235 What would you choose?

October 22, 20XX (Tuesday)

Zhao Manor

Zhao Yang and Jerome Bonaparte were looking at the fuming Mei Li with fright. She looked like a teapot with boiling water and vapor ready to burst. Her clenched fists made Yang worried if she would hurt herself with her long nails.

Both men knew that a father missing his child's wedding day was not a good move, but someone reliable had to secure the Manor for their staged wedding. It would have been Chang Min, but the protective older brother threw all his responsibilities and pushed all of it to his father when Jerome Bonaparte volunteered to do it. Now that he thought about it, Chang Min must have done it so he could avoid Mei Lin's anger. Yang almost applauded Chang Min's foresight.

"Aren't I here with you, my beloved daughte-" "Beloved? Who, Me? Your beloved? Do you think I will believe you when you throw me into the orphanage? You were not there to tell me the truth. You disguise yourself as an old man to fool me, and then you did not show yourself in the ceremony? Beloved? How about rewording that and saying unneeded daughter instead?" Mei Lin snarled.

The two males were taken aback at her hostile attitude. She had never displayed this much hatred before. Yang's eyebrows rose up in confusion because even when Chen Zhong broke her heart, she was understanding and was actually forgiving. It was unfair of her to not listen to her father's reasons, but Yang could somewhat understand why.

"I am sorry, I was jus-"

Yang applauded Jerome Bonaparte's guts to talk to his daughter. He would have never spoken back to Mei Lin when she was hissing and flaring her hands like a cobra ready to strike. Yang knows he would not win their arguments every time she does it. True to his prediction, Mei Lin stomped her feet to their room and left behind her gaping father.

Jerome Bonaparte had his mouth opened a little as he stared in horror when Mei Lin huffed and turned away from him. He then placed his hands to his side and hunched his back. Jerome turned to Yang with eyes pleading for him to do something.

As a good son-in-law, Yang placed his hands on Jerome's shoulder and comforted the sulking man. Yang calmly told his father-in-law, "Let her anger die down. She will crawl to you while bawling her eyes out and sniffing snot all over when she realized how unfair her treatment was."

Having been the main reason to Mei Lin's many bouts of anger, Yang was familiarized with her attitude and personality. Mei Lin always blows up first and then be the one to ask for forgiveness. No matter what the hurt that was done to her, she still chooses to forgive. Yang was sure that her hatred would not remain especially with her father. Her heart was soft because of her ability to give and forgive so easily. It was one of the reasons why Yang was attracted but also worried about her.

"Can you fasten the process?" Jerome Bonaparte could not believe that he was asking this to his son-in-law, but here they were.

Yang almost snorted as he nodded, so he kept quiet and followed after Mei Lin. His strides were hurried because he was afraid of showing his amusement. Seeing a grown up man begging for someone's help, Yang was thoroughly amused, but he refrained himself from laughing because it would cause them riff. Arriving inside the room, Yang sighed when he saw Mei Lin already bawling her eyes out.

Like a seasoned husband, Yang sat beside her, leaned her head in his chest, and let her cry her eyes out. There were still things that she had not understood. Knowing the truth was a hard thing but understanding the truth was harder. Mei Lin just needed more time to deal with everything. Time: this might be something that they won't have after their fake wedding.

After seeing her sobs calming down, Yang said, "Do you understand the full extent of how dangerous tomorrow is? We are dealing with terrorists, people who kill and cause chaos with no consideration of other people's lives."

Mei Li sniffed and wiped the tears in her eyes. Her mind was a jumbled mess. In a month, she had uncovered more secrets than her whole years alive. She also had to learn more about her responsibilities as an heiress and prepare for two weddings while going on an adoption process for Ling Ling and Chang. No human would not crumble at the weight of those things all at once. The fact that she could not paint to relieve her stress also added more weight to her thoughts. Because of these things, her attitude has been moody and unpredictable, but these shouldn't be an excuse for her to blow up especially to her father.

Yang kissed her cheeks and told, "Your father might have made bad decisions, but that doesn't mean he loves you any less."

They both were silent for a while. The gears in their minds turned with every passing thought. Mei Lin was the first to break the chains of nothingness with a pout, "I know, but he should have shown up even a minute to the ceremony."

Yang chuckled while tucking the strands of hair that fell to obstruct her eyes. He kissed her cheeks with a loud smack before flicking her forehead with his pointer finger. Mei Lin puffed her cheeks with childishness that made his chuckles louder while her hands covering the forehead that he had flicked.

"Your father sacrificed not seeing you walk down the aisle for a few minutes to save your life for years. Tell me, if you were given that choice would you choose to do what your child wants that may endanger her or choose to save your child's life?"