Bully In Love

Chapter 17 (M)

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Uhm headed out of the kitchen to the front door. She looked through the peephole and saw a beautiful woman, close to her age, standing on the other side. Curious, she opened the door. The woman was more beautiful than Uhm had thought and she was well dressed in a silk blouse and black skirt.

"Hello. Can I help you?" Uhm asked.

"My name is Chae-rin Kim. I believe you have my daughter."

A small scowl fell over Uhm's features after the mystery woman identified herself. Uhm was never one to hide her emotions well. Her facial expressions always said it all. "Oh, you're Jennie's mom, huh?"

"Yes. I was informed by my butler that she was at this..." Chae-rin looked past Uhm and gave the house a once over with a disapproving look on her face. "...residence?" she finished.

Uhm caught the undertone of an insult and was instantly put off by Chae-rin's obvious bigotry. She folded her arms in front of her chest and eyed the woman up and down. "Yeah, she's here. The girls told me what happened last night."

"Good. Then you know my daughter is being disobedient and must come home with me at once."

Uhm gave an unamused chuckle before stepping outside with Chae-rin and closing the door behind her. Chae-rin looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Okay, listen, Shay Ryan"

"The name is Chae-rin," she corrected. "That's Mrs. Kim to you."

Uhm rolled her eyes, already growing tired of this woman and her high horse. "Chae-rin, Mrs. Kim, whatever," Uhm countered. "I may not know a lot of things but I know Jennie is a good kid... a real sweetheart that cares for others like no one's business. But right now she is heartbroken because her own mother won't accept her."

Chae-rin looked at her, outraged. "This is none of your concern. I demand to see my daughter now."

"Oh, it's a big concern for me," Uhm shot back. "Do you know how often Jennie has been over for dinner? Do you know how much time she spends here?"

"It sounds like too much time."

"Well, its more time than I can count for the past few months, I'll tell you that. But you know what? I don't mind, because Jennie has told me herself that she would rather be with us than at home."

Chae-rin scoffed. "That's absurd. I won't listen to this any further. Bring Jennie to me."

"I'm not done yet. Have you even asked yourself yet why Jennie ran away from home?"

"She's clearly confused. Jennie is at a stage in her life where she can be easily influenced and being around... unsuitable outside sources is causing her to act abnormally."

"Unsuitable sources, huh? Oh, you mean blue collar folks like us," Uhm stated, rather than questioned.

Chae-rin defiantly stuck her chin out, refusing to answer Uhm's question. They both knew the answer just by the look in Chae-rin's eyes. "She has no reason to run from me. I've given her everything a young girl could possibly want."

"Yeah? What about attention? What about love? She wants to feel like she belongs somewhere." Chae-rin looked as though she were about to speak but Uhm cut her off. "She needs those things and she finds it here. I treat Jennie like one of my own."

Chae-rin was clearly offended. "Are you accusing me of not raising my daughter properly?"

Uhm looked at the woman before her and actually felt sorry for Chae-rin. Did she really not understand what she was trying to say? "No lady, but don't you see that if your kid is running away from you somethin' ain't right?"