The Overnight Chosen Wife: Darling, Kiss Me Deeper

"I'm not sure what you mean by that." Xiehan maintained his nonchalance as he denied her claim.

"It has to be you!" She insisted. "I asked Luna to find her location and she found that she is still in B City. Are you saying that Luna is lying?"

Lanni cursed inwardly while Xiehan clenched his fists. He would never have expected her to seek Luna's help first before coming to him. She probably already suspected him, which is why she went to Luna first and was only trying to trap him.

" Well, programmers can't always be accurate." He cooked up an excuse that even he found ridiculous.

"Just stop. Are you going to claim that since you are not as well versed in programming as Luna is, you cannot be as accurate as she is?" She laughed in ridicule. "Lies don't look good on you, cousin. This is the part when you admit everything."

He remained silent, which prompted her to push. "Is it because of the enmity between her and Lanni?"

"Shishi," Lanni tried to calm her down only to be interrupted.

"I'm not speaking to you right now, Lanni."

"I can't believe you would do this. I thought she was like a mother to you. Heck, I thought that no matter who was capable of hurting her, you would never do anything to harm her." She burst into tears.

"There is a reason why I held her captive. But I can promise you that she will not be harmed. I only want to scare her into admitting what she did."

"Admitting what she did?" Xiaoshi scoffed. "I can't believe you would even have the guts to say such a thing. She is your aunt, cousin!"

"And she tried to murder my child!" He raised his voice, which startled her. He didn't usually raise his voice at her, having doted on her all her life. Her tears fell continuously. Seeing this, Yue climbed onto her lap and used her tiny hands to wipe her mother's tears, mimicking the adults' actions.

Xiehan studied his niece and asked, "Shishi, if I were to threaten Yue's life, what would you do to me?"

"What do you mean by that?" She reflexively grabbed her daughter and held her protectively, glaring at Xiehan.

"The literal meaning." He continued studying the little girl. "If I were to try and feed her food that will harm her and possibly cause her death, constantly aim to kill her and have someone attack the two of you with the goal of killing her, what would you do?"

"Don't you dare do anything to my daughter! If you have something against me, let's talk it out as adults." Yue roared like an enraged tigress.

Xiehan sat back down and watched her try to leave before he spoke. "I only made a hypothesis and you are so angry. How do you think I felt when aunty tried to kill my baby so many times in just a few days?"

"What?" Xiaoshi stopped in her tracks.

"I don't know if you realized that Luna was injured. If you did, then you know what Lanni's state would have been if the henchmen got the right person."

Xiaoshi thought deeply about it. Luna had refused to tell her what happened to her and had brushed it off by going ahead to help her so she would stop asking. Who would have thought that the truth was so ugly?

"Mother orchestrated that?" She asked.

"It's hard to believe that your mother did such a thing but she did it. She wanted my wife to lose the baby. Of course I would be furious."

Xiaoshi broke down. "What she did was wrong."

"If you are about to beg for my forgiveness on her behalf, save it." Xiehan stopped her before she could get back to him.

That didn't stop her. She let Yue down and dropped to her knees.

"Cousin, I'm begging you. I will have her apologize to Lanni if you let her off. After that, I will convince her to go back to Australia and not bother the two of you ever again."

She looked up to Lanni. "Please. My father is already in prison. I can't stand the thought of both them being behind bars."

Lanni was helpless. If it was up to her, she would settle this peacefully. Xiaoshi meant well, but who was to say that Ji Meiling would keep her word? She might just return and seek revenge for being held captive by Xiehan.

"Shishi, there is a point of no return and aunty crossed it a long time ago. The most I can do is lighten her sentence."

She got up from her knees in despair, but who would blame Xiehan and Lanni? It was not their fault that they had been targeted.

"I understand." She picked up her daughter and left.

"Do you think she will try to target us for not forgiving her mother?" Lanni asked. The possibility of that happening was exhausting her.

"No. I don't think so." He reassured her. "She is a fair person. It will be hard for her but once she thinks about it with a calm state of mind, she will acknowledge that her mother made a mistake and needs to pay for it."

It was painful to think about it but Lanni was not a saint to be able to let go of the woman who tried to kill her baby. The thought of it still made her shiver.

They thought all was going well until Xiehan received a call from the Ji family household. Ji Huifen wanted both of them to go over.

"It seems like we thought too much of Xiaoshi." Xiehan's gaze darkened.

"I wouldn't keep my mouth shut if my mother was being held captive so I can't blame her." Lanni shrugged. She grabbed a cream colored dress and changed into it before they both went to the Ji mansion.

Seeing Ji Huifen, Wen Lin, Ruby and Xiaoshi in the living room, it was not hard to guess what had happened.

Xiehan shot a glare at his cousin, who shivered and turned to Ruby. "Why does he look like he wants to kill me?"

"Because he probably does." Ruby shrugged.

Xiaoshi frowned. But she didn't do anything wrong! All she had done was give Ji Huifen a call to let him know that her mother was alright. Earlier when she was panicking about her mother's possible disappearance, she had told him about it. So she thought it would be great if she let him know that his sister was not actually missing. Who would have thought that Ji Huifen already suspected the truth?

"Xiehan, you have never been an unreasonable brat. Why did you kidnap your aunt?" Ji Huifen went straight to the point.

"Since you investigated this matter and found where she is, then you should know why she is where she is as well." He retorted.

Ji Huifen massaged his temples. "Misunderstandings happen all the time. We are family. Are you going to let the family fall apart just because of some misunderstandings?" He demanded.

"Misunderstandings, you say?" Xiehan was displeased. "Well, these 'misunderstandings' almost cost the lives of my wife and baby. I don't take them lightly. And the fact that I have to explain this to you is enough to question whether you care for your grandchild."

"How dare you insinuate such a thing? I care about my grandchild more than anything." Ji Huifen huffed. "But I care for my sister too. Why don't you let her go? I will reprimand her and make sure she leaves the country and doesn't bother you again."

Lanni felt uncomfortable at the thought. If Xiehan was pressured into letting Ji Meiling go, it would be freeing a potential murderer. She would never feel safe with her lurking.

Sensing her insecurity, he held her hand and leaned over to whisper, "Don't worry, I will not do anything that will make you uncomfortable."

She relaxed a little but knew that it was not entirely over.

"Father, I value family as much as you do. After all, aunt Meiling and I have lived together for long enough. However, I also know that she will not back down. Once her mind is set on something, she does not back down no matter what." He gripped Lanni's hand while looking at his father seriously. "And what she is set on this time is to destroy my family. So forgive me for wanting to protect my wife and child but I will not let her go."

"You punk!" Ji Huifen roared.

"Do you have any idea what she did? Did Shishi tell you?" He questioned.

Ji Huifen didn't respond, convincing Xiehan that he, in fact, knew what his sister had done. He just didn't want her to face the consequences of his actions.

"Father, I don't blame you for wanting to protect your sister. I would do anything to ensure the safety of Ruby and Shishi as well. But that doesn't mean I would let either of them escape unscathed if they do the wrong thing. I would let them face the consequences of their actions, which is what a law-abiding citizen would do."

"Don't give me that negotiation crap. She didn't actually hurt anyone!" Ji Huifen was enraged.

"Because she didn't get the chance."

"Xiehan has a point." Wen Lin supported her son and it had nothing to do with her dislike for Ji Meiling.

Ji Huifen glared at both of them. "If you don't give the order to release her, none of you is leaving today."

Xiehan shrugged. "Great. Let's call it a sleepover then."

____

AN.

If you were Xiehan, would you let her go?