242 Li Family

Finally pushing him on the bed, she stood there for a second to catch her breath. In the softly lit room, he did look beautiful.

"It shall get better one day, don't worry!" she told him, in her heart.

"Maybe I have drunk too much tonight. Why else would I think that he looks good? I hate Asian guys. Maybe cos he suffers from a heart break," she continued with her thoughts.

"Arghh… my head," Wei moaned on the bed, clutching his head.

Stepping away from him, Samantha looked at her watch. She had already missed the deadline. Her mother is going to create a ruckus tomorrow morning! It was the fault of this pretty boy. Turning to go, it was his constant whimpering which made her hesitate.

She looked for a bottle of water in the mini fridge, unscrewed the cap and sank on the floor, next to him. She tried to shove the bottle in his mouth but the water kept trickling out. Blowing her fringes off her forehead in frustration, she got up, and pushed him further onto the bed, making space for herself to sit.

She placed her arm under his head and raised it, to help him drink. Wei gulped a few grateful sips and mumbled a thanks.

As she tried to remove her hand from under his head, he said hoarsely, "don't go. Please don't go. I know you aren't her. But please don't leave me alone tonight. Just for a few minutes, please, just for a few minutes."

Sam's hand stilled. She stared at his face. His eyes were shut but his expression was that of someone drowning.

Gosh, empathy was a bitch!!!

"Mum, there is an emergency situation with a friend. I will tell you about it when you call me tomorrow to scold me," she sent a message to her mother with a resigned sigh.

Pushing his prone body further onto the bed, she made space for herself and sat up on the bed.

Wei immediately sought her hand, entangled his fingers through it and tucked it under his chin. Slightly charmed by his cute gesture, she put her other hand behind her head and waited for memories to engulf her. She knew it was inevitable, no point resisting. They came almost every night, especially when her guard was down or she was feeling particularly sensitive.

Eight years ago, London suburbs

"Mom, why do we have to go for dad's step daughter's engagement? When he chose the new wife over you, you are not obligated to listen to him. Why do you have to adhere to every wish of his?" seventeen year old Samantha looked at her mother belligerently.

A beautiful woman, with blonde hair and thin sharp features, looked at her daughter who was a complete replica of her father. Sam had not only inherited his colouring, but also his expressions.

Thinking of her ex-husband, Irene realised that her daughter was right. She had no backbone when it came to him. She simply couldn't say no – not when he had fallen in love with her and proposed, not when he had pleaded for her understanding when his family didn't accept her, not even when he had asked for a divorce.

Leaving her alone with a three year old Samantha in London, he had gone back to his roots and married a woman of his parents' choosing. It was a marriage of convenience to save the family business or so he had pleaded.

Over the years, he had faithfully supported Irene and Sam financially. A yearly trip under the guise of business was all that he could manage, to spend some time with his precious daughter. Though a young Sam had looked forward to those few precious days with her daddy, the teenage Sam resented him and started looking for excuses to not see him. It would be better that she had no Father than to have him for a bit and lose him over and over again to his other daughter.

"Your grandfather has insisted that you should go and visit them. And your father misses you a lot. It is a happy occasion for the family. The least that we can do is share their happiness," Irene tried to coax her.

Sam was an introvert child with very few friends. She preferred books over conversations and animals over humans. She was studying medicine and wanted to grow up and be a veterinarian.

Irene was really proud of how she had shaped up. A part of her wanted to show off her daughter in front of her judgemental Chinese grandparents.

Though Li Yimei was not the real child of the Li family, they had always treated her as their own, well, ever since her mother brought her along with a sizeable business investment to the marriage.

To the Li family, money mattered more than blood!