Lu Zihao, no, Nikolai turned his gaze away from the sleeping Long Jinjing and returned to his previous spot in front of the glass windows. His reflection was superimposed on the city’s glittering night lights. His expression looked impassive as if he was truly enjoying the urban view outside. On the inside, however, he was busy having a frustrating argument with the remnant.
‘I didn’t lie,’ he growled in his mind. ‘I only recounted my conversation with your grandfather to Jinjing. It was the old man who assumed that I have selective amnesia and insisted on taking me to the hospital. I never expressly claimed that I have selective amnesia.’
‘Che. You’re such a cunning bastard. As expected of a mafia boss. Tsk. Poor Jinjing!’
‘You’re not allowed to call my woman by her first name. Call her Miss, you monkey!’
The remnant ignored him while going into another lecture mode. ‘You seriously need to be gentler with your girlfriend, you know. Tone down your possessiveness a notch as well. Don’t be too intense. Your girlfriend is a very delicate woman. I told you before that modern girls like her don’t like possessive assholes. Sooner or later, she’ll get tired of your shit.’
Nikolai curled his lip at his reflection. ‘You’re not qualified to lecture me on how to treat my own woman. If those words came from the old man, I might still listen. At least I can be assured that he knows what he’s talking about. But you?’ He snorted. ‘You had never been in a serious relationship before. Don’t lie and claim otherwise. I have your memories.’
‘Hey! I was always serious in my relationsh.i.p.s with my past girlfriends! I just love adventuring more. Also, all my girlfriends understood right from the start that they’re not my priority. So no hard feelings between us after the break-up. But as for you…’ The remnant snickered. ‘Let’s see how you’ll be once the 30 days with your pretty girlfriend are over. I bet you won’t let your angelic Miss Prim and Proper go.’
‘Shut up!’
This time, Nikolai growled out loud. He almost punched the reflection on the glass windows. The end of his 30-day agreement with Long Jinjing was something that he didn’t want to think about. He would just deal with it when the time came. For now, he wanted to enjoy f.u.c.k.i.n.g his temporary girlfriend as often as he could before their time limit arrived. He didn’t like being reminded about it, especially not by the annoying pest laughing at him inside his mind.
The remnant laughed at him for a few moments before stopping—thank f.u.c.k! However, it continued yammering away and annoying the f.u.c.k out of him. [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 support the original author, ArriaCross. Thank you! Also follow me on Instagram @arriacross]
‘Anyway, I feel really sorry for your pretty girlfriend because she has to deal with all your shit and bad temper. Tsk tsk. If it weren’t for me giving you some friendly advice, you would’ve made the situation worse earlier. She might’ve followed through her intention to break up with you if you had been too late in controlling your assholery. So where’s the thanks that I deserve? Huh, Nikolai? Thank me! Come on~ Don’t be shy~’
Nikolai did his best to ignore the little shit. The lethargy made his body feel heavier than normal but he couldn’t sleep in peace with all the noise inside his head. He massaged his head while sighing in annoyance.
‘Hey, Nikolai!’
‘Stop disturbing me!’
The remnant paused. Then in a more serious voice, it said, ‘Fine, I’ll stop disturbing you tonight. I’m getting tired, anyway. That backlash was no joke. Ugh! But before I go recharge again, I just want to remind you about your promise to my third brother before you left Dragon Palace.’
Nikolai’s body tensed.
‘According to your memories while I was recharging, you and Third Brother made a deal. You agreed to let me meet your beautiful sister before she marries Third Brother. Don’t forget!’
Indeed, Nikolai promised Jin Liwei to allow Lu Zihao’s remnant to take over their body again after it recharged so that it could meet Evelinka. During that time, he was at the height of his lethargy. Jin Liwei, the crafty man, was able to manipulate him into agreeing to that deal when he was in such a weak state.
Now that the remnant reminded him about the deal, Nikolai felt unwilling. He didn’t want the remnant to take over their body again and suffer the same backlash if it failed to properly disconnect from the body. In fact, he still hadn’t fully recovered from the resulting lethargy yet.
The remnant sensed his resistance. ‘You promised! If you don’t fulfill your promise, I will pester you—’
Nikolai gritted his teeth. ‘Fine!’
A light feeling flooded him. It wasn’t his own so it should be from the remnant. He recognized the feeling as relief, anticipation and happiness.
‘I can’t wait to meet my future third sister-in-law. I’m tired now. I need to recharge again. Take care of my body, Nikolai. Don’t work it so hard when you’re still feeling lethargic. You’ll age my handsome self faster. Your young and pretty girlfriend might dump you if you begin looking like an old man. Haha!’
Nikolai already had enough of the annoying shit so he ignored it.
‘Good night, bro.’
He froze at what the remnant called him.
Silence.
He could feel that the remnant had “fallen asleep” and should be “recharging” again. He also felt sleepy but didn’t head to the bed yet. There was a deep frown on his face.
Then he tapped his fist on the cold glass window, directly on top of his face’s reflection—no, Lu Zihao’s.
“I’m not your bro,” he said in a harsh whisper.
But even as he said this, he found that he didn’t really hate it deep inside. In fact, it felt nice. This realization, however, was something that he didn’t want to accept.
He didn’t need any brothers. His sister was enough.
After throwing a final glare at Lu Zihao’s reflection, he finally headed for bed and lay beside Long Jinjing. He hugged her tightly before allowing himself to finally sink into a lethargic sleep.
