Sweet Wife in My Arms

Or were the green leaves just waiting for their turn to wither, before falling to the ground again? That cycle of seasons very much resembled the cycle of life.

Lu Yi turned off the engine. It was true that he hadn't been here in a long time, but the place seemed so foreign to him it felt as though it must have been an eternity since his last visit.

Color shimmered off his eyes when he took off his sunglasses, but the icy look within remained unchanged, cold and lasting like an iceberg in the South Pole. Or the combination between ice and water, condensing and freezing again into the ice of the North Pole.

He strode into the room. His uninvited presence made the three people in the living room surprised and uncomfortable.

"Pour your grandfather a cup of tea, Yuhan," said Ye Jianguo, giving his granddaughter's hand a soft pat.

"Yes, Grandpa," answered Sun Yuhan docilely. Inside, she knew that Ye Jianguo was asking her to stay out of sight. As she sped away, she could feel Lu Yi's sharp gaze stabbing at her, threatening to skin and fillet her. It felt almost as if Lu Yi would have reached out and snapped her neck, had she not gotten away in time.

Unconsciously, she felt her own neck. It felt as though a cold wind was blowing at it, the breath of a ghost.

That made her speed up a little. Toward the end, she was nearly sprinting.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Ye Jianguo. He didn't like the way Lu Yi looked at his granddaughter. "She's your cousin, not your nemesis. She has saved your life before--"

"Did she tell you that?" intervened Lu Yi. This was the first time he cut him off. He had always respected his grandfather until he abused that reverence and did something that hurt him deeply.

"It's true, isn't it?" Ye Jianguo brought a cup to his lips, but there was a slight trembling in his taut fingers wrapped around the cup. Lu Yi could tell he wasn't as iron-fisted as before.

Was it because of guilt? Or something else?

"True?" echoed Lu Yi, still standing before him. "Everything she says is true and everything others say are lies. Is that the way of it, Grandpa?"

Ye Jianguo said nothing, but he firmly believed that his granddaughter was in the right. Everything she did had to be right.

"I was the one who saved her. Pulled her out from the flood. I did freeload at her place for a month, to be fair, if she considers that as 'saving me'. In the two years that followed, I had not taken a single thing from her for free."

Ye Jianguo slammed the cup on the table. "She almost lost her leg while saving you."

"And I almost lost my life while saving her," said Lu Yi coolly. Ye Jianguo was out of words.

"Were you the one that leaked Huanhuan's condition to the media? She saved the Ye Family. Did you have to go as far as to pressurizing her, my mother, and me just because she doesn't agree to your granddaughter's unreasonable request? Or is it because my mother isn't your biological daughter? Is that why you don't have any compunction when hurting her and her son?"

Ye Jianguo's chest began heaving violently.

"Who permitted you to speak to me in this manner, Lu Yi?!" The veins on the back of his hand were bulging, and his face was grey with anger. 　　

"Your actions did," said Lu Yi, straightening. He was still respectful towards the old man, but his warmth towards him had vanished without a trace.

"If you continue hurting others in the name of your love for your granddaughter, I'm afraid this will be my last visit. The same goes for Yan Huan. Your granddaughter has nothing to do with her. Whether she succeeds or not is her own business, and the business of the Ye Family. Please refrain from dragging the Lu Family into this again."

With that, he bowed deeply and strode out. At the door, he ran into Ye Chuji. Ye Chuji tried to say something, but in the end he found himself at a loss of words.

Lu Yi gave him a brief nod and left him standing there awkwardly.

Ye Chuji entered the room and sat across from Ye Jianguo. "Didn't I tell you not to leak it, Dad? Your actions had wounded Shuyun."

"Why can't I say it?" Ye Jianguo never felt like he was in the wrong. "Why would they want a woman who can't give birth? Does your sister not want a grandson? Does she want the Lu bloodline to end at her son?"

"That's the business of the Lu Family. Does it have anything to do with us?"

Ye Chuji had said some harsh words to Yan Huan, but he never forgot her help during the tough times, or her saving Ye Xinyu. There were some things he wouldn't do, despite his threats.

But his Dad was different. Instead of living out the rest of his days in peace, he plotted against the Lu Family for the sake of his granddaughter. His aims had been clear as day; had he truly meant her daughter and the Lu Family well, he could very well have talked to them in private, instead of leaking it online for the world to know.

Ye Xinyu retreated to his school because of this incident, storming off without a word with his luggage in hand. This is probably the last he'll see of Lu Yi as well. Did he have no choice but to face Sun Yuhan every day and watch her dawdle about?

He swallowed his words when he saw Ye Jianguo's long face. Fine then. He'll just come home less in the future and leave the place to Sun Yuhan, just as the old man wished.

Left alone, Ye Jianguo was still disconsolate. Soon, the nanny informed him of a call looking for him.

"Ask Chuji to answer it," said Ye Jianguo. He didn't want to pick up any calls or listen to anyone's voice. Ye Chuji could handle them.

"He's out," said the nanny with the phone in her hand, unsure if she should hang up or not.

Left with no choice, Ye Jianguo had to answer the call, albeit with poor grace.

"Who are you?" he said grumpily.

"I'm Lu Yuanyang," said Old Master Lu as he admired his stolen antiques with his feet on the desk. He had robbed almost half of his son's collection, and all this good stuff was enough to keep his eyes busy for a year.

"What business do you have with me?" grumbled Ye Jianguo. "You and your good grandson."

"What's wrong with my grandson?" snorted Old Master Lu. His temper had certainly improved, and he wasn't as prickly as before, almost like a bull who had its horns trimmed flat.