Silence welcomed Lily the moment she entered the apartment. She could see Qin Yuanfeng sitting on the couch, his expression dark and defensive as he stared at the TV in front of him. “Do you ever wonder why Bec never complained, even when she was being treated unfairly by everyone?” he asked after Lily took a seat on his right.
“I did,” she answered honestly. “I thought it was because she just wanted to spend more time with me.”
“Someone threatened her,” Qin Yuanfeng said as he slowly took his sweatshirt off, revealing a white V- neck tee shirt underneath. After he carefully placed the sweatshirt on the table, he looked at Lily intently before he continued, “Our father was threatened too.”
“At first, I thought he was a coward. How could he just watch me getting flogged by someone without stopping them? A child, being punished severely in front of his father and the father does nothing. What kind of father would have the stomach to watch a helpless child being whipped?” Qin Yuanfeng shifted his gaze away from Lily. “The only person who loved me back then was my stepmother. She supported me more than my father ever did.”
“What a bitch!” he muttered under his breath before he continued. “A few months ago I discovered that he had been threatened. One refusal of their request and they will hurt you. Becca was threatened the same way. One refusal of their request and they will hurt me.”
Lily’s breath hitched before she pursed her lips in an attempt to calm her nerves. She could not react and be emotional right now. She needed to be logical about everything. “Why should I believe you?” she asked.
Without saying anything, Qin Yuanfeng lifted his shirt as he showed his scarred back to Lily. Then he quickly put his shirt back down. “A pretty face who refuses to go shirtless on camera is useless in my industry. This is the reason why I only made a few films.” He let out a small laugh. “Not that I cared. I never had it removed. I saw it as a reminder of how cruel people can be.”
Lily’s eyes were still wide as she stared at Qin Yuanfeng. “Why did they hurt you?”
“Well… I originally came here to find out why, and guess what? After investigating you, I found the answer to my questions,” he said. “Bec tried to contact her mother- your- our grandmother, Lilian Facci.”
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on Lily. She swallowed nervously and waited for her brother to continue speaking.
“Guess what else I found out,” he continued. “Qin Chuan, our father, the Eldest Young Master of the Qin Family, is the brains behind the Qin Group in Mainland China.”
“What do you mean?” she furrowed her brows.
“His brother was forcing him to manage the company. Qin Hao was taking all the credit while our father was ridiculed for being useless.” Qin Yuanfeng gritted his teeth before letting out a mirthless laugh. “Our father, the person who I loathed for being such a spineless man, is the person behind the Qin Group’s success, not his dumb brother as everyone believes. I don’t know how Qin Hao got our father to do his bidding, but my guess is that he is working with Zhang Yifei. I suspect the pair were involved in threatening our father and mother together.”
“How do you know that they were threatened?”
“I am sure that you are aware of this: There are two Generals in the Qin Family. First is the current patriarch while the second is his brother, Qin Wuyang. After meeting you, I searched all of Hong Kong government’s agencies to check you out. I found out that a lot of properties in Mainland China had been transferred to your name a few months ago. Then I used my skills to hack into a few systems and discovered that the witness of the will was Qin Wuyang. He was the same person who told me about it.”
“And you believed him just because he said so?” Lily asked. Her guess is Qin Wuyang told her brother this tale after discovering the existence of the will. She was certain that he’d been informed of Lily’s appearance, but it suited his purposes to let Qin Yuanfeng find out everything for himself so he set the stage so Qin Yuanfeng could go in search of Lily.
His sister’s assumption that he was gullible pissed him off. “Of course not! How could I believe Qin Wuyang when my own grandfather hated him so much? Anyway… I installed a few devices in Qin Chuan’s room and I heard Zhang Yifei talking to him about these things. She was clueless about my hacking skills. She thinks that my only hobbies are playing games and watching p*rn. Stupid bitch,” he scoffed.
“I would assume that Zhang Yifei was watching you all the time?” Lily confirmed. “Where did you get those recorders?”
“I made them,” he answered. “I love making stuff.”
“Oh…” Lily was silent as she considered what he’d said, but the sight of his scarred back was stuck in the forefront of her mind. They were old scars, but judging by the intensity of the scarring, Lily believed that the whipping did not happen once. “Who whipped you?” she asked.
“An attendant. And everyone just watched me getting whipped without even asking why he had to do it.”
“Where is the attendant now? Did you found out who ordered him to do it?”
“No. I am working behind the scenes, and for now I lack the resources to fight face to face against them. The attendant is still around. You could always ask your dear husband to kidnap him and make him talk,” he suggested sarcastically.
Lily did not answer Qin Yuanfeng. All of these revelations were like forks of lightning flashing through her brain. The knowledge and images were too quick and too devastating, too shocking and far too brutal. “So, you are planning to use me against them?” she asked directly.
“That was my plan, yes. That was the reason why I wanted to make you angry a while ago,” he answered truthfully. “But I underestimated our DNA. It seems that we are more similar than I’d originally thought.”
“What makes you say that now? What did Zhuo Jingren say to you?” she asked. Lily wanted to confirm something.
“Not say… showed,” he corrected. “He showed me He Xinlan’s state and told me that the same will happen to me if I lie.”
“And you believed him?”
“I didn’t,.” Qin Yuanfeng shook his head. “But I do believe in your ruthlessness.”
“I am not as ruthless as you think,” Lily said. “If I was… I would have used all of my resources to have the Qin Family in Hong Kong massacred a long time ago.”
“Yeah… right,” he scoffed. “The only reason they’re still alive right now is because you want to see them suffer instead of killing them outright. If that is not ruthlessness then what is?” Seeing Lily just smile at him, QIn Yuanfeng continued, “Also.. I’m not so dumb that I wouldn’t realise that you orchestrated that fight earlier. Really, Lily? A knife? Wouldn’t you care if I accidentally cut your husband’s face?”
“Hmmm… Maybe you are really my brother after all,” she mused.
“Maybe?”
“Oh. Did you think I would believe you just because you look like me?” She rose from her seat. “I will contact you after making sure that your words were true. See you around… Qin Yuanfeng.” she said as she walked towards the door. “I will see you around.
