The Manipulated Villainess

A younger brother and a lover?

Leon Jung understood how he had no knowledge about the ex-lover of his father but... why didn't he hear nothing about the younger brother? No matter what, he was the son of Peter Jung by law and the younger brother was supposed to be his uncle!

"I understand how you will feel," Norina Lee said when she noticed the confused face of her son. "I felt lost too when I first find out about it."

"Tell me more about it, Mother," Leon Jung quickly said, eager to hear the past which changed his father.

"It all started a few years before I met him," Norina Lee started. "You know that your father is an orphan, right? His younger brother was his only family."

Leon Jung indeed knows about how his father grew up in an orphanage. Being alone in this cruel world, he knew that his father didn't have a rosy childhood. It was the reason why he always tried to be patient with him as he didn't know just how much did he suffered to live to see this day.

"The woman he loved was from the same orphanage. They grew up together and from what I heard, she was everything for your father. He loved her to that extent," Norina Lee continued and added, "Your father's dream was to start a business and become successful.

"However, that required a lot of money and no one would be willing to lend such a large sum to an orphan who had no one backing him up. It was the reason why he started to engage in some illegal activities, to have enough money to start a business."

"What kind of activities?" Leon Jung asked, curious.

"Smuggling," the mother promptly responded. "His original intention was to earn enough money to start a business so that he can assure a better future for the woman he loved. However, when the woman learned about the deeds he committed just for their future, she blamed herself and in the end, she eventually left him. That shook his world to the core."

He just heard that the woman was everything for his father but... his father lost her in such a painful way.

Whenever Leon thought of Aston and Shara, he always realized how the world was never kind to orphans like them. It would be too dreary to be alone in this world where the powerful ones trampled on the weak. However, he had never once experienced it all because... he was the son of Peter Jung.

"Then what happened later?" he asked his mother after remaining silent for a while.

"Your father lost his motivation and spent years in vain, drinking and cursing his fate," Norina Lee said. "However, that took quite a toll on his younger brother. As the older brother didn't do anything, the younger brother thought that he should do something for their survival but... he too didn't have much choice and soon, he finds himself walking down the wrong path.

"The younger brother joined a gang and spent a few years committing crimes, sometimes, even murder. He started to do anything for money, hoping that he could relieve his older brother from his sufferings.

"When your father watched him living his life that way, he couldn't tolerate it. So, he decided to get back on his feet once again but... it was too late as his younger brother was soon arrested by the police. He even received a death sentence for the murders he committed. That changed the whole life of your father."

Leon Jung was perplexed. If his father had such a younger brother, why did the public know nothing about him? He was a politician and his brother's story will surely be a hindrance for him in the political world!

"I know what you're thinking about," Norina Lee said when she observed her son. "I heard that his younger brother persuaded him to change his name and live a new life. His brother foresees that if the media knows about his family, they won't be spared by the public. Before he was hanged to death, he even left quite a sum to your father. That helped him start anew but... the bitterness never left him since then."

The potter was in a daze as everything which he heard was so unexpected. His father's past was just... beyond his imagination! 

"A year passed since his brother's death when I married him. He just entered the world of politics at that time," the mother said. "But Leon, there is still one thing which you deserves to know."

There was still more?! Leon Jung was nervous yet curious at the same time. It won't be even worse than before, right?

"The late younger brother of your father had a lover and when he was hanged to death, the woman was pregnant. It was a baby boy and the woman's look after him for a few years but according to what I heard, the boy was 7 when your father started looking after him. I have seen him once from a distance but it was many years ago. Now, I know nothing about the boy," Norina Lee informed her son.

"I heard that the child had a tough childhood as people around them knew that he was the son of someone who received a death penalty. His mother often migrated with him because of that but... maybe it had become too much for her. She eventually left her son in the hands of your father.

"I also heard that your father deeply cared for his nephew as he was his only blood-related family. He had no idea about his existence until the mother suddenly showed up before him with the child. Maybe his late younger brother told his lover about him before he was hanged to death," Norina Lee concluded.

Though Peter Jung wasn't his biological father, he was still his father through the law and... the one who raised him. Does that mean... he had a cousin which he never heard about?!

"Do you think he is still alive? I have never heard about him," Leon Jung asked his mother. He was curious about one thing the most.

What kind of person would his unknown cousin be like? Will he be just like his father? He truly hoped it wasn't the case.

"I have no idea but some digging will be enough to know that," the mother replied and blankly stared at the outdoors through the opened windows. "I think your father still didn't forget Maria Choi. He thinks that if she didn't left him like that, he won't fell. And if he doesn't fell, his younger brother might still be alive. He partially blamed her for everything but... he still has her in his heart."

When Norina Lee noticed the confused face of her son, she clarified by saying, "Maria Choi is the name of the woman he used to love. I don't know if she's alive or not."

Maria Choi? Why did that sound familiar?

Leon think hard, trying to recall where he had heard the name, until... his eyes grew wide in shock!

Wasn't that the name of Nicole's late mother?!