“I think you might not have heard my question earlier,” Lily’s stern voice echoed inside the living room, waking up Mrs. Arison from her stupor. “So, I am going to ask you again. Why are you here harassing my friend instead of taking care of your son at the hospital?”
“I… Lily darling, how could you say such things?” Mrs. Arison widened her eyes, her face turning red from being caught red-handed. However, she refused to back off. “I was not harassing her. We just had a little misunderstanding,” she said while eyeing Lily’s friend who was giving her a smug smile.
“I see…” Lily said while making herself comfortable on the couch. “So is Liam dead?”
“Lily!” Mrs. Arison’s temper instantly flared. “Disrespecting me is fine, but how could you say something like that about your fiancé?”
“Ex,” Lily corrected. “Ex-fiancé. You can’t blame me for assuming that he is already dead. Or why else would you be here bothering me instead of taking care of him? Again, this will be the third time that I am asking you the same question: Why are you here? Is your son dead? Are you perhaps asking me to give some donations for his funeral?” Mrs. Arison was about to open her mouth to speak when Lily held up her hand, causing Mrs. Arison to swallow her words. Lily then narrowed her eyes as her lips curled into a smile. “One wrong answer and I will throw you out of my apartment.”
Mrs. Arison instantly let out a dramatic gasp, obviously shocked by Lily’s harsh words. This was the first time that Lily… No, this was the first time that someone dared to threaten her this way. Surprise was written all over Mrs. Arison’s face as she watched Lily leisurely crossed her legs and drummed her fingers on her knees as if she was having a casual conversation with a friend.
“If I had known that you are actually such a vicious person, I would never have agreed to the Old Madam Facci’s request to accept you into the Arison family,” Mrs. Arison uttered, her tone regretful and righteous. She had expected Lily to soften up at the mention of her maternal grandmother’s name. However, to her disappointment, the latter only let out a snort.
“Renren, throw her out of the terrace.” Lily’s words instantly shocked everyone including Zhuo Jingren. However, he did not tarry. He immediately walked towards Mrs. Arison, narrowing his eyes, his lips curled into a sinister smile. Like a predator stalking its prey, Zhuo Jingren’s tall stature immediately towered over Mrs. Arison who was seated.
“What are you doing?” Seeing as Lily had no change of expression on her face, Mrs. Arison started to panic. At this height, she knew that she would not survive the fall if she was thrown out of the terrace. Moreover, no one in the Arison family knew that she had gone to Hong Kong to find Lily. With Lily’s connections, it would be very easy for her to bribe the authorities to cover-up her death as suicide. Mrs. Arison’s face instantly paled when Zhuo Jingren made a grab of her arm. “Lily darling… this… I am just here to inform you about my son’s accident. That’s all! That’s all! See, I already answered your question. Hey… let go! Let me go!”
“Stop.” Lily ordered lazily and Zhuo Jingren stopped tugging Mrs. Arison. “Let her go.” Like a trained soldier, Zhuo Jingren released Mrs. Arison and the shock caused her to cry and fall on her knees.
“See? If only you had answered my question the first time I asked,” Lily said as she rose up from her seat and walked towards Mrs. Arison. “I am actually a very easy person to talk to,” she stated. Then she patted Zhuo Jingren on the shoulders and flashed him with a bright smile. “Good Job! I will give you a reward later,” she said before turning away.
As Lily’s back was facing Zhuo Jingren, she didn’t get to see a crack on the latter’s stoic face. Like a kid receiving his first star, a small smile escaped before he quickly regained his composure, putting on a blank expression like a security personnel should. However, he couldn’t help but think about the reward that Lily promised which made him absent-minded. He stared blankly ahead and felt his ears burning hot.
When he felt that his heart was beginning to race in excitement, Zhuo Jingren immediately dispelled his inner thoughts and took deep breaths to calm himself down. He roamed his eyes around Lily’s living room to study it in an effort to distract himself.
‘Dark gray and white paint,’ Zhuo Jingren uttered inwardly. ‘Minimalistic cozy accents, artistic modern furniture, with floor to ceiling windows! No doubt, Lily loves the Scandinavian look.’
Zhuo Jingren went through these observations in his mind again and again like someone rehearsing for a speech. Although his inner thoughts were in chaos, he still managed to maintain a stoic expression on his face. Even Li Shanshan felt a little intimidated by this tall man standing like a statue in the room.
“Excuse me?” Lily’s words interrupted his thoughts.
“Huh?”
“You said ‘Scandinavian’,” Lily stated. Seeing this weird bodyguard in a daze, Lily shook her head, “Never mind.” She then turned her attention back to Mrs. ArisonMrs. Arison who was still crying on the floor.
“Well, since you have already said what you wanted to say, you can go now. I have already made it clear to Liam that there will be no wedding. I was being kind by saving the three subsidiary companies that used to be under the Arisons. But don’t be mistaken, I wasn’t doing it for the Arisons because now they are mine. Moreover, Grandmother believed that these three companies could still be saved and I trust her judgement. At the end of the day, it’s all business.”
“Your precious son cheated on me. What do you think will happen when I expose that to the public? Let me tell you, the value of the stocks in Arison Holdings will go down with him” Lily said. The obvious surprise in Mrs. Arison’s eyes made it clear that she was not aware of her son’s folly. “He is in a relationship with his cousin, the starlet Monique.”
“I… What are you saying?”
“Simple… you just threatened me a while ago,” Lily said. “Now it’s my turn. Try to expose anything about my past and the world will know how disgusting your son is. I have photos and videos evidences of him fooling around. I’m sure that will make his father loathe and despise him. Not only will he be kicked out of the CEO position in Arison Holdings, your husband will surely disown him and kick him out of the family as well.”
“Think carefully before you decide to go against me,” she added. “I am the sole Facci alive who made a change in Europe’s economy years ago. You can expose my past. But this will not change the fact that I am a legend in Europe. People will see you as a joke and in turn I will ruin your family.”
“I have said enough. Now it’s up to you to decide what you want to do next. Just make sure to leave my place before I finish changing my clothes.” With that, Lily strode towards her room, leaving the crying Mrs. Arison in a daze.
….
Editor: Swaning
