189 Jia Li on my mind...

Wei looked at him in disapproval, "you mean your drinking and my chauffeuring spree. And no, he won't be doing that. In fact, we could have a games night at home instead, every weekend. I will serve you wine instead of whiskey. Then I will thrash you at cards. Post that, you will go home on your own two feet."

"Since when have you become such a nag. You sound like my wife… nooooo, don't get me wrong. I wasn't referring to Mei Zhen here. I meant generally. As long as you are willing to turn that wine into whiskey and brace yourself for complete, utter humiliation at my hands in all variations of card games, I am in," he retorted, tongue-in cheek.

Wei gave him a smug look, "I think you have gross misconceptions about your own calibre. They would be dissipated within the first half hour of playing with me. Anyways, let me speak with dad and figure out his inclination towards hanging out with guys half his age."

After Wei left, Tang leaned back into his chair. His thoughts were far from the light hearted banter which had just taken place in his cabin. He was not looking forward to the unpleasantness which awaited him the next day. It was the fourth negotiation meeting with Mei Zhen at the lawyer's office regarding the divorce suit. She had been adding new conditions in every single meet. The whole set of proceedings had been getting dragged on some pretext or the other by her, for weeks now, despite Tang threatening her with dire consequences.

Mei Zhen had moved out of Xie mansion some time ago but Tang had refused to go back to the house. He was at peace, living alone. His mother dropped in at least once a week to restock his fridge and keep the housekeeping staff in line. Chu had called up last night to inform him that she and Ethan were planning to get married by the end of this year.

Though that was nine months away, his mother had started the planning already. Mother-daughter duo had ended up arguing about the wedding's venue. Mrs. Xie had been aghast at the prospect of holding the wedding in New York amongst strangers. Her idea was that since they had agreed to her marrying an American, at least the wedding should take place in the traditional Chinese style. But Chu didn't want to get bogged down by the excessive pomp and show attached to the wedding. She just wanted a simple ceremony and she knew that wasn't going to be possible in Shanghai.

Ever since her showdown with her husband, Mrs. Xie had suddenly become like the Genie who couldn't be put back in the bottle. She was bold, blunt and Tang was loving it. Apparently, she kept giving shocks to his father almost on a daily basis with her newly acquired persona.

Everything had started to fall in place around him. Now all he needed was for his girl to come back to him. He had assumed that she would have needed some time to cool down. He knew that his method had been wrong. In hindsight, he could have taken a more rational approach, one which didn't need him to lie to her, or hurt her in the process. But he had gotten terribly insecure about Jia Li's increasing closeness with Wei which he had witnessed first-hand in Hainan Island. The unexpected disclosure about her divorce and Wei's relentless pursuit of her, had been enough to shake up his confidence. At that time, he wouldn't have accepted the fact but now he couldn't deny the truth that Wei was an absolutely amazing guy and any girl would be lucky to receive his affection. Having said that, it didn't mean that he was willing to let go of his girl for his newly formed friendship.

She and her heart belonged to him. He knew that he should have trusted her, now and even all those years ago. But he was praying fervently that it wasn't too late for the two of them. Because he simply wouldn't be able to survive without her love and her presence in his life. The past weeks had been tough but he wanted to give her all the time that she needed. He was going to be patient and show faith in their love. This was probably the hardest thing that he had ever done in his life. It was taking every ounce of his self-control to not go and look for her, yet. But he would give her time…and faith.

Wei finished reading and responding to the pending mails and matters in his office. He took a break after working non-stop for a few hours. As always, his thoughts went back to Jia Li.