Lee Residence.
The silence inside the Lee Household made Thomas’ blood cold. It hung suspended in the air before the sound of glass flying its way into the walls of the living room, interrupted it. The loud shattering sound echoed inside the house.
“Father!” Thomas quickly stood from his seat. He ran towards the older man who just threw a cup towards the wall. “What is happening?” He knew exactly what was happening. Demi Liang had been all over the social media since morning. This caused a lot of stress to the old man. “Are you alright?” he asked, concern laced his eyes.
“That fox!” the old man hissed. He shook off his son’s arm and walked towards his study. Thomas and Ron immediately followed him. “Inform everyone! Do not let that woman inside the residence.” He commanded his croaky voice echoing inside the house.
“Father… please calm down. We don’t know why it happened. For all we know…”
“What? For all we know… what?” He glared at his son. “Lily must be laughing at us now!” How could Isaac bear this embarrassment?
“Jun is not answering my calls after he sent me a text telling me not to see Demi again,” Ron said in a solemn voice. “Something else must have happened. Do you think— “
“Who knows? That Lily is — ” the old man sat on his leather chair, his gaze dark as he opened his drawers to get some of his medicines. “That woman is adamant about ruining me! She is going to kill me!”
“Father, I think we should take our time to think things through,” Thomas said. He wanted to remind his father that this is all his doing. He should not blame anyone else but himself. After all, he was the one who thought that Demi suited Zhou Jingren. He was also the one who planned all these schemes just to have Zhou Jingren under his control.
Why was he blaming Lily for fighting back? Did he expect the woman to sit down and let him do all his schemes?
“Stop looking at me like that!” Isaac growled. “Are you blaming me for what happened?”
“No.” Thomas lied. “I just thought that if you wanted to control Zhou Jingren, then… trying to separate him from his woman is an awful plan.”
“Why would you think that?” Ron asked. He knitted his brows. “That woman is not suitable for him.”
“And who are you to say that?” Thomas asked. Seeing their faces turned ugly at his words, he immediately let out a sigh. “All I’m saying is… maybe we are using the wrong approach. We have been really aggressive. It is only natural that they retaliate.” He uttered as he sneered inwardly. Does Isaac really think that he could force a man like Zhou Jingren to submit by using force?
Zhou Jingren grew up with Yakuza! There is no way that a minor threat like Isaac would make him cower in fear. “Zhou Jingren and Lily were spotted enjoying Gardens by the Bay earlier.” He added. As expected, the old man instantly scowled at his words. “As you can see… they are treating this as their vacation.”
“Do you know when are they leaving the country?” Ron asked.
Thomas shook his head before he sighed. “Adrian’s operation went well.” He diverted the topic. He knew that the old man was not really interested to know about this matter. Since he met Zhou Jingren and Lily, the old man never really cared about anything else. He had been sitting in his office, trying to think of another scheme.
“Adrian is suffering because of that woman!” Isaac seethed. Everything that has been happening since Lily and Zhou Jingren arrived, were the exact opposite of his plans. At this point, Isaac couldn’t even think of something else — another scheme that would make Zhou Jingren fall in his control.
“Father… I think it is futile to think about schemes to make him submit.” Thomas said. “Zhou Jingren does not treat us as someone important to him. He does not care about us at all. Hell, I think, he could even kill us if he wanted to.”
“What are you thinking?” Ron asked. “Are you saying that your grandfather should just apologize and accept defeat?”
As expected, Ron’s provoking words made the old man’s face turned red. “I would never do that.” Isaac said.
Thomas clenched his jaws. He stared at Ron, understanding flashed in his eyes. This man… this man is influencing Isaac’s decision. He is manipulating Isaac’s emotions. “My point is… I think we should just see Zhou Jingren’s mother Dae Un, and apologize sincerely.” He uttered calmly. “This is the only option that we have for now.”
“Then call for a press conference. I will announce that Zhou Dae Un is my daughter.”
“Let’s not be hasty,” Thomas said. “Let’s remember that Zhou Jingren has a manipulative and scheming Lily behind his back. That — We don’t really know what they are planning. What if… they are just waiting for us to make a mistake before they crush us?”
Silence immediately permeated the room after his words. He was only stating a fact. Lily is someone that they would not want to cross head-on.
“I think Thomas is right,” Ron said before sighing. “After this… After everything that happened, we should be careful.”
Thomas nodded. “I think it is best if we go to China to talk to Zhou Dae Un, personally. No media, no news, no articles online. Just an apology.” Seeing Isaac fell into another silence, he continued. “This will not only earn Zhou Dae Un’s sympathy, it will also ease our way to Zhou Jingren.”
Isaac nodded. He pursed his lips as he thought about Thomas’ words. Everyone sat in silence until a ring interrupted them. Ron immediately answered his phone and frowned.
Slowly, his frown deepened, the lines on his forehead creased. “Highjacked? How is that possible?” he asked. His words were enough to attract both Isaac and Thomas’ attention. “But- ” He eyed Isaac as he clenched his jaw. “That is not possible. This was not the first time that we have transported equipment for the hospital. How could we encounter this problem now? I always thought it was-“
Ron’s scowl faded as his face paled. “Impossible!”
