Careless Whisper

1 - Cast Away

All my life I thought, "If I'm an obedient daughter, then I'll be a perfect woman" - which doesn't really make sense now that I'm older.

In Korea, I was a Chaebol.

"So-hee, you are a woman, sit like a proper woman and don't slouch," my father said, fixing my sitting position and pushing my back forward, meeting the edge of the table.

That was my father.

Baek Dae-jung.

The man who owned the well-known 5-star Hi-Heart-Hotel, known as HHH. He has at least 30 buildings in every country.

"Hands off the table, kids. Table manners and etiquette are important. You don't want to look like a homeless man with no manners," he scolded my brothers who had their arms on the table. I was quick to learn, so his gaze on me softened, seeing me sitting as he wanted.

"Look at So-hee, she adopted it so quickly... kids nowadays."

I have two older brothers, but they never piqued our father's interest.

When I was born, my mom filed for divorce and lived in the Philippines all alone.

But even though they weren't together anymore, we still had connections.

People say I was born lucky.

I am from a "platinum spoon" family.

"This is my daughter, Baek So-hee. She will inherit everything I have," my father declared in front of hundreds of media outlets.

While I always wanted to take over his company, I longed even more for a normal life. But what choice do I have? I was born 'lucky,' right?

My dad allows us to visit mom in the Philippines whenever we like.

As a child with an innocent mind, I thought I had to show my full gratitude to my father in a way that I didn't know would haunt me forever.

I got everything I wanted, and in exchange, I had to be the good girl.

"Good morning, Mr. Park!"

"So-hee!! Manners!!" My heart shattered hearing my father yell after I greeted someone before him.

"What did I tell you? Stand back, stand behind me."

"I'm sorry, father."

Extravagant birthday parties.

Expensive toys.

Maids.

I had everything that a normal man couldn't even afford in his whole life.

I considered myself a lucky girl since I'm pretty smart academically.

I was liked by every single person in the world.

I'm a good-looking woman.

I was my father's favorite.

I am the face of the family...

I HAVE A REPUTATION.

I graduated college early with Latin honors.

A straight-A student.

"You will marry Park Tae-yong. He's the right guy for you. I know it," my father declared. I had never wanted to marry someone I didn't even like, but for the sake of his happiness, I agreed to it.

Then I almost married a guy.

He's smart...

He's tall...

He's handsome...

He's hardworking...

He's the perfect guy that a woman could ever ask for...

We're perfect for each other...

He has his own company, and I have mine...

At least I'll get to inherit it like what my father wanted.

We're the ideal couple in the eyes of the public...

My life is perfect...

I've reached my father's expectations, earned people's respect, and became the woman I'm supposed to be.

Everything goes smoothly...

And so that's what I thought.

Korea-Star News

This just came in! Park Tae-young, a young CEO of M&G Company was caught by some citizens 'kissing' another woman in a public restaurant this morning! Witnesses say he's been seeing this 'another woman' for months now. As we all know, Park Tae-young is already engaged with Baek So-hee, the daughter of Baek Dae-jung, and the future CEO of the most-talk Hotel all over the world.

The video of 'the couple' making out gone viral within an hour of upload and will continue to blow up later on. So far, there's no news about our beloved Baek So-hee, but we all knew how heartbreaking this is. We hope you're doing well, So-hee-ssi.

For more information and updates, please follow my i********: and twitter account.

"Damn it..." I muttered, slamming my phone hard onto the table. The sound echoed through the office, making my father glare at me, his lips pressed tightly together.

I was sitting on the couch in his office while he scribbled on some papers, talking about his company.

"I'm sorry, father. That was impolite of me," I apologized immediately, knowing he'd be mad.

I shouldn't act like this; I have to be professional.

He stared at me for a minute, reading me like an open book. That's how he is; he always examines everything with just his eyes.

"You look nervous... Take an hour's rest and come back right after." Once he dismissed me, I walked out of the office and dialed my fiancé's number. I stormed out of our house, signaling our driver to grab the car as I waited outside.

With every ring, I felt myself getting more anxious. All I could think about was my reputation and my father's expectations. As soon as I got in the car and the driver started the engine, my fiance finally answered.

"Where are you? I'm coming to get you," I asked without letting him speak first. He told me his location, and we headed there immediately.

Once we arrived at an empty restaurant, I saw him sitting alone by the window.

I walked in and saw him look at me with his usual cold glare. He always looked at me like that; I mean, everyone in our house does.

"What is this, Tae-young? Tell me this isn't true!" I showed him the news I'd read online. His eyes didn't widen, which meant he already knew about it. He looked back at me with the same blank expression.

"It is the truth, So-hee. I'm in a secret relationship with someone..." he said in his cold tone. I felt a pain in my chest as I heard those words. My knees weakened, so I sat down on the nearest chair, trying to process what he had just said.

"What? But we're engaged-" We are engaged; in fact, we've been engaged for 18 years now. I met him when I was 12, and we were bound to get married, so they tried to give us the closure we needed.

We got engaged at 17 and were supposed to get married at 25, but he said he wanted to focus more on the company and its partnership with my father's business, which both our fathers agreed to.

It's an arranged marriage, but I learned to love him as we grew closer every day. Now, hearing those words from him just shattered my heart into a million pieces.

"Don't act as if all of this was true! It's all an arranged marriage, and we all know it!" he retorted, slamming both palms on the table, making me flinch. I almost fell off my chair but managed to balance myself.

"I'm going to marry the woman I love, not the woman my father likes," he said, looking at me with disgust as if I were nothing but trash. His words kept hurting me. I could feel my body began to heave as my breath hitched in my throat.

"You're ruining your father's plan for you. We have everything; we have money-"

"f**k him and f**k you for agreeing onto this. If you want to get married then marry my father or our company." He stood up and walked away.

I let him go as I was too stunned and hurt by his words. My eyes filled with tears that I tried holding back but failed miserably.

I looked down at my feet and saw my tears fall on my skirt. I was completely hurt, I couldn't breathe, I felt stupid, useless, and shameless. I stayed in my seat for a minute or two before a woman came up to me.

She handed me a handkerchief, which I gladly took. I wiped my tears away and when I was done, I was a bit surprised to see the woman in that scandal.

"It's you..."

"I'm really sorry for how Tae-young acted. He's not like that and he didn't mean it... I also wanted to apologize for stealing your husband." I pulled myself together as I didn't want to be seen as emotional.

I cleared my throat and sat up straight before focusing my attention on her.

She looked pretty simple, wearing only joggers, a plain hoodie, and a pair of shoes. She had no makeup but still looked snazzy.

She seemed to have that confidence too.

"But I hope you realize that you cannot control everything with money. Love is something that no amount of paper bills could surpass. Money isn't always the happiness." she stated and gave me a small smile.

"I know this arranged marriage thing is for the sake of your company, but I think you've already had enough of it... Why still stuck on the-" I knew where this was going and ended it right before she could continue.

"700M Won. Stay away from him and you'll get cash or a check."

Money is everything.

That's what my father says.

That is what I kept in mind.

Money, honor, reputation.

Those three are what you need in life.

"What?" She looked at me with disappointment, which I rarely cared about as all I gave a damn about was my family's business.

"Name your price... A billion won perhaps? Just stay away from Tae-young." The other woman laughed at me, cursed under her breath before she stood up, and sent me a glare.

"f**k you and your money." She showed me a middle finger before she walked out of the restaurant. Once again, I was alone and I couldn't bring myself to even stand up. I felt scared, I could already imagine how my father would react to this.

I stayed in my seat until I had the strength to walk away. When we went back to the house, I felt my father's anger right after taking a few steps inside. When I made it to the living room, I saw him talking on the phone.

We made eye contact and he ended the call. He tossed me his phone which I caught but almost lost my grip on it. I looked at the screen and saw a video of me talking with Tae-young's other woman.

Korea-Star News

Breaking news!! The daughter of Baek Dae-jung, Baek So-hee, was filmed having a conversation with Park Tae-young's mistress. From the start of the video, it could be seen the ideal couple arguing about their marriage and being a couple only for money. Park Tae-young then stormed out of the room where his mistress took the opportunity to talk to Baek So-hee. The future CEO was caught offering a huge amount of money just for the woman to break the heart of Park Tae-young.

For the full video, please click the link below.

"Father, I can explain-"

"Offering money?! Really?! How desperate are you, huh? Did you know that Mr. Dokhwa Park already handled the situation?" He stood up abruptly, throwing his arms around while yelling at me. I looked down at my feet, feeling ashamed of myself.

"I'm sorry-"

"Now he thinks we're really that desperate for his money!! He did not want us to be partners anymore!! We lost him and that's because of you!" I didn't know what to do anymore. I didn't want to disappoint him, and now it was happening.

"Father, Tae-young is the one who ruined everything. We had it and he just backed away just like that." I tried to defend myself, I may have sounded pitiful to him but I cared no less. I couldn't afford to get all the hate.

"Then you should have just let me handle things! But you didn't, instead you acted like a brat! And now you've ruined everything!!" He marched closer to me, grabbed my hair, and forced me to look at him. I was frightened, I felt my knees weaken and my heart beating rapidly.

"I'm sorry, father."

"That's useless.... You're going back to the Philippines whether you like it or not!"

"But Father-"

"Enough with this nonsense, So-hee! I can't have you lingering in this country, the media will kill you and drag our company down. YOU will drag us down." I felt my heart stop functioning. I was so heartbroken that I found it hard to hold my tears. I sobbed in front of him and nodded as he let go of me.

"You're such a disappointment," he murmured, breaking my heart into pieces beyond repair.

He walked past me and cursed before walking out of the living room. I brought myself into my room and started crying. I took off my heels and lay down on my bed, feeling disappointed with myself.

All my life, I always strived to please my father. Be his doll that he played and controlled. I was his perfect girl and now I was nothing but a useless one.

I hate being useless.

My very own fiancé cheated on me with a low-ranking woman.

I was cast away by my own father after the scandal.

My second brother tried to fight for it, talking to my father at night before my departure, which I accidentally overheard.

"Father, would you just give her a chance? It's not her mistake; it's Tae-young we should blame," yet his attempt failed once my father's fingers wrapped around his neck.

"You dare to question my decision? You're just my son; you kneel before me, not whisper beside me." That's the most cold tone of voice I've heard from him. He's furious; I could sense it. The atmosphere was thicker than human blood.

"You'll be living in a villa for months or years and you will not come back until I say so..." My father stated while I walked out of the house and met him in the living room. The day of my departure came quickly, I never knew I'd come back to the Philippines all alone.

I bowed to him, showing my deepest apologies, gratitude, and respect, before I marched out of the house and met my second brother who was waiting for me outside.

"I've contacted our villa's caretaker in the Philippines. They said they'll meet you at the airport with a sign." I made my way to our car, he opened the door and closed it after I got in. I looked back to see if our oldest sibling was there but he wasn't. He was never home actually.

"He's busy with something... Take good care of yourself." Amongst the three of us, So-jeon is the sweetest one and even though he's the middle child, he acts more like the oldest one. Sun-jae is our oldest but he's never home even though he doesn't have a family. I was the only daughter and the youngest.

As the engine started and we drove out of our mansion, I saw my brother waving at me.

I peeked my head out of the window and waved back, trying hard to hold my tears again.

I fixed my position and took a long breath in order to calm myself down.

It took minutes to arrive at the airport but it took days before I could set foot in another country. Once we arrived and I got my luggage back, I walked inside the airport and saw a bunch of people.

I was lucky I had my own mask and hat with me. No one noticed me and I was able to roam free. It took me minutes to find a sign of where our caretakers should be.

Welcome back to the Philippines, MA'AM BAEK SAMANTHA!

I made my way towards the couple. An old-looking man and woman that seemed to be just a bit older than my father. If I were to judge, then I'd say they're in their 50's.

"Bakit kasi ang liit ng board mo. Paano kung hindi makita ni Ma'am Samantha yan?" I heard the old woman complaining, and I saw her lightly smack the old man's shoulder. Pain was evident all over his face; he appeared to be in pain but tried to hide it.

"Hindi ako marunong magsulat. Alam mo iyon."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you two the individuals Baek So-jeon sent to pick me up?" I asked politely. They looked at me with confusion, tilting their heads like lost puppies.

"I'm Baek So-hee, also known as Baek Samantha." I watched as the old woman pulled out her small, unfamiliar phone. Both of them looked at the screen before looking at me. She raised her phone and aligned it with my face. That's when I realized she was trying to compare me.

"Ma'am Samantha!!!" It took them a few minutes to recognize me.

Quite adorable.