Nana widened her eyes, but since she was wearing her mask, and it was quite dim, Huo Xiao Fan didn’t notice.
Xiao Fan?
At first, Nana thought that she misheard her name as Xiao Dan, the name of the woman who had left her at the orphanage.
‘No. I must be overthinking these days. Their names sound very similar.’
Nana said, “Oh, so it’s you. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Huo.”
Huo Xiao Fan said, “The pleasure is all mine, dear. I hope that you are not facing any issue with catering. If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask me.”
“No, Mrs. Huo. Everything is going well.”
“Your husband is really luck to have you as his wife.”
Nana didn’t know how to respond. She simply smiled.
“But you should be careful. Many enemies are lurking around when you marry in a giant family. What if someone tries to break you apart?” Her eyes glinted with amusement in them.
Nana felt uneasy as Huo Xiao Fan said this. Somehow, she found her tone to be very similar to that blackmailer.
Nana removed her mask and looked straight at her eyes. She was very calm, and her expression was unafraid. “Before that happens, I will break the very ability even to harbor such a thought. I didn’t marry Jinhai to leave him stranded alone one day, crumbling under pressure from any enemy.”
Huo Xiao Fan was silent for a few seconds. “What if you are helpless?”
“Nobody is ever truly helpless. There is a way out of every problem. There is always light at the end of a dark tunnel. When a problem is born, so is the solution to it. We just don’t have to rest until we find it.”
Nana smiled. “Otherwise, don’t you think that this world will be in chaos?”
Huo Xiao Fan said nothing. She stared at her in silence.
Nana said, “I should check on the arrangements.”
“Oh, yes, dear. It was nice talking to you.”
“Same here.”
Huo Xiao Fan silently saw her retreating.
—
In the corridor, Serena called out. “Dad.”
Huo Shen turned and smiled. He took her in his hug and said, “My daughter Serena. How are you?”
Her eyes watered. “Dad, I miss you so much.” She tightened her arms around him.
He laughed. “Why will you miss this old man when you have a nice boyfriend?”
She widened her eyes. “That…”
“Hmph! I saw you dancing with a man, and even if I couldn’t see your expression, your body language said everything. You didn’t even bother to introduce him to me. I’m angry with you.” He whined.
An empty look quickly flashed past her eyes. “Don’t be mad, please! I was going to tell you about him.”
“So?”
“But, not now. I will introduce him someday.”
“Is he good to you?”
She sadly smiled. “He is the best for me.”
‘So much that I don’t even deserve him.’
He looked shocked and hurt. “Even more than me?”
Serena chuckled. “No, dad. You are always the first. My most favorite!”
He was satisfied. He sighed. “My daughter is all grown up now. I don’t want to hand you over so soon.”
“Me too.” She was hesitating. “How are things between you and mom?”
Huo Shen paused for just a fraction of second as he said, “We are as good as always dear. In fact we-“
“Zhilan!” An enraged voice came from ahead.
Huo Liwei looked furious. “Stay away from Dad! I told you that I won’t stand you bothering him.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from him.
Huo Shen sternly said, “Liwei, enough. Is this any way to talk to your sister?”
“Please, dad.” He clenched his fingers into a fist in hatred. “I have already cut my ties with her and…that woman.”
“Liwei! Xiao Fan is your mother. Talk with respect!”
Serena quickly said, “It’s okay, Dad. I will leave.”
Huo Liwei sneered. “You purposely participated in this competition so that you can ruin this banquet with your presence. You know I even hate looking at you!”
She felt as if her heart twisted in pain.
“Coming till this banquet was fine, but I won’t tolerate you trying to talk to Dad. If I ever see you again near him, I will throw you out!”
Huo Shen patted his shoulder. “Son, it’s alright. Forget about it.”
Huo Liwei gritted his teeth. “No, dad. You can, but I cannot.”
Huo Shen was getting a headache. It was always like this whenever he met Serena.
Serena couldn’t stand it anymore and quickly walked away.
“Serena, wait-“
“Let her go, Dad.” Huo Liwei stopped his father. “Why do you still talk to her?”
“Why will I not? She is my daughter.”
Huo Liwei seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. “Forget it. Just stay away from her. I told you many times that I don’t like it.”
“Liwei, you are-“
But, before he could speak any further, Huo Liwei left.
—
After looking over the food and all arrangements, Nana was making her way back to the banquet hall. Her foot got tangled in the gown she had worn, and she rested her hand on the door near to her to free her foot.
As she freed her foot, the door opened, and she was about to stumble inside, but she balanced herself. She was startled for a few seconds.
”I didn’t realize that this door was open.’
As she was about to close the door, she noticed a shiny object lying on the table. Curiosity got the best of her, and she stepped inside. She got closer to the table and saw the thing shining on it.
It was a beautiful, silver knot cuff link.
But the sight of it froze her on the spot. She kept staring at it, dumbfounded. She looked at it up and down from every angle until she finally admitted that she had seen this cuff link before. No doubt, it was the same cuff link. There were two small inscriptions – XF and T.
“How is this possible? How can it be here?” She mumbled in disbelief.
A particular memory came in her mind as she recalled that day. The light weighted cuff link suddenly became heavy in her palm.
She couldn’t understand it’s presence here, in the Huo villa. She was in a daze thinking about the possible scenarios in her mind.
‘I-I have to find out about this…”
Suddenly, her phone buzzed, and she snapped out of her stupor. It was Jinhai.
She kept the cuff link back at the place where she found it and quickly went out. But even then, her heart was drumming like crazy.
Thousands of questions plagued her mind.
She was slowly walking down the hallway, lost in thoughts when the blackmailer called her. Nana widened her eyes.
The altered voice snickered. “Enjoying the banquet Nana?”
Nana narrowed her eyes. “Why did you call me?”
“Come on, Nana. We had such a nice chat. Did you forget already?”
She was stunned.
“I can clearly see the disbelief etched on your face. It is amusing.”
Nana looked here and there but couldn’t find anybody.
‘But Jinhai introduced me to many guests. So, the blackmailer is among us at this party? I already talked to him, but I couldn’t recognize him?’
“Heh! This was fun. I was so close to you, but you still couldn’t do anything.”
‘Laugh, all you want.’ Nana thought, ‘Because I’m making my way towards you. And when I expose you, that time, we will see who has the last laugh.’
“Now, look. My next strike is coming towards you.”
Nana looked ahead and saw Jianyu coming. She knew that it must be another plan to create misunderstandings between her and Jinhai.
‘But this time, I won’t just stand by and do nothing.’
Nana cut the call off. But to her surprise, Jinhai called her from behind. She was going to call him anyway.
Nana grabbed this chance. She raised her hand and touched her forehead, knitting her eyebrows as if she was in pain.
“Ah…” She mumbled. She knew Jinhai could see her, so she stumbled in her steps.
Jinhai saw her state and dashed over to her side and caught her. “Nana! Are you alright?” He held her in his arms, and worriedly looked at her.
Jianyu saw Jinhai and Nana together and abruptly stopped in his steps. He turned and stepped at a corner so that Jinhai won’t spot him.
‘Phew! I was so close! Thank God I saw him in time.’
He was worried about Nana, but since Jinhai was there, he was relieved.
Nana looked at him in a daze. “I…I’m feeling dizzy. My head is aching badly. Jinhai…can we go back home?”
Thankfully, her responsibilities as the caterer were almost done.
Jinhai nodded. “Let’s leave.”
When they were to close the main door, Serena called out. “Nana!” She rushed over. “Y-you are leaving?”
She could have told Serena the truth, but Jinhai was there too. “Yeah…I’m feeling dizzy.”
“Why don’t you rest here?”
“No need.” Jinhai coldly interrupted.
