15" Perfect Plan!

Waves shot through the water as she threw a pebble into it. Her reflection in the water moved alongside the wave. Ah Cy sighed heavily. Her heart felt heavy and she didn't know why. It has been two months already. And she couldn't deny that it had been the best days of her life but they were times were she became down and she could barely give a reason for it. During such times, she had always preferred to be alone. Luckily for her, Jiu Ming always understood. He was an amazing person and she was lucky to have him around her. But today she wasn't happy. It seemed like Jiu Ming had caught unto her mood too cause he was quiet all day. Ah Cy hadn't bothered to ask why cause she was in a mood of her own, so she simply went to the beach and sat at the shore throwing pebbles into the river.

Lu Shen still hadn't woken up. The reporters on the news said the doctors didn't know how long he was going to remain that way. But wait! Was she worried about him? She had been thinking about him a lot lately. He was even in her dreams like twice or thrice. Whenever she thought of him, her heart ached so she tried to avoid thinking about him but it was of no use. Her mind seemed to work on its own at times like that. This was one of those times. She could feel the familiar feeling of the pain swell up in her chest. It got harder every day to deny the fact that she missed him. Even though he had never done anything worthy of being missed, she couldn't help it. Her heart had always belonged to him from the start. He never wanted to take it from her but it still belonged to him. It sounded stupid, loving someone that didn't love you back. 

Ah Cy sighed heavily again. Ever since she had decided to take her revenge, nothing had been done about it. She still wanted to do it though. She wanted to see Lu Shen on his knees begging for her forgiveness. She wanted to see that triumphant smile that had been displayed on Chang Yang's lips be wiped away. She wanted, more than anything else to show her parents that she was worth something. But how was she going to do all of these if Lu Shen didn't wake up? It all bounced back to him. He was the basis of her revenge. 

 " I haven't even made a plan yet" Ah Cy suddenly said out loud. Then she sighed again and threw another pebble into the water. She had to make a plan first. But she couldn't do it alone. As much as she wanted it, it was hard to come up with something, mostly cause she was never used to something like this. She had always been the good girl, kindhearted and loving,never been one to hold a grudge for long. But if she had realized one thing then it was that those kind of people were the ones that got hurt the most. With what the world was becoming, being kindhearted meant being vulnerable. She had been naive and prone to the damage all her life but she wasn't going to do that anymore. She was going to step up and be what the world wanted her to be. If all she had ever gotten from loving was pain and betrayal then maybe she could get the peace she needed from hating. She had to try it out. She had to take her revenge. There's nothing left to lose.

But what was she even going to do? She couldn't do this alone. Jiu Ming had promised to help her, she might as well take the offer now that she could.

With another heavy sigh, Ah Cy tossed the last pebble in her hand into the water and stood up. She dusted her jeans and set off into the house. Jiu Ming was still in the living room where he had been all day. His face was set into a frown and he was typing furiously in his phone. Ah Cy cleared her throat and when he looked up and saw her, he hurriedly stuffed his phone in his pockets. Her brows furrowed as she watched him. He kept doing that a lot of times but she had never asked him why. It was suspicious but she didn't want to ruin anything by questioning him. She had no right to. She was actually just someone he helped so she wasn't entitled to any explanation from him. She had to tell herself this for like the hundredth time in two months. 

 " Oh hey! Didn't see you come in" Jiu Ming said. Ah Cy sighed and sat down in the opposite cushion.

 " Whats wrong?" Jiu Ming asked.

Ah Cy sighed again. Her nerves were suddenly worked up and all. It was annoying.

 " Umm… I've been thinking a lot these days" she started, rubbing her sweaty palms on her jeans.

 " Thinking 'bout what?" Jiu Ming asked, turning his full attention to her.

 " You once said something…about helping me take revenge" Ah Cy spilled. Just as she said that , she saw something flash in his eyes, like some sort of excitement or something.

 " I did. You didn't say much about it then" 

 " I didn't cause I had to think about it…and now I have, I'm in for it"

There was a short silence and for the first time, it felt very uncomfortable for Ah Cy.

 " Are you sure about this Ah Cy? Once you're in it, there's no opting out" Jiu Ming finally said. His face was blank, she could barely read out any emotion except the seriousness. She wasn't comfortable under his hard stare, it made her heart race even more and her palms sweatier.

 " Why do you have to say it like that? Like it's some secret cult or something" Ah Cy tried to joke. She chuckled but it was no use as the no-joke expression on Jiu Ming's face wasn't wavered.

 " Maybe just to show how serious it is and how serious it can get. Revenge goes a long way, especially this type and on this type of person. It takes a lot and it's not for the weak hearted" He said. Ah Cy refused to take offence by his words. They hurt her but something else didn't sit right with her so she had to ask.

 " You seem to know a lot about revenge. Is this like your specialty?" She asked.

 " Maybe you can say that. Or maybe I just knew a time like this would come. As I said, it goes a long way. Lot of things can go wrong…and there might have to be bloodshed" Ah Cy's eyes shot up at the mention of blood. What was she doing?

 " Are you sure you want to do this?" Jiu Ming asked again when he saw her reaction.

 " Umm… I think I'll… can I have some more time to think about it?" Ah Cy said. 

 " There's no time to think about it anymore. You've had over two months, what more is there to think of?" Jiu Ming said. His voice wasn't raised but it was rude. Ah Cy was confused and surprised. Why was he upset cause she asked for more time?

 " I don't understand. It's my life, isn't it? Why does it sound like you're trying to dictate things for me?" Ah Cy said.

 " A life you almost lost.. because of them. There's really nothing more to think about, Ah Cy"

What happened to understanding Jiu Ming? Who was this guy standing in front of her?

 " Jiu Ming, what has come over you? I never even agreed to it in the first place, why is it getting into your head?" 

There was a short silence where Jiu Ming sighed. He ran his hand over his hair as if to calm himself down and that single action alerted Ah Cy even more.

 " I'm sorry. It's just…it doesn't sit right with me that you'd let them go free like that. After everything they did to you, they hurt you too much for you to forgive them like that" Jiu Ming said. His voice was a lot more calm but there was something in his eyes that Ah Cy couldn't understand.

 " I know but you said bloodshed and I'm not ready for that" Ah Cy said.

 " There is no certainty about that. I was just giving illustrations as to how far it goes in most cases. I wasn't saying you have to go that far" Jiu Ming said. When Ah Cy said nothing, he added,

 " I'm only ready to do whatever you accept. Whenever and at whatever point you're willing to stop, I'll agree to it. Just don't let them off the hook like that" 

Ah Cy sighed and stayed quiet. Jiu Ming had gone from saying spiteful words to sugar coated ones. Why did she suddenly feel so at edge with him? He had never given her any reason to not trust him but now she felt like there were so many things about him she had no idea of. You can't trust someone you don't know. Chang Yang had never given her any reason to doubt her loyalty but she had still betrayed her at the end. No one is worthy to be trusted. She had to be careful. Once fooled, twice shamed.

 " Fine then. I just… I don't have any plan yet. As much as I want to do this, I don't know how to" Ah Cy said with a sigh. Jiu Ming was by her side the next minute, holding her hand and looking into her eyes.

 " That's why you got me. I'm here, we could make our perfect plan together and I'll help you carry it out each and every step of the way" he said. Ah Cy sighed again. There were so many thoughts racing through her mind. Jiu Ming seemed very mysterious at this point. Why was he so intent on convincing her to take her revenge? There was something fishy about him all of a sudden but Ah Cy couldn't place exactly what it was.

 " Fine! If you say so, Jiu Ming, I'm ready to work with you" Ah Cy said. She didn't want to waste anymore time being hesitant. As Jiu Ming had said, they had hurt too much to let them off the hook like that. She just wanted them to realise her worth in their lives, to realise their mistakes and beg her for the forgiveness they didn't deserve. Then she would simply walk out of their lives and leave them to face their misery. That was it, nothing more, nothing less.

Jiu Ming had a smile on his face, but it wasn't the usual heart melting smile. It was wierd and unusual, a little bit creepy. Ah Cy tried to ignore it and simply smiled back.

 " So… what's the plan?" She said.

Jiu Ming's face became set in that seriousness of before.

 " Tell me… so how much do you know about Lu Shen?" He said,his hand crossed in front of him in a businesslike manner.

 " I don't know much" Ah Cy responded. She could see her answer displeased him cause he frowned again.

 " What do you know about his business? That will be his weak point" He asked again.

 " I don't know much about that either" Ah Cy responded.

There was an awkward silence then Jiu Ming said,

 " Well.. what do you know about his mafia?" 

Ah Cy felt goosebumps crawl on her skin as he asked that. The situation was getting more awkward. She didn't know what to say at that point, afraid that whatever she said would make him upset again.

 " I… I don't know anything about his mafia. He never said anything about it to me. I was left out of everything concerning his personal life" Ah Cy managed to say.

Jiu Ming sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed again.

 " Then I guess, it won't be as easy as you want it to be. You'll have to get back into their lives. Get rid of Chang Yang and get closer to him. Make him trust you enough to let you into his personal life then we use the information you get to bring him to his knees" He said. He was looking at Ah Cy, trying to gauge her reaction.

 " How am I supposed to do that? Get back into their lives, they kicked me out. And how am I supposed to get rid of Chang Yang? Lu Shen doesn't trust anyone that much, talk less of me" Ah Cy said.

 " He's not even awake yet" she added, her eyes blinding with tears. She immediately looked down and blinked them back so he wouldn't see them.

 " He's going to wake up. Lu Shen is too much of a fighter to let this hold him back" Jiu Ming said. Ah Cy looked at him with a confused look on her face.

 " How do you know that?" She asked. He looked at her, as if he just realized what he had said.

 " That's not the point. He is going to wake up, we just have to wait" 

Ah Cy swallowed. Her palms were way more sweaty than before.

 " Okay. So what happens when he wakes up?" She asked.

 " The reporters said there's a chance of memory loss when he wakes up. We can deal with that. If Lu Shen wakes up and he doesn't remember anything, it'll be to our advantage"

 " How is that?"

 " You can simply claim to be his wife"

Ah Cy chuckled dryly.

 " We signed the divorce papers" she said bitterly.

 " But it wasn't filed. You two are not officially divorced yet cause he didn't take the papers to the lawyers. So you can search for the papers when you get into his house and destroy it."

 " None of these things would work out. Chang Yang and his parents are definitely not going to let it work"

 " Not if you have your marriage certificate to back up your claim. Trust me, Lu Shen will believe your evidence more than their words" Jiu Ming said. Ah Cy couldn't help but sigh. Here he was again, saying things about her husband like he had known him forever.

 " Once you get in, you can get Chang Yang out. Tell Lu Shen you don't like a third party, make her seem bad in front of him, try acting like a victim whenever he's around, that should work" Jiu Ming added.

Ah Cy said nothing and Jiu Ming sighed. He could see she was still hesitant. He had to convince her, no matter how long it took.

 " What do you think of the plan?" He asked.

 " It's… Do you think I can do all of this on my own?" Ah Cy asked. Jiu Ming held her hands again.

 " Yes you are. You can do a lot more than you think you can. And you're not alone, I'm here with you and as I said before, I'll be with you every step of the way" He said.

 " But you won't be with me in his house. I'll be alone at the mercy of Chang Yang and his parents, what if he's still the same arrogant man, memory loss or not? How then will I pull it off?" Ah Cy said.

 " You worry too much, you know. You'll only be at the mercy of Chang Yang if you want to be. You're a lot more stronger than you give yourself credit for. You're going to have to stand up to them and stand your ground. If they see that you've changed and you aren't ready to listen to them, they'll know their boundaries"

There was silence once again, Ah Cy meditating on his words and Jiu Ming waiting patiently.

 " You just gotta believe in yourself" Jiu Ming said again.

Ah Cy took in a deep breath. She looked at her hand covered by Jiu Ming's and then she looked into his eyes. The usual sincerity she used to see wasn't there,there was something else. She didn't know what it was. She didn't want to try cause she knew it'd only cause her a headache.

 " We just have to wait till he wakes up, right?" Ah Cy finally said.

 " Exactly!"

 " Okay. I'm in" Ah Cy said and Jiu Ming smiled, like that was what he had been waiting to hear all along.

 " Thank you" he said.

 " Why are you thanking me? I should be the one thanking you, I owe you one, you know" Ah Cy said.

 " Just do this. It's more than enough for me"

Ah Cy smiled as he said this and stood up, removing her hand from his.

 " I'm tired. I'll just take my bath and turn into bed" she said.

 " Sure! I'll make dinner" Jiu Ming said. She smiled lightly at him and walked away to her room. Jiu Ming watched her till she was out of sight. His smile faded immediately she left. He took out his phone from his pockets and dialed a number. It rang twice and then the person on the other side picked.

Placing the phone to his ear, he said,

 " She agreed!" 

The other person said something and then the line went dead.