The corners of Lu Zihao’s mouth made a faint curve upwards after hearing his sister’s whisper. The movement was so miniscule that neither Iris nor Jin Liwei noticed it. Also, he wasn’t facing them and the dim lighting in the room created more shadows in his spot, further obscuring his expression from the other two. Nobody could see the storm in his eyes that he was trying so hard to bury deep within himself.
Once he was able to regain full control of his expression, he set his unreadable gaze on Jin Liwei. “If it wasn’t for our father, Evelinka would’ve been either kicked out of the family to fend for herself against our enemies, or in the worst-case scenario—”
“Your family would’ve ‘sacrificed’ her,” Jin Liwei said through gritted teeth, filling in the blanks himself.
The siblings didn’t reply but their silence was enough confirmation. He told them, “Your family is…was so fucked-up.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Lu Zihao said.
“Language, darling,” Iris said. “Ketchup and Bacon are still listening.”
Jin Liwei sighed before smiling. Then he announced, “Alright, I think this should be enough for tonight.”
She frowned. “But we’re not finished yet!”
“I am.” His tone was firm. “I need some time to digest all this information.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
He made a show of glancing at the wall clock. “It’s already late. Time to sleep, love. You’re usually already asleep by this time.”
At his reminder, she automatically yawned. She indeed felt a little sleepy but hadn’t noticed it because of her nerves throughout their meeting.
Jin Liwei took her hand and started to lead her to the bedroom. However, he mouthed something to Lu Zihao when she wasn’t looking. Lu Zihao nodded in response. Iris didn’t notice their silent communication.
“Big Brother, I’m sorry but I need to sleep now,” she said, yawning again.
“No need to apologize. Sleep well, Evelinka,” he answered in Russian.
“Good night, Big Brother.”
“Good night, Evelinka.”
She yawned yet again. Before long, the couple disappeared inside their bedroom. Lu Zihao didn’t leave the suite, though. He moved from his spot by the window and sat on the couch. Then he grabbed the tablet and started reading the report his sister prepared for her man.
He was still reading when Jin Liwei returned about half an hour later. Without looking up, he swiped to the next page and said, “My sister was never part of the organization. And that is reflected in this report. She doesn’t know everything about the organization. There are many things that aren’t included in this report, things that we kept from her.”
He looked at Jin Liwei straight in the eyes. “You’re already horrified from reading this report. Let me tell you that the actual things were so much worse than what you read from here.”
Jin Liwei closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. “Let’s move to another room. Evelina doesn’t sleep as deeply as before. I don’t want her waking up and discovering that we’re continuing this conversation without her.”
“Fine.”
Jin Liwei instructed Ketchup and Bacon to watch over their mother and also to not listen on his conversation with their Uncle Zihao. The two obeyed, although they sounded unhappy. Even the stone-faced Bacon couldn’t hide his discontent this time.
The two men left the suite. Jin Liwei took the lead and somehow they ended up in Iris’ piano room. This was where they almost brawled the last time they saw each other.
“Interesting choice of room,” Lu Zihao commented.
“It’s not for the reason you’re thinking.”
Lu Zihao raised an eyebrow.
Jin Liwei stood behind the piano. “Apparently, this was where I died with our twin babies.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Lu Zihao demanded.
Jin Liwei told him about the full content of Iris’ nightmare a few nights ago exactly as she had told him. Lu Zihao fell silent as he listened. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! Also follow me on Instagram @arriacross]
When Jin Liwei finished telling him everything, silence descended in the room. Without speaking a word, Lu Zihao headed straight to the newly replaced table and chairs nearby and started wrecking them just like what Jin Liwei did before. However, it was obvious that Lu Zihao was more destructive.
Jin Liwei crossed his arms and watched the man release his fury in the most direct way possible—with his bare fists. He understood what Lu Zihao was feeling. If it wasn’t for his injuries still not being fully healed yet and the fact that he had already aggravated them before when he did the same thing that Lu Zihao was doing right now, he would’ve also wrecked some furniture to release his own fury and the other emotions he was still trying to process from their meeting earlier in the suite.
“Fuck!” Lu Zihao gave one last kick to a pitiful piece of a chair.
“Finished?” Jin Liwei asked.
Lu Zihao grunted.
“I haven’t finished reading the full report yet, but I want to ask you some questions first.”
“Ask away.”
Jin Liwei tapped a finger on the piano. “Are you turning Shadow Winds into another Vetrov organization?”
Lu Zihao released a devilish chuckle but it somehow sounded weak than usual, as if he was exhausted, although he didn’t look like it. “The Vetrov organization was built through the efforts of several generations. An organization of the Vetrovs’ calibre can’t be built in just a few years. So no, I’m not turning my group into the next Vetrov organization. I would if I could but even for me, something like that is impossible to build in just one lifetime.”
“Then why did you create Shadow Winds?”
Lu Zihao spread both his arms wide and gave a wide, evil smile. “What else? For revenge, of course!”
“Cut the theatrics, Nikolai.” Jin Liwei was unimpressed. “To be honest, I don’t give a damn about you. But you’re now living as Lu Zihao. I can’t just allow you to put my fifth brother’s body in danger.”
Lu Zihao’s expression suddenly changed and became familiar. “Third Bro, it’s me.”
Jin Liwei gasped and felt like he was electrocuted.
