Trial Marriage

Chapter 6

Of course not, the timing isn't right!

Karina knew what she was thinking, so she grabbed the phone and handed it to her. Jiwoo did not step aside to take the phone call, instead, she confidently pressed the answer button, right in front of Karina.

"Jiwoo, where are you right now?"

"I was afraid the reporters would find me, so I found a place to hide," Jiwoo replied calmly.

"So, you're saying you aren't aware of the incident with Winter?" Minkyu asked in a patient tone.

"What's wrong with Winter? The place I have hidden in is quite remote, so I haven't been able to keep up with what's happening on the outside, what happened?" Jiwoo tried her best to sound curious.

"Thanks to your manager, Tianyi is now in a mess. Return to the office first, I'm going to arrange for you to hold a press conference. Jiwoo, I am depending on you to clear Tianyi's name."

Press conference? More like another opportunity for him to throw the blame on Jiwoo...

Did he really think she was still that naive?

Jiwoo hung up the phone in disgust, when suddenly Karina began to speak, "I've already saved my number in your phone. Anytime you need me, give me a call and let me know what you want to do."

"Thank you, Karina..."

"You shouldn't be calling me that..." Karina unfolded her legs and pulled Jiwoo to her side, "Call me something else... or I won't let you go."

Jiwoo blushed as she whispered shyly, "Y...yeobo..." A rare smile appeared on Karina's face.

"Come on, I'll drop you off at work. Remember what you promised... don't get too close to another person."

Jiwoo knew exactly what Karina was referring to. She responded with a reassuring smile and a hopeful look in her eyes for Karina to trust her. Karina's heart skipped a beat. Between the two of them, there was nothing more to say.

...

In just 40 minutes, Karina had successfully driven Jiwoo to a location close to Tianyi Entertainment. As the Empress of Entertainment, she knew all the deepest, darkest secrets of the industry. Hence, she was curious as to how Jiwoo intended on turning the tables to retrieve her legacy as the idol supermodel.

Jiwoo knew what she was getting herself into. It was clear that this was a game where she had to keep her cards hidden, whilst her enemies had already laid their cards on the table. If she couldn't change the outcome even after swapping out her entire hand, then she would have to admit defeat.

After stepping out of Karina's car, she accessed the building through a secret walkway. As soon as the staff spotted Jiwoo, the room was filled with mixed reactions of disgust, hate and mockery; as if they were sure Winter's revelations were all under Jiwoo's directions.

Jiwoo pretended not to notice. She walked over to Minkyu's room and pushed open the door as her gaze met the back of Minkyu's head.

"You're back..." Minkyu turned around holding back his anger.

"Tell me, what happened?"

"Jiwoo, are you certain you don't know about the incident with Winter?" Minkyu threw the newspaper reports in front of Jiwoo. He questioned her angrily, "If she didn't receive orders from you, how would she be brave enough to do this?"

"Minkyu, we are about to get married, why would I do something like this? Wouldn't that be pushing you away?" Jiwoo choked on her words as she looked at him innocently.

"Then, how do you explain why you placed the Crown's Star on your ankle at the show? You knew very well that the biggest difference between you and Doyeon are your legs..."

Jiwoo looked at Minkyu as he interrogated her. She thought back on the multiple times that Minkyu had protected Doyeon in the same way. She once thought it was all because he was trying to protect his own growing career, so she was willing to endure being wronged and allowed him to stick up for another person. But from the looks of it now, the only person he wanted to protect all along had solely been Doyeon.

"At the time, I had no way of wearing the Crown's Star anywhere but my ankles. Doyeon's assistant was also present, you can ask him."

"I asked him already and he said you had made the decision yourself..." Minkyu pressed on.

"Minkyu, I am your fiancé, yet you choose to believe an outsider?" Jiwoo faked a look of disappointment as she continued to observe Minkyu's reactions, "Yesterday... we were supposed to be signing our wedding papers."

"It's too late to say anything now, the damage is done. HF has already notified the court of their intention to sue Tianyi for breaching the contract and thanks to your manager, the public's negative reactions towards Tianyi are now getting worse and worse. You need to take responsibility for this." Minkyu looked down at Jiwoo condescendingly. He gave off the aura of an almighty god passing judgement.

"You will be my wife soon, I don't want my wife to hurt my career. That's why... Jiwoo, for the sake of Tianyi, you have the responsibility to step out and explain to the public the entire mess was created by your manager for hype and has nothing to do with Tianyi..."

"Admitting that my manager was responsible is just like admitting I was responsible! Weren't you the one that called me to hastily substitute Doyeon?" Jiwoo cried, "Minkyu, is it because I am to marry you, that I should be sacrificed?"

"I don't care. Being recognized was your fault." As soon as those words left his lips, Minkyu must have felt he had gone too far. He quickly calmed down and reached out his arms to give Jiwoo a hug, however, she retaliated by pushing him away. "Jiwoo, I was just getting a bit impatient. Just this once... after we are married, I promise to treat you well..."

Of course, Jiwoo held back her tears and nodded, "I am doing this, not because I admit to creating this mess, it is because I want to protect your career. But, there will be no next time!"

"Yes... I promise, there will be no next time!"

In actual fact, Minkyu knew Jiwoo would fall for it again next time. Especially after they were married, according to Jiwoo's character, she would be easily controlled by him.

"The press conference will be this afternoon at 3pm. We will have a meeting in a minute to go over your script."

"OK!"

Jiwoo stopped crying and forced herself to look into Minkyu's eyes like always. But, as soon as she left the room, her eyes swept over with a cold gaze.

She couldn't immediately forget the jerk, but she was going to stick by her decisions.

There was no way she was going to take on the blame for Minkyu's wrongdoings again.

After thinking carefully, she returned to her own room and phoned her manager, "Winter, Minkyu is trying to use me as a shield."

"Ha ha! Jiwoo, tell me what you want me to do." Her manager was full of fighting spirit.

"3pm. I will announce I created the mess and apologize. Afterwards... I want you to anonymously release photos of Minkyu and Doyeon being affectionate in the hospital..."

"Ha ha, sure! I've even thought of a great headline 'Exposed! Tianyi's boss has multiple affairs: The Biggest Cheating Scum!'"

Jiwoo couldn't help but respond with a laugh, before she began to apologize, "Sorry, Winter, for dragging you into all this."

"Jiwoo, as long as you have made the decision to start afresh, I will help you return as the idol supermodel. In fact, not only that, I will help you become... an international supermodel!"