"Zhou Yu's not the only secret - I'm sure you did not tell her about what happened with Bai Shi Ting? With Wu Shang Jing. Are you scared that she'll leave you after she knows?"
Jingwei spluttered, all earlier bravado gone. Instead, he was filled with an overwhelming dread at the truth of his father's words.
Sun Haowei smiled nastily, having made his point.
Xue Ning could only blink in surprise at the sudden change in his mood. She didn't know Sun Jingwei long enough for him to be spilling all his life's secrets to her, but if they were all pain in the asses like Zhou Yu, she would understand why
"Well, I've already met Zhou Yu," Xue Ning said, shrugging casually. "She's a real piece of work."
Even if Sun Haowei made sense, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right!
"You have? When?" Jingwei asked, panicking.
"At Lady Su Yan's place," Xue Ning said ominously. "I'll tell you more about it later."
Jingwei could only console himself with the fact that Xue Ning still wanted to talk to him later. So whatever happened with Zhou Yu couldn't be that bad…right?
Maybe he should call Lady Su Yan for a brief summary, just to get more information.
"And I don't know anything about the other two names, but that's fine for now. I'm sure Jingwei will tell me the truth in due time, Old Master Sun. Thank you for worrying about me," Xue Ning said, somehow managing to make his father's title sound like an insult.
Sun Haowei bristled at her tone.
"Now weren't we negotiating about Jingwei's dowry?" Xue Ning asked. "Oh wait, I mean his worth."
"I'm the bride?" Jingwei thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Sounds fair. As long as you're the husband, I'm fine with that!"
"I'm not fine with that!" Sun Haowei seethed, pissed at the thought of his youngest son being talked about as a bride. "And he does not deserve half my inheritance - Jingwei has put in no real work in running the business!"
Behind Sun Haowei, Tianwei had to stop a pleased smile from forming on his lips. Just as he predicted, everything his father owned will indeed be left to him alone. Out of brotherly feelings, he'll make sure to leave Jingwei a sizable share so he could live the rest of his days in comfort, provided he didn't cause any trouble for him.
"Why not? Jingwei is also your son, and you only have two children right?" Xue Ning shrugged easily. "How can he get nothing? It stands to reason that he's worth half. Unless… Do you have illegitimate children roaming around?
Sun Haowei's face paled for a split second, before it regained its customary reddish hue of anger.
Behind him, Sun Tianwei caught that brief moment of fear. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Meanwhile, Captain Mu inhaled sharply after registering all her words. His entire team also looked shell-shocked at the nerve of this woman, but none of them could interfere without Old Master Sun's explicit orders.
The last time someone said something disparaging about Old Master Sun, his team had to restrain that offending party and cart him away in a body bag.
(Of course, no one else knew that. Captain Mu and his team prided themselves on discretion. There was a reason why they could remain in Sun Haowei's employ for over a decade.)
Normally, Old Master Sun would order them to have Miss Li 'taken care of', but now he couldn't, because his own son was in the way, throwing his weight behind her. If he tried anything, Sun Jingwei may sacrifice himself for her, and his death wasn't worth the trouble!
If Sun Jingwei died, Sun Haowei could just as suddenly have a change of heart and have his entire team imprisoned. A decade of working as a bodyguard for the most corrupt of individuals had taught him to protect his team's interests, first and foremost!
But this woman, Li Xue Ning, wasn't done.
"I did hear rumours about you keeping mistresses, and I'm sure Jingwei had to pick up his womanising behaviour from somewhere." She said, patting Jingwei's arm to let him know she wasn't insulting him on purpose.
"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. If you're mad at his actions and decisions, you should be reflecting on your abilities as a father."
"You insolent, impertinent - " Sun Haowei panted out, his eyes bulging with hatred. One hand was thumping his chest, while the other hand inched closer to the teapot.
Jingwei tensed, eyeing the hand warily. He stood in front of Xue Ning, his arm outstretched to shield her.
If they wanted to hurt her, they would have to go through him.
Unfortunately, Xue Ning didn't appreciate his efforts. She merely pulled him back by his collar so he was behind her again!
"Don't be ridiculous," she chided. "I'm the bodyguard here, remember?"
At this declaration, Captain Mu could only stare at her in distaste. This woman dared to call herself a bodyguard? With her lack of skills and poor attitude?
Old Master Sun said that Miss Li would have access to any bodyguarding academy. Was he planning to bribe Miss Li into the famed Imperial Guardian Academy in Berlin that was famous for having ridiculously high standards?
More importantly, this tiny woman wanted to be a bodyguard?
That was preposterous!
More than her gender and her size, it was her temperament that made her unsuitable. Female bodyguards were rare, but he knew of 'Lipstick Daggers', a Russian organisation that specialised in training female bodyguards.
Bodyguards had to remain cool, calm and collected. They weren't supposed to respond to provocations - their responsibility was to secure the safety of their client, not to engage in verbal fist fights!
With how easily she got riled up in Jingwei's defence, she would never be able to pass the tests given!
Old Master Sun must have known it too, hence he made this offer. If she had accepted, she would be richer, but the bodyguard dream would still remain just that. Some people were simply not cut out for this line of work.
"I know, I know, but I always want to protect you," Jingwei said seriously. "Especially from my family. My dad would fling that hot pot of tea at you without hesitation!"
They looked at said father, who was strangely enough, not doing any of that.
Sun Haowei's eyes were still bulging in anger, and his hand continued to rub his chest, as though he was in pain. But he panted desperately, as though he couldn't get enough air, and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead despite the cold air conditioning.
He pointed a shaking finger at the both of them, trying to speak, but his voice was weak and uneven, a far cry from the loud roaring he did earlier.
"Ungrateful… you'll pay…suffer…"
Suddenly, Xue Ning had a feeling something was horribly wrong. It couldn't have been a food allergy, for Sun Haowei didn't eat anything strange. That means…
"Father, what's wrong?" Jingwei asked anxiously. His father had never behaved like this before.
"CALL AN AMBULANCE!" She screamed, and everyone jumped in surprise. "Your father's having a heart attack!"
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