Wuthering Heights

Chapter 39: Wuthering Heights.

"Boss, it seems Mr Wang passed away early in the morning today. He suffered a severe heart attack." Wen Chun, Ling Yue's secretary announced as she entered the office. This news was entirely unexpected.

Li Mei who was dilly-dallying in Ling Yue's office became attentive. Someone died? She didn't know who this Mr Wang is, but seems like her Big sis knows him. She looked at Ling Yue to espy some reaction but Ling Yue was still laid back and chill.

Ling Yue noticed Li Mei gawking at her. She looked at her and raised her left eyebrow questioningly. She wanted to know what was going in this little girl's brain.

"Big sis. Who is this Mr Wang?"

"Just someone I met few days ago." came Ling Yue's casual answer. She was not a saint to empathise and sympathise on a stranger's death. That too when that stranger is in cahoot's with her still unknown enemy.

"Oh.. Then, do you have some opinion on this?" Li Mei asked. Looking at Ling Yue's carefree tone, this Mr Wang seems to be a foe more than a friend. Ling Yue chuckled at her question.

"Li Mei. Listen to this and remember ... " Li Mei instantly became intent. Her Big sis was teaching something. She should note everything down.

"You don't have to have an opinion about everything that happens in your life. After all you wouldn't want your brain to become an oven now, do you?" Li Mei shook her head understanding the metaphor.

Li Mei understood this statement extremely well. She herself belonged to this category where everything just happens and she is a spectator enjoying her pop corn.

"And also, this person died because of bad company. So, don't ever get yourself tangled with wrong people. It doesn't end well." Ling Yue gave her piece of advice before going back to her work.

"Sister Wen, instruct the PR department to be alert for the next few days. Take down all the stupid gossips." Wen Chun concurred before leaving the office.

Ling Yue smirked after her assistant left. The prey was rather foolish. It was an easy hunt for her.

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Li Wei too heard this news which was airing since morning. But unlike Ling Yue, who was all sunny and jolly, he was worried and filled with icy dread. How can he not worry?

Someone wanted that sanatorium so badly that they were ready to make a kill. He was no fool to believe that Mr Wang died due to heart attack. Neither was this his concern. His concern was about Ling Yue.

What if that someone reaches to her, and they are left in dark till they were attacked? Since the night he witnessed Xenxi dying, he couldn't help but worry about her safety. No matter what he was doing, a part of him was always worried about her.

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"Marcus" Jade's deep cold voice sounded in the dark room. The black curtains of the room were pulled close, hindering any afternoon light from entering the sumptuous room. The Victorian decor of the room was splendid, encasing it in a splendor of art and elegance.

But amidst the extravagance displayed the room had a stillness, a chilling silence and also a dreadful gloominess.

"How many years has it been?" Jade Nicholas asked his loyal subordinate who was standing in one of the corners of the room.

"Almost fifteen years master." Marcus took two steps forward before answering Jade Nicholas. There were three scars, no, a claw mark on his left cheek. But the scar didn't hinder his strong countenance and air of confidence.

The mark was the emblem of his loyalty to his master which he was proud to wear.

"Hmm... Do you think the girl is dead?" the calmness in Jade's tone was creepy.

"The shaman said she is alive. And we didn't find her corpse either. Soon she will be in our hands master." Marcus replied. His face expressionless. His tone emotionless.

"Hm .. She seems to be good at hiding. I would love to see what that monster has grown up into." Jade Nicholas chuckled. Though they were in a hurry to find her he will take his own sweet time to torture and kill her.

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"Li Mei, how long are you going to stay here?" Li Wei questioned? Dealing with his father and Li Mei were two greatest tests for his sanity and patience. He glared at Li Mei, who was sprawled on the floor and reading novel in Ling Yue's condo.

"Husshhhh.. I am trying to understand few important things here. Don't disturb." Li Mei again went back to her novel. Had she put even ten percent of this current interest in her studies, he wouldn't have so many troubles teaching and tutoring her in her academics.

"What are you trying to understand?" Ling Yue asked as she came out of her room after her online meeting with few foreign business clients was done.

This has become a daily routine now. Li siblings will crash in her place after office and this goes till midnight.

"Big sis. I am reading this Wuthering heights. What is this Catherine's problem? And same with this Heathcliff. Why are they both behaving like psychos?" Li Mei's irritation was palpable. Can't they simply say 'I love you' and get done with all these?

Ling Yue laughed at Li Mei's words. Li Mei was really innocent. Li Wei too had read this book once but it had been too long and didn't remember everything. He had previously seen this book in Ling Yue's library.

Unlike Li Mei, who has read hundreds of web novels, Ling Yue preferred classic literature, mostly Victorian style. She didn't have this habit of surfing through web novels.

"Big sis. Why are you laughing? Can't they simply love each other?" Li Mei drawled. Li Wei too waited for Ling Yue to tell her opinion on the novel.

Ling Yue first settled herself on the couch beside Li Wei before speaking to Li Mei.

"Li Mei. What is written in that book is just portraying the reality of human emotions."

"The time when this was written was a time where a woman was taught to be bound to a man. Their entity was considered incomplete without a man beside them. Their dignity depended on the status and power of the man they were bound to."

"Every human strives for a better life. Catherine wanted a secure life too, which she couldn't see with Heathcliff. "

Li Mei listened to Ling Yue's explanation and even understood her point but for someone like her, who was brought up in a wonderful family seeing their parents in love every sleeping and walking second, it was difficult to think someone could actually abandon their love. For her, love was the most beautiful and powerful thing.

"But didn't Catherine say that she loves Heathcliff. Then how can she leave him heart broken?" Li Mei still felt that they could have dealt the situation in a better way than ending up dead or insane.

"Hmm.. Let's think about this like this. You were angry with your brother on something, right?" Li Mei and Li Wei didn't expect Ling Yue to notice it. Li Mei simply nodded her head. Ling Yue smiled.

"You love your brother, but that doesn't stop you from getting angry at him. And just because you are angry at him, you don't stop loving him. Right?" Li Mei again nodded.

"Hmm.. Just because you love someone, doesn't mean your heart will feel no other emotions other that it. The way you were brought up, the society you leave in, the people you interact with, all these play an important role when you make a decision."

"For Catherine, those all things weighed heavier than Heathcliff's love. So she left him. But she still loved him. Same goes with Heathcliff. Even after so many years, while hating and wanting revenge, he still loved Catherine."

"Just because they didn't have a happily-ever-after doesn't mean they didn't love each other enough. Neither does it mean that their love lost. It was not a competition. It was an emotion that ran deep in both of them. But that doesn't change the reality of life. And you didn't like the story because reality is not always satisfying. Not everything is beautiful in love."

Li Mei and Li Wei were left tongue-tied after hearing Ling Yue. Li Mei who was irritated by the story now saw it in a different light. Ling Yue's explanation was beautiful. Her Big sis can even make a tragedy turn into love story.

Li Wei who was sitting silently beside her couldn't take his eyes off her. He doubted if this was Ling Yue or Xenxi.

Just like she said, even if Xenxi blamed Rem, she didn't stop loving him. But love was not the only emotion. Xenxi didn't want to lose her dignity. She refused to beg Rem, and rejected staying with that lord. Truly, not everything was beautiful in love.

"Ling Yue, how are you able to tell this? Do you love someone?" Li Wei asked for which Ling Yue laughed. She really felt this funny. It would have been nice if she had time to fall in love, but right now her life is more important than love. She can do those things later.

"Few things are better understood by people deprived of it than those who have been living with it." Her answer was simple. Ling Yue didn't feel sad while saying it. It was a fact for her but it was different for Li Wei.

Rem's words once again sounded in his ears. 'You don't deserve to be loved.'

Those words which he told her centuries ago were still clinging on to her.

"Big sis. Gege. I am going to sleep" Li Mei yawned. Li Wei got up and wished good night to Ling Yue before leaving with Li Mei. That night was a torment for Li Wei. The guilt, regret and pain Rem suffered for the rest of his life slowly started to make it's way into his heart.

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"Look, the witch is here" a woman spoke in a hushed voice to her fellow woman.

The other woman discreetly turned and found Xenxi drawing water from the well. Few other women washing clothes nearby too started gossiping.

"I heard she seduced our Lord Rem" said a woman in grey robes and a long braid.

"I heard Lord Shan went into that dangerous forest for her." another woman butted in.

"What? What a shameless slut. Then whose bastard is she carrying?"

"Who knows? I heard Lord Rem left her because she slept with some old man for money"

"It's good that our Lord finally came out of her seduction"

"We should not let our husbands fall into her seduction. Who knows what dark magic that witch knows"

"Gold diggers like her should be skinned alive in front of the whole village"

Li Wei clenched his fists so tight that if he wasn't all vapour and illusion right now, his nails would have dig deep into his hands and left them bleeding.

He looked at Xenxi who was struggling to lift three pots of water at a time. Unlike the last time, her stomach was now showing and she needed help with those pots.

These women kept gossiping on and on and Li Wei could hear everything. And he knew even Xenxi could hear them.

Xenxi turned a deaf ear to those women and finally managed to carry two pots on her side and one her head.

She silently made her way back into the forest. Xenxi carefully walked deeper and deeper into the forest. These regions were where people didn't dare to venture in.

After an hour, she finally reached her hut. She put the pots down on floor and came of the hut to sit on a rock.

Leaning against a tree, she relaxed her back and took few deep breathes. Her tip of nose slightly turned red and Li Wei knew she was trying hard not to cry.

Xenxi didn't let her tears escape her eyes. She forced them back and looked at the sky for some time.

"My child, I never knew what love is. It was your father who taught me how to love. Your father was the only person I ever loved. And now you too are my beloved. Mother l-loves you with all heart. S-So don't abandon me later. Okay? You are the only one m-mother have."

Xenxi sat there in silence while gently stroking her bump. Li Wei sat beside her. So he was the father. He got her pregnant and left her. What an irresponsible bastard. He didn't know what Rem was doing or where he was. Neither did he want to know.

He looked at Xenxi. Her pregnancy was now in her last trimester. He was now worried about her. How was she going to manage all these alone? She needed some help. Where the hell was he? Why is he still not coming to her?

Li Wei didn't exactly know what all happened, but for some reason villagers always addressed her as a witch. And about the seduction thing, he didn't believe it. She loved Rem, and she would rather kill herself than seducing that lord Shan. From the bits and pieces her saw, he remembered someone framed her for seducing an old man and Rem believed it.

Well, Li Wei didn't have to wait long before he got his answer. Xenxi came out of her gloominess and started speaking about everything and anything to their child.

"My child. Mother will show you something. You will like it." saying this Xenxi sat upright and turned her palm towards the sky.

"Hehe.. Now mother will show you a little magic." she beautifully giggled and Li Wei curiously looked her palm. What was happening?

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he saw what she did. Few steaks of white light came out of her palm and started entangling themselves. The light looked pure and divine and soon it formed the shape of a majestic dragon.

The dragon was small and disappeared soon. The light soon dimmed and everything went back to normal.

"Mother saw this little dragon in her dream yesterday. Isn't it beautiful. When you come out, mother will show you more like this" Xenxi said happily as she looked at her tummy.

Li Wei was still shocked by what he saw. Can Ling Yue also do something like this?

After few seconds he didn't think he should not be too surprised by this. After all he was sitting here and watching his past life of few centuries ago. He should not be surprised if Xenxi suddenly summons a real dragon.

Actually, that would be a lot better. At least that dragon would be a able to protect her.