Subconscious Habit

"This is none of your business." Mo Lihua replied with a glare. Initially, she is slightly glad to see Piore still alive and healthy.

"I am your guardian and it is my business moving forward. What you eat, drink or wherever you go." He spoke with indifference.

"Oh, add as well the 'who you interact with' is also my business," Piore added, his hand opens in front of Mo Lihua, silently asking her to hand over her medicine.

Then he continued when she did not budge. "Give it to me." His voice does not allow refusal so does not have any choice but to hand over her pen to him.

This action alone proves that Mo Lihua will need to follow Piore's arrangements moving forward, whether she likes it or not. She also doubts if her father would have a say regarding this.

Should she be thankful that at least Piore is her guardian? Probably, she can still do something to turn things in her favor, especially if she can have Piore work her instead.

"Why are you cooperating to them Piore?" Mo Lihua asked as she stared at him intently.

She always remembers him playing along with the whims of those from the main branch of the family. However, Mo Lihua also knows that Piore can be deceiving like this.

After all, the kill that made the elders notice Mo Lihua before was done by Piore. He single-handedly disposed adults from the main family that is way older and experienced than him. That time he was only a teen...

He saved her before more than ones, thus Mo Lihua is mostly fine to interact with Piore. However, now that he is helping with the selection as a guardian, she is not sure anymore.

Piore is currently sniffing her pills before taking a very tiny bite to taste it and instead of answering her.

"Who's side are you cousin?" Mo Lihua tried to ask differently.

Piore raised a brow, "Side? Mine." He answered with a grin.

He then added after throwing her remaining pills on his unfinished ramen soup. "Do not take these anymore. No need to try hiding the pills from me as well. It will be a waste of effort."

"What do you mean yours on your side? Are you just going to watch me fighting for this useless Selection?" Mo Lihua questioned with indignation. When he says, hiding the pills are a waste of effort, it is probably really the case since Piore is very sensitive to smell and taste of medicine.

"Useless. True. It is not important for those that are cowards. Isn't it ironic? You are upset when I killed those men when they are useless themselves. Now you are part of something that others wanted so badly so they have the chance to rule everyone else. A chance to change everything but still calls it useless." Piore noted with indifference, but his eyes looked at Mo Lihua like he is very disappointed.

He then stared at her intently from the head down. "So you are happy with all this? Pretending to be something you are not. Hiding behind your father that can only use his money to temporarily get out of the family."

"Piore stop." Mo Lihua muttered through gritted teeth as her fists clenched tightly.

"At least for me. Even if I am still at the bottom of the family tree, I do not need to force myself to do these unnecessary things. I can bet your moth-" His sentence was halted before his eyes narrowed at Mo Lihua dangerously.

"Clang" The sound of a fork that was thrown on the side of Piore's neck before it fell on the ground. It did not take long before a small gush of wound started bleeding on his neck.

"I said stop!" Mo Lihua shouted eyes blazing with anger as she glare at Piore. Her both hands holding a table knife each, a silent warning that her next action will aim for a kill.

"Heh. Truth always hurts. See, you almost snap and try to kill me. If you have the ability, you can always try." Piore taunted as he shrugged his shoulders. He wiped the blood on his neck using his thumb, before licking the blood off it, acting like is not a big deal.

"Enough. If you are going to be my guardian, you must cooperate with me, not annoy me." Mo Lihua said. She knows there's is no escaping if she is really part of the Selection. Then the least she can do is to stay alive until the next head is chosen.

"Hmm. Why? Do you plan to win or you just plan to stay alive? Cause if you want the later, I will just enjoy the show." Piore replied like he completely understood what Mo Lihua had thought. "I am not interested to waste my time with losers."

"That's rude." Mo Lihua smart response. She was unable to rebut better as she never intended to win. Even the first time of the selection she never had the strong desire to win.

"Well, I am not forbidding you to meet your pretend boyfriend now. Which by the way is rude to make him wait. Wow. Speaking of which, you enjoy living on a lie. Is this what they call subconscious habit? Even if you don't need it, you still do it."

"You sure are talkative today Piore." Mo Lihua dismissed his statement even if he has a point. Sometimes people tend to do things just because they are used to it, even if they regret it after.

Mo Lihua sent a message to Yang Chen and Yu Qiao that she will be late. She then frowned as she noted the possibility of the men already at the restaurant.

"Ah! I don't want to be around you if you are like this. Makes me feel that you will stab me on the back." Piore uttered with a smile.

'Yeah. Go away or I will really stab you at the back, multiple times.' Mo Lihua thoughts to herself.

"So let us stop this pretend things. Starting now." Piore then swiftly removed her glasses before she can even react to what he said…

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Author's note:

Hi guys! Thank you for the get well words. I think it is the season for cold, even though it summer.. Huhuhu! Do not worry, I am getting better.

In addition guys, I believe I have clarified that the current events are now the present events not the flashback from Chapter 44. This is to avoid confusion and save our energy when questioning about it. Feel free to let me know if you guys need further clarification via my discord channel: https://discord.gg/Azanwkh

Let me know still if there's any corrections.