The Mighty Qin family

"Oh what has become of the mighty Qin family?" Shera jovially played with the detonator like it was a toy. "The youngest son is in hospital, fighting for his pathetic non-existent life while the eldest one's life is in my hands." 

Leo silently watched her play around. His lips twitched in amazement. How had she even managed to catch him off guard and put a bomb on him? 

When she turned to look at Leo, she was puzzled at how unperturbed he was. He had a bomb on him. Wasn't he even a little bit scared? He even looked amused. 

"Are you done?" He asked when she stopped rambling. 

Shera stared at him for a second and sat back on her chair behind the desk, smiling at him. "Nope. The fun has only begun." 

"You psycho." He chuckled, scolding himself mentally. Just what kind of woman had he fallen for? He loved her, but she wouldn't think twice before planting an explosive device on him—and she even found it fun. Only a psycho would think it was fun to play around with explosives.

Seeing that she wasn't making the last move to finish him, he calmly probed, "what do you want?" 

Shera smiled evilly. They were finally making progress. "Your brother is in hospital. Don't you think we should pay him a visit?" 

"And meet my father while at it?" Leo's lips twitched. "He's the one you really want to meet." 

"Now I'm glad I'm dealing with you and not Cedric. You catch up fast." Impressed, she grabbed her car keys and made for the door. 

"Not so fast, Shera. Who said I wanted to go?" He called out just as she reached the door and when she turned, he made himself comfortable on the chair like he had no intention of standing. 

She showed him the detonator as a reminder. "Whether you want to leave this office dead or alive is your choice. I'm meeting the Qins either way and I'm taking you or whatever is left of you with me." 

"Really?" He swung the chair to face her properly. "You need me alive because if you kill me, you will not get what you want." 

Shera was about to retort when he cut her off. "I would be in pieces if you actually wanted to kill me." 

True. She had no retaliation against that. But that didn't mean she absolutely wouldn't want to kill him if need arose. 

"Let's make a deal." He declared. 

___

 At the same time, at a private hospital close to Jade Mansion. 

Outside Cedric's ward, the Qins were beside themselves with worry. 

"What does that woman even want from us?" Helen sobbed. Cedric was in a deep coma and of it remained that way for much longer, his life couldn't be saved anymore. The doctors were still working on finding the content of the poison. It seemed like a dead end.

"I went to CT Corporation intending to ask and she didn't even meet me." Livian said in defeat. 

"You went to CT Corporation? What did you even gain from that?" Helen knew Shera wouldn't relent so easily. She wanted to torture the Qin family. Just like she had done with Cece, it might be Cedric's turn now. 

Livian thought so too. "I gained nothing. I had to let her secretary relay the message in the end. I thought she wanted something…." 

Livian suddenly paused and stared at the end of the hallway. "...so she really did want something from us. She must be here for it."

Helen followed his gaze at the same time as her silent husband. From the end of the hallway walked Shera, side by side with Leo. 

A rush of hope suddenly filled their hearts. Helen rushed to Leo and grabbed his arm. "Did you convince her? What does she want?" 

Shera shot a glance at Leo and he opened his jacket, revealing the bomb. 

"Ah!" Helen screamed and stumbled backwards. She fell onto the floor, fainting just like that. 

Julius Qin wasn't any better off. As soon as he saw the bomb on Leo's chest, he almost broke down too. But they couldn't both faint. He needed to be strong for his wife… even though he could barely hold up. 

"Why are you guys fainting so early? The show hasn't even begun yet." Shera chuckled.

The nurses rushed over to take Helen to a room and check on her. They were too rushed to notice the bomb.

"That must be fake." Livian thought of something and declared. "This is a hospital. How can you get in with explosives?"

Shera shifted her gaze between the brothers then let it rest on Livian. "Do you want to test it?" 

Livian shut up. He was confident that it was logically fake but what if it turned out to be real? Wouldn't that kill Leo? 

Shera huffed. This was a private hospital. If the Qins could make sure no one else came here until Cedric was treated, she could also make sure no one interrupted even if she killed them.

Julius Qin snapped out of his shock only a while later. "What do you want? Tell me what you want and I will let you have it. Just spare my sons' lives." 

Shera glanced at him expressionlessly before barking an earth-shattering request. "Beg me." 

Julius Qin would have scolded her at any other time but now, he couldn't afford to argue. "I beg you." 

"That's no fun." Shera scoffed. "I'll have a word with Helen instead." 

"M-my wife?" Julius Qin felt his palms sweat. 

Helen coincidentally woke up at that moment and despite the nurses' protests, rushed back to Shera. She flopped onto her knees directly. 

"Mother, what are you doing?" Livian tried to make her stand to no avail. 

"Helen, don't kneel for a heartless person like her. Come on, stand." 

Helen shrugged their hands off and bowed at Shera's feet."Whatever you have against my husband and me, please come at me. Let Leo go." 

Shera looked down at her and laughed heartily. "The great Helen Qin on her knees… how cute." 

She leisurely rubbed her nails using her fingers as she asked, "Are you willing to trade your life for his? Should I put the bomb on you instead?" 

Helen remained silent for a while, earning ridicule from Shera. "What kind of mother are you? A mother should be ready to take the bullet for her son—in this case the bomb. Don't you love your son?" 

Helen stopped Julius and Livian who looked like they wanted to but in, facing Shera on her own. "Of course I love my son." 

"Really? Which one do you love more?" Shera glanced at the door to the ward, Leo and then back at Helen. "If I could only let one of them off, who would you choose, Leo or Cedric?" 

Helen looked at Shera with uncertainty. Would she really let Leo off? There was only one way to find out, right? She thought about it and was prepared to choose Leo when Shera burst into laughter. 

"I was just messing with you. Look at you getting your hopes up." 

"State what you want already!" Livian had already witnessed enough. Shera was heartless. How could she make Helen kneel and bow at her feet? Where was her sense of humanity and respect? 

Shera walked over to Livian, her smile fading. "What I want… you cannot afford." 

"State it. We can afford anything." Helen said from her still kneeling position, and Livian and Julius nodded to agree with her. 

Her eyes burned with bloodlust as she enunciated word for word. "I want my family back."