CHAPTER 17: THE AUDACITY
Long Zhan was in bliss in his la la la land when he was suddenly and forcefully hauled from the bed. He opened his eyes in panic as two men in black dragged him out of bed and out of his room. He came to his senses at once when he felt the dangerous auras of these two men.
"You.. Who are you people? "
They remained silent as they continued to drag him down the stairs.
"Do you know who I am? Release me this instant."
They had already reached the bottom of the stairs and released him as he had wished. Long Zhan adjusted his eyes to the sudden bright light in the living room.
He turned back to find Zhao Xia and Zhao Haoran seated on one of the couches comfortably, looking at him. About ten men were standing at attention behind them. He looked around to see frightened maids in one corner of the living room, huddled together as they glanced at the twelve people who had barged in earlier, in dread.
Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. He shakily pointed his forefinger towards Zhao Xia. She was supposed to be almost dead by now but she was alive and in good shape in front of him.
"Y...y you.... aren't..."
"I am not what? Dead? Sorry to disappoint you Mr. Long but as you can see I am still alive and well."
"Wh..what do you mean?"
Zhao Xia let out a chuckle before questioning back.
"What do I mean? Mr. Long, you really take me for a fool, don't you? Sending men to kidnap me, torture me and even rape me, are you even humane?"
"I did nothing of that sort."
"Oh...really. Am I wrong?"
Long Zhan felt a chill down his spine, all of a sudden. He looked at the man seated beside Zhao Xia and when he accidentally made eye contact with him, he hurriedly looked away. Geez, that man was scary when angry.
"Ye...yes. You are wrong."
Zhao Xia stretched out her arm and one of the men behind her passed her a phone. She clicked on a video and showed Long Zhan the contents of it. A man, Long Zhan could easily recognize anywhere was now battered black and blue. In the video, another man interrogated him.
"Who sent you to kidnap Mrs. Zhao?"
"Lo...Long Z....Zhan."
The video stopped playing and Zhao Xia handed the phone back to the man.
"Anything else you want to say?" She asked but received silence as the answer.
"Nothing? Oh look at you now. Dropping your head in shame because you couldn't get rid of me that easily as you expected. Is this the extent of your hatred towards me?"
"No, it's greater."
"Well, it's good to be honest. Let me also be honest with you today. I know you aren't my real father."
Long Zhan's head suddenly snapped up as he looked at Zhao Xia in astonishment.
"Have you ever heard of the Aiguo family in Japan?"
Long Zhan looked at her blankly before his eyes widened in surprise. "Y...you are his daughter?"
"Yes, I am the daughter of the man you betrayed twenty three years ago. Now that you tried to harm his daughter, I wonder what's in store for you. You would have been luckier if your final moments fell into my hands, but unfortunately dad has been waiting for this moment for a long time. He has been waiting patiently for you to make another grave mistake so that he can strike the iron when it's hot. Guess what, Mr. Long, you just dug your own grave."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you are being shipped to Japan tonight. The members of the J.U will be waiting for you at the port. You could have treated me better when you had a chance but you treated me as your ragdoll. Karma hurts like a bitch, huh?"
"What is J.U?"
"Japanese Underworld."
"Wh...what?"
"The man you betrayed twenty three years ago, is the boss of the J.U ....and my father."
Zhao Xia watched as her father sat dejectedly on the carpeted floor. He opened his mouth and closed it , at loss for words.
"L...Long Xi...."
"It's Zhao Xia, Mr. Long."
"Ye..Yes, Zhao Xia, when you ship me away, what will happen to your younger brother and sister? "
"Am surprised that the first thing you ask about is about the two siblings and not your cherished business..... Anyways, Long Fang and Long Wei never cared about you and they will never do. With the way, you snobbed them since they were children, what did you expect to happen? You forced them to do things they never wanted in life. Just like me, you used them as your pawns and ragdolls. Long Fang has always wanted to be an artist but you forced him to become a doctor. Long Wei wanted to become a lawyer, yet you forced her to fake a smile and lead a fake life in front of the cameras. You ruined your own children's lives and you expect them to care whether you are alive or dead?"
"I....I...I am sorry, Zhao Xia." He uttered, his eyes downcast.
"The audacity to say that you are sorry. You could have better kept that meaningless apology to yourself, instead." She stood up and her husband followed suit.
Long Zhan looked at the dreaded couple in front of him.
"I will see you in Japan, Mr. Long." Zhao Xia said as she left the living room. Zhao Haoran asked her to wait for him in his car as he remained behind to 'speak' with Long Zhan.
Once she left, Zhao Haoran walked towards the frightened Long Zhan who was still seated on the floor. He flicked his arm and two men came forward hauling him from the floor. They held him by the arms and Long Zhan watched as Zhao Haoran put on a black leather glove on his right hand.
Long Zhan didn't know what happened but the next moment, his head was suddenly whipped to the side with force he was sure he could have a whiplash. He had been slapped....and not just a slap, but a powerful slap from the boss of the Chinese Underworld.
Long Zhan coughed up blood and saw stars at first, before fully regaining consciousness. He looked at Zhao Haoran fear evident in his eyes, meeting his cold gray orbs.
"That was for putting my wife in harm's way." He removed his glove and passed it to the man standing near him.
"You are lucky that you are being taken to the Japanese underworld, otherwise you could have gone through all tortures known to mankind had you landed in my hands."
With that, he turned around and left joining his wife in the car.