Tricking My Cold Lover

1Arriving at the old gun factory, Anton was met by one of his men, reporting their findings of the syndicate that had been attempting to steal from both their factories.     

"Sir, one of the prisoners finally spoke. It was tough, as he had been using different names over the years. After your sister found a connection to his family, we threatened to pay a visit to his wife."     

"He said their organization is called The Green Vipers of Dae - "     

"Dae?" Anton asked.     

"Yes, sir. It's a common name here in Korea but, there is one Paek Dae who has been infamous in the country since his teenage years. He has been in and out of prison since, but from what I know Mr. Yeong, his family is old rich. He probably has a lot of cash to keep his organization in good hiding."     

"Let's keep at it. Release one other prisoner, the one that was hardest to crack and monitor his movements when outside our base," instructed Yeong. " I won't be going to JKW for a few days. We must at least see to it that we find their organization's hide-out by then."     

"Yes, sir."     

Inside the Yeongs' secret base, located three miles from the old factory, a man with snake tattoos all over his body was injected with a sedative. He was shot in the arm, covered in light cloth material and brought outside the facility. He was left in the middle of the woods while unconscious. He woke up the next day, gasping for air.     

The man slowly unwrapped himself with the cloth, explicitly looking at his surroundings. He was alone, and it surprised him that he was alive. He recognized that aside from the cloth, he was covered in soft soil and dried leaves with only part of his face exposed. He thought to himself, 'They probably thought I had died, but - but I'm still alive.'     

Although he found it strange that he was not buried beneath the earth to conceal his body, he immediately assumed that Anton's men did a lousy job, disposing of their fallen enemies.     

He fully removed the cloth that surrounded his body, revealing the wounds and bruises that discolored his skin. He got up with difficulty and walked painfully to find the nearest stream. He washed himself and covered the bullet wound on his arm before taking the long walk to town.     

A few times he heard someone following him behind, but each instance he surveyed his surroundings, he found no one. He shrugged it off, blaming the wind or the small animals that lurked the forest.     

As he made his way to their secret hide-out, the man stole clothes and even food from the small homes he came across. He struggled through his journey until he arrived at a huge storage place by the ports of Seoul. It took him two full days to reach his destination and as soon as his colleagues on watch saw him, he reported, "I managed to escape the slammer of the great Anton Yeong. His men are so stupid. They thought I was dead and left me in the woods."     

Back in the old factory, Anton's men described their surveillance over the prisoner they had released, "Sir, he went straight to a warehouse in the port of Incheon. We will continue to monitor the warehouse and the activities of the men in that location."     

"Good, we need to find out who is behind all these. We need to know who is the real enemy. Continue updating me while I am in China. I will leave tomorrow for Guangzhou," directed Anton.     

For the past two days, he had been digging up information about Paek Dae. If he is the mastermind behind the syndicate, it only meant another force is behind the attacks. Paek Dae was known as a hired criminal, may it be an organized killing or attack. He earned his money through the requests of his private clients.     

Meanwhile, in a huge mansion at one of the most prestigious communities in Korea, a girl has been throwing her breakable belongings, screaming and tearing every piece of cloth she could get her hands on. Baek Hei-ran had seen the news about Anton's newfound love, and she could not accept it.     

She had been sulking for two days, not showing up for her shows or her shoots. Anton's announcement to the media broke her completely.     

Her father, Baek Min-jun and her mother, Baek Chin-sun have been trying to comfort her, only to fail. They both knew well how their daughter had become obsessed with Anton Yeong over the years. Even with their continued discouraging, she remained to dream of becoming Anton's wife one day.     

"What do we do?" asked Baek Chin-sun.     

She and her husband were both outside their daughter's room, trying to decide on how to deal with Hei-ran. She looked at her husband with worry and she heard him say, "What else is there to do? We should make the Yeong's heed to our will -"     

"But how? Min-jun, they are not only our long-time friends but the Yeongs, Jae-won, especially loves Anton. Moreover, their influence and power is beyond ours," reminded his wife.     

"Don't worry. I had already foreseen this would happen. I have previously begun to draw up a plan for them to seek our aid. In return, they will respect Hei-ran's wishes," answered Baek Min-jun. "In the meantime, try to speak to her."     

Hei-ran's father walked away from his daughter's room and made his way to his study. He took out a phone that he had made secure and stood by the window. He dialed the number and made contact. When the call was answered he said, "I will give you more incentive. Ensure that the Yeong Guns and Ammos Corporation will suffer a great loss and I will double my payment."     

Baek Min-jun did not want to make enemies with his friend, but after years of trying to answer his daughter's requests, he had come to hate Yeong Jae-won. He never fully understand what made his friend look so highly of himself not to agree to the marriage alliance when the Baeks belonged to the richest families in the country.     

What angered him even more was the fact that Anton Yeong was merely an adopted son, yet he dared to deny his daughter, a pure-blooded Baek, an heiress to the B&C Media Corporation, Korea's second largest Media and Entertainment group.     

He used to think that Anton was not deserving of his daughter's attention, but to his dismay, Hei-ran desired no one else. Despite being introduced to other eligible bachelors in the country, she only had eyes for Anton Yeong.     

To his point of view, Jae-won and Anton looked down on his daughter. It resulted in a wave of unexplainable anger. Eventually, envy followed, comparing the success of the Yeongs to that of the Baek's empire that in the beginning of that year; he had planned to make the Yeongs below them.