295 Do I smell jealousy?

"Frankly, with the crisis on our heads, I didn't pay much attention to it but now putting things into perspective, something seems definitely off about the whole situation. You don't worry. I will figure it out. I promise," he assured her.

Jia Li gave him a tremulous smile and gave him a tiny grateful nod.

"What do you plan to do now?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "umm, I am not sure. Meeting with your dad was the last thing on my agenda. I have exhausted all other avenues of information as of now. Li Jie had tried reaching out to Chu but she wasn't very forthcoming either. The only thing that I know with surety is that the family isn't in Shanghai. I guess I will go back to London now and wait to hear from you. In the meanwhile, I will reach out to Deng Chung. I had avoided it till now because I didn't want to worry him. But he has always been close to Tang. So his chances of finding something or knowing would be more than mine or Li Jie's."

"I will book your flight for London for tomorrow. For now, go back to your hotel. I shall pick you up in a couple of hours. Let's conduct a brainstorming session over dinner. If you like, we can get Li Jie on conference call as well at the time, hmm?" he suggested.

She nodded her head in agreement with a small smile. Giving him a warm hug, she walked out.Jia Li sent up a prayer of thanks for bringing Wang Wei back into her life. She knew that she wouldn't go back to enjoying the same level of closeness with him as before but his being within the region of her heart was enough.

"You stood me up, young lady," a gruff voice made her raise her head in surprise.

"Uncle Wang! I am… so sorry. It's just that I ran into Wei and uh…" she spluttered consciously, having completely forgotten about the appointment with Wei's father.

"Haha, I was just teasing you. I saw you going into Wei's cabin earlier. My poor old heart is resigned to the fact that women choose my son over me. But let me tell you that the coffee served in my cabin is far superior to his," he said with a wink.

She laughed at his words and said, "I promise to remember it next time. And if I were you I wouldn't write off your charm yet. You can give all these 'young men' a tough competition should you choose."

"Ah! Now I know why do you have men falling all around you. Not only do you look like an angel, you also know exactly what to say to them. And the charm is so beguiling that an old dog like me is also willing to believe those words," he replied.

Jia Li was grinning ear-to-ear when the woman whom she had banged into, appeared in front of them, suddenly.

"Oh, Samantha. How are you feeling? Wei told me about what happened. You should have taken an off from work, today," Mr. Wang told her in concern.

"I am fine Uncle Wang. Work keeps me distracted,' she replied, her eyes focussed on Jia Li.

Seeing her interest, Mr. Wang made the introductions. Right then, he received a call and excused himself to take it. Jia Li gave a smile to Sam and made a move to leave as well.

Putting her hand on Jia Li's arm, Sam said, "do you have a minute?"

Jia Li looked at her in mild surprise, "uh, sure. What is this regarding?"

Sam indicated that they have the talk in her cabin. Slightly bemused, Jia Li followed her.

Upon reaching, Sam waited for Jia Li to walk in and then shut the door decisively.

"You may not know me but I know you. And I demand to know your intentions towards Wang Wei," she started ferociously.

Jia Li was taken aback at the sudden change in her demeanour. But then she looked at the young woman carefully. She was wringing her hands and her body seemed to tremble a little.

"Hmm… interesting. By any chance, do I smell jealousy here or maybe insecurity? I would recognise the signs, right," she snorted to herself.

"Uh, I don't see why do I need to tell you or anyone else about my intent," she said and sat down comfortably in one of the chairs.

Sam got even more worked up with her answer and the attitude. She had tried really hard to stop herself from approaching Jia Li. Finally when she made the decision to confront her, she convinced herself that she was doing it to look out for Wei's interest rather than out of jealousy.