“Isn’t that the other way around? The ends justify the means?” She smiled.
“Does it matter?” the old man retorted. “The important thing is for you to file that divorce or we release the news.”
Lily only eyed the old man before shifting her gaze back to the images. The images only made her want to laugh, a burst of dry and sinister laughter. “So… let me get this straight.” She looked at the old man. “You wanted to force me to divorce him or… you will tell everyone that he raped a woman?”
“Stop acting like you didn’t understand me,” Isaac said, his face stern. For some reason, Lily’s eyes were telling him that something was wrong. The woman did not even knit her brows as she stared at the photos. She didn’t even show a tinge of sadness when he asked her to divorce Zhou Jingren. Was it because she was so confident that he will fail? This thinking only made him irritated.
“Alright,” Lily nodded and pursed her lips. “Why don’t I tell you a secret?”
“I am not interested! Stop wasting my time!”
“You are the one wasting your own time.” Lily shrugged and closed the folder containing the photos. She then pushed it towards the old man. “Once upon a time, there was a boy named Zhou Jingren.” Lily started, despite the old man’s refusal to listen to her. However, as expected, when the old man heard Zhou Jingren’s name, his ears seemed to perk up.
“The boy lived in an orphanage where he met a princess.” Lily chuckled. “Or so he thought.”
“The girl’s name was Qin Jinghua.” She then shifted her gaze at the man next to Isaac. “Sadly… her name is not online as Zhou Jingren erased any traces of her when she disappeared.”
“Anyways… he fell in love with Qin Jinghua. The thing is every time Zhou Jingren tried to confess his feelings…” Lily giggled. Amusement sparkled in her eyes. “He fainted.”
“Stop saying nonsense! Go straight to the point of this story!” The old man reprimanded. He too was interested to know about Zhuo Jingren’s past. While he is not sure if Lily was telling the truth, he just allowed her to say whatever it is that she wanted to say so he could include this in his recordings.
“Well… it was true.” Lily ignored the old man’s glare. “One day, one of Zhou Jingren’s friends helped him and that woman named Qin Jinghua said that she will only marry him once they are already of equal status.”
“This made Zhou Jingren worked so hard. He left the orphanage and went to Japan to find a decent job. He worked his ass off day and night with two simple goals. Become rich and marry Qin Jinghua.”
“Years later… Zhou Jingren came back to an engage Qin Jinghua. He was so angry, he left and that was the last time that he saw the woman.” Of course, Lily was not planning to tell the old man everything about their past. She only wanted to let him know how Zhou Jingren loved her since he was a child.
“Months after Zhou Jingren left Hong Kong, the news of Qin Jinghua’s disappearance shocked the media.” She widened her eyes and adjusted her voice to make it look like she was narrating a movie. “Zhou Jingren was devastated! How could she disappear just like that? Despite having his heartbroken by that woman, he still searched for her.”
“He flew to the horizon and swam the deepest parts of the ocean just to find her. If she was dead, he needed to see her body. If she is alive, then he needed to see that she is happy. That is the only thing that will give him peace.”
“Are you saying that until now Zhou Jingren is in love with that woman?”
“Of course he is! She was his first love.”
“So you wanted to tell me that there is no way he will love Demi?” The old man snorted.
“Sort of. Yeah.” Lily nodded. She is finding this conversation more and more entertaining, ah.
The old man scoffed. “Fool.” He gave her a provoking smile. “Love is nothing but a reaction in our brain. Just like every other emotion, you can manipulate love, learned it, and forget about it.”
“Well… that is true.” Lily nodded. “Anyway, seven years later that Qin Jinghua suddenly showed up in her stilettos.” As expected, the old man frowned. This earned a sly smile from Lily. “So he married her and they live happily ever after.”
“You — ” the old man’s scowl was ugly.
“I am Qin Jinghua.” She beamed. “I am the same woman who he loved since he was a teenager. The one and only woman in his life.”
“You think this lie would work on me?” Isaac asked. His brows were knitted into a frown. “Do you think I am that stupid to believe a story like this?” He raised his voice, his eyes wide in anger. Does this woman think that he was a fool?
“I am not trying to convince you to believe in anything.” She said. “Now… if you think a simple threat would make me leave the man who never gave up on me, then you are wrong.” Narrowing her eyes, Lily’s lips turned upwards into a lazy smirked. “Isaac… you are a fool to believe that I would just let him go because of these images.”
“Selfish!” Isaac muttered. “So you would rather ruin his reputation than leave him.” It wasn’t a question. By now, Isaac knew that Lily won’t just back down without a fight. However, he already expected this. After all, Lily thrived in the business world because of her strong personality.
Too bad this won’t work on him. Surely, Zhou Jingren would not want to have his reputation get ruin! Once he gave these images to Zhou Jingren himself, he was sure that the man would leave Lily on his own accord just to save his reputation.
“Isaac… let’s stop fooling each other.” Lily’s words brought him back from his stupor. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell the world that your only grandson rape that woman. Then sit back in your throne and watch. Watch me burn your empire to the ground.”
