Chapter 8 - 8

Erland's father knew exactly the kind of man Zhan was. That was why he didn't bother calling him. He understood there was nothing that could be resolved over the phone....especially since Zhan had already made it clear that he was not interested in marriage at this time. He had said so plainly, without offering reasons. Still, almost everyone who knew him understood his thinking. Zhan was a man of depth, highly educated and extremely strategic. There was no way someone like him would marry off his only son...the sole heir to his vast wealth and companies...without ensuring that the boy himself possessed solid education and maturity.

But what choice did they have? Since they were determined, Erland's father gathered himself and traveled to the country in person. From the very beginning, Erland's father had been eager for this marriage. His true goal was to build a strong alliance with Zhan. No one who loved money and power would refuse to have their son marry Zhan's child...the only heir to an enormous fortune. Such wealth could not be entrusted lightly.

To him, once Yibo became part of their family, it would be as though they were holding the key to Zhan's empire....an empire that never weakened and never shifted hands.

Zhan's influence had already spread far and wide; wealth and power surrounded him wherever he went. Even though he was still young, his presence commanded respect. Though he still had the energy and charm of youth, he moved among powerful circles, his associates all influential men.

Erland's father's arrival in Sydney eased some of the pressure Yibo had been under. These days, he and Erland were constantly together, filling their time with noise and laughter. Yibo couldn't bear arguments, let alone the thought of separation from Erland. At this point, he honestly wished Erland's father would speak directly to his Dad and secure approval for the marriage. The truth was simple....Yibo loved Erland deeply. Whatever flaws existed, marriage would at least put an end to the recklessness Erland might fall into later.

That day after school, they stopped to buy toiletries and underwear—items Yibo rarely found time to shop for.

They returned home in the evening. Even while they were out, Yibo had been calling his Dad repeatedly, checking if he had arrived home, hoping to avoid returning late and upsetting him.

They came back in Neesah's car, since his father had dropped him off at school again that day. Even now that he was older, whenever Zhan was in town, he preferred to take him himself. Sometimes the driver would pick Yibo up, today they return together in Neesah's car. Neesah didn't come inside. She drove off immediately.

Yibo entered the house and found the living room empty, so he went straight to his room.

He dropped his things and exhaled softly, feeling both tired and hungry. He undressed, went into the bathroom, and took a shower. When he came out, he wore an 𝐚𝐬𝐡-𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭 and matching trousers. The fabric was thick, tailored perfectly to his frame...not tight, not loose, fitting him just right.

He slipped into his 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 and stepped out, relaxed and lightly scented. He was heading toward Popo Yuli's room when she came out instead.

With a playful expression, Yibo looped his arm through hers as they walked toward the dining area.

"𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑜 𝑌𝑢𝑙𝑖, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔," he said softly.

She smiled and gently pulled herself free.

"𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒, 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜?"

He leaned his head against her shoulder again.

"𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑜 𝑌𝑢𝑙𝑖, 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒....𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐺𝑜𝑑'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑒. 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜..."

The scent of Zhan's perfume suddenly cut him off.

Both Yibo and Popo Yuli turned toward the living room entrance, where Zhan was walking in calmly.

He was dressed in a 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭, the hood pulled neatly over his head. On his feet were 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬.

Whenever Zhan dressed like this, he looked strikingly youthful....especially in outfits he wore for light exercise or on cool nights. His consistent fitness routine kept him looking refreshed, almost ageless. It was hard to believe his age; his well-built frame and refined features made him appear far younger than he truly was.

Popo Yuli was the first to speak as she looked at him.

"𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛, 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘."

He glanced at her briefly, lowering his eyes again with quiet respect.

"𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑜 𝑌𝑢𝑙𝑖?"

One of Zhan's long-standing traits...some might call it a habit...was that he never looked at women for more than a second or two. He had long closed the chapter of women in every aspect of his life, except where his son was concerned.

Any professional interaction that required him to deal with women never held his attention for long.

Most people never noticed, because Zhan was not an expressive man to begin with. Only Popo Yuli and Yibo, who knew him closely, understood that there was no woman he ever looked at beyond two or three brief glances.

Even Popo Yuli had grown used to it. During conversations, if he looked at her once or twice and then didn't continue, it often appeared as though his attention had drifted elsewhere...perhaps to a phone or an object nearby. Yet, strangely enough, he always understood every word that was said.

Those who knew him only superficially had learned something important: if Zhan fixed his gaze on you while you spoke, it meant he had no intention of listening. Anyone who valued their dignity would stop talking immediately, because it was not the right moment.

They all sat at the dining table. Yibo served everyone before sitting down with his own plate.

The meal was simple: 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬, served with 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐬.

As they began to eat, Zhan glanced at his son, who was eating quietly. From the calm rhythm of his movements, he knew there was something he wanted to say.

"𝐷𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦," he said softly, his voice gentle, with a trace of the familiar affection he always carried.

Popo Yuli turned to him quickly and interrupted, "𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜. 𝐶𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒."

Yibo's expression softened with hesitation. He desperately wanted to speak...especially since Erland's father had already arrived. If Zhan heard about it directly from him later, his anger would be far worse.

Yibo could not bear his father's displeasure. So despite Popo Yuli's warning, he looked at Zhan again and spoke.

"𝐷𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦… 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑'𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛."

Zhan slowly finished the food in his mouth, lifted the glass of room-temperature water beside him, took a sip, and set it down. He wiped his mouth carefully with a tissue before raising his eyes to Yibo, his expression calm.

"𝑌𝑒𝑠, ℎ𝑢ℎ? 𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑'𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟?

𝐼𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑒?"

"𝑌𝑒𝑠, 𝐷𝑎𝑑. 𝐻𝑒'𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑡...𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝐼'𝑚 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝐷𝑎𝑑…"

Zhan turned his gaze directly to Popo Yuli.

"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑜 𝑌𝑢𝑙𝑖?

𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜'𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒?"

She exhaled softly, already tired. Yibo clearly didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

"𝑌𝑒𝑠," she said calmly.

"𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡. 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑....𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑."

Zhan remained silent, listening.

That silence alone made both of them uneasy...they knew exactly what it meant.

Yibo's eyes filled with tears without him realizing it. He moved closer to his father, gently placing a hand on his arm.

"𝐷𝑎𝑑, 𝐼 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛. 𝐷𝑎𝑑, 𝐼 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟....𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑒."

Without looking at him, Zhan said quietly, "𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐿𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔."

He stood up, glanced briefly at Popo Yuli, and said, "𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑜 𝑌𝑢𝑙𝑖."

"𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙," she replied, watching him leave, her heart heavy.

The hardest thing about Zhan was that no one could ever tell whether he was angry or calm. His emotions were unreadable, which often led Yibo and Yuli into mistakes like this...always testing the boundaries, hoping to understand where they stood.

After he left, Yibo turned to Popo Yuli with helpless eyes, ready to speak, but she stopped him.

"𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜, 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑝? 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟....𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡? 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒. 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜?"

Yibo had no answer. His body felt heavy, weighed down by his father's unreadable reaction.

He picked up the orange juice in front of him, drank deeply, and set the glass down. He couldn't eat anymore. He stood, wished Popo Yuli good night, and went to his room.

Popo Yuli later cleared the remaining food, stored what could be saved in the refrigerator, and left the rest for Zubbi to clean up before retiring to her room.

Once inside his bedroom, Yibo finished settling in, climbed onto his large bed, and picked up his phone to call Erland.

Erland answered before Yibo could hesitate.

"𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑑. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡. 𝐼𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡...ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘."

"𝒀𝒊𝒃𝒐, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅?" Erland snapped, his voice rising.

"𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇? 𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔? 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔?"

"𝑬𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆… 𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔. 𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓..."

The call cut off abruptly.

Erland had ended it.

Yibo stared at the phone in disbelief, his heart sinking.

Erland had hung up on him.

Was it possible that beyond his urgency to marry, Erland was dealing with something else Yibo...didn't know about? Because this....this kind of dismissal...was something Yibo never expected, and certainly wasn't ready to accept.

They all went to bed that night with heavy hearts.

Yibo was especially distressed. By morning, he was already determined to reach out to Erland to understand why he had ended the call so abruptly. Even his Dad, the man he respected more than any other, had never hung up on him in his life.

No matter how upset Zhan was, he never allowed it to show. So that morning, when he came out, his handsome face looked exactly as calm and composed as ever, untouched by worry.

He was dressed in 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢, looking exceptionally fresh in the dark shade.

Yibo watched him quietly, wanting to approach him playfully, but the thought that he might have offended him the night before made him restrain himself. Still, with a soft tone, he said,

"𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐷𝑎𝑑,"

as he walked closer, already dressed in a 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐤-𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 and 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐚 trousers.

"𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜," Zhan replied, noticing how dull and tired Yibo's eyes looked from the sleepless night.

They sat at the dining table after Zhan greeted Popo Yuli. He glanced at Yibo again, observing the faint look of exhaustion on his face. Yibo sensed that his father had noticed and instinctively tried to look pitiful, knowing Zhan would not ignore such a state.

Hot black tea and ginger tea were served. Zhan picked up his cup and sipped slowly. After a brief pause, he looked at Yibo again, then spoke calmly.

"𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜."

"𝑌𝑒𝑠, 𝐷𝑎𝑑?" Yibo replied softly.

Zhan placed the cup down and looked at him with a slightly tightened expression.

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 thing 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠."

He turned to Popo Yuli, emphasizing his words.

"𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠? 𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦...𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎...𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒."

Tears threatened to fall, but Yibo forced them back and replied gently, "𝐷𝑎𝑑, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡."

Zhan slowly turned and fixed his sharp gaze on him, both surprised and unsettled by the change in Yibo's behavior.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢?

Yibo lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, his chest tightening with fear that his father would see through the lie..

unaware that Zhan already had.

Zhan finished his tea. He barely touched the food. Standing up, he said, "𝐿𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑜. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙."

Yibo stole a glance at Popo Yuli, silently searching for an excuse to go on his own. He desperately needed to stop by and see Erland so they could talk. But nothing came to mind. With no choice, he stood and followed Zhan. Popo Yuli prayed for their safe return as they left.

Zhan responded quietly. Yibo, however, was lost in thought...he knew his father might tighten his restrictions even further.

That day, Zhan didn't drive himself; his driver took them instead.

All the way to school, Yibo tried to act normal, but Zhan only spoke to him about his studies...nothing else.

When they arrived, Yibo got out of the car and walked away. Only then did Zhan watch him closely, a deep sense of pity settling in his heart.

Nothing troubled him more than his son's distress. He couldn't understand who was influencing Yibo's thinking and reshaping the values he had raised him with.

To this day, Zhan felt no desire for any woman...not even the slightest. Love held no meaning for him. That was why he couldn't comprehend how Yibo had become so deeply invested in romance and marriage. There had never been such displays of love in their home. In truth, Zhan didn't even understand what love was supposed to feel like....let alone losing sleep over it.

Once the car left the school grounds, Yibo headed straight to the campus coffee shop, where Neesah was already seated. Without much conversation, Yibo pulled out his phone and tried calling Erland.

He couldn't reach him.

Eventually, he sent a voice message, asking Erland to call him back as soon as his phone was on...and to make sure his father had not already gone to meet Zhan. Otherwise, Zhan might put a complete stop to their relationship.

After sending the message, Yibo set his phone down, his chest tight with unease. He frowned slightly and called out,

"𝑇𝑤𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑠, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒."

Neesah looked at him and asked,

"𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑤𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚?"

"𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡 𝑖𝑡," Yibo replied quietly.

"𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒."

He fell silent until the drinks arrived.

Taking a slow sip, he finally said,

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟. 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑'𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝐼'𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛."

Neesah reached for her phone.

"𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚."

"𝑁𝑜," Yibo said quickly.

"𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑒? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑'𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐿𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡...𝑖𝑓 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛."

Neesah put her phone away.

"𝐵𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔."

Under his breath, Yibo whispered,

"𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝐷𝑎𝑑 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒. 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒...𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦. 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜."

****

𝐗𝐙'𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

Zhan sat calmly on the sofa in his spacious office, leaning back slightly as he listened to the former ambassador...Erland's father.

His sharp, commanding eyes, the kind that naturally drew attention because of his presence, were fixed steadily on the ambassador as he spoke.

The ambassador was being completely honest, carefully choosing his words in an attempt to persuade Zhan to approve the marriage between their children immediately, hoping to avoid future complications since the young couple was already pushing for it.

What he did not realize was that Zhan's steady gaze did not mean agreement. Zhan was not considering the proposal at all.

After a controlled breath, Zhan briefly looked away. He picked up the phone beside him, placed it on the table, then leaned forward slightly and spoke in a calm, firm voice.

"𝐴𝑠 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒....𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛...𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝑁𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜, 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡, 𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑖𝑡...𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟. 𝑆𝑜, 𝐴𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑟, 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒. 𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠...𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠."

He paused briefly before continuing,

"𝐻𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠, 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑠...𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔.

"𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙."

The ambassador listened in silence, his mouth slightly open as Zhan spoke directly and without hesitation. He knew...just as everyone who knew Zhan did...that Zhan never spoke indirectly, especially when it concerned his son, whom he valued above everything else.

The silence lingered until the ambassador finally exhaled and said, "𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡. 𝐸𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑙𝑦. 𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡."

"𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔,"

Zhan replied softly, glancing at the untouched glass of water before asking politely,

"𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔...𝑐𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑒, 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘?"

"𝑁𝑜, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢," the ambassador replied.

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ."

He took a few sips, then they moved on to unrelated discussions about business and industry. Time passed quietly. When it was time to leave, Zhan personally escorted him back to his residence before returning home with his driver.

That evening, Erland went to his father's residence to hear the outcome. He was already growing frustrated with the strict rules imposed by Yibo's father.

As his father explained everything, he finally expressed the anger he had been holding back...how Zhan kept delaying things, treating Yibo as though he were the most precious and untouchable person in the world.

Frustrated, Erland said,

"𝐷𝑎𝑑, 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠. 𝐸𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑜𝑟 𝐼 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒."

His father stared at him in disbelief.

"𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑? 𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠? 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠...𝑎 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ. 𝑀𝑟.𝑋𝑖𝑎𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑. 𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑛𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑛. 𝑊ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚?"

He leaned forward, his voice hardening.

"𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑀𝑟. 𝑋𝑖𝑎𝑜 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠? 𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠....𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎?

𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛'𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚...𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠. 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛'𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑆𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠. 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤."

Everything his father said was true...but Erland was struggling. His needs were real too, and temptation surrounded him.

His love for Yibo was still deeply rooted in his heart, yet the pressure was overwhelming. He decided he had to speak to Yibo himself. Only he could convince his father to allow the marriage sooner.

That night, he didn't call. He waited until the next morning.

When Yibo saw Erland's call, he was at the dining table with Zhan and Popo. He immediately stood up, saying he was full, and left the table.

Popo watched him go. Zhan continued eating calmly....fully aware of what was happening.

Yibo argued with Erland on the phone. At first, Erland argued back, then softened his tone and tried to reassure him.

Yibo ended the call abruptly and threw his phone aside.

"𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠," he muttered.

Erland didn't call back...just as Yibo had done to him earlier. It hurt, but he ignored it.

****

Knowing how deeply Yibo loved him, Erland went two days without calling, hoping it would pressure him. Eventually, without realizing it, he crossed a line after calling Yibo da telling him that he might take another lover until Yibo finished school, after which they could marry.