Foreword"Do you have my money or not?" he asked, ignoring her last statement.

Tiffany wanted to smack

that bastard. She hated his frosty stare and nonchalantattitude. She was talking about her family here!
They were drowning, all because of him."How much exactly does my father owe you?""Seventy
thousand," he said, without flinching.Chapter
1 Tiffany stared at her reflection in the mirror. She knew what she was about to offer was a long shot, but
she had to try. Her mom had died when she was youngand this current situation was killing her family
and making their lives miserable. She remembered the day he came into her father's failing soul food
restaurant. He had ruined her family, her life. She despised him and she hated money. Money really was
the root of all evil. It was the reason she was in this predicament. She never found any use for money.
Sure, she may have never sported the newest, trendy clothing, but she didn't feel the need to. She was
never the girl in high school with the latest anything, and she was just fine with that.She sighed as she
turned off the light and walked out of the tiny bathroom she shared with her sister and dad in their one
bedroom apartment. Her sister, Michelle, was in the kitchen scraping the leftovers from dinner
into containers.She turned to look at Tiffany and then back at the dishes. Her sister was a beautiful
woman, but the years had not been kind to her. Her smooth skin that used to glow and sparkle was now
a dull white."I don't know what you think you trying to accomplish by going over to that dangerous man's
place. Just plain stupid in my opinion," Michelle said, not bothering to turn around."I know, but I got
to try something. We can't live like this. I didn't want it to come to this, but this is a last resort," Tiffany
said, pleading with her sister to understand."You think you just gon' walk in there and have him erase the
debt?" Michelle asked, turning around and throwing the dishrag over her shoulder. Then she smacked her
lips and ran her eyes over her sister

s tiny dress."Unless you plan on offering him something to make him forget the debt."Tiffany sucked in a
breath. " I would never. I just want him to try and see it from our point of view. That's all. It couldn't hurt
to try.""Fany, he don't care about our point of view. Rich, bad men like him could givea damn about poor
people like us. The sooner you get that through your head, the better," her sister said, and turned back
around. Tiffany figured that was theend of the conversation.Tiffany sighed as she grabbed her purse and
an old black jacket of her father's. It was chilly outside and she wasn't used to wearing something so
revealing. As she slid the oversized jacket on, she looked down at her dress. She really hoped he didn't get
the wrong idea. She just wanted to look presentable, not easy. She chanced another look at her sister, who
pretended like Tiffany wasn't even in the room anymore. Tiffany blew out another sigh and opened the
door. The windynight air hit her bare legs and it caused her to hesitate for a moment. 'No, I c

an do this' she thought, as she zipped up her coat and headed down the street to the nearest bus
stop.***Kim Taeng stared at the green table before him. He bent down and looked at the open hole
between his ball and the striped ball that sat in its way."Not sure how you're going to pull that one off,
Taeng?" Yuri said confidently,as he leaned on his cue stick, staring at his boss and best friend.He knew
that Taeng hated to lose. For Taeng, losing wasn't an option. He would circle the table a million times
until he could figure out a way to win. Yuri figured that's why Taeng had gotten so powerful at such a
young age. When you don't accept failure, you have no other option than winning. And Taeng's
philosophy was to conquer and destroy.Taeng's onyx eyes narrowed when he saw the perfect shot he had
to take. He walked back up to the table, slid the cue stick back and forth between his fingers two times,
and then knocked the red solid ball into the far corner pocket, barelygrazing Yuri's striped
ball."Motherfucker," Yuri muttered under his breath.Taeng raised up, no smile or celebratory air in his
voice. "You're up."Taeng watched as his closest friend walked to the table and scratched his head,trying to
figure out his next move. That was actually Yuri's problem. He gave too much away. Never let people see
you sweat.Yuri shot at the striped ball and missed. "Shit."Taeng took the next three shots to clear the table
of all of his solid balls, along with the eight ball. He looked over his handiwork and tossed his cue stick to
Siwon, his accountant."Fuck, one more Taeng. Let me try to redeem myself," Yuri said.Taeng sighed and
grabbed the cue stick back. "You're a glutton for punishment, big guy," Taeng said,Yuri smiled and racked
the balls back up. Taeng rolled his eyes and turned toward the back door, where taecyeon, his head
of security was entering. He walked over to Taeng."Sir, there's a young lady here to see you," taecyeon
said."Lucky bastard," Yuri muttered, as he shot first, and the balls went scatteringeverywhere."What does
she want?" Taeng asked, surveying the table."She said it's a personal matter.""What's her name?" Taeng
asked, as he lined up his cue stick and sunk three striped balls."Tiffany Hwang, sir."Taeng ran the name
over in his head. Hwang? Hwang, Hwang...oh. He knew who she was. Her father, James, owed him a
shit load of money. He had opened up some cheesy soul food restaurant that tanked, and sunk Taeng's
fathers' money with it. Ta

eng had only been in the restaurant once."Tell her I'm busy," he stated, as he leaned up against the table,
waiting for Yuri to make a shot."Yes sir," taecyeon replied, as he exited.It only took less than ten minutes
for Taeng to beat Yuri again. Yuri stood there scratching his head over the fact that Taeng had managed to
whip him in threestraight games. He never could beat him, but one day...he'd figure out a way. Siwon sat
over in the corner laughing at him."Fuck you, you four-eyed bastard," Yuri yelled. "I mean, they
have contacts nowadays, why the fuck are you still wearing those goggles?"Siwon never got
rattled. But he also didn't really have a personality. As a true accountant, he cared about numbers
and that was about it."They make me look more distinguished, you overweight idiot," Siwon
said, whilecleaning his glasses.Taeng laughed and hung up his cue stick. "So Siwon, this month,
are we good?"Siwon placed his glasses back on. "Yes sir, we're really good. Here are the
figures," he smiled, while pulling them out of his briefcase. Taeng nodded a few times while he
examined the documents.taecyeon entered again. This time his face was flushed and he seemed
irritated.He stood there waiting for Taeng to acknowledge him."What?" Taeng asked, when he
finally looked up from the papers in his hand."Sir, she won't leave. She said if she doesn't get to
talk to you, she'll startmaking a scene in front of the customers."Taeng's eyebrows shot up. Who
the fuck did this little girl think she was? He'dhave to teach her a little lesson in respect."Okay,
see her to my office," he said, as he flicked a lighter and started burning the documents.Tiffany
didn't know what to expect. She wasn't sure if he was just a rich crook, or if he had actually
killed people before. She remembered how scared her father had been the day the bank seized his
restaurant. He was more scared of Mr. Kim finding out, than he was of the prospect of his family
being broke and out on the street. But Tiffany was determined that she wouldn't be afraid of him.
She wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her sweat.She jumped when she heard the door
open. She quickly stood up and faced the menentering. She recognized the first man that entered.
He was the security guard who kept giving her a hard time. He narrowed his eyes at her, and she
rolled hereyes back at him. The next man that came through the door, she didn't recognizehim.
He was a tall, he had dark hair and even darker eyes. He glanced at her and flashed a predatory
grin. She wondered if he saw her shiver.The last man to enter was tall also. He brushed right past
her and sat down in the fancy chair, before he acknowledged her presence. This was Kim
Taeng. She remembered him from the day he came into her father's restaurant a few years ago.
She had tried not to look at him then, as her father, Mr Kim and one of his men went into
the kitchen to discuss business. He hadn't changed at all from that first day she had seen him. He
had beautiful, shiny black hair that he kept pushed a