Chapter 219 - Watermelon

"How did you get that portrait so quickly?" Halia asked Max as she returned to the living room.

Max shook his head and sighed, "Your man emailed me a file yesterday and said I had to get it printed and framed before you got back. You don't know how difficult that was."

Halia laughed and patted Max on the back, "You are an honestly good friend."

"I hope Jackson realizes that," Max laughed jokingly.

"Trust me, he knows," Halia replied.

At that moment, Halia's phone began to ring.

It was Jackson. Speak of the devil.

Halia smiled and picked up the phone, "Mr. Wu, when did you sneak behind my back and organize all this?"

"Do you like it?" Jackson asked without answering.

"I'd like it more if you were here with me," Halia replied.

"Don't worry, I've already requested my resignation and recommended Trisha for the role. It shouldn't take too long," Jackson explained. "Treat Max to a meal for me. He's been a lot of help."

"You should treat him yourself," Halia complained.

"A wife should represent her husband when he's not around," Jackson replied.

Halia blushed. She wanted to say that she wasn't his wife yet, but the sound of it was so sweet that she didn't want to complain. In the end, she simply glanced at Max awkwardly as she hung up the phone.

All of a sudden, as though he heard their conversation, Max said, "I'm hungry, Sister-in-law."

Sister-in-law? Halia didn't notice it earlier, but Max had actually been calling her Sister-in-law all day. This realization put her in a good mood. "What would you like to eat? It's my treat," she said.

...

Halia properly moved into Jackson's apartment, returned to work, and before she knew it, life returned to how it once was. One week passed after another. It was almost like Jackson was just one beautiful dream, but the portrait in their bedroom and their regular phone calls reminded her that he was real and their relationship was real.

"I can't even remember how it feels to hug you," Halia laughed on the phone.

"I'm sorry," Jackson replied. "Trisha turned down the role and requested for a transfer to London instead, so the handover's been delayed a little."

"She requested for a transfer to London?" Halia asked in surprise.

"Supposedly, she and Oliver are dating," Jackson explained.

"Oh wow, good for them. I thought I sensed something between them," Halia replied.

"Yes, but it means it might take longer before we see each other again," Jackson sighed.

Halia frowned, "I guess it can't be helped."

Even though she was disappointed, she understood the importance of Jackson's role in Interpol and knew that he couldn't just get up and leave.

"How's your case been going?" Jackson asked, changing the subject.

Over the last couple of weeks, Halia had been assigned to a new mission but Sean had just taken leave to see Natalie in Guiyang City and Halia was left temporarily on her own. It wasn't an overly dangerous mission, but it was the first time Halia was working on her own. 

"The boss is beginning to trust me," Halia replied.

Her mission this time was to go undercover in a law firm that was suspected of embezzling client funds. Lawyers from this particular law firm supposedly created false mortgage doc.u.ments, fake receipts, and forged clients' signatures. They then witnessed the doc.u.ments in their own names and used it to siphon money from their clients. Especially the old and mentally incompetent.

Halia had been undercover as a legal assistant at the law firm for the last two weeks and one of the suspected senior lawyers was finally beginning to trust her.

"I did what you said and it worked. He asked me to accompany him to a client meeting tomorrow," Halia replied.

Of course, Halia had been transferred legal knowledge from a trusted prosecutor that worked with the SPU so her cover was very convincing.

"I helped him with some research and filing yesterday while he went to 'a meeting'. When he returned, I saw a lipstick stain on his shirt and he smelled of women's perfume, but I saw him bill the client for 8 hours of work at a senior rate when I obviously did the work, not him. He was pleased with my work and he asked me to go meet a client with him tomorrow," Halia explained.

"Good, you need to catch him doing something more serious. Be careful and stay safe," Jackson said.

Even though Halia wasn't in contact with gangsters and serial killers this time, one could never be too safe when money was involved.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Halia replied.

...

Of course, Halia was left on her own for a few days because Sean was due to meet Natalie's parents in Guiyang City.

Natalie's mother was particularly displeased with the mystery man. He had proposed to their daughter and stole her heart from her without asking for their permission first, so he didn't leave a very good first impression. She even wondered whether he was a con-artist at one point.

As Natalie returned from the airport with her fiance, the tall, handsome and refined man finally came into view for the first time. 

As soon as Mother Shu saw him, she was quite surprised by how gentlemanly he looked.

He had just got off a plane, but he looked fresh. His eyes were bright, his hair was neat and his teeth were white. He looked like a spoilt heir that had never worked a day in his life.

"What do your parents do?" Mother Shu asked straightforwardly.

If this man came from a rich background, then she wouldn't have to worry that he was after her daughter's money.

"My mother is a painter and my father is an author," Sean replied calmly.

Mother Shu frowned. Were those even proper jobs? Who paid their salaries? Or were they struggling artists that lived paycheck to paycheck?

"Where do you live? Do you have your own home and car? What do you do for a living?" Mother Shu asked.

At that moment, Natalie cleared her throat and cut in, "Mom, can you stop interrogating him like he's a criminal? You need to have trust in your daughter. Sean is a good man, that's all you need to know."

Mother Shu glared at the man and tugged on her husband's sleeve, "Old man, say something."

Father Shu ran his eyes across the man and smiled. "Do you like watermelon? Pumpkin and I were chopping watermelon all afternoon. Come and have some," he said welcomingly as he walked towards the dining room.

Mother Shu opened her mouth in shock as she watched Sean follow behind her husband. Why was he being so friendly? This man stole their daughter, the least he could do was test him a little...