Chapter 109 - Facing the fear
Recalling that terrible memory, Xiu Mei’s gaze changed. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. Counting slowly in her head, she tried her best not to lose grip of her emotions.
Since she made the decision to stop running away, then what’s left for her to do is to move forward and face her fears.
"Zhu Lin," Xiu Mei’s tone completely changed. She held her head high like a proper miss from the Xiu family with a mix of arrogance and mockery in her eyes. She crossed her arms as she continued, "Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of interesting news about the Zhu family around the circle."
Zhu Lin’s eyes widened. He instantly realized what she was talking about and in an instant, his eyes showed fear while he looked at Xiu Mei.
Xiu Mei sneered at his reaction. She approached him and got close enough for him to hear what she was whispering.
"I wonder what would happen once the media hears a wind about it?"
The Zhu family may still have enough power to suppress the news, but once Xiu Mei says a word against it, it would be enough for them to ignore the suppression from the Zhu family.
Xiu Mei looked at his eyes with an icy gaze. "Zhu Lin... you should just sit back and wait, eh? The account from ten years ago, I’ll make sure you pay it back to us with interest."
Zhu Lin bravely faced her cold gaze but his trembling eyes were enough for Xiu Mei that she already threatened him enough.
"Scram." She uttered as a final warning. She rolled her eyes at him before deciding to return to the VIP room she was occupying. She didn’t bother looking back at all and continued choosing her attire for the party.
After that incident, Xiu Mei didn’t return to the office. After pinging her assistant that she won’t be back for the day, she drove off with her car and returned to the Xiu mansion.
"Where’s Mom and Dad?" Xiu Mei asked their butler as soon as she got home. The butler immediately replied that both her parents were out.
"What about my second brother?"
"He is at his study."
Xiu Mei nodded and went straight to her brother’s study slash office.
"Second brother." She greeted as soon as she entered the room. Xiu Mo Ruo flashed a smile at his younger sister and stood up to give her a hug.
"Princess."
The two of them sat on the couch that was in the middle of the room.
"Are you okay now?" Xiu Mo Ruo asked.
Xiu Mei nodded, assuring him that she was truly fine already.
"I am very much okay now, brother. Lu Chen and Lu Qiang helped me a lot at home during the recovery period."
Xiu Mei paused for a second before smiling. Somehow, she was already unconsciously calling Lu Chen’s home ’her home’ now. Even though it’s only been a few weeks, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of belonging at their home now.
"Well, just tell me if that guy bullies you okay?"
"If he bullies me, do you think he would get away unscathed?"
Xiu Mo Ruo paused to think before replying, "That guy is very sly so he would surely outwit you and get away with it."
"..."
Fine, Lu Chen really is way sneakier and more intelligent than her. In front of that husband of hers, she is just a paper tiger ah.
"Anyways brother, that’s not why I’m here." She said.
"Can I see all the information we have from my kidnapping ten years ago?" Xiu Mei added.
As soon as those words escaped her mouth, she noticed Xiu Mo Ruo stiffened for a second after being caught off guard.
He cleared his throat, feeling suddenly uneasy about her request. The kidnapping incident is a taboo topic every time Xiu Mei is around so their family would always avoid mentioning any related topic about that. But now... she was asking about it from him.
Xiu Mo Ruo knew that he wouldn’t like whatever her next words would be.
"W-why are you suddenly asking about that?"
Xi Mei bit her lip as if she was still hesitating. After thinking about it for a few more seconds, she raised her head and steeled her gaze towards her brother.
"Brother, I... I want to stop running away from it anymore."
Xiu Mei took a deep breath while bowing her head and playing with her fingers.
"All these years, I thought that I only needed ’time’ and then the wound would heal itself. But I realized that I was just fooling myself for the past ten years."
"That no matter how much time had already passed, the wound never healed and scarred. It still feels fresh, as if all that nightmare just happened yesterday. I... I never got better because I was running away from it."
She raised her head again to look at her brother.
"I was running away from the pain, denying acceptance and just keeping everything inside my mind and heart. And that made me feel worse. Because I never chose to face that fear, I only became a coward in each passing day."
Tears were pooling in her eyes and noticing this, her brother pulled her for a hug. He patted her back gently, trying to comfort her.
"So now, I want to change my choice, brother. Let me remember it, every piece of detail that I’ve already buried somewhere in my memories, all details from that night. I want it all back. Then maybe, in the future, we can finally close this case and move on for the better."
Her voice kept trembling when she was saying that. Despite that, her eyes were resolute on her decision. Xiu Mo Ruo read her younger sister’s face and even if he wanted to persuade her to not look at the files, seeing that resolution in her eyes made him waver.
He couldn’t deny his younger sister what she wanted. Even if what she wanted was something that would hurt her again and again.
"Are you sure?"
"I’ve already made up my mind, brother. And that will not change.’’
Her second brother stared at her for a little longer when he heard him sighing deeply.
"I understand. I’ll send you the files to your email so you could take a look at them."
Because all the hard copies of the files they had about the incident are at his father’s office, he couldn’t just carelessly take it out from the vault. He would still need to inform first his parents about Xiu Mei’s decision before he could give her the printed files. For now, all he could provide is the encrypted folders that they had about the incident.
"If ever you need someone, we’re just one call away okay?" Xiu Mo Ruo smoothed her hair while reminding her that. Xiu Mei nodded and promised him.
After chatting with him for a little while longer, Xiu Mei finally decided to go back home. She bid goodbye to her brother and their butler before returning back to her new home.
That night, after tucking in Lu Qiang to bed, she opened her emails and saw the encrypted file that her brother sent her.
Her mouse pointer hovered over the file, still a bit hesitant whether she was really ready to open that file and remember all those memories again.
While she was still hesitating, she received a sudden call from Lu Chen.
"Hello?"
"Wife, it’s me."
"Hmm. I know."
"...are you okay?" Lu Chen quickly caught up on her weird tone at the end of the line.
"I am. I think."
"Did something happen?" He worriedly asked. Lu Chen faintly glanced at the people in the conference room before signaling to them to take a quick short break for now.
He hurried back to his office and focused on his conversation with Xiu Mei.
"...Chen."
"Hmm?"
"How I wish that you’re here with me right now."
As soon as Lu Chen heard that, his heart grew warm yet he was filled with more worry after noticing the gloom in her voice. He was clueless as to why Xiu Mei was like that and now, all he wanted to do was to fly back and give her a tight hug to comfort her.
But no matter how much he wants to question her right now, he still chose to wait and listened to her next words.
"Chen."
"Hmm?"
"Can you stay with me on the line for a little longer?" She requested, her grip on her phone tightening while her eyes are still glued on her laptop.
"Of course, my wife."
"Okay. Then, just stay with me like this for a minute."
As soon as she said that, Xiu Mei reached out for the mouse and clicked on the file. She watched it getting downloaded and opening the doc.u.ment.
And the very first thing that she saw when she opened it was the date.
The date when it all started.