Chapter 172 - Family Heirloom

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Wu, I forgot that you don't know yet. Let me introduce you to my superior - the officer in command of this mission - Captain Jackson Wu, the head of Interpol for the Hong Kong and Macau region," Amelie announced proudly. 

After acting as Jackson's girlfriend for a while, she was getting a bit uncomfortable with the way that his family looked down on him. So, even as a friend, she was excited to reveal who he really was. After all, her friend risked his life for the safety of others, how dare these people look down on him?!

Amelie glanced over at Halia and saw her smile. It seemed, she felt the same way too.

At that moment, Mother Wu turned to her husband for help. Since her son was abandoning her, this was her last hope. "Hubby, don't listen to these people. They're all liars!" she screamed.

However, the middle-aged man could only look at his wife in disbelief. They had been together for almost 30 years, but this woman suddenly felt like a stranger. How much had she been hiding from him? And how many lies had she made him believe? Because of her, he separated from his first love and disowned his first-born son. Jackson's mother had given him everything; she even gave him shares to her casino, yet he was charmed away by this conniving woman who ended up plotting her death. How did he allow this snake into his family?

Realizing this, Father Wu felt a wave of regret as he watched Jackson and Amelie drag Mother Wu away.

He couldn't stop them; he had no right to stop them.

...

By the time Mother Wu was officially arrested, it was already 3am the next day.

After a long day, Jackson returned to his hotel suite to find Halia asleep on the sofa waiting for him. She was still wearing the white dress from earlier and her hair was still a mess. She must have fallen asleep as soon as she got back. 

Jackson laughed to himself. How did Mother Wu get fooled by such an adorable ghost?

"You're finally back," Halia said as she opened her eyes and looked up at her handsome man. "Where's Amelie?"

"She went to spend the night with Alexander. My stepmother's been officially apprehended for her involvement in the murder of my mother and Francis Zhu, as well as the attempted murder of me and you. I also sent in a team earlier today to arrest Everett Pang, Carol Pang, and Rowan Zhang for money laundering, and the Chief Superintendent of Macau has already approved for us to arrest Stanley Rong when he wakes up. It's been a long day, but the case here is pretty much closed, so the two of them have officially completed their mission and they'll be flying back to France in a few days," Jackson smiled as he went to sit down next to Halia.

"Then, what about you? You've found the person you were looking for, so are you really planning to quit your position at Interpol?" Halia asked. To be honest, now that she had seen Jackson in action, she was quite proud of him.

"Uh-huh, I have a wife to take care of now," Jackson said dotingly as he ran his fingers through Halia's hair.

The man's touch sent tingles down Halia's spine.

"Hey, who's your wife? That was a ghost wedding! I'm not a ghost!" Halia complained with a pout.

Jackson smirked and grabbed Halia's hand. "Does that mean you're willing to be my wife if we have a real wedding?" he asked.

Halia blushed a little and looked away. "You need to get past my father first..." she said jokingly.

At that moment, Jackson smiled and got down on one knee, he then pulled out a little box from his pocket, "I already spoke to your father yesterday..."

Halia glanced down at the box in surprise. When did he have time to prepare all this?

Actually, the previous day, after Jackson met Father Feng for lunch and agreed to the ghost wedding, it got him thinking about his future with Halia. So, he ended up speaking to the man in private afterwards as well. "Mr. Feng, I want to marry your daughter for real," he decided confidently.

Father Feng looked at the man in surprise. His daughter had only introduced him as her boyfriend not long ago, how could he jump straight to marriage?

"It might seem really quick to you, but your daughter and I have been through a lot together. I've saved her a few times and she's saved me back too. We've been through more than the average person can imagine..." Jackson chuckled as he thought back on the memories he shared with Halia.

He remembered how he met Halia at the hospital when she was pretending to be a nurse...

...how he rushed her to the hospital after an allergic reaction...

...how he found her spiked at the bar and took her to the hotel where they shared their first kiss...

...how he saved her from a serial killer...

...how she stitched him up after he was stabbed...

...how she defused the bomb strapped to his body...

...how they lived together in the underground lab...

...how they were separated and reunited...

....and, how he saved her from drowning as a child...

"After the kidnapping incident this time, I realized how much she meant to me. I thought I almost lost her. Mr. Feng, I love Halia and I don't want to ever lose her. Please, may I have the honor of marrying your daughter?" Jackson asked again.

Father Feng saw the sincerity in the young man's eyes and finally nodded his head. "Do you have a ring?" he asked.

Jackson jumped up in excitement and quickly nodded his head, "Thank you, Mr. Feng. Please excuse me, I need to go somewhere."

With the approval of Halia's father, he had no time to waste. Jackson immediately caught a taxi over to a bank in Hong Kong where his mother had left a safe deposit box for him. He had only opened it once after her death. Inside, were some paperwork for her shares as well as deeds to properties she owned. His mother was smart; she may have handed the casino over to his father, but she secretly held the majority of the shares and she invested her money into properties with a good yield. If one was to actually count all her assets, she was actually much wealthier than Jack Wu.

However, Jackson wasn't after the paperwork today, he was after a very particular box that sat hidden at the back of the safe.

A family heirloom.

A ring that his mother had shown him when he was a child, "One day, when you grow up, I want you to give this to your wife..."