''Now that your pet is being treated, you can start speaking,'' Han Sheng said, ''Moreover, your pet seems to be a bit stronger than the rest and different. It survived through all cuts and stabs,'' A small smile crept on his face, the kind of smile which can give a person goosebumps.
And Yu Mei understood that kind of sadist smile. The way he was saying, it looked like he was taking pleasure in it and he won't mind torturing Mia more than he already did if she persisted in her ways.
Yu Mei restrained herself from showing any expressions on her face even as her fingers curled into a fist on her sides. It was a joke how lightly he was saying that Mia was being treated. If it was any normal fox instead of Mia, it would have died because of blood loss.
''The boy was you,'' Yu Mei said as her fists loosened slightly.
Han Sheng gripped the glass of wine in his hand as he nodded, ''Yes, it was me.''
Despite expecting this after the story, Yu Mei never thought that there would be such a matter buried in the Han Family.
Grandma Han was indeed a kind and a gentle woman... But never in her wildest dreams Yu Mei thought that there would be so much history.
From everything that Han Sheng described, Yu Mei got the gist of the whole matter. When she was studying abroad, Grandma Han fell in love with Grandpa Han's elder brother and later got pregnant with his child. But after his acciental death, she gave birth to their son but ended up sending him to orphanage.
''Why did she marry Grandpa Han then?" Yu Mei asked Han Sheng. Since the man wanted to let her know about his story, she wanted to get to the bottom of it. Maybe everything that has happened to her all this time has more or less something to do with him. And her first priority at this moment was to get Mia out of this place and to tackle a person like Han Sheng, she had to find a way to deal with him or maybe a weakness.
''Money, power, influence. When one brother died, it is not necessary that she would reject the other's offer especially not when he is madly in love with her,'' Han Sheng replied casually as if he was just talking about the weather but only if the hatred in his tone was not so apparent.
''Her parents... You said they were strict, so how did they agree to it?"
''Unlike my biological father who just wanted to be together with her first before marrying her, my dear uncle was different. He wanted to marry her, he was head over heels for her and he did not bother hiding it while he courted her and asked for her hand from her parents. Them being poor little things, could not ask for more than having their daughter marry in the influential Han Family, especially to a man who would stop at nothing to shower her with his love,'' Han Sheng twirled the glass of wine in his hand.
''She left you at orphanage when you were born then when did you find out about everything....and how?" Yu Mei asked after a few seconds.
''She made a mistake while abandoning her infant,'' Han Sheng's lips tugged up in a mocking smile, the scar on his face scrunched up, ''She transfered the property deeds to my name and handed the papers to the orphanage, which I had access to by the time I turned 18. It was the property deed of the house that she used to share with my biological father before he died. When I reached there, the house was empty like nobody ever lived there before. But one day, I found an old diary in the store room.... it belonged to him...''
Yu Mei quietly glanced at him and he paused for a moment before he continued speaking, ''He wrote in it even the day before his accident, about how... he wanted to see me, and how he wanted to ask her hand for marriage from her parents. After that, the pages were blank... but I did not stop looking for the truth until I found it. I found her identity and discovered about her marriage. I discovered my identity,'' He sipped the wine, ''Don't judge me, my dear niece. Uncle did not do anything after finding it out.''
Yu Mei placed her palm on her hand as she gently stroked her wrist. As gentle as he was sounding, she could not shake off this edgy feeling while sitting in front of him.
The revelations that he made had left her mind reeling with shock but she tried to not show much expressions on her face.
''I was devastated, I felt betrayed and angry too but I did nothing. I decided to let her be, to let her live her happy life while I live mine. 18 years of my life, I had survived without a mother, I believed I would have survived the rest without one...'' His grip on the glass tightened as he pinched his lips together, ''But what happened then? My biological mother showed up at the orphanage, as a rich Young Mistress who was there to adopt a poor and pathetic child, to take him in and nourish him with a divident of their wealth,'' He threw the glass of wine aside as he clutched Yu Mei's jaw all of a sudden.
She moved out of reflex but her jaw was already in his grip. The bone crushing strength made her wince but Yu Mei refused to make a single sound as she bit her bottom lips.
''And you know who the chosen one was? You know who that poor and pathetic boy was who was chosen to be showered in their wealth?" His fingers applied more pressure on her jaws, ''It was me, your uncle...''
"They took me in as an adopted child. The then Young Mistress of the Han Family adopted a poor boy from an orphanage. They had this golden glow on their heads while I kept tending to my bruised heart all alone. I didn't say a word and left with them, watched as they grew their son, your father, with utmost care, I watched as my biological mother forgot the existence of her other child. And the hatred for her kept growing stronger in my heart. Unlike before when I held it in my heart and decided to not interrupt her happy life, my mind changed. With every passing second as I watched her being happy with her family, not even once thinking about the existence of her lover that died, the child she gave birth to, I hated her more...''
''Ugh...'' Yu Mei winced as his fingers gripped her jaws harder to the point that she could feel the ache in her whole face as it made her unable to breath. She gripped the arm of the chair harder, resisting the urge to twist his hand.
She could endure this much pain till she got a way out of this place but there was no way she would put Mia in risk.
''She adopted me and I acted like I was the servant of that house. Both of us knew the truth but she did not know that I knew it while I....knew everything.''
''And what did you get out of it?" Yu Mei glanced at him, trying to hold back the disdain in her voice as spoke, ''Your hatred for her over the years, where did that take you? Got inside the Han family when you were just 18 and now decades have passed, you are living with the same old hatred. If it bothers you, why don't you talk to her? Instead of holding me here, confronting your biological mot...ah.. confronting her would be much more better,'' A teardrop rolled down her cheeks when his fingers let go of her cheeks that felt numb.
Han Sheng laughed, ''What do you think I am doing right now?"
Yu Mei tilted her head slightly as she slowly brought her palm to her face, stroking her cheeks with trembling fingers. As he turned his face to the side, she followed his gaze and spotted small cameras at almost every corner of the terrace.
''Aren't they all seeing it right now? The truth...'' Han Sheng laughed derisively as he looked at the coffee table that was lying on the side, "That was my favourite one, my dear niece. Look what you did to it.''
''Why are you doing this?" Yu Mei turned to look at him, ''What will you even get out of this?" As much as he wanted revenge but why her? Why was she the one whom he targetted? The question bugged her like nothing else. She never thought that the Han Family was seeing live footage at this time.
''Hmm...'' Han Sheng looked at his watch, ''They are here even though they got delayed by 18 minutes. Smile now, dear niece.''
'BANG'
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of resounding gunshots reverberated in the terrace as a few men dressed in black uniforms entered the place, taking down Han Sheng's men who were standing at the door.
Yu Mei froze for a moment but as she noticed the smile that played on Han Sheng's face, she looked at the entrance again, ''Zixuan, brother.... No!!'' She said as soon as she spotted both the men who had their guns pointed at Han Sheng.