Chapter 163 - Dodging A Bullet

"Even though we weren't fated to be together while she was still alive, I would be more than willing to marry her in the afterlife," Emerson replied as soon as Father Feng and his parents went to look for him.

Mother Wu stared at her son in shock. Did he know what he was saying? He was marrying a dead person! Her young, handsome and successful son was marrying a bloody corpse that was rotting away inside a coffin! Worst of all, this woman never loved him when she was alive. While he was investing his entire heart into her, she was flirting around with his older brother. According to Mother Wu's research, Halia and Jackson had spent some time in a secret lab together - all alone! Who knew what they did down there and how far they had gone. Her son wasn't playing around with a used toy, especially not a dead one!

Finally, Mother Wu couldn't stand where the conversation was going and spoke up, "I'm sorry, but I can't allow this to go ahead."

Father Wu glanced at his wife in surprise. She had always been a kind and open-minded woman. Why was she opposing this? It was just a simple ritual that wouldn't affect their son in the long term. Instead, it would help his friend recover from his grief and strengthen the ties between the two families. In the socialite circles, nothing was more important than connections, especially connections to someone as wealthy and influential as Father Feng. This wedding seemed beneficial no matter how he looked at it.

"If Emerson doesn't marry my daughter she is going to be a lost soul, wandering this earth forever! Didn't you hear what the fortune teller said?" Father Feng cried. 

Emerson quickly stretched out an arm to support the man. "Don't worry, Father Feng, we will never allow Haili to wander this earth as a lost soul."

Mother Wu glanced at her son with frustration. Why didn't he understand what she was thinking?

"There must be another way," Mother Wu said.

Father Wu looked at his wife questioningly, "The fortune teller said there is only one way. Your son has already agreed to it. Why can't you just support his decision?"

Mother Wu was dumbfounded.

"That's because...because...didn't we go over this before? Emerson can't get married until Jackson does!" the old woman yelled stubbornly.

Father Wu froze. She was right. He was traditional and superstitious; the older child had to get married first. Could he forget his values and make an exception?

At that moment, Mother Wu thought of an idea, "Why don't we get Jackson to marry Haili instead? The result will be the same."

Father Feng held back a smile when he heard this. This woman thought she was dodging a bullet by suggesting this, but she had no idea that the real bullet was yet to come. Of course, it would have annoyed Mother Wu more if Halia married Emerson, but it didn't matter which son was to marry her in the end. It was all fake since his daughter wasn't actually dead. Plus, the ghost marriage was only the beginning of his plan...

...

Meanwhile, not too far away, Rawson Zhang was making a phone call to a number he hadn't contacted for a while. The last time he spoke to Trojan, was over a year ago when he first decided to set up his money-laundering operations in Macau. 

Rawson and this man actually had a relationship that went way back to the time when he was still in Shanghai. In fact, it was thanks to Trojan that Rawson's jail sentence wasn't longer than the 7 years that he received. After all, he was arrested for fraud related to counterfeiting money; he could have easily served double the time that he was sentenced to for a crime like that. But, Trojan had helped him destroy and hide some critical evidence, as well as bribe some members of the jury, resulting in a lighter sentence. Thus, Trojan was the first person he thought of contacting when he got out of jail. 

A year ago, the two men had made a verbal agreement: Rawson was going to build a money-laundering empire in Macau and Trojan was going to protect him for 30% of his profits. After that, they agreed not to contact each other again to avoid suspicion.

But, Rawson was greedy. No amount of money ever seemed enough for him. So, Alexander's temptation easily prompted him to contact Trojan again...and thus began his downfall...

"Why are you calling me?" Trojan asked in an annoyed tone. 

"I have a client that wants to meet you. He is a French drug trafficker and he said he heard about you from a man named Gogh," Rawson explained.

"Gogh?" Trojan questioned. Gogh was the killer he hired recently. The one that failed and died. That was the first time he had used this man so they weren't really close. After all, he didn't usually get orders to kill someone overseas. Especially not one that was being protected inside a safe house.

Gogh was meant to be a professional, someone that could make his targets disappear without a trace. But, due to an unexpected turn of events, not only did he and up dying, his target also escaped and came back to Hong Kong. This one failure almost ruined Trojan's reputation; he had lost a lot of clients because of it, so this name left a deep impression on him.

"Why does he want to meet me?" Trojan asked.

"He said he has business to discuss with you," Rawson replied.

Trojan hesitated for a second. Normally, he would turn down new clients unless they were close acquaintances to someone he knew. But, because of Gogh, he had lost a lot of business. So, he decided to take this risk. He was desperate to make some money and rebuild his reputation. 

"Tell him to meet me tomorrow at 8pm by the wharf and tell him to come alone," Trojan agreed.

Rawson quickly nodded his head and went to do as told.