Imperfect Desires

Ying glared at him for such a response. What did he mean by he wasn't the one looking for Carina Novell? He certainly was the one who asked her to look for her! Why else would she be running around like a madwoman?! 

"I mean to say that even though I asked you to find Carina Novell, I am not the one who wanted to know where or how she is."

"Then?"

Xin Zimen didn't respond to her. Instead, he finally took that envelope from his desk and opened it. As he read the DNA report, his lips curled up in an amused smile, "A woman's intuition is dangerous. It indeed is very dangerous." While Ying tried to read through his smile, he went on, "Now, it's time for you to give me a detailed report of your mission."

"I'm confused," Ying said matter-of-factly. If Destiny wasn't his daughter, why was he the one looking so amused by this knowledge? What exactly was he playing? 

"Investigator Yan, how about you do your job first?" Hearing that stern tone of his voice, Ying couldn't bring herself to dawdle anymore. She couldn't avoid this any longer. If she did, he was gonna be really angry and she really wasn't someone who could afford that. Besides, at this moment, he was asking as her superior and not as her Zizi.

Ying stood up in an alert mode and related everything she learned from the point of Carina Novell's death to Destiny Novell's existence. But she had yet to tell him who was Destiny. 

"What is Destiny Novell's new identity then? And where is she now?" he inquired seriously. His face or his voice didn't indicate even a tinge of playfulness or carelessness from before. 

Ying hesitated in answering. She was in deep thought before saying, "Zizi, you won't hurt her, right?"

"What?" 

"I kinda like her. A lot actually and I don't want you to hurt her. I don't know why or who is actually looking for Destiny but I really don't want her to get hurt in this gameplay of yours. And I know you." She looked straight into his eyes. "You neither play fair nor do you like playing mildly."

"Should I be happy that you know me so well or be upset that you actually think I'd hurt her?"

"You hate her mother. I don't know whose DNA you gave me, but you know who her father is. And I have a feeling that you don't have much compassion for her father as well."

"That doesn't mean I have to hate their daughter as well." Xin Zimen's reaction got her a bit confused. "Aye! I'm not going to take revenge on a young girl for her parent's mistakes."

Hearing this, Ying finally relaxed and placed her phone before him, "You already know her." He quirked his brows at her inquisitively. "Her new name is Bai Xiu."

Xin Zimen gaped at her in disbelief. Was she for real? That little lass who he had grown fond of was actually Carina Novell's daughter? What kind of joke was this? And who the hell was playing this joke with him? 

"It's not the same Bai Xiu I have in my mind, right?" he still felt like asking for confirmation. It was needed. Very much needed!

"It's the same Bai Xiu. Regan's girlfriend. Dylan's Executive Assistant. The girl you met at Yi's house." He silently took her cellphone and went through the detailed information about Destiny Novell aka Bai Xiu. He fell back in his chair with his eyes stuck on the screen. "Also, there is something else... Destiny Novell's identity was concealed within our syndicate's server. Only the employees' information is kept there. I don't know how she got there."

"Ask her then," he spoke in a daze. He wasn't able to process this information for some reason. 

"I'd have done that but she doesn't have any memories of her past."

"Huh?"

"She's suffering from amnesia. She can't recall the first 18 years of her life." Ying took a pause before adding, "In fact, she doesn't even remember her mother. Also, she has no clue what her last name 'Novell' actually represents in Italy. She's just living an ordinary life without any memories."

"In fact, now that I'm talking about her maternal family, I still have one more person to inform about this..." Ying was so absorbed in finding the whole truth that she didn't even notice that she still had to tell Cali about Xiu. "Should I leave then?" Xin Zimen waved her off without even asking whom she was talking about. 

The silence that pervades after she left made Xin Kuan feel bothered. He looked at Xin Zimen who seemed to be in deep thought and sighed out gloomily.

"Are you that shocked to know that Carina's daughter is Bai Xiu?" asked Xin Kuan pulling Xin Zimen out of his trance.

He shook his head. "Not really."

"Then what's with that look on your face?" 

"Do you know what's Destiny's date of birth?" Xin Kuan frowned at his question but shook his head nonetheless. "It's the 25th of December."

"That's..." Xin Kuan didn't know how to continue.

"It's the same date," Xin Zimen whispered softly. "Someone's daughter was born on that day and mine died on the very same day. Such a brutal play of fate."

"Xiao Zi..." Xin Kuan couldn't tell what his feelings were but he knew one thing, Xin Zimen was really hurting right now.

"You know when sister-in-law asked for my help, I was really angry. She knew how much I hated Carina Novell and yet she asked me to find her. I really didn't know what she wanted to do." Xin Zimen finally spoke the truth that he didn't tell Ying earlier. The person looking for Carina Novell wasn't him. It was his sister-in-law, Zhao Huan whom Xiu met a couple of hours ago. 

"Then how did she really convince you? I mean you're not kind. Why would you help her with this?"

"Because she said that on the 25th of December, something else happened. She said that Wen Ai hid something from me. As for what was that I had to find myself." Xin Zimen crumbled the DNA report as he continued, "Now I know what she meant. Wen Ai wasn't trying to save her friend Carina that night, she was saving the newborn Destiny. That's how we lost our own daughter."