I knew since I was really young that fairy tales did not exist outside of books and movies. Maybe that is why I became such an avid reader. Because I knew that the only way I could see dreams coming true was through the eyes of a book character.

Don't take this as the ramblings of a moody teenager. I know what I am talking about. My mom comes from an extremely wealthy family. She led a princess's life, from party to party and an endless line of suitors but none of them appealed to her. Till she met my dad in one of the receptions that she was invited to.

My dad was the assistant of the BCB bank chairman and was accompanying him to the party when he laid eyes on my mom and sparks flew. They were both pretty young people, smart, smooth talkers and from two different worlds, which made it even more tempting to the two of them.

To make a long story short, everybody was against their relationship, she was forbidden from ever seeing him again and he was fired from his job, but that didn't stop them. A few weeks later they eloped. My maternal grandfather was furious and he immediately disowned my mom, froze her trust account and pulled some strings to make it impossible for my dad to find any job.

But the couple refused to break up and they moved to a small town deciding to build their life together there. For a while things were looking up for them, my dad found an accountant job in a small firm and my mom started teaching at the local school. But then she became pregnant and things started getting downhill from there. Their salaries that were just enough to support the two of them became insufficient with the medical bills for my mom especially that she had a hard time with pregnancy, and then when I was born I became one additional mouth to feed and my dad was struggling to make ends meet since my mother quit her job to take care of baby me.

I guess hardship caused bitterness to fill the space previously occupied by love and the blame game began. Now that I think back on it, it doesn't really matter who started it first, but as far as I can remember, I can still hear my dad blaming his ill fate on mom, saying that if he hadn't met her, he wouldn't have had to live such a painful life. My mom would cry hearing this and at first I would try to comfort her by going to her and hug her, but she'd push me away. She never actually said it out loud but later on I understood that she was deep down blaming me, for being born. She was happy before me and then I came, and my dad stopped loving her.

I grew up in such a bitter household that it was no wonder I became a rather cold and distant child. I didn't have friends, because I didn't know how to make any. At first I was envious of how the other children found new playmates since the first day of school. I was so used to being silent at home that I never knew what to say when they approached me trying to strike conversation. They must have mistook my awkwardness with coldness, so they left me alone and that is how I have been ever since.

School was easy to me so I had the highest grades of my year mates and that set me apart from them even more. But my parents were too engrossed in their own pain and regrets to praise me. I was invisible and got used to it.

Years went by and life was the same. Year in and year out it was the same hollowness in my chest, I held no hopes, no dreams, I was drifting through life. How could I when I had no one to talk to who could show me the bright side of life? I couldn't remember the last time my mother smiled at me or took me aside for some girl talk. Nor could I recall a time when my father would pat my had or take me somewhere like I have seen other parents do. But I couldn't blame them for any of that because I felt that their misery was because of me. If I had never been born, they would have carried on being happy as they were before me. So I decided to spare them further unhappiness by being as quiet and invisible as I could.

But I guess life had other plans for me. During the summer before I started high school, my parents were in an accident. They were fighting in the car and my dad lost control in a curve and the car crashed. They were both dead when the medics arrived. Just like that, I became an orphan. No warnings whatsoever.

I guess shock would be an understatement to describe my state. My parents might not have been the loving kind but they were my parents. The only family I had. And they were gone in the blink of an eye. I had no one left. I didn't know what to do with my life nor where I would go. I went through the funeral numb, not registering not caring about the pitying looks I was receiving. Extending my hand mechanically when people would shake my hand but otherwise still as a statue.

On the last day of the funeral service, I was handed the ashes of my parents by an aging old lady. It was strange how two grown people could fit into such a small urn. And yet here they were, in my hands and more united in death than they ever were in life. I didn't have to think hard about where I wanted to scatter their ashes. There was a small hill just outside of town, I decided to go there and let the wind carry the ashes away hoping that whatever worries that chained my parents in life would be swept away by the wind and giving them the peace and happiness they needed.

It occurred to me while climbing down the hill and making my way back home that I hadn't shed a tear yet at the loss of my family. A distant part of me wondered whether I became too cold that I no longer felt anything. But I knew that grief would hit me hard later. And there would be no one to help me through it.

Once I reached the house, I saw a fancy car parked and two men in black suits standing in front of it. When they saw me, one of them hurried to open the back seat door and an old man stepped out. He looked to be in his seventies, average height and holding a cane. But the most striking feature was his eyes,they were chillingly cold as he looked at me.

I stopped by his side and we looked at each other for a while before he said: "You must be Go Min Ah."

"I am. However I am afraid that I don't know who you are."

"Your grandfather. Park Tae Woo."

I guess I was still too numb to even feel surprised at his appearance so I simply nodded my head at him and said "I guess you heard what happened to my parents then."

"I have. Come, there is much to discuss."

I followed him into the car and sat across him waiting for him to explain what he wanted from me. He sat there scrutinizing me for some time before saying "What do you know about your mother?"

"That you disowned her after she chose to leave with my father."

"You should also know that your mother had a younger brother. After she left with your ... father, he became my heir, but his health was very fragile and he passed away last year."

"I am sorry for your loss."

He didn't acknowledge my statement but instead carried on: "With your mother's death you now became the heiress of the Park group."

"You disowned my mom. And therefore me by association. So I am sure I am no one's heiress." I replied

"You are still my granddaughter."

"True as that might be, I am not interested in the heiress position."

"You don't get a say in the matter, you are still a minor and with both your parents death, I am your legal guardian and you will follow my orders."

"Why? Why are you doing this? You've never shown interest in me and you don't like me?" I asked feeling the walls of a new prison tighten around me

"Feelings have no say in this, the group has to have an heir and you are it. Whether you like it or not. You have an hour to pack your belongings and come with me to the mansion."

"Why do you want me to move in with you?"

"Because you will need to learn about your new life. You will spend the remainder of the summer learning the essentials of the chaebol world and etiquette before starting high school. Whic by the way I started your transfer for"

" Transfer?"

"Obviously! You will be attending Jeguk high school." He then added with a cruel smile "And don't think of running away like your mother did. I will not be lenient this time around!"

*** End of Chapter 1 ***