128 Kang Sung/ Ben

Jimmy walked back to his office in a rush.

The thought pounded through his head, making his heart hammer roughly as it hit his chest. If he was correct in his assumption, then things were going to get immensely f***ed up. Jim hurriedly reached for his desk and searched through files kept in the drawer. When he didn't find the one on Kang Group in there, he looked through the cupboard and the shelves.

In one of the cabinets, he did locate a huge, bulky black folder.

It was labelled K.G.I. – Kang Group of Industries.

The young master skimmed through its contents.

The only mutual relation between Rebecca and Miya, from what he knew of their history together, was Ben's father, Kasu. And if Kasu belonged to the Kang family, then they could be dealing with a major problem soon enough.

Jimmy looked at the entire family tree of the Kang's, from the name of their first ancestor to the one in charge of the company right now. The Chairman of the enterprise was of course Kang Sheng, the old hawk Jimmy himself had dealt with a number of times. He had three sons and four daughters. Jim read through their names.

For a second, relief spread through Jimmy's entire body, as he saw that none of his children or grandchildren were named Kasu. He almost plopped into the comfy chair and dropped the folder too, when his brain registered a small fact.

Kang Sung.

The youngest son.

The initials of both words – Ka Su.

Beads of sweat covered his forehead. Jim flipped over the pages to the details of this third son of the Kang family. Once he did, he almost dropped the file.

There was a small picture of a young man plastered to the top right corner of the page. He had a thin face, deep hazel eyes and a sly smile on. His face was pale, and he looked malnourished, but those features spoke of a handsome man of wild appearance. And in that face, Jim saw the image of the little boy.

Faint, but unmistakable.

The corners of Kang Sung's mouth resembled Ben's, as did his jaw – and there was a wild flicker in his eyes, that Jim had seen more than once in Ben. His smile though, the little boy had inherited from his mother.

Jim read on.

Somehow, his legs felt weak. Especially when he saw the simple dates printed beneath his name.

Kang Sung.

[ February 8, 1990 – October 16, 2013 ]

The man was dead.

Jimmy swallowed, quickly coming to terms with the fact, but unable to believe that he had been wrong all along. He had assumed before that Miya had been running away from this guy. She had returned to her horrible past after ten years of disappearance, and pregnant too. Somehow, when he thought about it now, Jim's chest clenched, and his throat dried up.

He read further on.

And on the streets and among hoodlums of the sort, he went by the name Kasu.

Jimmy closed the file with a thud.

There was no mistake about it.

Kang Sung, the third heir of The Kang Group of Industries, was the father of Ben.

And he was dead.

Jim's heart raced, and his brain worked faster than ever.

The only question was, how? How did Kasu die?

The file said nothing, so it must not have been important enough. But, it said he died in 2013, which had to be around the time Ben was born, and Miya was back here and out of her disappearance. Then…

Had she spent all those years when she was missing, with this man?

He was involved in street fighting and things of the sort… just like Miya's record had said. Assault, B\u0026E, excellent fighting skills –

The possibility ran through his mind.

And despite himself, the thought repulsed Jimmy to the core. A bitter feeling churned in his stomach and raced all the way to his chest, twisting it painfully. He didn't know how to react.

Miya was his wife. HIS wife, damn it!

Did she know this Kasu man was the heir of the Kang Group?

Why hadn't she told him anything last night?

"And we'll say whatever we are comfortable in telling each other. No forcing. And no lies."

He himself had said.

Damn it!

Jim had the urge to burn down the file. Did the woman know Ben was the heir to the Kang Group? Wait…

Or was that why she was running away?

Because Kang Sheng was after her? But, one of Sheng's two older sons had a son, and from the look of it, Ben was an illegitimate child.

And within a second, Jim's mind flashed back to the day when he had first visited Miya's apartment and stood behind her door, eavesdropping. That bald old man who was forcing her to give up Ben… Miya's reaction when Jim had said he could remove the man who wanted her to give her child up for adoption –

Sh*t.

Was this it?

The trouble she had, had it been with Kang Sheng all along?

But if it was, why hadn't she told him? Jim didn't even need a reason to make the Kangs eat dirt, he'd do it for pleasure alone – that was the enmity that existed between them. But the fact remained that this feud was not public, simply because the Kang Group was filthy, too deep in dirt, and the Hunter Corporation didn't have to be stained with any sort of association with them – not even animosity.

Jim sighed, roughly putting a hand through his hair.

Miya, Miya.

Ever since the girl had entered his life, things had gone incredibly complicated. In ways he didn't like.

But he was Jimmy Hunter.

And he accepted the challenge, even felt a slight thrill from it.

She was the woman he loved after all.

Strange, twisted, but hauntingly calm – but that was his whole life summed up in two words, either way.

Now, his only query was why Simon Hunter hadn't told him of these facts himself.

What was he up to?