Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Zhan Yahui raised her head, breathless as she heard the sound of footsteps entering the room. And as she did so, a presence very different and more imposing than Jun and the twins induced a feeling within her as if she was crushed by a boulder. She observed the handsome but expressionless face of a man where it was obvious from whom his children inherited their features.

She sneered. “Oh, did the spoiled little son call his rich Daddy to solve the problem for him?”

Jian had an urge to wring her neck, but he stopped his violence from breaking out. On his side, Jun couldn’t bring the courage to face her but as Ai squeezed his hand in hers, he found his fearful, erratic heartbeats calming down. She knew that only the truth would now set his heart free from any guilt.

Jin, carrying the cats in his arms, was troubled too, seeing his brother falling into despair. But he had faith in his father that he wouldn’t let this misunderstanding fester for long. Ai-cat jumped on Jun’s shoulder and softly purred, rubbing her cheek against his.

*Meow*

Jinhai met Zhan Yahui’s ridicule filled eyes, unfazed. Instead of feeling offended, he said in a monotonous voice, “It was your Daddy who was always the main problem.”

That one comment was enough to dissipate the disdain in her eyes and freeze them with hatred. “Don’t you fucking dare utter his name…”

Jinhai, who held Jun’s phone, kept it on a table and quietly said, “Your friend here has made a mistake.”

Zhan Yahui narrowed her eyes. As she peeked into the phone, she saw Hou Lin’s number flashing on it and it also displayed that the call was in progress, making her eyes widen.

“He took my daughter-in-law with him and is demanding that we free you in exchange for her safety.”

Hou Lin was listening in silence from the other end.

Zhan Yahui burst into a manic laughter, praising Hou Lin. “Ahhh you did such a great job, Lin! I knew that it was my right decision to choose you,” she continued laughing, feeling victorious. “There is no way that you would lift even a finger against me now. Lin is right. If you want to see Xing Bi alive, then do as he says. Or she will meet the same fate of that corrupt Summit judge who was gonna expose me,” she sneered, “Death.”

Nian almost rushed a step forward to end her life once and for all but Jinhai raised his palm. “Stop. Step back.”

With green veins appearing on his fury reddened face, he spoke through his clenched jaw, “If anybody fucking messes with Xing Bi-”

“Nobody can mess with her. Not this woman here. Not Hou Lin either,” Jinhai calmly said. 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝

Ai felt a strong wave of assurance gushing in her heart by his staunch stand, which made Jun feel at ease too.

Xing Bi, who was also listening to the conversation, quickly tried to placate his anger. “Nian, I will be fine. Please calm down.”

Nian grudgingly stepped back, throwing cold, piercing and murderous glares at Zhan Yahui.

Jinhai sat on the chair where previously Jian was seated and faced her. “I see you have been wrecking a whole lot of damage to my son’s life and over something where he isn’t even at fault.”

Zhan Yahui couldn’t believe his audacity. “I knew it’s useless to talk with you disgusting people! Your son killed my father and-”

“It was the twins who ordered your father to be killed,” Jinhai mercilessly cut her sentence off.

The truth dropped upon everybody was so sudden and different than what they had expected that they jolted sharply in their places, especially Jun. He threw a blank stare at his elder brothers, expressing his pure disbelief.

You…?

But the twins promptly remained silent.

Zhan Yahui stared at him. “Sorry, who?”

“The twins. But the incident of his death is still far ahead in time. Before that, it is imperative that you know who your dear to-be father Ouyang Haitao was.”

She gritted her teeth. “I don’t need to know anything from you!”

“You do because it’s exactly that you were blind all this time why my children suffered so much,” he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly that made the aura exuding from him even more denser and dangerous. It forced her to back out and simply shut up and listen to what Jinhai had to say. “You as well as your friend here.”

Hou Lin said nothing, but it was clear that the call was in progress.

“You…”

“You were around eleven at the time this happened, am I correct? Were you aware that your father was in debt?” Jinhai asked.

Zhan Yahui lashed out. “Yes, I did! He borrowed money from you filthy people only to make my mom and my life better! So that we could live a good life financially! So that we don’t need to struggle. But what would a filthy and rich capitalist like you possibly understand our plight!? You have all been swimming in money since the beginning, haven’t you!?”

Jinhai stared at her. “Is that the reason that man gave you? For your betterment?”

“Are you an idiot? Why else would he have to borrow money!?”

Xing Bi quietly chimed in through the call. “Zhan Yahui, you do know that some people have the habit of gambling too, right? I can say because my father was like that.”

“Dad wasn’t a gambler!” She screamed and if not for the fact that she was restrained, she would have violently hurt somebody in front of her.

Jinhai said, “Xing Bi is partially right. Your father was indeed addicted to gambling.”

She froze.

“But it was also true that he borrowed money to set up his own business. But unfortunately, he had no business sense and his bad decisions only turned worse as he dipped into losses. Which only prompted him to gamble more out of habit and land himself into more debt. The graver problem was that he wasn’t telling any of this to your mother, Zhan Kai-Ming. He had even sold whatever little jewelry she had for his business on pretext of something else.”

“What nonsense are you blabbering!?”

“The nonsense that you should have learned ages ago to spare yourself and us from the shit that you have landed us in,” the sharper edge to his voice dropped the temperature by several degrees. “So just shut up and listen to the truth once and for all.”