A/N: Dear readers, I AM LITERALLY BEGGING YOU ALL TO FORGIVE ME. I know its been crazy long since this got uploaded but I have been through a hell of a time the past few months and updating diamond nation was at the least of my priorities. Apologies for ghosting you all like I did, there is no retribution which is enough for my crime. However I am back and will update regularly. Cheers!

Taehyung stood outside the mansion, his palms sweating already. He rubbed them on his pants before walking towards the gates. The security guard bowed slightly as he let him in, familiar with the man who was his boss's brother in law and princess Esther's uncle.

As he made his way in, he stopped at the sight of Jungkook's mother who was heading out somewhere. He bowed to the woman who smiled. "How are your Taehyung?", she asked with sympathy. "I am sorry to hear about the divorce"

"Thank you", the man replied. "It was unavoidable. We were just too different"

"Glad you got out of it", she added, a genuine softness in her voice which surprised Taehyung. "Are you here to meet Esther and Alison?"

The man nodded. "They are having breakfast in the garden. You can just go from here. Thought I'd save you the trouble of doing 10000 steps around the house trying to find them"

Taehyung bowed in gratitude, an awkward half smile on his face as he tried to end the interaction. He did not particularly like Jungkook's mom but he didn't dislike her either. She was a little sassy but a good person nevertheless. He wondered how she stuck around with a man like his father for so long.

"Anyways, I have to be somewhere. Please stay for lunch if you can, I am thinking of cooking a grand spread myself today", the woman warmly invited.

"I'll try Mrs Jeon. Thank you"

Taehyung waited until the woman was sat in the car and the vehicle left the premises - a chivalrous thing his dad had taught him since he was a boy. Once it was out of sight, he made his way towards the garden where he saw Alison sitting and reading a newspaper as Esther played around with a big ball.

"UNCLEEEEE TAEEE", a deafening scream was heard.

Alison almost threw the paper in surprise as she looked at her daughter and the ear drum tearing screech she had just produced. But her eyes fell on Taehyung in the distance and she knew exactly why the little one had done so. Esther loved her uncle a lot, a little too much. And she got very excited at the sight of him.

Taehyung picked up speed as he saw Esther running towards him with her small legs. He picked her up immediately as they made contact, twirling the kid around before holding her in his arms. "How's my honeybun doing?"

"Amazing", came the reply.

"I can see so", he chuckled as he prepped her cheek with kisses. "All this chocolate around your mouth, I know you are having the best sugar rush you could!", he said as he wiped her mouth with his sleeve.

The child giggled back as Taehyung put her down. He made way towards Alison who smiled at the sight of him. "Hi Taehyung. How are you? We haven't talked after you told me about the divorce over the phone. I am glad you came today. "

"I am sorry, I should have visited earlier. I was busy dealing with the pre-court proceedings. Namjoon Hyung's team is representing me. I wanted to settle outside of court - quietly and without any public scrutiny. I don't want anything from her and we naturally are in no position to give our assets to anyone. Namjoon Hyung went to see Arin and give the proposal. Her and her father refused to settle and are challenging us in court with their entire legal power. Now, Hyung is furious. So he flew in his team from London and New York and now for no reason I have 9 lawyers who are working on representing me"

"Namjoon goes all out or he goes home", Alison chuckled. "I am glad he is supporting you through this. Do you have a plan in place on how you will approach this?"

"They don't tell me much", Taehyung replied, stroking Esther's head as she came to him and sat down on his lap. "But apparently we are suing Arin for the mental health problems she caused me. And that should make them step back"

"Good", Alison scoffed. "Somebody needs to show that McBitchy her place anyways"

"Hey!", Taehyung hissed closing Esther's ears. "Watch it"

"Oops", Alison laughed a bit. "Esther sweetie, why don't you go and finish up your jigsaw puzzle and then we can show it to uncle? You know he loves Jigsaws right? Meanwhile Mumma and Uncle can finish their boring grown up talk?"

Esther nodded as she climbed down before running back towards the house.

"Anyways", she continued. "I am glad it is all slowly working out. I know I told you briefly about it but Chaerin and I, we worked out our differences. We had a hearty talk after she walked out of that shareholder meeting and we were finally able to understand each other. She gave me all the shares without any cost and now I own at least 85% of the company. She also took care of dad's—uh—bankruptcy thing and said in a year or two we should be able to start business again"

"I am glad to hear this", Taehyung said, guilt lacing his voice. He wanted to say something more but a pit formed in his stomach as he gulped, unsure of how to tell Alison the truth.

The younger noticed this as she squinted her eyes at him. "Taehyung", she called out. "Is something bothering you? Why does the mention of Chaerin make you uncomfortable? I noticed it on the call too. You don't like talking about her. You don't acknowledge that she is back and a part of our lives now. Something is up and I need you to tell me that now"

"Alison, I—", he sighed as he let out a deep breath. "I need to tell you something"

"Go on", the woman put a hand on his shoulder. "You know I never judge right. Ever since we were kids, we always confided in one another and that was because we were each other's safe space"

"Ali I...", he began. "I—I uh... I... I knew about Chaerin"

"Knew what?", the woman asked confused.

"Chaerin was away from everyone that knew her for the past seven years. No one had any idea where she was but—", he paused. "I knew. I knew where she lived. We kept in touch all the time and I often flew to the states to meet her."

"Taehyung", Alison gasped. "You knew all this time and you did not tell anyone of us where she was? You know Jimin and Jungkook were desperately finding her. Then why did you hide it?"

"Thats not even the worst part", the man replied, too embarrassed and ashamed to continue. "I was also helping her — destroy Jeon Jung Hyun and the Jeon industries"

The woman went dead silent as she heard this. "What?"

"I wanted to get back at Mr Jeon for all that he did. I wanted to get at him because he was the reason Jungkook had to abandon her like this. Our agreement was that I would help her take down Jeon industries and she would leave you and Jungkook untouched. But I didn't know she was planning your downfall as well. I only came to know once she served you the notice about the shares"

Alison didn't know what to say so she sat there staring at him.

"I am sorry. I am really sorry Alison. I know I wronged you but all I wanted was to...  reduce the Jeons to dust so mom and dad could get you out of this forced marriage and family and bring you back home."

"Taehyung why would you do this?", the woman was utterly taken aback as she heard this. "In what world did this seem like a good idea to you?"

"I was just trying to get you out of your misery", the man slowly spoke.

"But I am not miserable!", Alison finally snapped.

"You are not miserable!", Taehyung repeated those words, scoffing at the end. "You want me to believe that Jungkook and you have a great marriage when he is clearly very much in love with Chaerin? You cannot possibly be that oblivious to it. What do you even see in him that makes you defend him so much—"

"JUNGKOOK IS THE ONE THAT SAVED ME", the woman yelled at him and Taehyung immediately stopped. "He is the reason I am well and healthy and have Esther with me. He helped us! And I am forever indebted to him. It doesn't matter who he loves because I will support him through everything—"

"Wait", Taehyung stopped her, a little alarmed. "What are you talking about? Is there something you haven't told me Alison?"

Alison went cold, not sure how to react to this. The realisation that her secret was finally outed sent her into a spiral as she broke down into tears. Taehyung took a step towards his sister as he held her shoulders.

"Areum", he called out in a tone which was both filial but stern. "I need you to tell me what is going on. Are you hiding something? Does it concern Esther?"

"Esther—", she began, another sob leaving her mouth. "Esther—"

"Esther. What about Esther?", a sense of urgency took over him, knowing it was something related to the little girl he loved with his entire heart.

"Esther", Alison breathed as she lowered her voice, "Is not Jungkook's daughter."

A deafening silence took over the space between the siblings. Taehyung's eyes widened as he lost the ability to process his sister's words. "Yes", her words took over his ears again. "She is a Jeon but she is not Jungkook's daughter. Her father is Jaehyun, Jungkook's cousin. There, I told you. The truth. Yes, I lied. And I have no regrets"

"Areum...", Taehyung didn't know what to say as his voice cracked. "Why.. why... what... why did you hide this all these years? Do mom and dad know?"

"Nobody knows. I told Chaerin but other than that nobody knows."

"I don't understand... if she is not Jungkook's daughter, then why did you marry him? Why did you not marry Esther's biological dad?"

"Because...", Esther spoke, breaking into more tears. "He wanted nothing to do with me. He did not give a fuck about me or Esther. He accused me of trying to baby trap him and questioned Esther's paternity when he very well knew I was only sleeping with him. And if that was not enough, he threatened to ruin my life and our family if I told a word to anybody. He even threatened Esther's life", she spoke with gritted teeth.

Taehyung did not say anything as he kept looking at her, unable to digest everything that was being thrown at him. In the distance he saw Esther in the window of the house, laying the puzzle pieces with her nanny. He turned to look back at his sister who was seemingly distraught from having to relive the past interaction.

"Jungkook overheard this and stepped in. His father wanted him to marry a woman of his choice. I was one of the candidates. He saw this as the best opportunity to save me and Esther and remove Chaerin from his father's sight. We all know how the cookie crumbled after."

Taehyung fell back into his seat, sighing in despair. He couldn't believe anything he was hearing. He was at an internal struggle with himself. He didn't know what emotions to feel. Guilt at having misjudged his sister and Jungkook all this time or anger towards them for hiding something like this which ultimately led to everyone's downfall?

"Does that make you see Esther differently now?", Alison slowly asked as she saw her brother silently sitting.

"What...", Taehyung spoke. "Are you out of your fucking mind?", he angrily added. "There is no one I love more in my life than her. How dare you ask me something so stupid. Her biological father could have been a fucking chimpanzee and I wouldn't have cared", he concluded.

Alison smiled through her tears as she wiped her cheeks. "What rubbish", she muttered under her breath.

Taehyung chuckled at his own words, the lost banter between the siblings coming back to life. However, the fun was shortlived when he followed up with "where is that bastard?"

Alison stiffened as she looked up. "I don't know Tae. He hasn't contacted us in the last seven years nor have we seen him. The family doesn't talk much about him. Last I overheard his mother and Jungkook's aunt crying on the phone telling someone that he was in rehab in Switzerland for drug addiction. I am assuming it is not safe for him to come back given the laws of our country. And if I remember correctly he was a British citizen so he always lived in London anyways. Anytime Jungkook's uncle and aunt want to see him, they fly there and live for a few months. Also.."

"What?", Taehyung got impatient.

"Jungkook... he's done something... he doesn't tell me much but... but I think he has something on Jaehyun which has kept him away all these years", she continued. "A few months after our engagement, I had a nightmare that Jaehyun was back and woke up with a cold sweat. I refused to go back to sleep and to calm me down he told me he 'took care of Jaehyun' in a way that the latter would never step foot around us."

Taehyung nodded as he heard this. A part of him was relieved but somewhere deep inside his heart, he still felt a little uneasy about this man.

———•••———

"Make sure you stock up on the caviar and all the liquors noted in the list", the senior air hostess spoke. "Last thing I want is to piss him off. He is a hard guest to please and he will not hesitate to remind us exactly how fucking poor we are if things are not to his liking."

The younger woman nodded, removing fancy crystal bottles from the cabinet in the crew space of the private jet.

"And", she was stopped as the older placed a hand on her shoulder. "No matter what you see, remember you have signed an NDA and keep your mouth shut", she sternly added. The younger was a little scared as she heard this but nevertheless obliged and nodded her head.

"Cabin crew, please take position. Guest onboarding in 2 minutes", an announcement from the captain was heard.

Both of them hastily stood up as the older prepared a glass of whisky. They walked to the front of the plane where the door opened and two men in black suits entered after which a third man onboarded, clearly distinguishable from the rest.

"Welcome onboard Mr Jeon", the older airhostess smiled, handing him his glass. "We will be very happy to serve you on this flight and hope you have a pleasant journey to Seoul"

The man didn't say anything as he grabbed the glass and walked towards his seating, his entourage following behind. Within ten minutes, the flight got ready to hit the runway. The junior air hostess grabbed a plate of hot towels as she began walking towards the men but stopped as her eyes scanned the scene in front of her.

Jeon Jaehyun sniffed the cocaine on the back of his hand as he fell back onto the leather chair with a smile perched on his face. "Get ready to welcome the father of your child, Alison Kim"