Chapter 136 - Rawson Zhang

Back at the hotel, Halia was still in disbelief from what Jackson told her about his family. As her heart ached, she leaned over and hugged him tightly in her arms. How could his family be so cruel?

At that moment, she suddenly received a message on her phone.

Halia glanced over and noticed it was a message from Sean. 

"Sorry, I need to check that," she said as she reached over for her phone.

But, the man quickly grabbed the phone and hid it behind his back.

"A kiss for your phone," he said cheekily.

Halia looked at the man helplessly. How could he be taking advantage of her already?

With no choice, she leaned over and pecked him shyly on the lips. But, the man quickly hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a long passionate kiss. He had to make up for lost time.

"You need to kiss me every day from now on," he said dotingly. "You don't know how hard it's been to live without it."

Halia nodded her head and quickly grabbed her phone while the man didn't notice. 

She then clicked into Sean's message: [You were right, Everett Pang is involved. But, I think the mastermind is his wife].

Halia's eyes opened wide in surprise. She had never even seen Carol Pang visit the casino. The only time she met her was at dinner. How did she manage to keep such a low profile? 

At that moment, Halia realized something. She quickly turned to Jackson and said, "I'm actually here on a mission."

Jackson nodded his head, "I thought that might be the case. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, but I think I might be able to help you," Halia replied.

"Emerson's auntie and uncle, Carol Pang and Everett Pang are involved in a money-laundering scheme at your casino that may involve gangsters and junkets," she explained. "Could there be any reason that they'd target you so you wouldn't discover what they're doing?"

Jackson leaned over and placed a kiss on Halia's forehead. "Thank you for telling me. I'll look into it further," he said.

Halia felt her heart melt as she wrapped her arms around the man. "I missed you so much," she said.

Jackson hugged the woman dotingly, "I missed you too."

After spending another ten minutes together, Jackson left and returned to his own room. He wanted to stay, but he knew he couldn't risk being discovered.

A couple of hours later, Amelie returned from taking Emerson home. As soon as she saw Jackson, the man sat her down and explained everything that Halia told him.

"So, she wasn't actually spiked?" Amelie asked, ignoring serious business and jumping to the goss instead.

Jackson sighed and nodded his head.

Amelie then leaned in with a cheeky smile and teased the man, "Did you guys kiss?"

Jackson cleared his throat and walked away with embarrassment. But, he was glad that Amelie was able to joke around and accept that Halia was his girlfriend. After all, he truly treated her as a friend.

...

The next day, Jackson and Amelie arrived hand-in-hand at the casino to follow up on the lead that Halia gave them. Jackson was planning to get close to Everett and find a chance to steal his phone. Perhaps, he would be able to find some form of communication with France.

But, to Jackson's surprise, the uncle approached him happily as soon as he saw him.

"Jackson, I've been wanting to chat with you," the uncle said.

Jackson looked at the man confusedly. Why would he want to chat with him? They barely even knew each other.

"Actually, I have a friend that really wants to meet you. Do you think you have time to join him for lunch?" the chubby old man asked.

Jackson scanned his eyes across the man with curiosity. What did he have planned? Was he trying to get him alone so he could finish him off?

"Who is this friend?" Jackson asked.

The old man looked around suspiciously. He then cupped his hand and leaned towards Jackson's ear. "Rawson Zhang," he whispered.

Jackson's eyes opened wide in surprise. Rawson Zhang?

Before Jackson joined the gangs in France and before Beijing, Jackson actually lived with his mother in Shanghai. He loved his mother a lot. She was a brave, independent and smart woman that he looked up to. But...she was also very lonely. Since she had no family nor friends in Shanghai, she and her son only had each other. So, when she was suddenly hit by a car, the accident hit Jackson really hard. It took him a long time to recover from his grief, especially when he learned that his mother's killer was never caught. So, after she passed away, her death motivated him to become a policeman in Shanghai.

But, before he even completed his police training, he was scouted by his trainer and asked to go undercover. He was only 18 at that time, but he was all alone with no family nor friends in Shanghai, so he was the perfect candidate. For 4 years, he was deep undercover in the gangs there. But, because of his mission, he stopped visiting his family in Hong Kong and word quickly spread to his family that he had joined the gangs. When his father heard about it, he immediately disowned him and told him to never come home. 

Jackson didn't mind anyway. After all, it was because of this man that his mother left all her friends and family in Hong Kong and went to live a lonely life in Shanghai.

During the 4 years that he was undercover in Shanghai, Jackson's boss...was Rawson Zhang; a ruthless character in the underworld. A man that ended up being thrown into prison for 7 years because of him. Did Rawson know that Jackson was the one that put him there? And, how did Everett know him?