined in.
"Don\'t worry Eunji, we will help you in protecting your identity at all cost. If you want us to be a dummy sponsor of your foundations then so, be it! The media and the press won\'t doubt us."
"Thanks Uncle Hua." Eunji wholeheartedly thanked the man.
"No. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to join your project in changing people\'s lives. You are an incredible woman Eunji and you deserved all of our support."
"Thank you."
"Silly, if we\'re going to hear that word coming from your mouth again, we will be totally upset about it."
"Okay?" Eunji asked as she was unsure about it.
"Guys! I want a group hug!" Hua Zhang Wei announced which made everyone to agree.
They decided to gather around Eunji and Nathan and gave them a group hug.