I was about to hit the man, but I stopped when I saw who he was. “Eze!“ I called in confusion.Eze immediately pulled me into his arms. “How have you been, my dear? I miss you so much,” he said, giving me a peck on the forehead.I was used to his behaviour. I gently pushed him away with a sigh. “You scared me to death. Next time, tell me when you come,” I said.The look on his face turned a little questionable. “Where were the two of you?“ He asked.I froze in place for a second. What was I supposed to tell him?“Um, we visited a friend. How long have you been here?“ I asked. I didn't want him to start asking about the kind of friend we had visited.“Bella, you know what you are doing, right?“ He asked and moved closer to me. I was scared that he could see through me.“Daddy Eze! Do you forget about me every time you see my mommy?“ Little Lion looked up at him with a pout.And Eze's attention was diverted to the child. “Oh, my goodness! I will never forget about this little darling,”
Eze sighed and looked back at me. “And you just agreed to sleep in his house? Bella, tell me honestly, do you still love him?“ He asked.I was so shocked that I almost chocked on my saliva. I coughed awkwardly. “Love him? What are you talking about?“ I asked back. Did he know something?Eze sighed again. “Don't play dumb with me, Bella! I know who he is. He is Little Lion's dad, the man you had been married to five years ago..."“Stop!“ I shouted in fear. “Why do you care so much about my life? Didn't I tell you not to investigate me again?“ I asked angrily.I didn't like how he dug up information about me. Little Lion and Xin's relationship had been my secret for so long. Even my uncle and cousin did not know about it!Eze seemed startled at my words. “What? Are you getting mad at me because of him, Bella? Did you forget that he is the man who hurt you? What did he do to your company and your parents?““Eze!“ I called out sharply. “What is wrong with you? I asked you to stay out of m
Xin was in a foul mood when he left Isabel's place. He did not like the thought that another man could enter her house as he wanted.He had just walked to his house when he received a call. Looking at the caller ID, he was slightly shocked to see that it was from Isabel.He hesitated for a while before picking up. “Is everything okay?“ He asked in a not-so-good tone.The person on the other side sighed. “Xin, just be careful. You might be in danger,” she said.Xin was confused for a second before he burst out laughing. “Do you care about me? Are you scared that that man will hurt me? Rest assured, I am fine,” he said.There was only a humph on the side, and the call was disconnected. Xin looked at his phone and sighed in disappointment.“Why call me when you don't even mean anything?“ He asked and put away his phone. But the presence of that man still troubled him.…On Monday, I took the morning off work so that I could take Little Lion to school. I was so excited about his scholarsh
I sighed and looked between the two of them. Xin had his hands in his pockets, and he was looking back at Eze so calmly.“Um, Little Lion needed someone to act as his dad,” I explained. I did not want Eze to have any misunderstandings.“What?“ Eze said. “Why did you go looking for a stranger when I was just around?“ He asked.I pursed my lips. Why was he making a big deal out of it? Xin had only offered to help. And also, he was the person the Little Lion had chosen. What was I supposed to do?“Hey, I am not a stranger to her. Little Lion wants me to be his…” Xin said it coldly. But I quickly shook my head to stop him from speaking.He rolled his eyes and held my hand. “We have to go back to work. Wasn't your leave supposed to be in the morning only?“I swallowed hard and nodded my head. “Eze, let us talk about this later on, okay?“ I said.We still had a lot to talk about. We had just met after he left angrily on Saturday. And I felt a little guilty that he did not know anything abou
I looked at Eze with a sigh. “Why are you behaving like a small child?“ I asked. He was behaving like a three-year-old child.I could see the color on his face change as he stared back at me. I felt a little scared. That was the first time we had that kind of fight.Luckily, my phone rang. But I froze again when I realized that it was a call from Xin. If I was not scared about what he wanted, I was scared that Eze was going to be mad again.I lifted up my eyes to look at him, and I swallowed hard when I met his gaze. For some reason, I felt like I was his girlfriend, and I was cheating on him.But I quickly shook away the idea. No matter what happened, I didn't think there could ever be that kind of relationship between Eze and me.“Xin, right?“ He asked calmly. And his calmness was what scared me the most. I preferred it if he was mad at such a time.I slowly nodded my head. “I will see what he wants,” I said, and I tried to pick up the call.But he shook his head and tried to snatch
When Xin returned to the office, he was in a pretty bad mood. The thought that Isabel was with that man was eating him up.And even after a few hours, the girl had not yet gone to work. He could not hold it in anymore.He summoned the HR manager to ask if Isabel had extended her off-hours. And when the answer was no, he felt more frustrated.He decided to call her. And he felt scared when he heard some struggles from the other side, as though she was fighting.But he felt his heart being sliced when he heard Eze's annoying voice. The two of them were together. And maybe they were doing some naughty things.The thought alone was enough to ruin his entire day. He was scared that maybe they had been doing all that stuff for the five years that they were together.What else could explain the movement on her end? Wait, was she also that kind of girl? Little Lion had said clearly that Eze was not his biological dad.He was surprised that even after threatening Isabel with her job, she did n
Old Xin felt more confused as he looked at the child. But he still nodded and walked into the house.“Grandpa Xin, would you like some tea?“ Little Lion asked after some consideration. Big Yan had told him that older people needed care and attention.The old man pursed his lips. “You are too young to make tea,” he said. He still did not understand what the child was doing in Xin's house.“I know how to, Grandpa Xin,” Little Lion said, rushing to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he came back with a cup of tea.And Old Xin had to rush forward to take the cup from him in fear that he would get burned. The child wore a bright smile. “Don't worry too much, Grandpa. I can't get burned,” he said.Old Xin became curious. “Little boy, what is your name? You are such a darling,” he asked as he dipped his tea. He could not remember if he had ever seen a child his age who could be so caring.“Little Lion!“ Little Lion said it happily. It seemed like the old man was happy.“Wow! You are a very co
…I opened my eyes, and I was so shocked to realize that I was in darkness. I sat up with a start when I remembered that I was still at Eze's house. It was late in the evening.I hurriedly switched on the lights and looked at the clock on the wall. It was ten minutes past eight. My body went numb.I rushed upstairs and knocked on Eze's door, but I realized that he wasn't around. I checked the study room and the kitchen, and he was still not there.My heart began pounding so fast. I hadn't gone back to work, and Little Lion was still at school. Wasn't he crying his heart out? It was his first day at school, and I had abandoned him like that.The main door was still locked, and my phone was off. I could not communicate with anyone. I felt like crying.I rushed from drawer to drawer, hoping that I would get a charger to power my phone. But even after a few minutes, I found nothing.“To hell!“ I cursed. What was I going to do? Eze was really another monster!Suddenly, the door was opened,
Xin seemed to have come back to his senses when I called him. He dropped the gun he was holding and held tightly onto me.“Bella, are you still there?“ He asked, his body trembling.I could feel that I was actually losing consciousness. So I could only groan at him. There were so many things that I wanted to tell him, but I could not.“Hang in there!“ He shouted and rushed to his car. “I am going to make sure that you are fine.““Xin…” I called. To be honest, I never felt like I could make it. “Take care… of Little Lion,” I said.“Bella!“ Xin called out fearfully, and that was the last thing I heard from him.…I tried to move my hand to get rid of the thing that was obstructing my breathing. However, I felt numb, like my body didn't belong to me.“Mommy?“ I heard a small voice beside me, and I quickly opened my eyes.I was confused for a second as I stared at the child before me. “Little Lion?“ I called. Wasn't I dead?“Mommy? You woke up?“ Little Lion asked and sprang to his feet. “
I felt my blood boil in anger, but I was too scared at the same time. I pulled Little Lion into my arms and hugged him tightly.He had been shot in the arm, and he was bleeding. I was scared that I would lose him if I wanted any longer.“I'm fine, mommy. We have to get out of here,” Little Lion said weakly. He was biting on his teeth, obviously trying to suppress the pain. And that hurt me even more.“Hold on a little longer, baby,” I said, standing up. I took the gun that he had been holding and pointed straight at the man in front of me.The others tried to shoot, but they were too slow for me. I shot at them, knowing that it was either me and my son or them.In a split second, most of them were lying on the ground. I didn't want to check whether they were breathing or not.The others, including my mom, looked a bit scared. They no longer dared to shoot.I took another gun from the man lying closest to me and pointed at them. "I am going to walk out of this place with my son," I sai
Knowing that he was talking to Old Xin, I felt so annoyed. “Old Xin, I want to talk to you. Why are you a coward? Come out and face me!“ I shouted.Why was he hiding in the shadows while trying to take advantage of us? If he wanted to kill us, then he should have done it himself.However, two men walked forward and captured me. “Watch your tongue, young lady,” they said.I struggled against them when they tried to pull me towards the gate. “You have to live and never come back. If you show up ever again, he is going to kill you,” one of the men said.I struggled intensely. “I am not going anywhere. I want to see my son. What have you people done to him?““Stop!“ Someone shouted when the gate was opened. And seeing that it was my mom, I felt even more terrible.The men paused, but they didn't say anything to her. They just stared at her calmly, as though nothing she said mattered.“I will get her out of here. She is going to leave and will never show up again, right, darling?“ She aske
“Killed? He won't kill his own grandson,” I said. Was something wrong with Kaycie?But she took the phone and threw it far away. I was sure it was broken into tiny pieces. “He is willing to kill Little Lion. Do you think he cares about a grandson who doesn't listen to him?“ She asked.Though shocked by the fact that she seemed to understand Old Xin so well, I thought Little Lion was more important at the time.His new phone indicated that he was within fifty meters of range. I had to find him before anything happened to him.I pushed Kaycie away and ran back into the house, checking every room and box that I could find on the way.And when I could not find him, I ran for the nearby houses. I didn't care about what others thought of me. I would know what to do after I found him.“Stop it, Bella. You are going to get yourself killed,” Kaycie said, running after me. But it was just too late for that.…“Hello? Hey, Bella. Are you there?“ Xin asked in fear when Bella stopped talking all o
I looked at her in confusion. “Mom? Is that why you called me here? Is that why you didn't want Xin to know I was coming?“ I asked.Kaycie held my hand. “Darling, it is for your own good. Once everything is settled, you can come back,” she explained.But I couldn't listen to her. I wasn't going to lose everything that I had once again. “I'm sorry, mom. I am going back.“She quickly held my hand and stopped me from going. “You are an idiot, Bella. That man is going to kill you. He gave you the lady chance to live. Don't go back,” she insisted.And I stopped to look at her in shock when something rang in my head. “You are working with him, aren't you?“ I asked.Her lips moved, but she didn't say no. I couldn't help but sigh angrily. “You have been working with her all this time. You sold him the company. Mom, what changed?“ I asked, tears welling in my eyes.She shook her head, her Dave turning pale. “Darling, everything I did was for our own good. We both wouldn't be here if I didn't d
…Once Little Lion was dropped off at the old mansion and Xin left, Old Xin made a call.“I have him here. How are things on your end?“ He asked.“Settled. She is on her way,” said the person on the other side. “It will be done soon.“Old Xin sighed in relief. “You will receive the amount on your account the moment you have it done,” he said and hung up.But when he turned around, he saw Little Lion standing behind him. He coughed awkwardly. “What do you want to eat for dinner, dear?“ He asked.Little Lion looked at him calmly for a while before raising his brows. “Do you want to hurt my mommy again?“ He asked.The old man pursed his lips. But he couldn't let himself be exposed at such a time. “What are you talking about?“ He asked, faking ignorance.Little Lion shrugged. “I don't know who you were talking on the phone with, but if you hurt my mommy, I will never forgive you,” he said and walked away.Old Xin quickly walked after him. “Kid, what makes you think that I want to hurt you
…On Friday morning, I was feeling so tense. I had told Xin that it would be a night out for me and Abby so that he didn't suspect that I was going somewhere.“You don't look well,” Xin suddenly said as he parked the car. And I looked at him in shock.“Mmh? What do you mean?“ I asked. Could he have suspected something?He looked at me for a while before shaking his head. “You seem deep in thought. Remember that you can share anything with me, okay?“I nodded with guilt. “Of course,” I said. “I can tell you anything.“Xin sighed. “Grandpa wants Little Lion to spend the weekend at the old mansion,” he explained.I was quiet for a while before I sighed back. “Xin, I think we should let him go,” I said. And of course, I got that look of shock that I expected from him.“What?“ He asked. “You know how things are, darling. Do you really think we should? Little Lion might not even be willing to do it.“I held his hand. “Relax, honey. Little Lion is his great-grandson. He will never do anythin
…For days, I kept wondering whether it was true that my mom was still alive. That thing had eaten up my brain.“Are you okay?“ Xin asked, waving a document in front of me.I came back to my senses and looked at him. “Do you think mom had something to do with dad's death?“ I asked.Xin seemed shocked for a second. Then he pulled me into his arms. “Darling, try not to think about it now, okay? Once you meet her, she'll explain everything,” he said.I nodded my head in understanding. More than a month had passed since I learned that she was alive. Yet, until now, I hadn't gotten any information about her.“What if she never wants to talk? What if she never agrees to see me?“ I asked. That could only explain some things to me.It had been fifteen years, and she never showed up. What made us think that she would finally do it?I could feel Xin tense up a little, and I realized that he could know something I didn't. A smile appeared on my lips. “You met her already, right? She refused to s
…Immediately after Xin left, Kaycie hurriedly made a call. “Did you tell your grandson where I was?“ she asked.The person on the other side was silent for a while. Then he cleared his throat. “Did he come to find you? What does he want?“Kaycie took a deep breath. “He wants to know what happened. He wants me to explain everything to my daughter. You know that I can't see her. You have to do something about it.“The person on the other side was silent for a while again. Then he exhaled deeply. “Kaycie, what if it is actually a good thing to meet her again?“Kaycie hurriedly shook her head. “No! That wasn't part of our deal, old Xin. I left everything behind, including her. I don't have the courage to see her. I won't know what to say to her,” she said while trembling.“Kaycie. Both you and I know that some rules have to be broken. You know my grandson, right? Nothing can stop him from doing anything he wants. Sooner or later, he is going to bring her right to you. You can never avoid