Chapter 196: A 'fun' ride

Yukira froze. His body went rigid, and fear crossed his expression.

He didn’t see Jinhai anywhere near the room, not even till the far end of the corridor, so how is he already here?

Jinhai came in holding a plate with various fruit slices cut in it. He smiled at Nana. “Here, have these fruits.”

“En.” She looked at Yukira. “What do you want to tell me? You said it’s important.”

Yukira clenched his fingers in a fist.

Yukito shook his shoulder. “Hey, what happened? Tell us. Why are you so quiet now?”

Yukira took the courage to glance at Jinhai.

His face was expressionless, but Yukira could tell that his eyes were twinkling in victory.

“T-that…I…” His mind went blank.

“What’s wrong?”

“I-I…yeah…actually, I haven’t properly studied for the test this time. So I might fail…”

Yukito facepalmed.

Nana said in relief. “That’s it? You really scared me. What was there to get so worked up about it?” She pinched his cheeks. “It’s alright. There was so much going on these days, so I understand.”

He weakly smiled.

Yukito said, “Alright, we will leave for school now. It’s getting late.”

Jinhai said, “Let me drop you two.”

Yukira stiffened.

“Really?”

He smiled. “Yeah, it’s on my way to the office. I need to settle some urgent matters.”

Before Yukira could argue, Yukito agreed.

Jinhai smiled at Yukira and said, “So, let’s go.”

—

Outside Huian’s ward, Xiang Wei asked the doctor, “How is Huian now? Can we meet her?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Xiang. But no. Miss Huian has not regained her consciousness yet.”

He felt heartbroken. He was anxiously waiting for the morning so that he could see his daughter. Naturally, he couldn’t sleep for the whole night, the same as Xiang Qingge. They looked so haggard as if they have aged ten years more overnight.

“Dad!” Jing’s voice got everybody’s attention. “The media is rampaging outside like crazy. They got a sniff about what happened last night.”

Finally, it struck Xiang Wei. “Liu Hai, this is what I wanted to know. How did everything suddenly leak out to the media? I had suppressed the news from going viral, then how!? Who has the guts!?” He said furiously.

Jing sneezed. “Achoo!” He rubbed his nose and smiled awkwardly.

Liu Hai nodded. “We will find out who that person is.”

Hey, hey, Dad! Don’t give such scary promises.

Liu Chunhua said, “And we don’t have to worry about the media. Jinhai will handle them.”

Grandma Liu stomped her stick. “Let’s see how he does that! Our reputation is finished once they know about their marriage!”

Everybody was too tired to argue, so they just let her be.

—

The twins were seated in the car while Jinhai was driving. Nobody said anything for a while.

Yukito broke the silence. “Brother Liu Jinhai, I mean brother-in-law…”

“Hm?”

“Your marriage to our sister has come as a huge shock to us. But we are happy too. Nee-chan loves you a lot. As a brother, I just want to say to take care of her. Please never hurt her.”

Jinhai turned serious, “I know. I will love her until my last breath. She will always be Mrs. Liu Nana. Nobody will take that name away from her.”

The resolution in his voice assured Yukito.

Yukira stayed silent.

“And if anybody tries to hurt her, he will be dead even before he knows it.” He said this while eyeing Yukira through the mirror.

Yukira widened his eyes. He shuddered. Jinhai’s tone was cold, dangerous, and predatory.

They reached the school, and Yukito got out.

“Thanks for the lift, brother-in-law.”

“Sure.”

Yukira was about to get down, but Jinhai stopped him. “Wait. I want to talk to you.”

He froze.

Yukito asked, “Right now?”

“It won’t take much time.”

Strange, Yukito thought. What does he have to talk to Yukira?

Yukito said, “Alright. But Yukira, come quick, okay?”

Just then, a classmate called him from afar, and Yukito went inside.

Yukira nervously said, “I-I will be late for my exam.” His fingers were twitching restlessly.

Jinhai smiled. “I won’t let you. So, shall we go on a ride?”

—

Yukira was fidgeting in his seat. His heart was beating fast in suspicion. He was alone with a man who tried to murder his ex-wife. All sorts of uneasy thoughts were plaguing his mind.

Jinhai was calmly driving when he asked, his voice carrying a hint of amusement. “You were really dying to confess to Nana that I pushed Huian off the balcony, weren’t you?”

Yukira clutched his pants.

He knows…

“W-why did you do that?” His voice was scared stiff.

“Let’s just say…it was a payback. There were too many scores that I had to settle with her. Some old, some new.”

“Whatever it may be, but trying to t-take a life is crossing all limits.”

He chuckled. “She crossed hers; I crossed mine. I’m not a very good man when somebody steps out of their boundaries.”

Jinhai’s voice was so calculating and detached that it made Yukira shiver.

He gritted his teeth. “I…I won’t let my sister live with such a dangerous man like you.”

Jinhai’s expression turned dark and grim. His eyes got rigid and cold.

“Dangerous? That I surely am – but only if you tried to separate me from my Nana.”

Yukira noticed the car accelerating faster and faster. The tip of the speedometer was continuously increasing to the max.

“D-drive slowly, please!” He was getting terrified. He thought they would crash at any moment.

Jinhai was driving so fast that Yukira thought his heart would come out of his chest. He saw a car coming from the opposite side.

“You! Slow down! We will crash at this rate!”

Jinhai ignored him and pressed harder on the peddle. The distance between the cars was rapidly closing in. They were just a few yards away from a huge collision when Yukira shut his eyes and ducked his head in terror.

“No! STOP!!!”

Is this the end? Am I going to die?

Big drops of tears soaked his cheeks wet.

Just then, Jinhai took a sharp turn, and the car stopped with a loud screech.

Yukira’s whole body was shaking badly. He was tightly clutching his bag as if his life was depending on it. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

The accident he dreaded for didn’t occur. Everything went dead silent.

W-what happened? Weren’t we going to get hit?

He tremblingly raised his head and was shocked.

They were outside his school gate.

Jinhai smiled. “How was the ride, brother-in-law?”

Not even a sound came out of his mouth. Yukira was so petrified that he couldn’t find his voice to utter a word.

“Why are you crying?” Jinhai tilted his head. His lips held a faint smirk. “It was a fun ride, wasn’t it? Just like those thriller rides in the amusement park. Sometimes you feel like you are going to get hit, but actually, you don’t.”

He said nothing.

Jinhai patted his head. “The fight is between Huian and me. It has got nothing to do with you. So, I advise you to please stay out of it and refrain from speaking any unnecessary things, especially to my wife. Okay?”

The door opened, and Yukira quickly got out. His legs were trembling, and he thought he would collapse.

“Best of luck for the exam, brother-in-law.”

Jinhai left, leaving Yukira, who was still standing in a wretched state. There was only one question gnawing his mind.

Just what kind of a man my sister has married to?