Chapter 115 - A Curse

Within fifteen minutes of leaving the area, they reached the entrance of a big gated villa. The walls surrounding the villa were tall and surrounded by electrically charged fences.  Like Ah Hai's apartment, this gate also opened with a person's biometrics, in this case, Shi Ai and Ah Hai's eyes. Though the villa was not very expansive, a garden path could be seen circling around it leading to a back garden.

Looking at the top grade but extreme security, Shi Ai shook her head in exasperation at her husband. He really was paranoid about security. Shi Ai looked around inside the vast place but was shocked that the place had no furniture. Before she could look more closely, Ah Hai started to run without stopping anywhere or even letting her look around. Ah Hai went up the curving stairs leaving Shi Ai to follow.

By the time Shi Ai caught up with the man, he already stood in front of the bal.u.s.trade, looking down at the dark grounds. Shi Ai went to stand beside him and took a deep breath as she was slightly winded from running behind him. She stood silently at his side as she wondered what he had to talk about. That was the only reason he would seek her out. So she waited for him to speak patiently.

Finally, a few minutes and a deep resigning sigh later, Ah Hai turned to Shi Ai and said,"Xaio Ai. This is going to be your new home. I want you to come live here instead of your dorm. Decorate it as you see fit. It is in your name. You will start training very soon and this time I will be your teacher. Silvia Grey has come clean!"

The last sentence reverberated in the silence of the night and the implications soon became clear. Whatever Silvia had told Ah Hai meant that the future was going to be more dangerous if she wanted to find her sister. The fact that he felt that she needed even more training was enough to hint at the dangers that lay ahead. Shi Ai was already well trained in martial arts and self-defence by Sister Su Jianan but this time Ah Hai was going to be her teacher. She remembered that once Min Min had asked Su Jianan that why Ah Hai had not trained them himself and the answer she had given them was an eye-opener." Because you are too young and innocent to learn his methods. I am teaching you to defend, block and manoeuvre. Because that is my style. His style is different. It can be summarised as kill, bury or feed the enemy to the vultures. Ah, Hai is as aggressive as they come. He will kill first and ask questions later, that too depending on his mood. His ways of torture..the army once forced him to teach a group of students, the poor cadets had nightmares for days on end and some even threw their guts out and were the ones tortured instead.."

Thinking if this and preparing herself for the worst, Shi Ai said, "Tell me."

Ah, Hai looked at Shi Ai sharply and narrated the whole story word for word all the while observing the girl's side profile and the emotions that flitted across her countenance.  She simply listened to everything that he said and kept staring blankly in the open space. It was only after Ah Hai had created the whole story did she eventually break down. Lifting her tear-filled eyes she looked at him and said, " It is a good thing that you never loved me. I am cursed. Everyone who shows me love is bound to suffer- my biological mother, Aunty Wu, my sister even Zhang Min and Uncle-Aunty suffered because of me. Good thing you don't love me, Ah Hai. You have suffered already. My sister suffered so much, all because of me. If I had not been son friendly, if I had been more aware, I would have begged her to stay with me. If I had not been a bit envious that she was getting new parents who would not lock her in a cupboard or at least guessed that my mother could have her own reasons for locking us, if only..."

Ah Hai wanted to protest this sudden belief that she seemed to have of being cursed. He wanted to claim his love for her but he knew if he were to say anything now it would be useless. 

Remembering what his sister in law had advised him on the way, he took Shi Ai into his arms and let her cry her eyes out. She said that a girl needed to cry and know that she could lean on you and not empty words. Since he was not good with words anyway, he felt this was for the best.

Almost a quarter of an hour later, Shi Ai showed no signs of stopping her crying jag. She would slow down for a while but only to start over again. Ah Hai was getting desperate with her tears and wanted her to stop but could not do anything. Finally, he thought of something else and decided to use that technique. He had seen it work on his chartering sister in law when his brother did it.

Placing a finger under Shi Ai's chin head her look up into his eyes. There were tear tracks on her face and her eyes looked red like peaches with moisture clinging to them. 

Coldly he told her, " You belong to me and nothing that I own can be cursed. Understand." 

When Shi Ai simply blinked at him and looked ready to shed more tears, he bent his head and kissed her lips. Shi Ai's eyes widened in shock at this sudden assault and her arms which had been clinging to his shirt front fell to her sides. Though his eyes were closed, he felt that his method worked so deciding to make it more effective his tongue brushed against her cold lips, eliciting a surprised gasp from her. The gasp gave his invading tongue the opening it needed and soon Ah Hai m.a.k.i.n.g. .l.o.v.e with her mouth as he explored it.

Shi Ai had also lost her senses in this moment and her hands wound around his neck as she tried to get closer to him.

Having succeeded in his initial aim but failing to remember it in the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of the kiss, Ah Hai also lost himself in the kiss and his hand which had been earlier reading on her lower back, now roamed the contours of her body. Feeling her need, Ah Hai pulled her closer into his body so that there was no space for even air to pass between them. His hand rested on the waistband of her shorts before slipping upwards under her t-shirt.

It was only when his hand came into contact with her b.a.r.e skin, did Ah Hai realise what he had done. He waited for revulsion to come at the thought of being physically intimate but all he felt was frustrated d.e.s.i.r.e and thirst to possess. Gently pulling back with a final lick of her lips, Ah Hai hugged her softly pressing her warm face into his c.h.e.s.t. As if there was a fire burning inside him, Ah Hai tried to control his d.e.s.i.r.e even as he tried to keep her in his arms. To distract himself, he started to count sheep with his eyes closed but by the tenth number he was counting, " ten Shi Ai, eleven Shi Ai, twelve Shi Ai.."

Shi Ai, who could feel his touch still burning her and his d.e.s.i.r.e against her stomach, had her eyes closed tightly. She did not know of it was a dream or not but she never wanted to wake up.

Looking down at the warm bundle in his arms, Ah Hai said, "never let me hear you say anything like this again. Not just me or Aunty Wu or Zhang Min, even when you find your lost sister, she will testify to the fact that you are nothing but a blessing. Remember that. Any grievance that was suffered was not on your behalf but those people who were the ones who did the deed."

Her tear-filled eyes looked into his glittering ones, seeking whether he was telling the truth or not. And seeing only honesty there, she nodded and slowly put her head on his c.h.e.s.t again, listening to his soothing heartbeat.

Ah Hai wanted to tell her about his findings but seeing her volatile look, he decided that it could wait until tomorrow.

Picking her up, he brought her down to a lower floor and opened the door to a room, carrying her inside and sitting on the bed with her still on his l.a.p.