"You’re similar to your mother, you’re very brave," said her father, smile on his lips was more proud than ever. "When your mother was young, she often helped . Even until now," and with those words there were love.
AiLin found this odd as she had never seen an old couple who sincerely love each other. Seeing the scene was really heartwarming as if a part in her heart that was so wounded was slowly being healed.
Mrs Hua didn’t respond and AiLin couldn’t really take a good look on her face to recognize the emotion on her face. But seeing how Mrs Hua had walked faster, it was as if she was trying to hide her face that was wide with a smile.
"You did really well," Mrs Hua said to AiLin without looking back at her. "From now on, you should tell if Ruo speaks of anything that upset you, no matter how little it is," and AiLin could feel the sense of security as Mrs Hua promised that she wouldn’t stay silent if anyone in the family itself would try to harm her. She heard the older woman adding, "Ruo has been forgetting her place, thinking that she is above the others. It would be good to remind her of her real position in this family."
"Just because grandmother likes her, she think she could do whatever she wants," Samuel scoff, "She had even killed her child to be loved by grandmother."
AiLin’s eyes widened upon hearing what happened when suddenly she heard a loud voice coming from the three people surrounding her.
"Samuel."
"Hua Samuel."
"Brother Samuel."
AiLin flinch as Mr and Mrs Hua, along with Vicky had called Samuel’s na sternly, warning him to stop his words. She could see the glare on their eyes, schooling Samuel with the intensity. Realizing that they had known what happened to her, AiLin felt sothing sinking in her stomach. The silence was deafening and she realized that they were having a hard ti to break the tense air. She imdiately raised her smile and waved her hands, "I don’t think I did sothing too impressive. I just don’t like it when soone believe that they have a control over soone else’s life simply because they are a family and they are older."
"T- True, Ruo has a bad habit of controlling others in her family," Mr Hua cleared his throat, "Oh we’re here, let’s co inside."
They had arrived in the sitting room. When the door was opened, AiLin was greeted again inside a wide room that was filled with furnitures. The wall was painted in a muted red color with green accents, making her to realize that the entire house hold mostly green color which is also her favorite color. She looked at the jade vases, recalling that most of it were also the ones she had recalled the Jiang Family tried so hard to bid in auctions. Yet here it is, the vases in many shapes and colors, filing the room.
"Do you like this room?" Samuel asked as he carefully looked at her face, guilt on his face as he felt he had poured rain upon the conversation earlier.
"Mhm, I have seen these vases before," she noted, and added, "Actually I have seen the cars outside too. The portraits that were hung on the gallery reminded of sothing too."
Mrs Hua looked aside to her husband as a couple of maid ca inside the sitting room, preparing the tea and teacups. They exchanged glances and then quietly smile.
"Really?" Samuel asked her with a hum, "There aren’t any copies of any items that are in this house. Even if there is, it would an that person had bought a fake, an imitation."
Vicky nodded in return, "The cars and these vases, even those portraits, there are only one single piece of either items around the world. Mother like to have unique items that are difficult to obtain."
Mrs Hua humd, "It would be concerning, however."
"Concerning?" AiLin questioned as Mrs Hua’s eyes landed on her.
"Yes, there are so auction houses that have been found to be selling imitations that are close to the real pieces. By the ti the buyers wish to sell their already bought items, they realized that they had been scamd. But by then those items cannot be sold again. After all, no one would want to buy an imitation."
AiLin frowned. She didn’t rember exactly how each of the items in the Jiang Family looked like but if they were really similar items, would that an that the Jiang Family had unknowingly bought fake auction items? They had burnt their money to obtain forgeries without knowing that there are no prices on the said antiques?
"That would be funny," Li ZiChen cut off and he took a teacup, placing it on AiLin’s lips. She looked at his eyes that seed more amused than ever, "Imagine that a family go bankrupt. Then they tried to sell their expensive investnts only to find out that they are all nothing but fakes like them."
AiLin blinked, frowning as she feels sothing hooked in the back of her mind that begged for attention but couldn’t really figure it out.
"Well that is their faults. There are many foolish people who believe in fake auction houses because it’s a cheaper option," Samuel added before he looked again at Li ZiChen, "Mr Li, I’m curious about you. I heard that you were the one who had found my older sister but I never find out how you know her?"
AiLin raised her two eyebrows, also curious to the question and looked for an answer to Li ZiChen. She saw him grinning, he seed as if he had been waiting for this question all the ti.
"I t AiLin a few days after she left the prison, I fell in love with her and we began dating," Li ZiChen spoke with a smooth tone.
AiLin snapped her eyes toward him, "We are dating..?"
"We are," Li ZiChen said while turning his eyes toward her, before she asked him what he ant or when the hell did they even dated, he continued, "I knew sothing was off with the Jiang Family and found out that the missing daughter of the Hua Family is AiLin."
Samuel and Vicky turned to share a look to each other and they both turned back to AiLin with a confused expression.
"That’s it?" Vicky asked, "So you t her once, fell in love with her, decided that she is the daughter of Hua Family? All by chances?"
"Chances? No of course," Li ZiChen said and when AiLin thought he would be admitting to all his careful planning ever since she entered prison, he said, "I call it fate. There are those love that you call love at first sight, it’s similar to that. We are just ant to be, perfect and fitting, like a puzzle piece."
The corny line made the four family mbers in front of her to squeeze her faces as if they had bite a sour lemon.
AiLin also cringed and she pulled him by his elbow, making sure he ca closer to her face as he had chose a seat right on her left, "What do you an by dating? I don’t want to lie."
"But we have to be dating for to keep appearing in your life," Li ZiChen whispered back at her and when he saw her frown he smiled. "I thought we had agreed about it since we both have ca out in Jiang NianNian’s birthday party as a couple. If I suddenly tell them we’ve broken up, even I wouldn’t be alive after being crushed by the Hua Family."
He hinted a joke but she could tell that he didn’t really believe that the Hua Family would be able to crush him as he ntioned.
She decided to deal with it later as Samuel bombard her with questions, "You’re dating him?! How did you et—"
"No brother! He had told you how they et, the right question is if Sister also likes him," Vicky reached out her hand and took hers, grasping to it tightly, "Do you like him? Do you really like him? Is he a good choice? Sister you have a lot of other choices, don’t forget that!"
Both Vicky and Samuel’s faces were right in front of her but that was not all as both her mother and father were also staring at her face. They look surprised, confused, and also disappointed. anwhile the man who had caused the trouble was grinning ear to ear in glee.
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