The Evening (part 2)

The misanthropic demeanor was quite evident under the calm façade of an old-ish man, who was seated at the extreme end of the dining table. He had, at first completely refused to look at Luo Ruolan, the daughter who had brought shame to the entire Luo group. Later, it was only after Luo Ruolan herself made a greeting, he had chosen to entertain her with a few words of 'welcome'. 

Luo Lifen was seated right next to Liang Fang and it felt totally normal for them to be seated together, when his legitimate wife was seated a few chairs away. 

However, what made the atmosphere even weirder was the great silence that had befallen on the moderately lit dining room. Until, her father cleared his throat, "So, Mr. Fang, about the company's recent developments, is it a good idea to let Luo Lifen join in...?" 

And that struck Luo Ruolan like an arrow directly to the chest, did her father know about the divorce? Wait, did he just know about it, or did he...

She immediately looked at the stern expression her father was harboring, and immediately got her answer, 'He planned it...' 

Her father didn't show any weakness and kept his gaze fixed at Liang Fang. And things started getting clearer. If her father did plan all this, then did he intend on passing on his own shares to her sister, completely eliminating her from the family tree? Then what about all the hard work her mom had put into. This was getting worse. 

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Luo Lifen yelled out, jumping up from her chair, "I had prepared a few bottles of exquisite liquor, all top brands to celebrate our reunion!! Lemme get them!!" she smiled big at Luo Ruolan and hurried towards the kitchen. 

And while she was gone, was the real 'questioning hour', which her father commenced, "So, have you told her about... that...?" He had asked, not directing the question to Luo Ruolan, but to her husband. 

Liang Fang, who hadn't been interfering much with the quite personal 'family affairs', finally looked up, first at his wife then at her father, "Yes, i have. Rest assured, it'll be taken care of as soon as possible." 

With how none of their male-egos were willing to directly talk with facts, Luo Ruolan wasn't a fool who didn't know what they were talking about; so, she decided to put forth her own opinions without even being asked, it was her 'home' too, "I won't sign those papers. I do not want my child to grow up without a father!" 

And the spoon that her father had been holding dropped to the ground. However tough a man might be, he'd melt at the thought of having a grandkid. He looked up at his elder daughter, who he had completely ignored for the last 10 years, with a strange emotion written over his face. 

Liang Fang just cleared his throat, loud enough to catch both of their attention, "This is not the time to joke around, Luo Ruolan. You should think about a child, when you actually do get pregnant, not before that. And with how things are between us, that's not going to happen. Not in this lifetime, at least." 

"You still refuse to believe me... Fine, I'll show you the test results! In fact, let's go to the doctor right away, or dad, call the family doctor!" 

"That's enough, why do you have to spoil this special occasion by bringing up your awful schemes, let's all be rational and not spoil this get-together, okay?" Liang fang had sounded gentle and reasonable, but his eyes definitely carried the 'Shut up right now, or you'll regret it' look. 

"But- " Luo Ruolan wanted to clarify, she wanted to make him believe that she was indeed pregnant and he was going to be a father, but she was immediately interrupted, once again, by none other than her plotting sister. 

"Oh, sorry it took a while ~ But here, I've already poured you these glasses ~" she beamed as she carried a big china tray with 4 beautiful stemmed glasses filled with a liquid, shaded the perfect burgundy. No wonder, she had mentioned 'exquisite'. 

She carefully placed the wine in front of each of the members, including her own as she excitedly took her place and sat down, giving a soothing smile to Liang Fang. 

Was there something in the wine? Did she add something weird in it, but asking that would've been rude and besides, she had prepared four glasses so, it didn't look bad...

Her thoughts were brought to a pause when Luo Lifen called out to her, "Hey, sis! Let's have one of our childhood competitions!! Let's see who can drink their wine quicker at one go!! This wine is well known for its strong alcohol composition. Surely, brother Liang Fang would like a woman who can hold their liquor, right? ~" 

The last part was definitely added to make sure Luo Ruolan said yes to that. She had to accept the challenge. "Very well, then ~ " she smirked.

'It seems like I was overthinking it, she wouldn't try to sabotage me by putting something in the wine, not when her father's here. So, this was what she was after, challenging me to an alcohol battle, though it's just one glass?' 

"On the count of three then, whoever finishes first will be the winner and you can't pause or take a break, one continuous sip!" 

"That's fine with me!!" 

It was an exchange happening between his two daughters, hence Mr. Luo, their father chose not to make a point.

But, Liang Fang, with somewhat of a distraught expression, looked at the two of them; however, this time, his expression softened when he looked at Luo Ruolan, 'she had never been able to hold her liquor before, why is she accepting a challenge like this...? Usually, she'd be very disobedient to me and put up a fight, why not do that now...?' he thought. 

"One, two...and three!!!" 

And at once, the two ladies started chugging it down. There was barely a difference in the times, but Luo Ruolan finished it a few fraction of seconds earlier, and immediately began to cough. 

A worried Liang Fang, reached out his hand towards his wife, "Ruolan..." but stopped midway, before touching her as he came back to his senses, 'wait...what am I doing...?' 

And once again, a strong frown made its way to his forehead. "If you can't drink, you shouldn't accept a challenge like that! Why, just why do you jump at situations where you can insult your sister!!?" he barked.

To which, Luo Ruolan revolted, "But she's the one who challenged me...!" And soon it turned into another one of those everyday squabbles, a level higher. 

Luo Lifen stiffened up, as she watched the entire showdown. 'For a second...I thought he was worried about her, was that just my imagination...No, this isn't the time to think about that, I need to play this out better and quicker...' 

"Oh, what a shameee.....I lost again.... you're really good at beating me....." Luo Lifen pouted, putting her glass back on the table and once again got clingy with Liang Fang. 

And unable to watch their PDA, Luo Ruolan got up, pushing the chair back harshly, and declared, "I'm full now. So, I'd be going to my room upstairs, you guys carry on!" 

"Eh? You're leaving too soon sister, shouldn't you stay and catch up with me? Aren't you going to ask how I've been doing all these years abroad...?" 

The cringe in her sisters voice made her sick to her stomach. She didn't understand what Liang Fang even saw in her. "How you've been doing? Well, I already know that, don't I? You probably were busy spreading your legs to those old professors to get those 'almost perfect' scores ~ " 

"LUO RUOLAN! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? YOU'RE MENTAL, ACCUSING YOUR SISTER LIKE THAT!! JUST FUCKIN' DIE ALREADY!" Liang Fang had yelled out on top of his lungs. But very obviously, the last part was unintentional. He had not wanted to say that. Something like, 'die already'. 

And it seemed like he immediately regretted his words. He went stiff and flinched slightly upon realizing what he had just said; and as if wanting to apologize immediately, he once again, reached out his hand, "Ru- " 

His words dried inside his throat as for some reason, his heart burned. 

Very calmly, with the gentlest of all tones, Luo Ruolan turned back, once again with the same expression she had on when she started crying after Liang Fang's phone call with Luo Lifen the day before, and with another bittersweet smile, replied, "Then finally you'd be free, won't you?" 

And with that she left. A deep silence befalling the dining hall. 

Although, she had been able to maintain her calmness inside the dining room, in front of her father, the moment she left the room and slammed the door after her, tears welled up in her eyes. But she didn't let them fall, instead she stating running upstairs, towards the room that she used to occupy before her marriage. 

The spiral stairs were beautifully marbled. Ever since she was a little child, she had gotten used to running up and down the stairs and pretty obviously she was doing the same now. Now, although a marbled floor is considered to be slippery, once you get used to the feel, it becomes easier to maintain your balance. So, even when she was running on the stairs, she didn't need to be too careful since she had supposedly gotten used to it. 

But Luo Ruolan seemed to have forgotten that today was different. Luo Lifen was there, and she held an absolute grudge against her sister, enough to mess with the final few stairs and cause an 'accident'. 

And that is exactly what she had done. 

The moment Luo Ruolan stepped on the fourth stair from the top, she felt the wetness beneath her foot and before she could even contemplate what was happening, she had already fallen face-down on the staircase, her stomach hitting one of the edges of a stair with a 'thud!'

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....!!!" her voice shrieked, her abdomen searing with pain, her head going dizzy as she felt herself losing consciousness. 

And on top of that, the fact that it was a spiral staircase didn't help. Unable to keep the uneven balance, she rolled down the stairs. And it was quite a good number of stairs she rolled down against, before she finally hit the floor. 

Her forehead was split open during the fall and gushes of blood (a metaphor, in this case) oozed out of the fresh wound. And before passing out finally, she felt her underwear going all wet...was that blood, she didn't know. 

A blurred image, Liang Fang rushing over towards her, from inside the dining hall, and saying something... he was uttering something, what was it, she couldn't hear, he looked worried.....the image kept getting blurrier. No voice audible, it was obvious the ones who rushed out of the room were saying something, there mouths were moving...but she couldn't understand.....and then she saw her. 

With a satisfied smirk on her face, she glared at her; and within the next second, her expression changed to depict worry and concern...indeed, it was all her doing....

And then, all black.