"And don't kiss me here, do you want your father to get another heart attack?"
Xue Ning cried out, pushing away Jingwei's hands. Jingwei's eyes were full of pain as they watched Xue Ning extricate herself from his hold, refusing to let him touch her again.
Now was not the time for him to cuddle; and depending on how things with his father ended up, they might never cuddle again.
His father hated her. And she gave him a heart attack.
Even if Jingwei fancied himself in love with her just half an hour ago, surely this incident would have made him reconsider! She blinked back frustrated tears at how things developed - just when she finally made up her mind to pursue a possible relationship with Jingwei, life had to interfere in the worst way possible.
Sun Haowei had barely managed to survive a heart attack now, but what if he saw her with Jingwei and had a stroke next?
How could she make Jingwei choose between his father and her? He might have chosen her now, but what if he regretted his decision years later?
People could change their lovers, but they only had one set of parents for a lifetime. What if Jingwei finally decided, possibly years later, that Xue Ning was not worth his father's life?
What would happen to Xue Ning after that? How could she go back to a life without Sun Jingwei after experiencing a life with him?
Him choosing his father over her would be the rational decision, but Xue Ning would be lying if she said she wouldn't be devastated by it.
She blinked back more tears, upset at her thoughts.
"Xue Ning…" Jingwei murmured softly, sensing her distress. Xue Ning must have felt so guilty, thinking that she was the one responsible for his father's state. "Come here… don't cry…"
He murmured into her ear as he hugged her once again. "It's not your fault. I know it feels like it… but… it's not. If anyone is at fault, it's me."
The relief Jingwei felt at his father's survival was making room for guilt. It was his insistence on defending Xue Ning, his insistence of continuing their relationship (among other things) that led to his father developing a heart attack.
But his decisions were not Xue Ning's fault, none of this was, and if he could turn back time, he wouldn't have said or done anything differently, other than maybe calling for an ambulance before he opened his mouth.
"Xue Ning, you need to know this. No matter what happened today, I don't regret my actions." Jingwei said fiercely. He tilted Xue Ning's head so he could stare into her eyes. He needed her to understand his feelings.
Xue Ning's eyes widened in surprise, tears beading at the corners.
"Truly I don't. While I love my father, his words were ugly and unwarranted." Jingwei continued, squeezing Xue Ning's hands with his own, refusing to let her shake him off. "Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me. I refuse to let him insult you."
Jingwei's words caused her heart to ache so painfully it almost felt like she was having a heart attack.
"Your father hates me," Xue Ning choked out a sob. "He wouldn't piss on me if I caught fire. If you have any sense, you should leave me alone for good. Knowing you, you'd be so sad if he died."
Surely Jingwei wasn't blind or deaf to miss the vitriol that spewed from his father's lips. They defended each other and their relationship, and now Sun Haowei was lying beside them, unconscious, barely back from the dead.
If something like that happened to her parents, she wouldn't have stayed, no matter how much she loved her partner.
"Yet you still tried to save him," Jingwei replied quietly. "And you succeeded. My father treated you appallingly, insulting your character and the characters of your family. He threatened to have everyone you loved sent to prison, yet you still bothered to save him."
"How could I possibly leave you?"
At his earnest words, Xue Ning's tears finally lost the battle against gravity and rolled down her cheeks.
Jingwei wiped them with his thumbs, making shushing noises all the while.
"If anything, you have every right to leave me," Jingwei started.
Xue Ning gave him a stricken look in response.
"I mean, you're way too good a person for me and my family, and if I were a better man I should let you go to find someone else who truly deserves you. Someone with a kinder, friendlier family that wouldn't be so abominably rude to you." Jingwei continued fervently, willing her to believe him.
He cradled her tiny face in his hands, as though he was holding a priceless Faberge egg, watching as Xue Ning stared at him with disbelieving eyes.
"But because I am a terribly selfish man, I cannot do so. I will not. You are stuck with me forever. Even if you choose to break up with me in future…I'll still be haunted by you. Forever and always."
Xue Ning stared at him disbelievingly. Finding no lies in his eyes, she could only swallow thickly and nod, allowing herself to be pulled back into the comforting embrace of his arms, wiping her tears on his Armani shirt.
Hopefully her makeup was waterproof. She would hate to dirty his shirt.
Jingwei smiled into her hair as Xue Ning was finally in his arms where she belonged. He felt safer, calmer, knowing that she was feeling better.
Meanwhile, the room fell into incredulous silence at his confession. Sun Tianwei had to blink; when did his immature younger brother become such a romantic poet?
To put it in perspective, they watched as a couple was embracing beside the fallen body of their main boss, while his oldest son stood by watching his brother in shock, his attention not even on his father.
Thankfully, Mr Sun was still unconscious. If he realised how ignored he was by them and how their relationship actually got stronger because of him, he might just expire again!
Xue Ning tensed, sensing many prying eyes on her. She tried to pull away only for Jingwei to whine and refuse.
"The paramedics are arriving," Xue Ning hissed into his ear. "Let me go."
"Not in this lifetime," Jingwei said. "But I'll compromise because you asked so nicely."
He released her, but not before landing a kiss on her lips, smiling at her stunned expression. His hand never left hers.
The paramedics soon arrived, and with everyone's attention on the recently resuscitated yet unconscious Mr Sun, no one saw the inscrutable expression that crossed Tianwei's eyes and the way his hands clenched into fists.
In no time at all, Sun Haowei was loaded on a stretcher and transported to the ambulance that had the foresight to drive into the hidden entrance at the carpack, instead of right in front of the hotel.
Hotel security as well as Captain Mu and his team made sure there was no nosy paparazzi loitering around snapping photos, trying to delay the inevitable news from reaching the press.
If people found out Sun Haowei had a heart attack, company stocks would plummet!
As Tianwei was the oldest son, and the son that did not cause the heart attack, he had the honour of riding in the ambulance, while Jingwei and Xue Ning followed behind in Jingwei's car.
Jingwei hurriedly texted Shengli and Yi Ting a quick summary about what happened, downplaying the fact that he and Xue Ning indirectly gave his father a heart attack. He did not need them to know about it, just in case they accidentally let something slip!
Meanwhile, Tianwei stared at his father's slack face, breathing unevenly even with the oxygen mask. He truly did not expect his father to live.
Miss Li Xue Ning had spent the better part of ten minutes giving him CPR to save him, and in that ten minutes, Tianwei had gone from dreading life without his father, to imagining what he could achieve without his father's shadow looming behind him, watching him like a hawk.
To his surprise, in those final minutes, he felt relieved. He was looking forward to inheriting his father's empire and making it his own, without needing to obey his father's orders, or to explain himself.
That fantasy of having everything he ever wanted right within his grasp vanished when his father coughed and began breathing again.
He felt a flash of disappointment so strong that it almost sent him reeling.
Was he becoming some sort of monster, wishing for the death of his father?
No, it cannot be. Surely it must be his brain's way of comforting him regarding his father's near-death incident. His brain was trying to look on the bright side.
And the sight without his father was a lot brighter and more enticing than he realised.
'Father… why are you still alive…?'
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