The Villain's Wife

After breakfast, Zhuo Jingren parted ways with Lily rather unwillingly. The conversation they had in the morning kept replaying in his mind and he ended up smiling and humming a tune to himself all the way until he reached his office.

In the afternoon, he received a call from Lily telling him that they would be meeting her parents for dinner. It surprised him greatly but he did not oppose to the meeting. Instead, he immediately cleared his schedule for the rest of the day so that he could accompany Lily to buy some gifts for Qin Mo and Tang Lingyun. Though the idea of giving gifts sounded like a good gesture, Zhuo Jingren knew that Lily's intentions were far from good, especially when she had chosen some expensive jewelry as gifts.

Zhuo Jingren could only laugh inwardly at his wife's antics. Lily seemed to be playing a game of cat and mouse with the Qin family. Even though she had the capability of eliminating the family and reducing them to a pitiful state any time, she hadn't already done so. She was like a cat, biding her time by sharpening her claws while waiting for the right moment to pounce on her prey.

Moreover, just one word from Lily and Zhuo Jingren could destroy the family overnight.

...

"Are you sure about this?" Zhuo Jingren asked Lily as he scooted a little closer to her in the car. They were now on their way to meet Qin Mo and Tang Lingyun.

"As I said, I don't want to keep this marriage a secret," Lily said before she turned her head to face him. "Earlier this morning, you said that you had investigated what happened seven years ago. What did you find out?" Lily asked curiously. She wasn't able to ask Zhuo Jingren more about this before he had left for work in a rush this morning. It got her thinking about it the entire morning. She was really interested to know what Zhuo Jingren had found out.

"Well… as you said, I did not find the person who drugged you. So many years have already passed and the people who used to work at that bar are no longer there. But don't worry, I am working on it."

"I am not worried. Anyway you can stop looking for the person who spiked my drink." Lily's words immediately made Zhuo Jingren furrowed his brows.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I have him," she answered, her gaze never leaving his face. She wanted to see how Zhuo Jingren would react to the news. Would he be disappointed to know that she had a dark side to her?

"You have him?" he asked in surprise.

"I do."

"Is the person still alive?" he asked casually.

"Of course… he is alive." She turned away from him while crossing her arms over her chest. "I need him alive." Debts are meant to be paid and Lily meant to collect even the interests of those debts.

Zhuo Jingren decided not to ask any more questions. He turned his gaze to look at the rain falling outside as he fell into contemplation. What happened seven years ago scarred Lily. No matter how curious he was about her plans, he knew that he shouldn't open up old wounds. Moreover, Zhuo Jingren was also not in a hurry to know them. Lily was slowly opening up herself to him and he knew that she would tell him these things eventually. Healing takes time and Zhuo Jingren would wait patiently for Lily to accept him wholeheartedly.

It continued to rain all the way until they arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes later. To be honest, Zhuo Jingren still harbored hatred for the Qins but it did not mean that he was against the idea of Lily introducing him as her husband.

Zhuo Jingren was not dumb, he knew that Lily was planning to use his name to scare off the Qins for now, not that he mind. Lily could make use of him or do whatever he wanted with him and he wouldn't even complain. Zhuo Jingren would gladly be Lily's shield so that he could protect her from the people who meant her harm.

His priorities right now were actually Xuan Hui and Liam Arison, not the Qins. He knew that the two were planning something sinister and he would not let those two succeed. Moreover, he had yet to find out if Xuan Hui and his mother were involved in Lily's accident seven years ago.

The fact that Lily lost their child seven years ago was quite a shock for Zhuo Jingren. If Lily hadn't told him, perhaps he never would have found out. He could not deny that he was indeed a little sad when he heard about it from Lily but he concealed his emotions well from her. He knew that it wouldn't help to show Lily his sadness for that might only push Lily away. He decided that it was best that he moved on from the past and look forward to their future together. They could always try for another child.

Zhuo Jingren's thoughts were interrupted when Daohu announced that they have arrived at their destination and the car coming to a stop.

"Can you stay here and wait for a little while?" Lily asked. "Only come inside thirty minutes later."

"Okay. Are you ready?" Zhuo Jingren asked.

"Of course." She smiled while fixing her hair. She grabbed her handbag and checked the time on her wrist watch before she leaned in to kiss Zhuo Jingren on the cheek.

This time, Zhuo Jingren did not blush or freeze. Instead he gave her a cheeky smile as he watched her get out of the car. He touched the spot where Lily had kissed him and thought about the kiss he received from Lily this morning too. This was the second kiss he received from Lily in a day and it warmed his heart.

….

Meanwhile, Tang Lingyun checked the time again before smiling sweetly at Qin Mo. "It just turned seven. I'm sure she won't be late," she said while observing her husband's reaction. As expected, Qin Mo furrowed his brows at her words.

"She better be here. I cannot tolerate a tardy person," he said as he eyed the attendant who was preparing their tea. They were currently in an upscale restaurant well-known for protecting the privacy of their guests. Qin Mo wanted to make sure that no one would know of this meeting, especially Qin Fei.

He knew that daughter of his well. He knew that Qin Fei would be furious if she finds out that Lily had received her late grandfather's inheritance and would come to make a storm if she learns about this meeting. What if something were to happen to his grandchild? Although Qin Fei was already seven months pregnant and her pregnancy was stable, he still couldn't afford to upset Qin Fei and risked her giving birth prematurely. The Qin family was not in a good place right now and their wealth was in the decline. Qin Mo really needed the strong support of Xuan Hui in order to continue surviving in the industry.

Moreover, the Xuan family had been looking forward to having a grandchild for so long already. Qin Mo was certain that Qin Fei would be highly favoured by the Xuan family the moment she successfully and safely gives birth to the Xuan family's first grandchild. Her footing in the Xuan family would be more established and her mother-in-law would also stop comparing her to other women her age who already have one or two children of their own by now.

Qin Mo furrowed his brows again when he thought about the declining stock prices of Qin Industries. June was an important month for him as it marked the end of the second quarter where he would have to report the earnings of the company. Somehow, information about their company's performance was leaked and it became public information that their earnings for the second quarter were not as good as the previous quarter.

Because of this, the value of Qin Industries' stocks dropped further this morning. He really could not understand why the Qin Industries had been experiencing so many problems for the past years. The problems they were facing all these years didn't seem to be market driven, but it seemed as though someone was intentionally sabotaging their company. Qin Mo couldn't think of anyone he might have offended. Who on earth was powerful enough to oppress them for years? That was the only explanation that Qin Mo could come up with for their company's situation.

Qin Mo remembered that all this started more than five years ago. Qin Industries experienced a sudden and big drop in stock value which prompted a lot of their investors to sell their shares. Zhuo Capital came in and bought all the stocks available in the market, saving them in the process. Following that, it had just been a roller coaster ride for Qin Industries. Their stock value would rise high and then fall just as hard. Whenever their stock value drop, there would be investors who would sell their stocks away in a panic and Zhuo Capital would buy all of them up. It was a never-ending cycle that always involved Zhuo Capital.

Sometimes, he would think that he might have offended Zhuo Jingren in a way or something. But he would quickly shake the thought out of his head. Why would Zhuo Capital attack him? He never had dealings with the man, so how could he have offended him? Moreover, Zhuo Jingren wouldn't have the time to intentionally pick on them… Right?

…

Panda Novel