For as long as he could remember, Kim Chang was in love with Yannalese Sakumora. Originally from East Akeai, Yannalese and her father moved to Tarryton when she was 9 years old, after her mother died. She met Kim while they were still in elementary school. He was instantly smitten with her exotic beauty and foreign accent.
After being friends for years, he finally asked her out on a date when they were in high school. From then on they were a pair.
When her father had a stroke and nearly died, Yanna wanted to get married and have children so her father would meet them and have time to spend with his grand children before his time came.
After being with Kim for so many years, she was ready to settle down but Kim wasn’t. Not wanting to waste any of her fathers time she broke up with Kim, hoping to find a man who would want to settle down and start a family with her.
It was during Rachael’s “Get over it Kim” party that he realized he did want to start a family with Yanna. She was the only one for him.
He serenaded her, bought her flowers, took her out to expensive restaurants and even began working in her fathers restaurant, to show her that he seriously wanted to commit.
Finally when he popped the big question, she of course said yes.
Her father threw a big elaborate backyard wedding for her. Lot’s of friends attended and the honeymoon afterwards lasted a week.
She came home pregnant with twins Saku and Mora.
They are both attending University and Mora is Logan Montgomery’s love.
Saku has just accepted an internship in Belize for the summer and plans to attend with her steady boyfriend Alvin.
Yanna and Kim also have another daughter, Zoe. She is 16 years old and unfortunately her whereabouts are unknown as she’s run away.
You see, as the years went on Yanna realized that Kim was putting on a front to marry her and keep her his.
He’s too immature and irresponsible to really commit to being the husband and father that she wanted. He constantly get’s fired from his jobs and he doesn’t help out with the family restaurant.
Because of her father Jie’s advancing years, he was unable to run it on his own and Yanna was too busy raising there children and running the household. The business went under and they moved to the suburbs.
Jie tried again to have a business in the Prospect District. It wasn’t the best neighborhood but the grocery store he opened was needed. Unfortunately he was robbed and so he closed it down.
Afraid his health would suffer, Yanna packed him off to East Akeai to visit old friends for two months.
When he returned he seemed a new man. He was healthy and refreshed and…glowing?
They soon found out why he seemed so changed. A few weeks after his return a woman showed up on their doorstep. A young woman.
It seems Jie had fallen in love with a young woman named Vanessa. He had arranged for her to come love with him after she settled her affairs in the East.
She came looking beautiful fresh and pregnant…
The couple married right away and several months later, Vanessa gave birth to Jie’s son and new heir, Kyomi.
His heart was happy that he could finally pass on his family name.
That same day Grim came for him…
After Jie’s death the family fell apart.
Kim spent all his time restoring an old car. He wanted to have something to give to his daughter Mora.
He knew Yanna favored Zoe and Saku was left a large inheritance by Jie, being the eldest grandchild.
Yannalese was discontent with her life. She decided that it was time to get out of the house. She allowed her hair to grow out, something she hadn’t done in years, as Kim liked it short. She no longer cared what he thought. She found a job as a substitute teacher at the local high school.
It was there she met Nehemiah Harris. Nehemiah was the favored teacher of all the students. He was young, dedicated to his job and he loved being a teacher. If someone needed something they only had to go see Mr.Harris. Nehemiah saw that Yanna was unhappy. He invited her out for coffee to talk about it. They quickly became friends.
One day when she was feeling particularly down, Yanna went to Nehemiah’s house.
One thing led to another and… well you get the picture.
At home, Vanessa wasn’t liking the situation. She had been a wife and mother for only a short time and already a widow. She didn’t want to be around this feuding couple. And Kim, she saw was exceedingly lazy and often depressed.
She complained to Yanna about it but her step-daughter scolded her to mind her own business.
Vanessa knew she owned the house and store as Kyomi’s guardian until he was old enough to accept his inheritance. But she could’t just kick them out.
Then one day, Vanessa walked in on Kim having “relations” with the maid.
She was horrified but knew she had to tell Yanna.
Yanna was upset and angry at Kim’s betrayal but knew her own was just as bad.
She decided that they needed to part ways.
Kim begged and pleaded for forgiveness but she was tired of trying and made him leave.
Zoe, was horrified and wanted to go with her father. Her mother of course refused.
Kim found a small studio in a converted warehouse and drank himself to oblivion almost every night. He found a part time job as a porter, but it didn’t pay much and he was always behind on his rent.
His only bright days were when his daughter Zoe visited him. She felt sad that her father was so depressed. He didn’t deserve this she felt. She knew her mother was fooling around with Mr. Harris. How couldn’t she? It was all over the school.
She begged her father to let her stay with him. He always told her no.
One day, she decided to drop in on him after school. There was a slight commotion in the alley by the building. A woman was cursing and screaming. She heard sirens in the distance.
It was getting late when she walked in. Her father was passed out on the floor, a puddle around him. Before she could help him, she heard a loud banging on the door.
The police had come because apparently her father had raped the guest of one of the tenants.
Zoe was horrified. She tried calling her mother but she wasn’t answering the phone. Vanessa was out and didn’t have a cell phone.
Saku and Mora were both away at University. She was alone.
The police barged in to arrest Kim.
But it was too late. Zoe had thought her father was passed out drunk. But in truth, he was dead.
The coroner reported that he died of alcohol poisoning. He’d literally drunk himself to death.
It was a week later when Yanna finally found Zoe still at her fathers house. She hadn’t heard about his death but when she did, she barely wept for her deceased Ex. Saku and Mora came home from Uni for a while but they couldn’t stay.
Zoe was forced to go home with her mother but when Yanna left that evening to go see Nehemiah, Zoe packed her things and ran away. No one has seen her since.
Vanessa, unhappy with the situation, has asked Yannalese to move out. She want’s to raise her son in a healthy environment and feels that being around his sister is not healthy.
Yanna has since moved in with Nehemiah. She continues to search for her daughter Zoe.
