Back at Natsukashi, it was finally time to leave. Though a certain pair of twins were tightly clutching onto Xinyi's legs.
"Nooooo! We refuse to let you go. You are our new mother from now on!" Jian and Nian whined. "We will come with you too."
Nana fumed and glared at them. "You two! Don't be a bother to Aunt."
Xinyi chuckled and pinched their cheeks. "Aiyaa. You two are so adorable."
Their eyes sparkled. "Aren't we? So adopt us!"
Zhiyuan raised his brow. Jinhai calmly said, "Sure. Two less troubles to deal with. We will be glad if you change your parents."
"..."
Jun proudly said, "So pathetic. I don't need to change since they will be my in-laws in the future anyway."
Zhiyuan - "..."
This kid!
Siying felt saddened to leave them. It was a blast playing with the brothers and Nuo. But he was too shy to admit it.
Xinyi asked, "If you don't mind, can Siying come here again?"
Nana beamed. "Of course! I would love to! The children enjoyed themselves a lot today."
Upon hearing that, Siying's eyes sparkled in joy. "Play again?"
Nuo hopped. "Pway pway with Siying!"
Jinhai's face darkened. He decided not to let Nuo go anywhere near Siying.
Jun nodded. "That way, I will grill a lot of common sense into Siying too. At least, he won't fall into his Grandaunt schemes and some stupid kidnappers."
Xinyi and Zhiyuan froze. "Grandaunt?"
Nana solemnly nodded. "Before you arrived, Siying told me what all happened too and he confessed that his Grandaunt filled his ears with all that stuff."
They were shocked to their core.
Aunt Guang?
Caihong froze. Her eyes widened in horror. Aunt?
Xinyi quickly bent on her knees and pulled Siying towards her. "Siying, was it Aunt Guang who talked to you?"
Siying nodded. "En. GrandAunt say Mama Dada not like me anymore…" his shoulders slumped and he lowered his head. "Mama Dada not want Siying and send me to ophanase. Mama Dada really angry at Siying so…" his eyes teared up again, "Grandaunt says Mama lie to me. Mama not love me. She hear Mama Dada talking about ophanase and wants to send me away. So Grandaunt told Siying to run away. Ophanase is bad place... bullying."
Zhiyuan and Xinyi heard everything in horror. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest. He clenched his fist and an angry vein popped on his head. "Siying that night...when you were crying because of a bad dream, did you meet her too at that time?"
"En…" he rubbed his eyes. "She say I am a bad boy. Mama Dada don't like bad boys. They hate me…"
Xinyi took a sharp breath. "A-and that day when you had a fever? Who brought that juice?"
"Grandaunt. She say she hear you and Dada talk about ophanase," he trembled and cried, "Mama will send me to school but not pick me up. She say I can wait but Mama will not come for Siying…"
She stiffened. Suddenly, she remembered how Han Guang got a sprain to her ankle and she was forced to take care of her. That took almost an hour, making her extremely late. She softly clutched onto Siying's shirt and gritted her teeth.
It was her...He left because of her. She forced Siying to leave the house!
She snapped out of her daze, hearing Zhiyuan's cold and detached voice. "Xinyi, let's go."
She looked up to see his face devoid of any expression. It was blank and impassive. But his eyes held a deadly storm swirling in it. She saw his fist tightly clenching with his nerves so clearly visible. It was as if he would punch anything that came in his way to death.
Xinyi wiped her tears and nodded. She looked towards Nana and gratefully nodded for all her help. Nana gently smiled in return. There was nothing happier to see than a family reunite.
"Xinyi. Siying is always welcomed here and in the Liu villa. Don't ever hesitate to drop by," Nana smiled.
Xinyi and Zhiyuan bid their goodbye and left to confront Han Guang once and for all.
---
Han villa.
Han Huizhong was impatiently waiting for the trio to return. Of course, Yunru already informed them that they found Siying at Natsukashi and he was safe. So, he was relieved, but unless he would see Siying with his own eyes, he wouldn't feel at ease.
Ah Cy patted his shoulder. "Grandpa. They are coming. Rest assured."
Liang sighed.
Zizi rolled her eyes. "Grandpa. You behave as if you don't like Siying but actually you care about him so much."
Han Huizhong smiled. "Should I throw you out of the Han family's register? Maybe that will shut your mouth."
"..."
"So mean! You just cannot hear the truth, can you?" She fumed.
"Shut up!"
Soo Enlai chuckled. "Haha. Don't worry. Even if Elder Han does that, the Soo family's doors are always opened for you."
Zizi stiffened. Yunru flashed before her mind and the last conversation or to be precise - the argument they had. She looked away, feeling downcast.
The ones who were the most enraged by this news were without a doubt Han Guang and Han Mingli. Han Guang couldn't believe Siying's luck. She was found out so soon.
Han Guang. "Damn it!" She angrily whispered. "It was such a good chance to get rid of that boy! With his disappearance, Xinyi would have been utterly destroyed! We would have gained everything using him! But everything.."
She gnashed her jaw in hatred.
"So close! We were so close! He was almost kidnapped! He would have never come back once he was taken away. Ughh!!"
Han Mingli was just as frustrated, but at this point, they couldn't change things. "Forget it, Guang. We will get another chance one day. At that time, we will surely win and get our hands on the Han property."
From the corner of his eye, Han Huizhong saw someone entering. He stiffened and quickly walked up to Xinyi and Zhiyuan.
"Siying!" Zizi exclaimed in happiness and rushed towards him.
Ah Cy and Liang finally sighed in relief, seeing them safe and sound.
Zizi cried and took him in her arms. "You rascal! You scared us all. Look. You ruined all your Aunt's makeup!"
Siying hugged her and buried his face in her chest. "Siying is sorry Aunt…"
"Hmph!"
Han Huizhong didn't show it on his face, but he already took a good look at him. His expression didn't change but he was relieved to see him unhurt.
"Sorry is not going to help you! This brat needs punishment! How dare he just run away like that?" He gritted his teeth. Only he knew how the last few hours were torture to everyone.
Soo Enlai quickly said, "Elder Han, let it be. The most important thing is that Siying is safe."
Seeing his grandson safe, he couldn't help but feel emotional. His eyes slightly rimmed in tears and he hugged him hard.
"Grandpa…" Siying wrapped his hands around his neck.
He chuckled. "Yes Grandpa is here and Grandpa is really happy to see you alright. Don't do that again, okay?" He trembled as he ruffled his head.
"Siying promise. Not leave again."
Liang hugged Zhiyuan and smiled. "I am happy for you buddy."
Zhiyuan didn't respond. Instead, his gaze looked sinister and bloodthirsty.
Ah Cy blinked her eyes. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"Dad," he quietly said, glancing at Soo Enlai. "Please take Siying in the room and get him to sleep."
Han Huizhong narrowed his eyes. He instantly noticed that something important was left to be said. Zhiyuan didn't look that serious and dangerous so often.
Soo Enlai nodded. "Indeed. He must be so tired."
He smiled. "Come Siying! Let Grandpa and you have some fun. I will tell you a lot of stories!"
Siying's gaze shone and he nodded hard. "En!"
The hall was silent. Han Guang shrugged and said, "It's really happy to see Siying back. Now that he is back, I think we can finally go to rest."
"Why so soon, Aunt?" Zhiyuan blankly said.
She paused and furrowed her brows. "What?"
Xinyi stared at her. Tears stung her eyes and she quietly walked towards her. Everybody was confused by Xinyi and Zhiyuan's behavior.
She stood in front of Han Guang. Han Guang glared at her. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Xinyi shut her eyes for a moment and then opened them again. She clenched her fingers before she released them and raised her hand.
*SLAP*
A loud slap thundered in the Han villa. Han Guang's face was harshly tilted to the side. She stood frozen as she held her cheek.
Zizi sharply gasped. She covered her mouth as she looked at her in horror. Even Han Huizhong watched in utter shock. The Xinyi who wouldn't even dare speak against anybody else would raise her hand against someone and not just anybody but an elder.
Han Guang looked at her, speechless. The loud slap rang in her ears and her cheek stung in pain.
"Y-you...You slapped me?"
Xinyi met her gaze, her body shaking in rage. "This slap is too less as opposed to what you did to my son!"