The Villain's Wife

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On the next day, Lily went to the Facci Group as usual. She wanted to know more about the things that her brother found out. Unfortunately for her, Qin Yuanfeng hadn't found out anything.

"Like nothing? No mails, calls or even a text message? He just went straight home?" she asked.

"Nada."

"Strange."

"Very strange." He nodded, his eyes on his computer. "Not even Qi Xia. Both of them are not calling or texting. Well that might be because Qi Xia is also very busy with his company and a gaming summit is going to be held soon."

"Still." Lily sighed. Maybe she was just over thinking? "You know what? I think I should stop thinking about this."

"Hmmm."

"Yang Mi?"

"President."

"What do I have for today?"

"You were supposed to review— "

"Give me something that is not boring." She interrupted her secretary before sighing. She then leaned against her leather chair and inhaled the scent of freshly brewed coffee from Qin Yuanfeng's table. She missed coffee, she thought. However, just thinking about coffee immediately made her frown.

Last night, it was one of the ingredients that she used for her chocolate carrot cake. It turned out to be so bitter even her husband was not able to control himself and told her it sucked. She pouted. Zhou Jingren never said harsh words about her cooking. So, him saying something like that could only mean that it was inedible.

This immediately dampened her passion to learn.

"Mr. Rossi is meeting the person that is about to become the ambassador for Harmony Isle in Asia. He is an actor, an idol wait… it says that he is a multi talented, actor, dancer and singer from Mainland China. With tens of millions of followers on his Weibo. He just finished a very successful series with him as the lead actor. It trended not just in Asia but also in Europe and Australia."

"Sounds interesting." Lily said almost lazily. "How old is he?"

"Twenty five."

"Oh." Disinterest flashed in Lily's eyes. "Hey, Yuanfeng." She turned towards her brother.

"Hmmm?"

"You were an idol before. What do you think of being in the limelight again?"

"No thanks."

"Was it that boring?"

"More like tiring and toxic."

"Oh." Lily nodded. "Do you think… I would be a good actress?"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no."

Eyes widened, Lily waited for him to give her a reason why he thought that way. However, Qin Yuanfeng did not even glance at her direction. "Hey! What do you mean? Are you saying that I can't be an actress?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You are too bold. That is not going to work in China."

"Oh!" Lily pursed her lips. She thought her brother would say something along the line of her not having a talent to act, turns out it was about the industry and how they viewed female actresses. She nodded in approval of his words. Most people in China would prefer the cutesy, kind and gentle actress. The white flower ones. Obviously, Lily was nothing like those women. "Call Mr. Rossi, tell him I will attend this meeting. Also… can you schedule a call with Cathy and don't forget to check for Mr. Corneel's flight schedule so we can accommodate him once he visits Hong Kong with his sons.

"Understood." Yang Mi nodded.

....

Zhou Huifang's Residence, Mainland China

The smell of alcohol inside the room was thick, it wafted through the air, occupying Zhou Huifang's dark room. "Wake up!" his father hissed as he opened the blinds. "It is late. Why are you still in bed?" He nudged his son before shaking him out of his sleep.

"Why are you here?" He asked in a daze.

"Is that even a question?" Zhou Jingtao asked. "Get dressed and get that woman out of here." He pointed at the naked woman sleeping soundly next to his son. "I will wait for you outside. Let's have breakfast together."

Zhou Huifang frowned before he buried his face back into his pillow, cursing inwardly. It did not take too long for him to ask the woman that he met last night to leave his place. After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he got dressed and went out to see his father smoking on his balcony. "I thought you quit?" he said as he leaned on the rails sat next to him.

Zhou Jingtao did not respond, instead he puffed, the smell of tobacco immediately reached his son. "You are digging your own grave." He uttered, face grim.

"You knew."

"Everyone knew!"

"Is that why you are here? To talk some sense into me?"

"I am telling you to stop. It is pointless."

A snort escaped his lips. "You telling me this— This is just hilarious. Just because I am the son of a coward, does not mean that I should become one."

"Xiaodan did not die because of Zhou Jingren. It was because of Zhou Kang. He killed him and not Zhou Jingren."

Zhou Huifang turned silent before lines appeared In between his brows. "You are lying."

"I am not." Zhou Jingren met his son's troubled eyes. "The reason I didn't want to talk about it before was because… it was partly because of me. It was my fault. I was not able to protect him."

"Did they tell you to lie to me?"

"I am not lying. I— "

"You think I would just believe whatever it is, that you say?" Zhou Huifang hissed. "You think I would allow you to lie in front of my face?"

"As I said— "

"I don't believe you!"

"Then what do you believe?" Zhou Jingtao hissed. "Your useless beliefs? Your sense of whatever it is that you call it? If you want to avenge his death then… do it. But do it to me and not to the people who had nothing to do with his death."

"You— "

"I know my brother was crazy and yet, I never did anything about it." Zhou Jingtao's face reddened. "For years I let him and father bully me into doing things for them. I did it without any complains because I wanted you and your siblings to be safe."

Zhou Jingtao continued. "Both were heartless and cruel. Because of that I did unimaginable things. I did it all to protect you, to protect our family. However… one day, I heard them talking about Lanying and how they were going to use her against Zhou Jingren." He gulped, his eyes never leaving his son's. "I had to do something."

"So you betrayed grandfather and uncle."

"I did what I could to protect you and everyone else I care about!"

....

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