Chasing the Shrew

West Meets East

Amelia and the children were led to a comfortably furnished room. The difference in treatment was like night and day. The stunt she pulled in the hall impressed them and her standing had suddenly elevated. Even Kae was looking at her with a sparkle in his eyes. He tried to talk to her afterward but she ignored him, the stupid f*cker.

She knew Chris and DS were coming for her, all she had to do was hold out until then. If she had groveled who knew where they would be shipped to? Four hours is a long enough time for someone to “disappear” and for all tracks to be erased. She gambled and she won. Amelia laid her children down to rest while she stood guard by the bed. No one was taking her babies, no one.

***

The main hall was in turmoil, DS's mother, Bae Suji, was trying to soothe the raging Bae Hye-Jin. Hye-Jin witnessed her father assaulted by a white w***e then the Bing family head welcomed the b*tch into their fold.

She seethed but held it in till the old man left with his commanders. She could only vent her frustrations on Suji, her aunt twice removed. Suji was sold to the Bing family to solidify the ties between the groups decades ago but she was weak. She bore twin dragons for the Bing family yet she did nothing for the Bae family.

The two groups would meet up once a year for business talks. That was when Hye-Jin, the daughter of the current head of the Bae Clan, saw the two Bing twins for the first time. She was older than them by three years but they were close enough in age to hang out. Though the two brothers looked exactly the same, their personalities couldn’t be more different. Kae was a mean bastard and Dae-Seong was calm and quiet.

Hye-Jin fell in love with the reticent Dae-Seong but the little sh*t avoided her like the plague. She begged her father to arrange their marriage and he readily agreed. Still, Dae-Seong would go so far as to jump walls to avoid contact with her. At wit's end, she decided to seduce him with her sexy body. One night when he was drunk she crept into his room and barred his door. Then she climbed into his bed but the moment she tried to undress him he woke up. He slashed himself with a dagger under his pillow to sober up and jumped out the window and he never came back. For the last six years, she was the laughingstock of both groups, though they could only laugh behind her back; if she caught them she would have them whipped till they were a bloody pulp. Upon hearing Kae had found Dae-Seong, she rushed over from Korea to welcome him home only to find a b*tch and her brood who had been playing family with her betrothed for the last six years. The past humiliation and the present were like millions of needles stuck in her. She couldn’t wait to return the favor to the hussy. Hye-Jin seethed digging her long nails into Suji’s arm.

The older lady hissed in pain and Hye-Jin let go as if it was unintentional.

“Ah! Sorry Auntie, did that hurt? I was just so angry. Oppa has been gone so long and Kae-oppa brought home this hussy instead of my betrothed. You know how upset our family has been. Uncle, your brother…”

Suji’s eyes widened, “What’s wrong?”

Hye-Jin smirked, “He’s fine… for now. But don’t forget, his life is in your hands. If you don’t do as we say, he will suffer. Oh, I’ll be staying overnight, I need to keep an eye on that whore.”

Suji closed her eyes, she had always wanted to ask her husband to save her younger brother but she knew the Bae Clan would kill her brother first. They were kept apart all these years but he would send her a letter every once in a while. Besides, the Bing family only loved the strong; weak women were cast aside. She knew her husband had other women besides herself and that she only kept her legal wife status because she bore identical twin sons; a highly auspicious symbol of power. She pulled her sleeve down to hide the bloody nail marks and went to arrange for Hye-Jin’s stay.

***

Dae-Seong, Chris, and Theo walked out of the Roger family private jet and made their way into the airport through the VIP hallway. Flanked by bodyguards from both the Roger and Jones households, they looked formidable.

Dae-Seong looked at the sky and sighed, it looked the same everywhere but for some reason, the sky here seemed colorless to him. He was back in the cage called “family”. He closed his eyes. At least he got to live for six years. He had a real family and he was willing to go back to hell for them.

Chris watched Dae-Seong from behind, Dae-Seong footsteps were steady but forced. It was clear that Dae-Seong did not want to be here. Although he was jealous of Dae-Seong being so close to Amelia. He was also relieved to know that Dae-Seong was willing to lose everything for her.

Chris then turned to look at his brother. Theo was still fuming. Chris had called their mother and told her what happened after Theo hung up on him. Helena said she would call Theo. Chris smirked, his mother could be VERY persuasive as evidenced by an irate Theo stomping next to him.

“Damn it, Chris! I can’t believe you called Mom on me,” Theo grumbled for the umpteenth time. Although he was part of the underworld and could kill and torture people without batting an eye he was still afraid of upsetting his mother. Helena had cried and even fainted over the phone. His father picked up the phone and started screaming at him to fix things before he hung up. Theo felt like his eyes were going to roll back into his head from sheer frustration but if he fainted nobody would even spare him a glance.

“Why is your love life the only important thing!? Mine is too! I just want to find my lover from five years ago! Ugh.”

“I will help you find her, damn it! Amelia and the kids are in danger now!”

Theo sighed, “I tried everything, do you know how big Asia is? I don’t know which nationality she is.”

Chris sighed, “Why didn’t you go back to that hotel to ask for the video footage?”

“That’s the thing, there was none. The tapes were stolen.”

They all boarded the car which sped them over to the Bing Estate; Dae-Seong his same reticent self from six years ago and the two bickering Farley brothers.

***

Meanwhile, Dustin was pacing around outside of Amelia’s townhouse. It was already evening and there was no reason for her to be out. From his past recollections, she was a homebody; she should be home at this hour.

“Where is that shrew?!” He mumbled.

Even the children were nowhere to be seen. He kept pushing the doorbell and pacing in front of her door wondering if she was just ignoring him.

An elderly man walking his dog eyed him suspiciously as he went up the steps to the house next door, “Another troublemaker in less than three days, humph!”

Dustin scowled and called out, “What do you mean?!”

The old man startled to be called out coughed nervously, “There was a group of gangsters here about two days ago that kidnapped Amelia and her kids. Then DS came and left with a blonde man and no one has been back since,” he spluttered in one breath.

“Did you call the police?”

The old man shook his head, “I’ve lived long enough to know not to invite trouble. While I feel bad for Amelia I do not want to get mixed up with unsavory crowds. Besides, what can the police do? They are just poor wage slaves like the rest of us; you think they will willingly go into a gunfight when the other side has machine guns?”

Dustin wanted to strangle the old man but he had already entered his house and slammed the door shut.

Where are his children? Where is Amelia? He doesn’t even have a clue to work with. Dustin grabbed at his hair. Blonde hair… Chris Farley!!