Page 136 of Save Me

I ball and flex my hands at my sides as the image of Daniel Park’s fucking grin flashes in my mind.

“Then start talking,” she insists.

“Daniel Park is Sebastian Blackmon’s business partner from South Korea,” I tell her, meeting her narrowed eyes.

Her eyebrows lift. “That name’s never come up in my investigation.”

I shake my head. “They keep it hidden through a series of overseas subsidiaries. That’s probably why his name hasn’t come up in your research.”

She nods.

“And who is Daniel Park to you?” She raises an eyebrow. “Because he sounded like he had a personal issue with you. And your response to him …” She trails off.

I look Kennedy in the eye and answer, “Daniel fucking Park is the son my father never had, apparently.”

Her eyebrows raise, and she shakes her head in disbelief. Emotions ranging from confusion to curiosity parade across her face.

I undo the bowtie around my neck and toss it to the floor before taking her hand in mine. Wordlessly, I lead her to the couch in the living room.

She says nothing as she lets me sit her on my lap, our bodies facing the brightly lit aquarium. I stare at the exotic yellows, blues, and greens of the wildlife in the aquarium. A flood of childhood memories wash over me.

But the one that stands out the most isn’t from my childhood. It’s from the day Daniel Park tried to end my life. The same day Kennedy saved me in that alleyway. She doesn’t even remember.

I don’t want her to, either.

I don’t ever want her to remember the weak-willed, broken soul I was in that alleyway.

“Dae,” she says, her voice softening. “Talk to me.”

I stroke a finger through one of her curls while keeping my other hand flat against her stomach and deciding what to share.

“My biological father was Soon Kim, owner of Kim Entertainment Group. His company ran a production studio, owned convenience stores, and other businesses under the name,” I explain.

Kennedy turns to me. “You said your father wasn’t part of your life.”

“He wasn’t.” I shake my head. “He and my uncle inherited the business from their father when they were twenty. Soon Kim was an underhanded motherfucker who pushed my uncle out of the company and took over.

“He grew what was once a small business into a successful company valued at millions of dollars.”

I watch my fingers as they play with one of her curls.

“My mother was his maid.” I snort. “Fucking cliché. She cleaned his house for years, and eventually, they started an affair. She became pregnant, and when he found out, he fired her and demanded she get rid of me.”

Kennedy turns sideways so that she can better look at me. Her hand moves to my face, and I nuzzle her palm with my cheek.

“But she didn’t,” she says.

I shake my head.

“After she had me, she went to him, but he wanted nothing to do with her or me. I honestly think she believed he would come around because, for some fucked up reason, she loved him.”

“But he never did.”

“No,” I reply. “At some point, she told him she would leave him alone if he paid for my schooling. All she wanted was for me to go to a top private school to get a quality education she could never afford. He agreed.

“He paid for all of my schooling and tutoring but never for extra incidentals or things like school trips.”

I glance over at the aquarium, and Kennedy does, too. “Which is why you never got to go on your trip to the aquarium,” she says, finishing my thoughts out loud.

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