Chapter 49 - Lemon Cupcakes

Qing Chen did not even fight the urge to groan when he reached the warehouse. Of course, as much as the cliche could take the mafia, they had many warehouses. If you are exporting and importing illegal goods, it was just a must. On the other hand, he didn't have the doctor dragged in the midst of it all with the low lighting and surrounded with about a hundred boxes.

He had the doctor taken to an empty room. And yes, she was strapped to the chair when he got there. It looked like she had been been crying for the past hour with her red eyes and tear marks on her cheeks.

"What are you doing?" he asked the man standing guard. "You think that woman would be able to beat you to the ground and escape? Loosen her up."

The guard immediately went to work and by the time Qing Chen had pulled a chair in front of her, she was already massaging her wrists and ankles. "Doctor," he said.

The doctor looked scared and barely nodded her head in acknowledgement.

Qing Chen opened the folder in front of him. "Upon reading your file I had seen that you had just recently joined the group of doctors for my family."

The doctor did not move her face.

"You have to tell me the truth if you want to survive this," he said. "Are you the doctor who checked Li Zongying?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Is it true that she's pregnant?"

"She is not."

Qing Chen felt his lungs expanded, as if this was the first he had a taken a breath in months. He was clear. "You have two children and a steady record in the hospital."

"Please don't hurt my children," she said immediately, her voice shaking as if she was going to start crying anytime soon.

"Doctor," Qing Chen sighed. "No harm will come to your children. I just need you to sign a statement that would deny the credibility of the doc.u.ment that Li Zongying presented to the newspapers. And then we're going to send her to an institution on the grounds that she's not mentally stable."

"I will do anything!" she cried. "But I fear that I would lose my job because of this."

"You are going to lose your job and your license," he said, cruelly. "There's no way out of that. You falsified a doc.u.ment. Alright, I am going to give you one chance on how you can possibly save yourself from this. Tell me and tell it true, what is it that made you fake Li Zongying's pregnancy?"

The doctor's lips quivered as she recounted what happened. "She came to me for a series of tests with her urine and blood. It all came out negative. She told me, a great fortune is coming to her and that she would get millions—probably billions, and I'd be set for a lifetime with the money she would pay me. My husband…" she sniffed. "He has a gambling addiction and dug us deep in debt. He is now jobless and starting with a drinking problem. I want to file for divorce for the sake of my children, I want to leave this place, and start somewhere else. Please, you must know, I mean no harm."

The file in Qing Chen's hands vouched for what the doctor was talking about. It was all true. He couldn't really blame her for being blinded with money. Sure, Qing Chen could supply for the doctor and her children's lives and in his eyes, Li Zongying made a fairly good deal.

Qing Chen cleared his throat. "A doc.u.ment will be sent down here soon and once you sign it, a car will be prepared to have you sent home. Your children won't even know that you were gone. You will lose your license and I need you out of this city in 48 hours."

The doctor's tears were streaming down her face. "Thank you!"

Qing Chen was already half-way out the door when he turned back, couldn't ignore a sobbing mother. "About the other thing, I will wire you some money. Start somewhere new. Leave your husband. If you do, I'll put your children on our foundation and their schooling would be paid for until college. Do not come near me and my family again. And do not ever do what you did again. Good bye, doctor."

On his way back home, the private investigator already called, stating that they had already captured Li Zongying.

"Finally, some good news," he said. "Where is she?"

"Detained, sir."

"Good," he answered. In his annoyance he said, "No meals, just water. I need her at The Kingly tomorrow morning."

"Noted, sir."

Qing Chen took a deep breath and started to laugh. Finally, they had gotten hold of Li Zongying. Oh, what fun would it be to strap her on a chair and...

"You must not hurt people, Qing Chen," his mother's voice echoed in his head. "Your brother," she cried. "He's done enough pain to others in his short life and many more should come. It's a pain to see you hurt your brother. I think I would die just knowing you boys are hurting other people. Promise me you're not going to hurt anybody."

Qing Chen scrunched his face with his fingertips. "Of course, mother," he whispered in his mind. "I made a promise, didn't I?"

There he was again, turning away from violence. His father wasn't going to be happy. He was going to receive a good beating for letting it get this big when the obvious solution was to send Li Zongying to the grave. But even his father had gotten quiet on the prospect that that crazy woman could be possibly be carrying a Qing.

"Ah," he groaned. He just didn't know where to put himself at times.

He could already feel the upcoming bruises that would decorate his skin on the next few days, but he didn't really mind. He was free of his problem, free of a potential fatherhood, free from losing Feng Xuan.

He couldn't imagine his relief when he had come home and found her fixing a snack in the kitchen. Her back was turned to him and there was a soft jazz music blasting through the speakers. The air smelled sweet and citrusy.

Qing Chen put his hands on Feng Xuan's shoulders and she immediately whipped forward, putting the frosting spatula in between them, her eyes bewildered. Qing Chen slowly grinned at her as calm took over her nerves.

"Good thing I wasn't holding a knife!" she lowly chuckled. "I could've stabbed you."

Qing Chen ignored the slight horror that zinged under his skin. "What's that?"

"Lemon cupcakes with lemon coconut frosting. Have a bite."

Qing Chen leaned against the kitchen counter and took one in his hands and peeled the wrapper. Feng Xuan was looking at him anxiously and was biting her lips (for goodness' sake). He took a bite and let out a small m.o.a.n.

"Please, please, please," he said, his mouth still half-full of cake, "tell me that you're going to open that cake shop I've been nagging you about."

Feng Xuan's face brightened. "I've been thinking about it, and I just might."

Qing Chen smiled. Another problem down with the case of laundering money. "Okay, I'll find you space in the prime area in the mall and get you acquainted with the hotel's kitchen staff."

"Won't the chef get mad that you're removing their desserts?"

"Oh, trust me. They would thank you for taking a load off their hands."

Feng Xuan nodded. "Shame that I don't really feel like using those theme boards that your secretary sent a few days ago."

Qing Chen laughed at Feng Xuan's sarcasm. "There are a lot of ideas out there. I'm sure yours would be better." He winked at her and he saw that familiar tinged of her cheeks. He sighed, remembering the problem at hand. "We got her already."

She brightened up even more. "That's great! Where is she?"

Qing Chen swallowed. "Just somewhere."

"You didn't have her killed did you?"

He knew Feng Xuan was only joking, that was why he laughed. "I didn't. I can't do that." Not anymore, at least.

Qing Chen took another bite. "The doctor admitted with falsifying the doc.u.ments. She'll sign a doc.u.ment that would be included in our press release tonight. It's all over."

"What's going to happen with Li Zongying?"

"We're going to send her to a mental institution," he answered. "She's nuts. And I'll make sure she's not going to get out of it."

"Great!" Feng Xuan said with a smile. She reached and dusted Qing Chen's shirt of crumbs. Suddenly remembering Li Zongying, she just had this urge to hit something, to release this frustration and anger she felt. If she got her hands on that girl… she was going to shave Li Zongying's head clean.