Later that day.
<Should I pick you up for our lunch date?>
Zhenyi's phone rang when she was in a meeting. She held up her hand to stop the CFO from speaking as she replied to Long Jie's message.
< Dont. It will be a waste of our time. I'll send you the address of the restaurant my assistant has made the reservation for. Be there in an hour.>
<As my Queen says. Xx.>
A smile bloomed on Zhenyi's face when she saw Long Jie's message. Looking up, she gestured to the CFO to start again.
"Meeting won't finish for another hour Ma'am," Lu Xinyi said in a low voice.
"Of course, I know," Zhenyi answered her. "Inform the marketing department, we will be reviewing their new projects in an hour."
"Your lunch with Mr. Long?" Lu Xinyi said with a hesitant smile. Didn't she ask her to book a private room for a lunch date in the morning?
Zhenyi merely gave her a mysterious smile. And Lu Xinyi knew better than to speak further.
____
Long Jie checked the time on his wristwatch before entering the doors of the restaurant. He was five minutes late for their lunch date. So, he was sweating profusely. Why the hell was he behaving like a teenager on his first date?
In simple words, it was a novel feeling to him.
A waiter showed him the way to the private room his wife had reserved for them.
With a huge grin, he opened the door only to freeze in shock.
_____
Ryuu was asked by Zhenyi to join her for lunch a few hours ago. Thinking that it must be something important that his sister asked him for lunch, he gave her an affirmative answer.
Now he just reached the private room she had booked for them.
He wondered what she wanted to talk about that she had to ask him for a lunch meeting when she could have just come home.
"Brother?!" Ryuu heard a very familiar voice. He looked up to see a frozen Long Jie standing at the door. He blinked his eyes to realize if Long was really at the door.
"She literally played me this time," Ryuu muttered when a shocked Long Jie poked his face with his finger.
As Ryuu stood up, Long Jie pulled him into a brotherly embrace. "I can't even express in words how happy I am to see you alright."
Long Jie's words brought a tightness in Ryuu's chest. Stifling the emotions, Ryuu asked, "Aren't you going to blame me for the deception?"
Long Jie blinked his eyes and then sighed while occupying a chair. Well, he was too surprised to keep standing.
"Why would I?" asked Long Jie instead." Blaming you for lying to us is akin to not trust you."
"You are too good for this world, Ah-Jie," Ryuu said with a long sigh as he sat back on his seat.
"So?"
"So?" Ryuu raised his brow.
"It's time to come clean, Brother," said Long Jie as he settled his eyes on Ryuu's face and poured himself a drink. Because the Lord knew how much he needed one right now. "To be honest, my heart was not ready to admit that Lord Tang truly died."
"Lord Tang is really dead, Ah-Jie," Ryuu said with a small smile. "He died the day the Queen of Serpents poisoned him. As for what happened that day, let it be a secret meant only for me and her."
"Then, who are you, Brother? Or did my brother also die with Lord Tang that day?" questioned Long Jie as soon as he heard Ryuu's reply. He couldn't stop fear creeping up to his heart. Imagine losing
the only person who stood by you in every situation.
"Lord Tang died that day, your brother did not," Ryuu said with a sigh."I have many aliases, Ah-Jie and you have known this since the beginning. You just don't know that Lord Tang was one of them."
Long Jie rubbed his temple."Alcina said Lord Tang emerged to die. Does this also mean that you create the alias of Lord Tang for her?"
Ryuu chuckled and his eyes shined with amusement as he heard Long Jie's question. "You are giving her way too much importance."
"Am I?" Long Jie raised his brows.
Ryuu just sighed.
"So, where do we stand now?" questioned Long Jie as he passed a drink to Ryuu.
"On one side. Together with each other like always, "Ryuu answered as a matter of fact.
On one side. Together with each other like always," Long Jie repeated his words.
"You don't believe me?" asked Ryuu immediately. "Or you don't believe my words?"
"How can I not?" Long Jie retorted."You see, I am just confused. Not just confused but afraid too. If I ask you to clear all the misunderstandings now, you will end up entangling me in the web of words and memories. So, I'm just helping myself right now. I can understand everything but not your link with Alcina. So, it's better if we let this matter slide for now."
Ryuu contemplated a little before nodding, "Are you sure you don't want an explanation?"
"I'm very sure," said Long Jie with a relieved smile."So, now the real question--who are you? Or to put it in more simple words, what is your real identity?"
Ryuu had expected this question. Of course, he knew one day he had to say the truth to Long Jie. But it was still so soon. But, his sister had played him at his own game. She had clearly told him to whom her loyalty lied. And it was clearly her husband.
Ryuu opened his mouth to say something but at the same time, the loud click of the high heels was heard and both of the men looked around to see a smug Zhenyi approaching them.
She blatantly ignored Ryuu and kissed her husband. Obviously, he kissed back. Once they heard a throat-clearing voice, they separated.
____
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