Mo Huojin said, "This is kidnapping, CEO Jiang, which is illegal. You cannot keep me here against my wishes."

  "I can and I will," he quietly said.

  He walked past him, but then he stopped as he came across a thought. He walked back and bent on his one knee. Mo Huojin squinted his gaze and wondered what he was going to do.

  Wei slipped his hand in his pocket and took out his phone. He dismantled it and took out the sim card. He held it between his index finger and thumb and snapped it into two pieces.

  Mo Huojin said nothing.

  There go all my numbers. Well, I have a backup of most of the numbers, but damn I have not memorized Song Lihua's number yet!

  He was so busy investigating the other suspicious companies and the leads on the case that he hardly got any time to even look at himself. He couldn't even get any decent sleep in the past week much less memorize a new number amongst a mountain of work.

  Wei said nothing regarding his actions. He simply threw the phone away and left. But before he did, he gave strict instructions to the Shadow Eagle's members. "He shouldn't leave from here at any cost."

  They nodded. "Yes, Boss."

  Wei stared at the empty space ahead and said, "There is another thing."——

  Lihua dragged her tired body to the couch and collapsed on it. There were too many things going on in her life that made a mess of her heart.

  On one hand, there was Wei's engagement. On the other hand, there was still no clue about Song Jia.

  Ever since their last conversation, Wei and Lihua hadn't spoken to each other. She thought that Wei might have left the apartment complex, but he still hadn't. Lihua had no clue why he would still choose to stay here.

  Shouldn't the Boss be busy with all the engagement preparations? The engagement is tomorrow but…


  Tears plopped down her cheeks and she buried her face in the pillow.

  Where are you, sis? I want to tell you so many things. But I don't have you by my side and I feel so lonely.

  Her phone buzzed with a call. It was Meng Ya.

  "Lihua! Let's party tomorrow! I have downloaded tons of good movies. We will binge-watch them tomorrow night! Haha!"

  Meng Ya knew about Wei's engagement as Lihua had told this herself. She also knew that Lihua would feel terribly heartbroken tomorrow. Her first love would exit from her life forever. So, she wanted to cheer her up and make her mind divert from all the sorrowful thoughts.

  Lihua pursed her lips. "I am not in the mood, Yaya."

  "No buts! Lihua, trust me. We will have a blast tomorrow. You cannot refuse!" She harrumphed.

  She faintly smiled. She understood her friend's intentions. "Alright…"

  "En! That's like my girl. We will order lots of food online and then watch movies back-to-back and relax!"

  Lihua talked to her some more and they hung up. She smiled.

  Yaya cares about me so much.

  Her phone buzzed again but this time with a message. Lihua opened it and she jerked up in shock. She couldn't believe her eyes as she saw the sender's name.

  S-Sis! It is sis's message!

  Lihua quickly opened it and read,

  'Lihua. I am so sorry that I couldn't contact you all this time. But I was really busy with my mission and things were pretty serious at one point. I couldn't afford any mistakes. But I just want to let you know that I am fine and safe. I know you must be really worried about me. I am really sorry for that. The mission will take a bit more time and so I cannot guarantee when I would be able to send you a message again. It's also wise for you not to contact me for everyone's safety. Just know that your sister is safe and loves you a lot. Don't stress out because of me, okay? Take care, Lihua.'

  Lihua brightened upon reading her message and her heart was overwhelmed in relief and happiness.

  Sis……it's really sis! She finally sent a message! Sis is safe!

  Lihua felt as if a huge burden lifted off her shoulders. She felt so much lighter than before now that she got some news about Song Jia.

  "Thank God…" she pressed the phone to her chest and shut her eyes.

  But then what about that anonymous letter that said sis was in danger? Shouldn't I ask sis about it? Lihua wondered.

  But in the message, Song Jia told her not to contact her for safety purposes.

  "No, no! I will not take the risk! What if my message gets her into trouble?" She shook her head. "Sis Jia is safe and that is enough for me. Wait! I should tell this to Mo Huojin too! He should know such big news!"

  Lihua dialed his number, but it didn't connect. She tried many times again, but she got the same result. She frowned.

  Strange. He usually picks my call by the second ring…


  *Ding*

  The doorbell rang and Lihua left it at that.

  I will try later.

  Lihua walked up to the door and as she opened it, she stiffened on seeing the familiar figure. Her heart skipped a beat, but then a dull pain also tugged it as she thought about Shi Ruomei.

  "Boss…?"

  Wei stared at her and quietly asked, "Can I come inside?"

  Lihua lowered her head and bit the corner of her lip. "That…En."

  Wei smiled and walked in. Lihua shut the door and wondered what he wanted to talk about. There was silence for a while. She fidgeted with her fingers and shifted in her place from her left foot to right.

  We tilted his head. "Did something good happen? You were smiling when you opened the door."

  "O-Oh!" Lihua said, "Boss you won't believe it!" She got eager and excited. "Sis sent me a message after a long time!"

  Wei stared at her and slightly narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?"

  "En! Sis said that she is safe. She was in a little trouble so she couldn't contact me. But sis is fine! Boss, you don't know how relieved I feel…I was so worried about her."

  Wei nodded. "That's good to hear. What did you say?"

  Lihua pouted. "I couldn't reply. Sis said not to contact her as much as possible. So I don't want to put her in danger."

  "En. Indeed. You shouldn't contact her for a long time," a glint of cunningness flashed past his eyes. "I should say that you don't interfere in her work."

  Lihua slowly nodded.

  Wei silently watched her and took a step towards her. Lihua straightened up. She couldn't meet his gaze so she looked away while her heart thudded in her chest. He gently cupped her left cheek that startled her. Confusion marred her face, but she couldn't move away. The warmth of his big palm and long fingers threatened to spill tears from her eyes.

  She cleared her throat. "Boss I-I don't think-"

  "Tomorrow is a special day," he spoke that made her stiffen. "I want to take you somewhere with me."

  Lihua looked at him, stunned.

  Does he still want me to attend his engagement ceremony? Boss, how could you be so cruel?

  Lihua held his hand and shook it off her cheek. "Sorry, Boss. I cannot come with you. I have already made plans with Yaya."

  Wei pursed his lips.

  After keeping Mo Huojin locked up in his base, he wanted to surprise her with tomorrow's arrangement for their one-month anniversary. Now that he was gone, there was nobody who could interfere between them. But if she didn't agree to come with him, everything would go to waste.

  "Please Lihua. It's really important. Tomorrow will hold no meaning without you."

  Lihua trembled. Her lips quivered and she clenched her fist.

  "Boss-"

  "Please?"

  As she raised her head, she saw his brows tense up. There was the desperation in his gaze that didn't go unnoticed by her. Wei's pleading tone and his pitiful expression tugged her heartstrings.

  Hesitation and confusion filled her heart as much as the pain that stabbed it mercilessly. She faintly smiled, trying to hold back her tears. "O-okay…"

  This is for the best, Lihua. You will get your closure once you see him put the ring on her. It will hurt, but it will end everything once and for all.

  The distress on his face finally faded away with her agreement. "En."

  He pulled her into his embrace and whispered in a hushed tone near her ear. "Thank you."

  Lihua stood rooted like a log of wood. "You-you shouldn't do that."

  Wei blinked his eyes. "Why?"

  Lihua couldn't come up with any words to refute.

  Shouldn't it be Shi Ruomei you should be hugging?

  "T-This is just not right."

  Wei wondered about it but left it at that. For now, he had another important task to do. For that, he needed to drive Lihua away for a few moments.

  "I am thirsty."

  "Huh?"

  "Can I get some water?"

  "Ah……ah yes. One minute Boss…" Lihua scurried away to the kitchen.

  Wei saw her phone lying on the table. His gaze darkened as he picked it. First, he deleted Mo Huojin's number from her contact list. Then he removed the sim card out of her phone and snapped it into pieces just like he did with Mo Huojin's card.