Chapter 227 - Mars Wu

"Mars Wu?" Marissa looked Halia up and down.

But, Halia continued to look down, hoping that Marissa didn't recognize her. After all, they had only met a couple of times and Halia looked very different from when they last saw each other. In fact, she was a completely different gender.

Last time they met, they were inside a boxing ring and Halia had given this woman a black eye. Would she remember her?

There was an awkward silence in the room as everyone waited for Marissa to continue speaking. Judging by her expression, she clearly had something to say about this young legal assistant.

Finally, she stuck out her hand towards Halia and smiled. "Mars Wu, interesting name...It's nice to meet you," she said with a slight sparkle in her eye.

Halia cringed a little on the inside and quickly shook the woman's hand. 'Mars Wu', that was the name that Sean had made up for her; a cheesy name that was one letter away from 'Mrs. Wu'. Sean had deliberately chosen it to tease her.

"Stupid Sean, I'm going to strangle you when you get back," she hissed quietly to herself. 

His teasing had put her in quite an awkward situation. If Marissa was smart enough, she would pick up on it and Halia's identity would be exposed.

But, of course, Sean never expected that Marissa would coincidentally show up and be one of the law firm's clients.

...

Over in Guiyang City at that moment, Sean suddenly sneezed, "Achoo!"

Father Shu jumped in surprise and looked at the man.

"Are you getting sick?" he asked his future son-in-law worriedly. "It must be from all the traveling and change in weather."

Sean shook his head politely. "No, I'm fine. But, I feel like someone's talking about me behind my back," the man replied with a shiver as he started walking into the change room.

He was in the middle of trying on suits with Father Shu.

"Your Auntie made me wear a pink suit when we got married in the 80's. Back then, it was quite popular to wear colorful suits," Father Shu reminisced from outside the change room as he waited for Sean. "I wonder if they have anything like that in this store."

He then turned to look at the shop assistant, but the shop assistant quickly shook her head. "Anything apart from black, grey, white and, sometimes, blue, isn't very popular. But, the groom can choose whatever color he wants for his collared shirt inside, or his bow tie, or even his pocket square. Otherwise, color can be incorporated through flowers," she replied politely, trying not to offend the older gentleman.

Father Shu laughed. He was just joking, but clearly, his serious expression did not appear that way.

Father Shu always had a stern and serious look on his face, like the typical head of a family. He appeared sensible, smart, and reliable, but in reality, he was quite the jokester. It was just hard to tell when he was joking. Plus, his jokes were dry. If he was a woman, people would say he had a 'resting b*tch face'. 

Sean looked at himself in the mirror and laughed. He couldn't imagine himself in a pink suit. He would probably become a laughing stock on social media if he wore something like that. But, unlike everyone else, he could tell that Father Shu was joking. So, he replied, "I'll wear a pink suit if you wear one too. We can match. I'm sure the ladies will be happy with that."

Father Shu laughed and yelled, "Hell no! I did it once. I ain't doin' it EVER again!"

Sean smiled. During his years in law enforcement, he had met all kinds of people, many of whom were sly, conniving criminals. As a result, he had subconsciously developed a knack for differentiating between true and false. Perhaps, that was how he could tell that Father Shu was joking when no one else could. Or perhaps, a man's humor had always been different from a woman's.

At that moment, Sean stepped out in a white suit. 

Usually, mothers and daughters went wedding gown shopping and it always turned into a soppy, emotional event. But for some reason, Father Shu felt a little emotional as he looked at Sean. His daughter had suffered a lot over the years. Even though he didn't know Sean that well, he felt relieved to see that his daughter had found a second chance at love. Especially with a great man like Sean.

He often argued with Mother Shu because they had clashing personalities, but he couldn't imagine ever losing her, let alone having to raise a child on his own. 

"I will leave my daughter in your hands from now on. Take good care of her and never break her heart," he instructed as he walked over to help the man straighten his bow tie.

Sean nodded his head. Father Shu didn't know, but Sean had also experienced the loss of a partner, so he was determined to love and cherish Natalie, "I will love her with all my heart and never let anything bad happen to her."

...

Over in London, things weren't going so well for another couple. 

After much convincing from Trisha, Oliver finally agreed to contact his mother again and he tried to reason with her calmly. He brought a copy of his award-winning article that he wrote with Trisha's help and showed it to his mother.

"Do you remember this article I wrote about Chinatown? I mentioned a brave woman in the article that I never named. That woman was Trisha," he said. "I hope you can learn to accept what she does. Even though her true identity has never been revealed, she received a lot of praise all over London for her bravery. If not for her, I wouldn't have had such a great story to write about and I wouldn't have received an award." 

Margaret Williams looked at the article and cringed, "She sounds like a manipulative woman. How did she get the gangsters to trust her? Did she sleep with them? This is why I never go into Chinatown. Her kind have no dignity and can be so uncivilized and corrupt."

Trisha looked at the woman in surprise. How could she generalize like that when she had never even ventured beyond her own hometown?

It was true that she had flirted a bit with the gangsters to gain their trust, but she would never betray her own body by sleeping with them.

Oliver noticed Trisha's discomfort. This was the last straw. His mother had gone too far.

"Forget it, Mom, I tried to reason with you calmly, but you are clearly not that open-minded. Since we can't come to an agreement, let's just stay out of each other's way. You can live your own life, and I will live my own life with Trisha," Oliver yelled angrily. He then grabbed Trisha's hand and left.

Trisha was upset by what Margaret said, but this was not the result she wanted to see.

So, that night, she rolled around in bed and could not sleep. She glanced at Oliver who was fast asleep beside her and gently ran her fingers across his cheek. She loved the man, but she didn't want to see him at odds with his mother. She had been contemplating her options for the past couple of days and today was the deciding factor.

Oliver sensed the woman's touch and slowly opened his eyes. "Why aren't you sleeping?" he whispered gently as he reached up and held her hand.

Trisha looked at him with slight pain in her eyes, but she did not reply. She had done a lot of thinking and there was only one solution she could think of. 

"Are you thinking about my mother? You don't have to worry about her, she's..."

Before the man finished speaking, Trisha leaned forward and covered his lips with hers. If he said anything else, she would probably give up and change her mind. She couldn't let that happen.

Oliver was surprised by the woman's kiss, but he enjoyed it.

He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. 

Trisha felt her heart ache. She ran her fingers through his curly hair and across his firm chest. She didn't want to ever let go of this man.

Oliver's breathing grew heavy from her touch. Her soft fingers sent sparks through his body and he felt his desires stir. So far, they had only kissed. Was it time to take things to the next level?