Because I Cannot Hurt You

"Mama, the block should be here, not there!" Chyou patiently pointed out Caihong's mistake as they played with blocks. "See, they don't match," she pouted.

Caihong stuck out her tongue and grinned. "Oops. My bad. So let me see... where is the correct shape then?" 

The door opened and Xiaosi stepped in. "Hello, beautiful ladies."

"Dada!" Chyou beamed. She trotted towards him and hugged his leg. "Dada, Dada come play with us!"

He ruffled her head. "Sure."

Chyou noticed a small bag in his hand. She eagerly asked, "What is this?"

"Haha, I bought a cake for my sweet dumpling."

Her eyes sparkled. "Cake!"

Caihong said, "You just got her ice cream yesterday."

Xiaosi coughed. "There was a discount on cakes."

She grimaced. "Since when does the CEO of the S3 Company have to look for discounts?"

He awkwardly smiled as he scratched his forehead. "I don't know. But I got super happy when I heard of a discount."

She blinked her eyes and curiously stared at him.

Before starting S3 and becoming its CEO, Xiaosi was a commoner. He didn't have much money so...maybe, the money-saving habit came from those times...

She couldn't help but find it cute and chuckle.

"Anyway, the point is that you just got her ice cream yesterday and now a cake. It's not good for her. What if she falls sick?"

Xiaosi cleared his throat. "Chyou will be fine. She is strong, right?"

Chyou hopped up and down. "Yes, yes! Chyou will not get sick!"

Caihong raised her brow.

Xiaosi pleaded. "Pretty please? Last time. I won't bring sweets so frequently from now on."

"Yes, Mama! Please let Chyou eat the cake?"

The father-daughter pair stared at her with their watery eyes, begging her to allow them.

Caihong sighed. "Alright, alright. Don't look at me with those eyes. You can have the cake but no sweets for at least a week now."

"Yay!" Xiaosi and Chyou high-fived.

Xiaosi joined them in their block game too. Caihong observed him and for some reason, he looked a little tired.

"Was work too stressful today?" She asked.

"Ah? Oh no, it was alright."

She frowned, noticing the slight worry in his gaze.

Something has definitely happened…

After the game, Chyou went ahead to complete her homework. Caihong folded her arms and asked, "Now, tell me what's going on."

Xiaosi stiffened. "Nothing…"

She pursed her lips. "Xiaosi. I don't want you to hide anything from me now. You don't remember this now, but you have kept a lot of things for me to protect me. I don't want this anymore. Neither I will hide anything from you nor will you."

He seemed anxious.

Caihong sighed and made him sit on the bed. She sat beside him and held his hand. "We will sort out all the problems together. You are not alone."

Xiaosi felt his heart in bliss with her encouraging words.

"Today, I met my step-brother, Lei Shing. He is my Mom's son from her remarriage."

Caihong widened her eyes, aghast. "Her son? Was it about the incident?"

"No. He came for business. His company, Lei Exports, wants S3 to take care of its security. So, he came to meet regarding the proposal."

"Oh…"

She felt greatly relieved. For a moment, she thought that he came for some confrontation just like Lei Biya did.

"I decided to reject this proposal because of the complicated personal relationship with her," he faintly smiled. "I am sure she wouldn't like it that I will be in contact with her son. But in the end, I couldn't reject it. Their company is facing some tough times and they badly need the best security services."

"And your heart softened."

He pursed his lips. 

Caihong sighed. "You were right earlier. We shouldn't have anything to do with her family after how she insulted you like that. Just meeting with her daughter abroad flipped her out so much," she gritted her teeth. "She would definitely blame this on you too! And I will not tolerate it. Xiaosi, I feel bad for Lei Shing and the difficulties he is facing, but you should withdraw from this deal. She will come to know one day or the other and then will raise a hell of a storm. I don't want you to suffer any humiliation anymore!"

Her chest heaved, taking angry breaths.

Xiaosi smiled and pinched her cheeks. "You are so cute."

She stiffened and blushed. "W-why are you suddenly saying this out of nowhere?"

He laughed. "It isn't out of nowhere. You are always cute, especially when you worry about me."

"Are you shrugging me off?" She narrowed her eyes.

He put his hand on top of hers. "I understand your point too. But I will be fine. Lei Shing doesn't know this...but he is still my brother after all. As his elder brother, I should support him. He is an honest and sincere man. I checked it out too and found that there is a rival company who I have suspicions about sabotaging their warehouse. Also, I secretly dug about some facts and got to know that the rival company has bribed many security companies to give Lei Exports the weakest services possible with loopholes and vulnerabilities."

Xiaosi smiled. "After knowing this, I cannot let myself act ignorant of their troubles."

Her lips straightened into a thin line. "You shouldn't be so kind-hearted to her. Even though she acted so horribly, she would still get and enjoy the benefits of your help."

"Well no matter what she did, her family was good to me. In the mall, Lei Shu was against her mother for badmouthing me and Lei Shing seemed like a nice guy too."

"That's because they don't know the past and your relationship with them. If they know that you are their step-brother, I wonder how they would act with Lei Biya already against you so much. It would be so easy for her to make them hate you…" her gaze dimmed. "I don't want anybody else saying anything against you!"

His heart skipped several beats, seeing her concern. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. Caihong looked away, blushing a little. She wasn't used to this side of Xiaosi.

"Everything will be fine. I will make sure that Lei Shing keeps it a secret from his family that I am the CEO of S3. I will add a clause like that. It would be fine then, right? Mrs. Lei won't know about me."

"...Alright. But! I am telling you if, by any chance, she does get to know about your identity and starts hurling insults at you, I will force you to break the deal right then and there no matter how sorry you feel for her family, got it?"