Chapter 87: The Things He Cannot Control

Warning: The CEO's brother might test your temper once again. If you want to skip, I guess you can.

Once he returned home, Li Yang would take note that there were lights inside of the place and revealed the presence of his brother. He glanced back at the somewhat sullen Bodyguard and asked, "Are you able to sneak past when I enter the door or are you capable of turning invisible?"

"Yes, to the first one… not so much on the second one?" Taiga tilted her head. "Can one use qi to even turn invisible? I'm not so sure."

It was the moment that the Panda reappeared out of thin air and jabbed a paw at it, "Obviously, dum dum. She's a good-for-nothing meat shield, but also a decent fuck, maybe." 

Li Yang hadn't exactly asked for such information—and neither did he understand how the creature assessed it. He simply glanced at the tigress spirit and waited for her to give a solution.

"Taiga can traverse via the Veil too to bypass all of this though," Taiga said. "Like what most cultivators and people do to keep things secret. Very sneaky, eh?"

He understood through experience that whatever happened in the realm that mirrored earth didn't exactly follow through back to earth, and so he nodded along. "Alright, I'll leave it up to you." Li Yang stepped out of the car, and gave her one final look. "In addition, your first task tonight is to keep surveillance. You don't have to step inside of my room or anything but keep watch of the house." He somewhat hated the fact that he felt compelled to say it.

Taiga only gave him a cheeky grin, "Yes, Bossman. That isn't included in the list of tasks assigned to Taiga after all."

"Of course."

Perhaps it might have been appropriate to have given her to Ying Yue He as a bodyguard to watch over his secretary, but Shen An Na assured him that his secretary was in a well-protected zone in the city. Hua Zhao agreed along with Mou Gu, both speaking about how that particular apartment was in a good zone.

The CEO hadn't actually checked why. All he saw back then was a slightly old apartment.

He sighed and glanced at his watch. It was a little past 9:30pm, and he had gotten home earlier by about an hour—he then stepped inside his home and soon heard a thud come from the living room. His face twitched. And there might have been reason to get nervous about such a thing if he was still living alone… but he wasn't alone. He even had a bodyguard.

The CEO stepped into the living room and didn't exactly come upon a debauchery.

His brother was resting against the floor whereas his 'friend'—the woman from the coffee shop was lounging on the sofa. There was a blanket thrown around her body, albeit her toes were poking out. She was wearing soft white stockings and wriggled her toes. She gave him a smile and a wave, "Ah, Liang's brother… Yang. Sounds so similar, I take it that you found Luo Ju Di, yes?"

He stared at her and then remembered her name, "Yes, thank you… Madam Sauveterre." She and his brother were obviously an item. His brother had never exactly brought a person back before. He didn't have a clue that Liang was into mature and older women.

"Gabrielle is fine, even Gabi actually." Her red lips curled into a smile, and her eyes sparked. "And if I may be too forward, Mistress also sounds nice."

Liang pulled up from the floor and rested his head on the back of the sofa, "Aren't I supposed to be the only one that should be calling you that?"

There was only a hint of a whine in his brother's voice… which contrasted greatly with his playboy image in the CEO's mind. He cleared his throat and said, "... I would leave the two of you be, Madam Gabrielle, but I have to talk with my brother." He wasn't exactly sure how she would react if she heard that his brother might possibly be a father. He would have to talk to Liang outside—

"Ah, the DNA testing, yes." Gabrielle eyed the man resting his head against her blanketed legs and shook her head. "What an interesting situation is it not? Which of the two of you could be a father?"

His brother choked a bit on thin air. Albeit he didn't even seem surprised either, just embarrassed? 

The CEO only stared at the woman and his brother with an uncertain look, "... The two of you are aware then."

"Luo Ju Di told me right after you left," Liang admitted. He scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about all the mess that you got dragged into—can't imagine either of us being a father. Imagine that, huh? Didn't think that party would have gotten us to this."

There was some sincerity to his voice, but it was hard to take it seriously when he had another woman with him.

"Well, that is the fruit of the folly days of youth, but who knows… you might be a good father, Liang?" Gabrielle glanced at him and then tugged his hair. "At least if you stopped flirting with every woman you meet when you're free."

"I also meet with prospective clients—! Do tug it a bit harder though, it feels nice." Liang said and closed his eyes. He hummed, "If I'm a… father, does that make you a stepmother though?"

"Hah, I think that girl might take me for an evil one… but at worst, I'll just be the fairy godmother again, won't I?" Her fingers twirled slightly in his hair.

The CEO stared at the two and felt a hint of annoyance sweep through him, "Then I'll take it that you'll give a sample then, Liang?" He had been worried about his brother being reluctant or even antagonistic of this situation, and here he was, the exact opposite. 

Completely open to the idea.

"Yes, I'm actually willing to take the fall for this even if I'm not the father—it's easy enough to have me declared as a father since you're the one who knows the lab, right?" Liang opened an eye and looked at him. "Something like this would tarnish your reputation, Yang."

The idea of Chunhua being this man's daughter struck him as a little more disappointing than anything. His brother spoke of the incident between him and Luo Ju Di so easily as well. It vexed him. "Do you even know what you're saying right now?"

His brother straightened up and gave him a look, "What are you upset over for? Either way, we're probably both related to the girl, so what difference would it make if you or I were the father or uncle?"

A part of him wanted to agree with that assessment—that regardless of whoever it was that was the true father, he himself wouldn't mind and simply fulfill the responsibilities. Even if he was the uncle—the CEO was positive he could do a better job than the man right in front of him now.

And yet, if he could avoid the responsibilities… wouldn't it be better to do so?

The memory of Chunhua with Liang and Gabrielle replayed in his mind, and it was a picture of what probably looked like a happy family. This battled with his own perception of his brother's lack of care. Perhaps it was just his own dislike of his brother's method of things. 

He sighed.

But before Li Yang could muster a reply—his brother received a smack on the head. Gabrielle gave a look at his brother and grunted, "Obviously it's going to matter who's the father. There's still some difference in treatment between a child and a nephew or niece."

"There is even variation of treatment even between one's own children if I were to be honest." The CEO found himself saying. 

It earned a look from his brother and a shrug from the woman they were with. "An only child here so can't tell."

His brother scratched the back of his head. "Alright, alright—I guess I was mistaken about that. But the Li Family's numerous generations have been quite good with neglecting children, so it isn't really much of a problem."

The room only filled with silence.

"That was a joke—I wasn't serious!" Liang protested and sighed. "But yes, DNA test, I got it, Yang. You can go ahead and rest now, you've been standing there and haven't even changed your clothes at all."

"So I won't disturb the two of you."

"Exactly. I knew you could read my mind!"

The CEO gave off a resigned look, but then recalled something. "The board meeting's tomorrow so I expect you to be there and on your best behavior. Do read the document that I've sent you."

"Ah, I can't catch a break, can I?" Liang ran his fingers through his hair. He mustered a grin. "All instructions are loud and clear, though Mister CEO. Don't worry about a thing, you can count on me. I'll be supporting you tomorrow so you can be at ease."

The CEO wished he could say that he could, but instead he stiffly nodded and then made his way out of the living room to head to his bedroom. Until he remembered another thing that slipped his mind—he couldn't just leave his bodyguard to stay out all by herself, could she? He should at least open a window so she could slip inside.

Perhaps someone of her stature didn't need to be indoors throughout an entire night or possibly had no use for sleep, but he would feel guilty if he didn't provide an option for her to head inside if she wished to do so.

Taiga had even asked about snacks.

Li Yang headed to the kitchen to prepare her something to eat. Or at least find something for her to have like an apple… it was always far easier to focus on something outside of him than dealing with things he couldn't control.

"Would she prefer to eat meat?"

"Your meat, you mean?" the Panda asked. It popped out of nowhere and sat on his head, only peeking upside down like some spider Panda or a bat.

He gave it an unamused look, "No."