novelDespise Herself
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Xiu went back inside her room after the phone call and changed her clothes once again. She was tying her hair up in a loose updo when she came out of the room and found Han Bohai staring at her oddly.
"Change of plans?" he inquired even though he knew the answer to the question he just asked.
Xiu shrugged her shoulders.
"Your husband gave you away sooner than you thought he would, " added Han Bohai.
Xiu nodded her head, "But I can't blame him for that. I sneaked out because I didn't want my fathers to get involved in this mess. Besides, I knew from the beginning it'd be dangerous and they'd be worried. However, I never thought they'd be..."
"What?" He urged her to continue.
Xiu looked up at him and spoke with a tinge of sadness and hurt in her voice, "They seemed terrified just because they could see me for a few hours. Xiao Bobo, they are scared to lose me again." She took a deep breath, "And that's why I couldn't bring myself to refuse them. It doesn't matter whether they're here or not. I've already dealt with Niu Peizhi." She took a pause and asked, "By the way, did you hear anything about Jinhai?"
Han Bohai didn't look as sour to hear that name as he usually did, "The doctor has taken the bullets out successfully but his life isn't out of danger. He has lost a lot of blood. The next 72 hours are pretty sensitive for him. He managed to hold on during this period, there is a chance of survival."
Xiu didn't know how to reply. So, she only gave a small sound in acknowledgment that she heard what he just said. And then she sat there with her face buried in her hands as her mind wandered off somewhere even she couldn't tell. In fact, the things in her mind had been the same since a few weeks ago. She had been constantly fighting the urge to just spill out the truth to both her fathers.
However, no matter how she thought about it, the end result was that both of them will get hurt. She just couldn't bring herself to hurt them. They both not showed her care but also made her want to indulge in fatherly love. And she couldn't just shatter it all with her own hands. But she didn't want to lie any longer either.
"Xiuxiu!" Bo Jiu's voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"What is it?"
"Someone would like to speak to you, " told Bo Jiu and went over to whisper something in her ear.
After listening to her, Xiu stood up, "Just bring him here."
Bo Jiu nodded her head and left to do what she was asked. Meanwhile, Xiu instructed Han Bohai, "You should also take a walk to relax. And you should also turn your phone on. Since my fathers know who helped me in escaping, certainly Ying Jie knows as well."
Han Bohai almost collapsed right there and then.
"So, before she calls upon you..." Xiu left her words hanging on purpose while Han Bohai gulped visibly.
"I can't bring myself to talk to her. Ah-Ying must be furious."
"That's a given, " agreed Xiu."However, you can just tell her that you're threatened by me to help."
"Huh?" Han Bohai was dumbfounded."I can just tell her the truth."
"And what is the truth?" she asked with raised brows.
"That I helped you because I wanted to."
"Oh? And why is that? Who are you to me? Do we know each other that well? How long have we known each other? And when did we get so close enough to help each other?"
"You're my Sister Xiu! Of course, we know each other well and we have known each other for years. Isn't it a given that we'd be close?"
"Can you say all that to her?"
Han Bohai was stumped for words. Xiu shook her head at him.
"Silly Bobo, I'm giving you a way out right now. You can't tell Ying Jie that I'm Chen Xiu. So to save yourself from trouble, just dump the blame on me. And it's not even a lie. I did threaten you a little to get you to help me. Don't feel so bad about it."
"But..." He was still hesitating even though her idea was the best to get him out of trouble.
"No buts! I don't want your relationship to have any rifts because of me. So, just show yourself as the innocent party."
"Will she even believe me?"
"That depends on how convincing of an actor you are."
"You shouldn't be teaching me this bad stuff."
"As your sister, I should be teaching you all the good and bad stuff. After all, if I painted a picture too beautifully for you, how will you deal with the world's darkness later on."
"I suddenly feel bad for your son."
Xiu slapped his shoulder, "Don't bring my son into this."
Han Bohai shook his head at her, "Sister Xiu, it's really rare for you to take the blame for someone else."
"I can do this much for my brother." She winked at her and even pushed him out of the Presidential Suite.
She came back and started making some tea. And while she was pouring the tea, the door was opened and Bo Jiu brought a middle-aged man inside with her.
"I've brought him here, the rest is up to you." With that Bo Jiu left the Suite and closed the door behind her.
Xiu lifted her eyes languidly to look back at the middle-aged man who seemed to be observing her as well. She wasn't unfamiliar with that face. She knew him. She knew him quite well even though they have never had a personal meeting.
"Mr. Liu, you can take a seat first, " said Xiu as she gestured for him to sit. Then she brought the tray with two teacups to the table and placed one before him and took the other to sit opposite him on the armchair."Forgive me for being clueless, but I thought you'd busy arranging a funeral for your daughter."
"You and I both know she wasn't my daughter, " replied Liu Mingfan with no visible change in his emotions."However, I am not as cruel as her. After the police are done with the autopsy, I've asked my people to arrange everything for her burial. Even if she isn't my daughter, I can't abandon her cold body."
"I honestly didn't even think that the insider around Xiu Suyin would turn out to be you." Xiu calmly took a sip of the tea and felt refreshing.
"My hatred for her is bone-deep, " replied Liu Mingfan without hiding anything from her."Even if I skin her alive, it won't be enough. She destroyed the most beautiful part of my life. And she burned someone's whole family. I'd never forgiven her for that. That's a debt she has to pay."
Xiu knew whom he was talking about. However, it was still surprising to her. Hearing that Chen Hana and Liu Mingfan had been once lovers, was one thing but hearing it from one of the parties involved was a whole different thing.
"Why wait so long?" she asked in curiosity.
"She is a controlling woman, " replied Liu Mingfan."You should have known that by now. The reason why she was able to brazenly do everything and yet become my wife was that she managed to control my family even before she became a part of it. Sometimes, we become helpless before family."
"That I can agree with, " said Xiu."We do become helpless before family." Xiu not only said those words. For the first time in her life, she actually understood the meaning behind those words as well. She also was feeling really helpless before her fathers.
"I've tried so many different ways to hurt her, " began Liu Mingfan."But she always managed to make me fall on my face. No matter what I did, I wasn't her opponent. Especially since she had a whole Xin Clan as her backer. It made things difficult and complicated." He glanced at Xiu as he went on, "But I never thought it'd be so easy to crumble her down."
"If you use strong ways to deal with a strong person, it'll only evoke the competitive nature of that person. You'll never be able to break the enemy in this way." Xiu leaned back in a careless manner and crossed her legs."Let me elaborate for you why it turned out to be so easy to crumble her down in this way. In a way, Xin Suyin is a love-deprived person. She lost her parents at a young age. She had to live with the people who actually killed her parents. She loved you but you never reciprocated her feelings. Not that you're obliged to do so. Anyway, since she couldn't find that love anywhere. She put her hopes on her own child."
Liu Mingfan's eyes widen in surprise.
"Have you never wondered why Xin Suyin's love for Liu Nuan was so unconditional?" questioned Xiu."It was not a mother's unconditional love. It was her selfish love. The things she never had, she wanted to give to Liu Nuan at any cost. So imagine, such a person one day learns that her child isn't her own. The Princess she cared for and loved for years is actually a fake. And the one she tortured is actually her real Princess. Can you imagine the stimulation?"
"Imagine?" repeated Liu Mingfan."I've seen it all with my own eyes. It drove her mad. She wanted to tear Liu Nuan apart even though she had loved her for so many years."
"The idea of love is different for such a person, Mr. Liu. Since all her emotional investment was wasted on Liu Nuan, once the truth came out something snapped in her mind. Especially when she learned that her real daughter 'Chen Xiu' actually killed herself just because she didn't want a mother like that. How could she accept it? She had never gotten love from anyone. And now her own daughter not only didn't love her but also despised her and she had all the right to do so."
"You just manipulated those feelings to make her feel so guilty that she'd despise herself, " said Liu Mingfan.
Xiu gave him a very innocent smile however, this innocent smile made him feel cold.
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