Chapter 55 Family And Friends

Everyone falls into stunned silence. Tianwei thinks his father might have just stopped breathing completely.

"So Father, you can't give her a sum of money and chase her away like in all the dramas, or try to get people to intimidate her, or purposely match me with someone else, or - "

"Jingwei hush," Tianwei advises, watching his father's face slowly turn purple with rage.

"What? I'm serious!" Jingwei exclaims.

"Hmph, are you scared that your love can't handle such challenges? If the both of you split because of this, this relationship is not worth cherishing!" Sun Haowei declares, his mind already whirling with plans.

He's going to prove to his son that this new infatuation with his bodyguard was just a passing fancy, by all means necessary.

"Father, I mean it," Jingwei says, staring at his father's strict eyes without flinching.

"If I find out you did something like this to sabotage my relationship progress with Xue Ning, I'll get on my bike and fly off the tallest cliff I find!" Jingwei declares.

"You dare to threaten me? Your own father?!" Sun Haowei roars in return. "See if I don't beat you into a pulp!"

"I'll still marry her even if you disown me!" Jingwei says loudly.

"You -"

"Let's not be hasty," Tianwei cuts in before fists really begin to fly and he ends up with one less brother. "We have more pressing concerns, remember? Father, may the three of us speak in private?"

Sun Haowei catches the hidden meaning.

"Everyone out. Shut the doors," he orders, and the horde of well-trained staff obeyed easily without question. In less than ten seconds, the room was cleared except for the three of them, and the huge oak doors leading to the living room were firmly shut with a final quiet lock.

"What is it?" His father asks, getting right down to business.

"We suspect someone related to the Wu Family may be out to kill Jingwei," Tianwei states calmly.

"That is a loaded statement," Sun Haowei replies evenly, gripping the armrest of the sofa hard enough that his knuckles turned white. "The Wu family is long gone."

"We have no proof of that," Tianwei argues. "And we've found a lead that at least shows that someone knew something about Jingwei's past with Wu Shangjing. Jingwei can tell you more."

Both of them turn to Jingwei.

"He knew. The name." Jingwei starts, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "I mean, he knew my hacker alias from before, Father. No one else knew it but him," Jingwei says. "I think he's still alive."

"He could have simply told more people back then," Tianwei points out. "And you saw the reports on his death."

"But he - " Jingwei wants to protest, but it's his father that interrupts him.

"I would not put it past that boy to leak your information," Sun Haowei mutters bitterly. "Who knew the boy I saw as a second son would have done something so heinous?"

Both sons of his do a double-take at his words. Jingwei is shocked that his father was expressing any form of emotion at Wu Shangjing, who he treated like a vermin after news of his misdeeds were outed.

Tianwei was shocked, because his father mentioned that Wu Shangjing was his second son. Then was he the first son, or was it Jingwei?

Tianwei collects himself and continues.

"So you see Father, I had more reasons to ensure Jingwei remains protected by Miss Li, even if she's not a trained bodyguard. We need to get to the bottom of this case first," Tianwei says.

"And you're making sure Xue Ning stays with me, using those rumours floating around as a cover, so that whoever is after me doesn't think Xue Ning is actually my bodyguard," Jingwei states, working through his brother's train of thought.

"Wait, Ge, did you spread those rumours?" Jingwei asks, half-impressed and half-appalled. Tianwei refuses to dignify his question with a response.

"Even after this incident with that woman Xiumin, it would just seem like two women catfighting over Jingwei to others. No one, outside us, would take her seriously," Tianwei continues, "which means we'll have more chances to trap the culprit when they fail."

"Ge, you're fucking scary," Jingwei claps his hands slowly, still shocked at the way his brother's brain worked. "But I'm definitely making Xue Ning go for actual bodyguarding courses. If they escalate, I need her to be protected!"

"Not for her to protect you?" Sun Haowei cuts in snidely. "What an idiotic son."

"We can protect each other," Jingwei replies smoothly. "Then once everything gets settled, we'll be happily married and I can tell our children what a badass their mother is."

Sun Haowei's face looks like he's praying to the Goddess of Mercy for patience not to smite his son right there and then.

Meanwhile, Tianwei's thoughts were in a whirl. Sun Haowei had called Jingwei an 'idiotic son', but it was still a son nontheless.

He tries to recall if Sun Haowei had ever referred to him as his son in private. Strangely enough, he was coming up blank.

Jingwei was a son, albeit an idiotic son. What did that make Tianwei? The smart servant? No, that cannot be. He hadn't done anything to risk disownment - for nearly 30 years, he was the perfect heir, pride and joy of the Sun family compared to the black sheep that was his younger brother.

Other than his lack of a wife, Tianwei was the best candidate for his successor!

Jingwei may have a firm candidate for his wife, but Father wasn't coping well with that knowledge, which begs the question: why?

It would be different, if Jingwei was the sole inheritor of the estate. He would need a wife that was savvy enough politically and of a powerful family background to aid him in his business, one that could say the right things to the right people instead of bluntly insulting them.

But Jingwei isn't the heir. Tianwei is. Unless… his father has something else in mind?

A tendril of doubt creeps into his mind, and refuses to budge.

It was irrational for his father to be so opposed to such a match - sure, he had hopes for Jingwei to marry Zhou Yu, but Zhou Yu had rejected that proposal so harshly that it was inconceivable for their union to happen.

Then again, why was the Zhou family's heiress matched with Jingwei and not Tianwei? Was it truly because they wanted Jingwei to marry into their family, or was it a sign of his father's favouritism?

He vows to dig further into this matter.

=

"Boss, I have grave news to report," a man says, sinking into a low bow. His voice was gravelly, and he dared not look up, especially when he was the bearer of bad news.

It didn't matter that his boss seemed like a kind, genial person who wouldn't hurt a fly. It was all a facade.

"Rise Zi Long, what did I say about standing on ceremony with me?" A soft, silky voice replies.

"Not to do it," Zi Long responds. "But that would be disrespectful of me, Young Master Wu."

"Young Master… you're the only one that calls me that now," he says, with a tinge of deranged melancholy. "Back then I was the one…"

Zi Long wisely kept silent, after the last man that tried to interject got his tongue cut out. It was easier to let Boss work through his moods and memories on his own, instead of interrupting him half-way.

"Now Zi Long, what is it that you wished to tell me?"

p "Xiumin has been arrested, and her accomplice is in the hospital now," Zi Long says, his head down, and waits for the eventual explosion of temper.

"<strong>THAT USELESS BITCH! BOTH OF THEM!</strong>" His Boss screeches, his voice ringing madly in Zi Long's ears. Zi Long doesn't flinch, because he's better trained than that. He doesn't flinch when his boss sends a computer monitor flying, nor when a paperweight comes flying his way, smacking him dead on the forehead hard enough to bleed.

This wasn't the first time his Boss had a violent outburst. It would not be the last. Countless men and women have fallen prey to it, but not Zi Long, never Zi Long, because he had been watching the Young Master for so long.

"Young Master, what are your orders?" He asks, ignoring the blood steadily dripping down his face.

"The usual," his Boss says, calming down slightly. "You know our rules; we do not tolerate failure."

"It will be done," Zi Long promises, but just before he turns to leave, his Boss calls him back.

"Get that cut looked at," Wu Shangjing says, staring at the blood with a frankly disconcerting look in his eye. He walks closer to Zi Long and uses his finger to smear the blood away.

"Yes, Young Master." Zi Long says, and turns away, pretending he did not see the way his Young Master licked his fingers clean.

It was all Young Master Sun's fault, that their Young Master became like this, this perverse creature wearing human skin.

Zi Long refuses to shudder. He has a job to do.