14 14. Trust me; I will never leave you

The woman kept on saying this while approaching Mingxia, who was on the floor, weeping badly. Her arms were rolled over her shoulders, and her eyes were red from crying. She heard yells from the other side of the room—yells from a familiar voice. There he was standing, Mu Lixin calling her. Mingxia glanced at him and cried more. If only he had known she was broken, he would not have picked her up. Mingxia sighed and closed her eyes, finally waking up to the real world.

She stood up from the bed gasping for air; her skin was pale to the core, her face red from insufficient oxygen, yet warmth filled her heart. An unexpected warmth engulfed her. Mingxia blinked open her eyes to find Lixin clutching her body, worried sick about her. After he had put her to bed, Lixin went to take a shower, and when he came to give her medicine, he was scared to the fullest. Mingxia's body had whitened, and she kept tossing around the bed, mumbling incomprehensible words. He had called her names many times, but still no response.

"Are you okay?" Lixin asked, pulling her head into his embrace. He kissed her forehead and said, "I am here. They won't harm you." Those were the only words he could think of. To him, it was the first time he had seen her this weak since he met her. He also noted that Mingxia had been through a lot but had not assumed that it was this grave.

"I…" Mingxia muttered, unable to find words that could be comprehended easily. She also found it difficult to explain how she felt now. Her body a while ago was stiff, and this woman—her past self—kept echoing the words she always ran away from. "I saw myself bleed to death. I want it to end. I want this misery to end! I cannot keep this up."

"It is just a dream. I will never allow you to go without a befitting revenge. Mingxia, do you trust me?"

"Mingxia, do you trust me?" She heard him say it, and suddenly, all her worries disappeared. She leaned properly into his embrace and wiped her tears with the back of her palm. Glancing at him, she pouted her lips and nodded her head. Mingxia hated to make him worry about her. It was so obvious that he was afraid of her from the sweaty and perturbed expression on his face. She did not know how he did it, but he did it. He gave her trust that no one had ever given her. "Go to sleep. I will watch over you." Lixin rubbed her forehead and helped her back to her pillow. He stood up, went to the bathroom, and gazed at himself in the mirror.

"Whoever did this to you, I will make them pay a thousand folds."

............

Next Day.

The sleeping beauty tossed around the bed with her arms, searching for a masculine figure. When she found none, Mingxia's eyes widened as she discovered herself alone on the bed and in a foreign environment. This was not the penthouse they had lodged in last night. She became alert.

"Mu Lixin?" She called his name softly, trying to recall what had happened yesterday and why she was in another place. The door was pushed open by an air hostess who had some female clothing in her hands. She greeted her politely, handing them over to her. "Are we on the plane?" She blurted it out.

Yes, Miss Zhou. The young master has requested that I help you with showering and other things you would not be able to do because of your condition. I hope you do not mind." She asked, helping Mingxia into the wheelchair and taking her to the bathroom.

Minutes later, Mingxia felt refreshed and clean. Her hair was plaited into a ponytail, and small hairs dangled on her face as bangs. On her body was a vintage black and white office suit, and on her face was faint and simple makeup. As she was rolled into the main suite of the plane, Mingxia's mouth broadened in disbelief at the famous, lavish interior design of the plane. A 34-inch plasma television hung a few feet away from her. The chairs were in the latest modern silvery black embroidery. A gold chandelier hanging from above. Even though her family made it to the top twenty of the richest elite in Wuhan, she had never witnessed a beautiful interior like this. Her mind wandered off to the question she first asked when they met. Who was he? Who was he to have a private jet with an interior worth more than twenty million dollars? He was someone whose identity she so much wanted to unveil. Everything about him was so mysterious, including the mask!

"Have you had your breakfast?" Lixin quizzed herself about taking over from the air hostess. He wheeled her to the small kitchen suite opposite her. Turning on the gas cooker, he heated some canned meals and fried an egg for her. "Eat this. Today would be a long day. The court hearing would last about three hours." Mingxia shook her head, sniffing the delicious aroma of her breakfast. Her stomach growled, and embarrassingly, she peered at him. Lixin was wearing a matching pair of comfortable and casual clothes with a yellow, smiling emoji as his shirt's print and matching colored trousers to pair it up.

"You must have been starving. I have not eaten myself." Mingxia cutely replied, tugging some hair that fell on her face behind her ears. Lixin laughed at her simple gesture and urged her to take the first bite. It was not homemade, notwithstanding the simple aroma any homemade food would possess. He normally flew on business trips using this private jet, which is why the fridge was stacked with microwavable canned foods. "This is delicious." Her thumbs flew up in the air, praising him wholeheartedly.

She ate every bite of the meal on the table while savoring its best taste. They were all Western-made meals nonetheless, and they tasted so good. There was corn beef, hot porridge, bread and eggs, and two glasses of milk on the table. She sipped the warm milk and felt much better than before. Her hunger disappeared quickly as she was fed to the fullest.

"I hope you slept well." Lixin started the conversation lightly so as not to thread her back to last night. He wanted more details on what she saw—what made her bubbling pale like she was yesterday. He was curious to know what type of nightmare she had. "About last night..." Lixin took a halt, giving her some clues about last night. He did not want her to feel deserted if she needed someone to share her worries with.

"Last night?"

Mingxia's joyful voice lessened as she gazed away from his trail of sight. He noticed her new reaction and did not probe further. As long as she was okay, he was going to try to forget last night's event. "Did I do something wrong...?"

"I was just joking!" He chuckled, ignoring her statement. Lixin saw how disturbed she was and did not bother pushing his luck forward. It was best she did not recall anything that happened, no matter how curious she was to know. He had his ways of doing things; besides, he had sent his assistant to investigate her history. "Here is the case prompt. "Read it, and when you are done, you can ask questions."

"Okay." Mingxia agreed, took hold of the documents, and at a glance understood everything. It was very similar to Mira's case, which she handled before Huang Yichen fired her from her law firm. "Lixin, do you trust me to handle this case? I am not backing out at all. This is not that hard, but I want you to know that many might think I am an amateur in court."

"Why do you say that? Are you referring to the rumors circulating about your father purchasing all your certificates for you? If that is your worry, think again. I have witnessed your professionalism many times. Although he bought your certificates to shame you, he will never be able to buy your enthusiasm to fight for the weak. Your passion defines who you are." Lixin said he was relaxing his legs on the coffee table. He concentrated on filing up and ending today's meeting with the shareholders on the Zoom chat group; subsequently, he peeked at her circling some items with a pencil. "What are you doing?" Her attitude piqued his curiosity. Was she seriously squiggling on his document?

"Oh, this?" She held the pencil in close sight, scrambled against the three files, and handed the one she was done reading to him. She sat close to him and began to explain. "This is not as crucial a case as I imagined. I have handled such cases before. Do you have evidence of him threatening you for your inheritance?" Lixin blinked, staring immensely at her professional and mature guise. He had never seen her this specialized in law before; he never assumed she was this good. Perhaps it was fate that led her to be his lawyer.

Yes, both in audio and video. He started harassing me a few months after my mom died. He threatened me and kept sending hooligans to invade my private space. I was a little boy then, so my mind never thought he was the one doing it. When I was eighteen and ready to assume the chairmanship of Mu Group, he came boldly out in the open and began troubling me. I had repeatedly recorded him intimidating me and pressuring me to give up the company. At first, he made it appear as if he was helping to relieve the burden of being the youngest CEO of Wuhan; nevertheless, later on, it was so visible that he had ulterior motives behind his pesters."

"You had to keep up with this for how many years?"

"A whole six years!" Lixin replied honestly. Never had he opened this far to a psychologist rather than an outsider. He marveled at her observant nature. She did not allow any details of his to be wasted, as she jotted all of them down on a blank piece of paper. "This lasted for almost seven whole years before I kicked him out. I stopped him from having access to any of my late mother's properties, and that was when he began to show his real color. He became a vicious wolf instantly. He blackmailed me on the internet, saying I killed my mother and tagged me as a murderer. It took some hours to clear my name with evidence, thanks to the strong, upright public relations department of Mu Group. He still did not stop there. Furthermore, he has become brazen, knowing he has a stronger backup."

"And that's where my father came in." Mingxia snorted, annoyed at how the roles of fathers were taken lightly. During ancient times, fathers were loving and caring; nowadays, they are only after inheritance! "Can I have the audios you've collected? I want to scrutinize it properly. See if I can find any missing loopholes you never saw."

"I will have them sent to your email in a second."