There was complete silence. The news had shaken everybody badly. In one moment, everything was going smoothly. Victory was in their hands.

  　　But at the very next moment, the curtain of darkness had fallen. Here Wei was, fighting between his life and death. The sound of the bullet had left a sharp silence behind it.

  　　The whole family was at the Yang residence. They insisted on going to Mingshen's lab where he was doing Wei's surgery, but Mingshen had strictly forbidden it.

  　　"My lab is not a fish market," he had icily remarked. 

  　　The only people he didn't stop were Lihua and Jia, who were quietly waiting outside for Wei's surgery to be done. 

  　　Lihua stared at the door in silence. Behind it was Wei who lay unconscious with a bullet in his chest. When the news reached her, she didn't know how to react. Her ears buzzed with the ominous message, but her heart refused to believe it.

  　　Shot…Wei is shot…Wei is shot…
　　How…?

  　　Why?

  　　When?

  　　Wei was supposed to come back. 

  　　Everything was over, and Wei was supposed to come back.

  　　So, why did this happen?

  　　She was thinking  the answers to these questions, but she wasn't really thinking at the same time. Her hand was on her belly, softly patting it, consoling her babies that Wei was alright. 

  　　But at one point, she wasn't sure if she was consoling her twins or herself. 

  　　She hadn't shed a single tear ever since she heard the news that dropped like a nuclear bomb upon her. Her heart was filled with emptiness at first. Then her mind was occupied with questions about the chain of events.

  　　Qingqing, who was perched on her side, staring at her with her green irises, jumped onto her belly. 

  　　*Meow*

  　　She nudged her chest with her nose, but Lihua failed to give a reaction. Her eyes were dead straight staring only towards the door.

  　　Lihua was in position to hear the rest of the world. She thought back to that night when she had that nightmare. It was the last night she and Wei had spent together in her apartment as they slept on the bed.

  　　She had seen Wei's chest bleeding. She had seen him lying motionless on the ground, blood seeping upon it. 

  　　She still remembered how petrified she was. And Wei had promised her that he would never die. Nothing would ever happen to him.

  　　But the cruel nightmare had turned into a reality. 

  　　Oh…So it became real…That bad dream became real.

  　　So funny, Lihua inwardly and blankly chuckled. 

  　　Why do bad dreams become reality? I had so many good dreams too. But good dreams always remain only good dreams.

  　　Ah…Then maybe I should go to sleep. I will pretend that I don't want Wei to wake up. That will be my bad dream if he gets all okay.

  　　And then my bad dream will get fulfilled, right? I don't want Wei to wake up. But then he will. He will be alright. I will pretend that I don't want that, so it will definitely happen. 

  　　She patted her belly and talked to her twins.

  　　This is a secret between us, okay? Nobody should know that I will only pretend. I have to make my bad dream come true. My bad dream will be that I wish Wei won't ever wake up. We will trick fate like this. Your mother is a genius, right?

  　　Qingqing furiously started to rub her head more and more, feeling that Lihua was losing it.

  　　She wasn't crying, which was a very bad sign. The more numb she would become, the more threat she would pose to her mind and to the babies inside her.

  　　Jia shook her hard, trying to bring her out of her numbness and daze. "Lihua! Hear me out and just breathe. You are doing nothing but stare at the room like an idiot!"

  　　She didn't wish to be so harsh at such a time, but Lihua wasn't only posing a danger to herself but also her children.

  　　Lihua didn't respond. Instead, the only thing that Lihua could see in front of her eyes was the nightmare. She felt her body trembling by the sight of Wei's blood, but it failed to bring any tears in her eyes. 

  　　Jia gritted her teeth. Her nostrils flared in anger and helplessness.

  　　If I had been cautious…If only I had reacted a second faster, Jiang Wei wouldn't have had to come in the way. 

  　　She dug her nails in her palm, blaming herself for this fatal error.

  　　Jia exclaimed. "Will you stop that already!? Why are you looking like that? It's Jiang Wei! The Mafia King! As if a bullet could kill him just like that," she sneered. "He is destined to die by my hands because he stole my precious sister. He dared to lay his hands upon you. I am not going to forgive him for that. He has a lot of questions to answer, and a lot of torture to to through."

  　　Lihua didn't respond. The more she stayed like that, the more Jia panicked. Her mind was a jumbled mess. She didn't  know how to snap her out of her state.

  　　Suddenly, the door opened and Mingshen  stepped out.

  　　Jia hastily asked, "Jiang Wei-"

  　　"Not over. My assistants are proceeding as I have instructed."

  　　"B-But why are you outside?"

  　　He smiled within the mask as he shifted his gaze towards Lihua. "I heard my lovely Spicy in distress. How could I not come out?"

  　　She glares at him. "This is serious, Yang Mingshen! How could you just leave the operation-"

  　　He waved his hand. "Do you think I will keep a bunch of useless assistants with me in my lab? They can handle it for sometime just fine. I came out to do another surgery."

  　　"Huh? Which other surgery is there apart from Jiang Wei's?"

  　　He grabbed Lihua's and ruthlessly dragged her up. "Her abortion."