Imperfect Desires

Xin Zimen squinted his eyes at the screen when he couldn't hear what Xiao Li said to Liu Nuan that left her so devastated. Even through the screen, he could see Liu Nuan's emotional breakdown. Her condition didn't make him feel softhearted for her but it did make him curious to know what his son said to her.

"Brother Kuan," he called out. "What do you think he said to Liu Nuan?"

"From this angle, I can't see his lips otherwise I'd have been able to tell you what he said," replied Xin Kuan.

Xin Zimen continued to observe the situation in silence as he finally came to a conclusion. "Why does it feel like my son's anger gets out of control whenever he is around Liu Nuan? Am I missing something here?"

"What do you mean?" asked Xin Kuan. "Shouldn't Xiao Li be angry? Liu Nuan tried to kill your niece. His anger is justified."

Xin Zimen's fingers tapped the tabletop as he said, "If he is trained in Wen Clan, he definitely learned how to control his anger. Those who can hide their anger are always the ones who have the upper hand in a fight. That's what my wife used to say."

"So?" 

"But my son had constantly been losing his temper," stated Xin Zimen doubtfully. "And I feel like his anger and hatred for Liu Nuan has more than one reason. He isn't just trying to make her confess what she did to Xiu. He is trying to break her for some reason."

Xin Kuan agreed with a statement in his heart silently before saying, "Xiao Zi, if your son is really trying to break Liu Nuan. Then she is very pitiful since once you end up in the hands of Wen Clan, they'd never let you escape with a sane mind. Your niece... Wait, she is not your niece. I mean, Liu Nuan's end won't be pretty."

"Are you feeling pity for her?" asked Xin Zimen.

"I definitely don't," replied Xin Kuan.

"That's good. Because I don't seem to feel pity for her either." Xin Zimen's lips curved up in a sinister smile as he said, "I don't mind treating her like my niece even if she isn't related to us. But who told her to go and try to kill my little lass? I'm a fair person. Every injustice has a perpetrator, just like every debt has a debtor. It's her debt, she should pay it herself." He looked at Xin Kuan as he went on, "Since she wanted my little lass' life, she should pay that debt with her life."

....

However, Xiao Li's ideas were completely different than his father's. He didn't just want Liu Nuan's life, he wanted everything from her. She made his sister suffer all alone, now it was her turn to suffer all on her own!

After Liu Nuan came out of her initial shock, she said with a trembling body and a hateful gaze, "So what if I used to call her an orphan?! So what if I stole her identity?! She isn't a saint either! She has also stolen someone else's identity. She has also taken over someone else's life!"

"I really think you've gone completely mad," said Xiao Li. "The person in question is already dead! She died because of you! You killed her! Just like you tried to kill Bai Xiu!"

Liu Nuan shook her head, "I have only wanted to kill one person in my life. Whether it was five years ago or now! It'd always be her whom I want dead! It'd always be Chen Xiu!"

"Master Li!"

Xiao Li turned around and looked at the person who called him.

"You should check this report."

Xiao Li took the iPad from the person beside him and looked through the report carefully before his brows furrowed up in confusion. "Are you certain it's not tampered with?"

"Absolutely!" replied the person before looking at Liu Nuan. "Miss Liu here was never pregnant. The only reason for her hospitalization years ago was because she had cut her artery which led to excessive bleeding. However, it wasn't even life-threatening."

Xiao Li exhaled a long breath as he closed his eyes momentarily. As he opened his eyes, he motioned with her head and the woman beside him pulled up Liu Nuan from the ground by her hair. Liu Nuan screamed in pain but the other person's grip didn't loosen at all.

"You actually fooled the whole world?" Xiao Li glared at her with clenched fists. He so wished to beat her to death but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He wasn't being kind to her, he just didn't want to touch a person like her. "You cornered an innocent person, making her carrying the blame of a murder when she didn't even do anything wrong?!"

Liu Nuan shuddered under his chilling aura as she tried to resist saying, "Who said she was innocent? She pushed me down the stairs. If I had been a minute late to get to the hospital, I could have died."

"Oh, I so wish you had died right then and there!" shouted Xiao Li. "Not even for a second, I'm willing to believe that Chen Xiu pushed you down the stairs!"

"You're willing to believe in the innocence of a dead person? Just because she killed herself, it doesn't make her any less guilty! She can't wash her dirty soul even with her blood! She can't!"

*Slap!*

A resounding slap was heard and Liu Nuan was left staring dumbfoundedly at the ground. She couldn't believe that Xiao Li actually slapped her.

"The dead are already gone. She can't even fight for her innocence anymore. But I can!" said Xiao Li. "I'll make sure you get right where you pushed Chen Xiu."

"There were so many eye-witnesses there that night," said Liu Nuan. "You didn't even know Chen Xiu. Why are you willing to believe in her innocence then?"

"Because she was a fool," replied Xiao Li. "When she saved lives behind the scenes, why would she try to take a life before an audience?" He turned around to leave as he said, "Take good care of her."

As he was about to leave, Liu Nuan again called out, "Xin Xiaoli! Don't be fooled by her just because she is playing the role of a fool! By acting like a fool, she is currently making you all a fool. She is right beside you and yet you can't see what kind of a monster she is!"

Xin Xiaoli didn't stop as he left the room and slammed the door close. 

"Master Li, what are you planning to do with her?"

"Prepare a good treatment plan for her," replied Xiao Li. "She should be prepared for what's to come to her."

"Noted."

As much as the said 'treatment plan' sounded nice, it was anything but. In fact, one should be rather scared of the treatment plan he had in mind. He originally didn't plan on following Ah-Si's plan but now, he was at his limits. There was no way he was just gonna kill Liu Nuan. That'd be going way too easy on her.

....

After watching the confrontation between Liu Nuan and his son, Xin Zimen was left in a complicated mood. Now, he was certain that Xiao Li's anger had another agenda. And that agenda seemed to have something to do with Chen Xiu.

This person... Just who was Chen Xiu? And what did she have to do with his son?

"Why is my son obsessed with a dead person?" he wondered out loud.

"Maybe because he is just like his father," replied Xin Kuan. When Xin Zimen gave him a look, he went on, "Aren't you also obsessed with dead people?"

"That's my wife and my daughter you're referring to," retorted Xin Zimen.

"Dead wife and dead daughter," corrected Xin Kuan.

Xin Zimen slammed his hand on the table, "Brother Kuan, you don't have to remind me of that!"

"I think I do," said Xin Kuan. "Occasionally I have to pull you back to reality otherwise, you'd really lose yourself to delusions."

"I don't have any delusions," argued Xin Zimen.

"You can't be the judge of that," Xin Kuan shot back. "Especially when I have seen you losing yourself to your delusions."

Xin Zimen took a deep breath as he fell back on his chair and said, "Then let me be. At least, in my delusions, I can spend some time with both of them."

"Do you want me to look into Chen Xiu now?" asked Xin Kuan.

"No," replied Xin Zimen. "With how intricately she had been involved with almost everyone around me, I'm scared of what I'll find out if I tried to look deeper."

"Where did you get this fear from?" inquired Xin Kuan in surprise.

"Fear is good for health. It makes one realize that not everything is under his control." He took a pause and went on, "For now, just keep an eye on Xiao Li. I want to see what my son is up to."