I Won’t Run Away

But some things still didn't fit. She could find another day to look into the Hua Family and perhaps look into her own parents to see if what Li ZiChen had said was the truth or a bullshit. But she was still curious what her villainous grandmother had done to Li ZiChen. 

"Why my grandmother?" She asked. It still feels weird to call the unknown elderly woman who shares her blood but despise her birth origin as her grandmother. "What had she done to you?" 

"She had an attempt in killing me," Li ZiChen answered with his eyes that turned frosty at once. He looked aside, his eyes narrowed and his lips formed a sarcastic smile. "During that attempt, she had caused me to lose something extremely precious." 

Killing attempt... stealing something precious. 

Her grandmother seemed to be one piece of work alright. 

"So let me get this straight," she crossed her arms and looked at him intently, "You want to use me to get back at my grandmother. In exchange you will be helping me with my revenge?" 

"Indeed, you're as smart as everyone had told me," Li ZiChen chuckled deeply. "A contract. We can form a contract between us two. A contract where we would be deciding our goals that align and payments for both of us." 

"I see," thinking about it, AiLin understood that Li ZiChen is a logical man. He must have tried getting back to her grandmother but failed to do so and thus thought by using her, he could grab her grandmother and catch her by surprise. "It's interesting," she commented. 

"So will you help me in it?" Li ZiChen looked at her, confident that this wasn't something she would deny. He waited for her to agree but instead, AiLin patted the chauffeur's seat and told him to stop by the street beside them. 

Watching what she was doing, Li ZiChen seemed to be taken aback as well as annoyed. His lips were pursed as he seemed to be unhappy as he took her gestures as her refusing the offer he made. To his surprise, she spoke again,

"I'll think about it," AiLin said before she smiled back at Li ZiChen. She then reached out her hand to his neck and moved forward. As Li ZiChen's body froze under her touch, she could feel his eyes that at once turned dark when she came closer beside his face. Her lips were only a paper away from his ears and she whispered in a torturously slow pace, "Bring me the contract tomorrow then we can talk about this again." 

She then moved back, holding the car to open it when she felt her body halted by Li ZiChen's strong arm. He stared at her, his lips were gone from all smiles and he appeared as if he was trying his best to hold something back. 

"AiLin," said Li ZiChen, "Where are you going now?" 

"To meet an old friend and to form a plan for my revenge. Do you know the cafe by the Waterfront Park?" AiLin released his hand from her elbow and added, "Let's meet there tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't run away." 

But Li ZiChen's eyes seemed very concerned that she would really run away. 

He watched again as she stepped out of the car while hugging the black duffle bag and then hopped into a taxi that left right the second after she entered. Watching how jolly AiLin was as she left his side made Li ZiChen to tighten his frown. 

The chauffeur who had been sitting in silent at the driver seat began to broke in sweat. To see Li ZiChen with all smiles and such kind tone was already rare! But for a woman to quickly put him on a wait and order him around was even more unbelievable!

But Miss! You shouldn't have left me here with the Boss while he looked so pissed off! 

"What are you doing?" Li ZiChen glared at the chauffeur. "Since you seem to hear someone else's orders better than your own boss's, you should also know that the faster you bring me home, the better it is for your own sake." 

The chauffeur closed his eyes tightly to stifle the tears of fear that was about to drip down from his eyes. Having no choice, he quickly continued the car to drive off again, passing by the bright street where workers had appeared to take down all the birthday banners of Jiang NianNian overnight even though it was supposed to be there for another week as the Jiang Family has paid for. Seeing all the disgusting faces had been torn down, Li ZiChen seemed to be in a slightly better mood. 

He muttered to himself, "She doesn't know how much I have spent for tonight to be perfect for her," and he sighed again, closing his eyes as he recalled every pieces of expressions, smile, and a single change of expression in AiLin's face on his head. Upon recalling her breaths across his ears, he couldn't help but pinch the area of his ears by his thumb, trying to cool off the heat that had spread over his skin by doing so. 

"No one tortures me better than her," he muttered again and then broke into a chuckle, leaning back on the seat while the chauffeur wondered if his Boss had gone crazy as he had gone from angry to happy! 

Li ZiChen recalled again and thought to himself that tonight wasn't all bad. If he could pave down the road of revenge for AiLin and saw her eyes filled with emotions rather than happiness, this much was nothing. He was prepared to sacrifice even more than wealth and his life for her after all. 

As the last night's event was drawn to a close, the entire socialites were filled with a bursting rumor about Li ZiChen's rumored lover who had stayed abroad for almost sixteen years. Many people were curious of the said woman, some said that Li ZiChen was so in love with her that every single thing she asked and demanded, Li ZiChen was ready to offer it for her. Some said that they had been together since their childhood, causing them to have a bond that was inseparable even till death.

The rumors drifted in many spiraling stories including how the woman seemed to be a reincarnation of Jiang AiLin as she didn't only have similar names but also faces that were like carbon copies of each others. The stories had gone so far all over Beijing without missing the tale of the Jiang Family who had been greatly embarrassed on their own biggest party, causing them to be called a family of clown for the year. 

Despite this rumor that had taken Beijing by the storm, AiLin was as unbothered as always. By the next afternoon, she had stood in front of a large nightclub building that was still close as it was always open by midnight. She raised her hand, ready to knock on the door when a group of four men whose height tower even the door of the nightclub gathering around her. 

"What business do ya' have here missy? It's a wrong place for someone like you to come."