9 Are you serious?

"I don't know. Is your brother still interested in having a girlfriend?" she asked him with a smile.

"Are you serious?"

"No, I am not joking at all. I was threatened to have a boyfriend and stay away from your powerful friend, Lu Tian," she replied to him casually as though she was telling a story.

"You are joking, right?" he asked her worriedly. He looked like he was trying hard not to believe what she was saying.

"No one would believe me. That was why I did not tell the police. I heard some people believe I was mishandled by a man while selling my body," she murmured with a sad smile. She sounded very emotional as tears clouded her eyes.

"I . . ."

She scoffed in self-pity. "I did not tell you to make you beef with your friend or even tell him anything. I will recover soon and return to work. When I do, I will be able to walk properly. Could you give me six months break?

"You could also fire me for speaking ill of your friend," she told him seriously.

"Are you sure?" he asked her coldly as he met her gaze.

She laughed and shook her head. "I hope you don't fire me. I am enjoying my job," she pleaded trying not to sound as pathetic as she felt.

"Do you mean what you just said?" she heard her sister's voice from the door and she froze.

"I was not talking to you," she warned her sister as coldly as she could.

"Do you mean what you just said?" her sister asked angrily.

"I don't want you in my business," she warned the girl fiercely.

"I will kill him," she heard her sister mutter under her breath and ran out of the door.

She tried to go after the girl but she simply fell to the floor. She wondered what her sister was going to do about it but she did not want the girl to get into any type of danger.

The nurse came to her rescue as she was trying to run after her sister with only one of her legs functioning. She turned to Mr. Shen pleadingly. "Please stop her," she begged.

Mr. Shen ran after her sister while the nurses helped her back to the bed.

**********

"You must not do anything," she warned her sister as seriously as she could to let her know she meant every word she said.

"Like you?" her sister asked with a scoff as she folded her arm over her chest.

"Yes, like me because I was the person who got hurt not you," she replied firmly. "Come here. Do you even know who the person is?"

"Of course who would not know?" Ruoruo asked angrily.

"You want to go after a man as powerful as he is?" she asked her silly sister who was just acting out like the youth she was. "Let adults handle their matters themselves."

"I want to protect you. you have protected me enough and now your image has been dragged through the mud," her sister complained as she went to her sister.

Lin Jing smiled and stretched her hand to her and took it in hers when she sat on her bed beside her. "If you want to protect me, you have to stay calm. I almost injured myself going after you. Is that what you meant by protection?"

Her sister pouted guiltily. "I . . .I am sorry," Ruoruo apologized as she rubbed her sister's soft hand. She knew her sister had to keep her hands that soft with the many hand creams she was using.

"It is okay. You were running like you had a gun you would shoot him down with but you came back with Mr. Shen's hands on your wrist. How would you get close to him in that way? His guards would tackle you before you get a meter close to him."

"Are you making fun of me? I am not as weak as you think. I allowed him to bring me here because is your friend and boss. I would not want to hurt him because he could fire you because of that."

She smiled and reached to tuck away a stray strand of hair from her sister's face. Her sister hugged her as soon as she pulled her hand away. "It must have hurt."

Lin Jing sighed and rubbed her sister's back. "It still hurts but I will heal afterward. This is not the first time after all," she replied with a sad smile.

Her sister's hands tightened around her. "You are okay," Ruoruo whispered with her voice so shaky her sister could tell that she was crying before she felt the wetness on her shoulder.

"We will be alright," Lin Jing whispered.

Ruoruo nodded against her sister's shoulder. "Yes, we will."

************

"You have to find the person hurting every woman who approaches you," Mr. Shen warned his friends although he had to tone his warning down because he believed his friend was not really behind it.

"How is she?" Lu Tian asked with an indifferent tone that had Mr. Shen clenching his fist. It sounded like Lu Tian was only asking because he knew his friend wanted him to ask and not because he cared.

"She is alive unlike the last one. At least that is something I am very surprised by," Mr. Shen whispered as he rubbed his face when the thought of losing his friend crossed his mind.

"Then I do not think there is any reason why we should be having this conversation," Lu Tian told his friend monotonously and continued the work he was doing on his computer.

"I wonder why I stayed being friends with someone as heartless as you. I guess that must be because no one I knew got hurt because of you but it is different now."

"Since you know I did not hurt your friend, I guess there is no reason why we should still be having this conversation. She will not be compensated by me because I do not know who hurt her. and if anyone should pay, it should be the person who hurt her."

Mr. Shen stood up and walked out of the office. He was so angry but he did not know what to do because Lu Tian has once spoken to him about this.

Then he had concluded that the person was doing him good by getting rid of all the women who would have been a thorn in his flesh but now he had a whole different feeling towards it. He wanted that person dead for hurting his most competent worker.