No son should be happy that his father was lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. Just to make sure, she chanced a quick look at Jingwei to see if he thought anything was weird about his brother's behaviour.
"Sure, but wouldn't it be too taxing on you Ge? Are you sure you can handle it?" Jingwei asked, concerned.
"Of course, I've been waiti - trained my whole life for this. It'll be fine. I'll safeguard Father's legacy." Tianwei said as he held Sun Haowei's frail hand in his.
The gesture was supposed to be heart-warming, but Xue Ning internally shivered at the predatory look in Tianwei's eyes.
Did he just say that he was waiting his whole life for this?
Suddenly, she was very glad that Jingwei had no ambitions to take over the company. He'd be eaten alive, and Xue Ning had no clue how to protect him from his own brother.
"Thanks Ge," Jingwei said in relief. "I wouldn't know what to do without you."
From the way Jingwei was smiling gratefully at his brother, he didn't see anything strange or terrifying with his behaviour!
Maybe this was normal in rich families. Maybe all sons wanted their fathers out of the picture to inherit their fortunes.
"No thanks is needed, we are family after all, but there's one thing you must think about." Tianwei continued. "If you and Miss Li are still intent on continuing your relationship, then you shouldn't meet Father often. Or at all. You heard the doctor, we cannot risk him experiencing more stress."
"...I understand," Jingwei said glumly. Xue Ning's heart sank - there it was, not even half an hour later, and Jingwei was already forced to make a choice between her and his father!
He then turned to look at Xue Ning. "I suppose I owe you an apology and a thank you for saving my father's life. But forgive me for saying this, regardless of your relationship with Jingwei, it's best to limit your interactions with my father."
"Sure," Xue Ning readily agreed, even if she had a feeling that Tianwei had ulterior motives for saying things like this, but she couldn't figure out what they were.
Tianwei smirked internally to himself. Not only would it be easier to sow discord between his father and Jingwei, he also didn't want his father to find out that it was Miss Li who saved him.
His father might warm up to her, and that'll ruin his plans! Instead, he was going to claim he saved his father to win him over.
Jingwei might not be interested in the company now, but who knows what could happen in future? He still had to research his father's possible illegitimate children.
The room fell into tense silence as both sons watched over their sleeping father. Xue Ning, sensing that she wasn't needed or wanted, decided to leave the room to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere.
As she walked, she observed that there were hardly any doctors or nurses bustling about; the area was as calm as still water. Very unlike a normal hospital, but then again, only the very powerful would be able to reside on the same floor as Sun Haowei.
As she made a turn around a corner, she blinked at the sight of two police officers in uniform guarding a door to a hospital room.
Police officers? Who was the person in the room that required guarding even when they were hospitalized?
"Excuse me?" Xue Ning asked curiously as she approached them, "May I know who is behind this door?"
"You're not authorized to know this information," one man said curtly.
"Who are you even?" The other one asked. "You don't look like someone that belongs on this floor. But you do look familiar…don't you think so, Lu Sheng?"
Before she could wonder if he meant to offend her, Lu Sheng spoke up.
"Ya Ren, She is the woman from the video, Sun Jingwei's fiance."
"Oh!! Then why are you here?" Ya Ren asked, an interested gleam in his eye. "Something must have happened to either your Sun family or yours."
"You're not authorized to know this information," she parroted his colleagues' earlier line. "I'll leave you guys to it then."
Just as she was about to turn around and leave for good, Ya Ren reached out and pulled her back by the shoulder.
She glared at him and smacked his hand away.
"Don't touch me." Xue Ning hissed.
"Sorry sorry," He said, not sounding apologetic at all. "But don't walk away just yet! If you really want to know, I suppose I can tell you."
"Ya Ren," Lu Sheng scolded, upset. "We're not supposed to let anyone know!"
"Come on Lu Sheng, we've been guarding this man for a week. It's shit boring and I want to talk to someone else that's not you for a change." He protested.
Lu Sheng's face twitched. "That's not a good reason! We'll be fired!"
Ya Ren waved off his objections. "Lu Sheng, don't be a stick in the mud! Besides, this is technically related to her too."
It was? Xue Ning's ears perked up in curiosity, and she began paying more attention.
Lu Sheng shook his head in disapproval, knowing full well that Ya Ren had a weakness for beautiful, sarcastic women, especially those he knew were already attached and played hard to get.
This woman that showed up right in front of them, with her contoured outfit and hair dishevelled like she just had sex, was completely his type!
"Let's trade information, shall we?" Ya Ren asked eagerly. "For a start, what's your name?"
"Not your business," she said. If he found out her name and spread it online, there goes the end of her private life.
"Oooh cold," Ya Ren said, pretending to shiver as he leaned in closer. "I like it. Are you sure you wouldn't want to spend time with me?"
She easily moved away, rolling her eyes - he was just like Jingwei, only less handsome.
"No I don't." Xue Ning crossed her arms.
"Come on, just a while wouldn't hurt -"
Just as she was going to tell him to fuck off and stomp on his foot, a smooth male voice that was entirely too familiar to Xue Ning cut in.
"I beg to differ," she turned around to see Jingwei glowering at Ya Ren's face, his hand grabbing Ya Ren's outstretched hand. "Since you're the one that's going to be hurting."
Ya Ren gulped and tried to pull away, only for Jingwei to hold firm. Lu Sheng had a panicked look on his face but he knew better than to step in.
"Is he bothering you?" Jingwei asked her seriously. "I could have him fired."
"No it's fine, I can handle it," Xue Ning said lightly, and turned to Ya Ren who was still trapped. "Now are you going to tell me who's behind that door, and why is it related to me? Or do you want to talk to him?"
Jingwei caught her hint, and proceeded to glare even more fiercely at Ya Ren.
"Fine…I'll talk," Ya Ren sighed, defeated. "It's more related to him anyway," He said, tilting his head in Jingwei's direction.
"We're told he's a key suspect in the harassment case involving Sun Jingwei, and since the previous suspect died in police custody, we have no choice but to stand guard until he recovers well enough for questioning. In case someone else decides to finish the job."
Ya Ren made a slashing motion across his throat, to emphasize his point.
Jingwei and Xue Ning stared at each other in shock.
That meant that this man was the car driver that tried to run them over back at the restaurant!
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l