The Villain's Wife

"And the child?"

"Safe in the orphanage." Zhou Jingren answered. "Qin Fei was taken to a mental facility after the wound on her arms were tended. And they ruled everything out as robbery."

"People believed that?" Lily asked, frowning.

"Does it matter? That's what the authorities said. Xuan Hui may not be able to move his lower body again." Zhou Jingren said. "He will spend the rest of his life on a wheelchair as the bullet hit the spine. We are not even sure if he will ever wake up again."

Lily nodded as her gaze turned complicated. At one point, she thought she loved Xuan Hui. Then she hated him for what he did to her. Slowly, this hate turned into indifference.

Hating someone meant that you cared about them, and Lily had long stopped feeling this emotion towards the people who hurt her before. She had always believed that letting them live their lives instead of killing them was the greatest punishment that she could give them. She always believed that letting them live a miserable life as they watched her grow from afar was the greatest karma that they could experience.

However, it seems that fate had another plan in store for them. "The child will grow up alone."

"The child is sickly." Zhou Jingren said. "We don't even know if he will survive." As someone who grew up alone in an orphanage, Zhou Jingren knew the difficulties that this child might experience. However, he would not be stupid enough to suggest that they adopt this child either. He glanced at Lily's complicated eyes.

Lily was pregnant right now, and her maternal instinct had become visible.

"Don't worry." Lily gave him an assuring smile. "I would not want to adopt the child either." She would not be that stupid to adopt the child of someone that she used to hate. Moreover, this would only complicate things in the future. "Just make sure that someone will watch over this child as he grows up. We don't want any complications in the future."

First, Lily was not that cruel to kill an innocent child. Second, she also believed that this child had nothing to do with the past and everything that his parents did to her.

"I understand." He nodded, relieved to hear those words from her.

"Now… let's talk about this assasination." Lily sipped her tea, her gaze straight towards him. "You are hiding something from me. What is it?"

A sigh escaped his pursed lips. He stared at her face for a few seconds before he answered. "I'm sorry. I just didn't have enough proof."

"Of what?"

"I think… someone is watching us and they've had someone close to us act as theirs pies. Or maybe I have just become paranoid."

"Tell me about it." She narrowed her eyes. "I want to hear everything."

Zhou Jingren then started telling her about what Xuan Hui had told him and his conversation with Bei Tian soon after.

"So… you think someone told them about my involvement with the Yang Family?"

He nodded. "Few people knew about it. I asked Xuan Hui over the phone if Qi Xia mentioned something to him. But he said no. Qi Xia did not elaborate and only told Xuan Hui that whatever happened to him was all our fault."

"Then what makes you think like this?" Betrayal. This word was something that she dreaded the most. The thought of someone close to her betraying her is just unbearable.

"A feeling."

She smiled in response. "Just like my instincts?"

"Just like your instincts." he nodded.

Lily nodded and finished her tea. "Is there something else that you want to tell me aside from this?"

"I am working on getting Qi Xia. At least Bei Tian is. He is already in mainland China, watching them. One wrong move and we get Qi Xia while Yuanfeng ruins his company from the inside."

"Hmmm." She let out a sigh. "So you never told me all this because of my tendency to overthink things?" He nodded in response. For someone like them, betrayal was not an insignificant thing. This could ruin trust and relationship and of course cause a lot of disappointments and heartbreaks. He only wanted his wife to not overthink about something without any concrete proof. "I understand." Lily forced a smile.

Zhou Jingren was right. The thought of someone betraying her would probably affect her sleeping routine until she found something that would assure her. "Thank you." She added as he reached out to hold her hand, using his thumb to stroke the back of her palm.

"If I am right, then we will find out soon. Also… we will interrogate Qi Xia to find out more information about the person who wanted to support them. In the meantime…" his gaze turned dark. "Zhou Huifang is still alive."

"And?" she lifted an eyebrow.

"They are too slow." He answered.

"His father? Did he— "

"Zhou Huifang did not call his father. Instead, he tried to visit an abandoned building. Of course, the meeting did not happen and that might be because they knew someone was following him. He called Qi Xia and since Qin Yuanfeng is keeping him occupied, he was not able to answer his phone."

"So you plan to kill your cousin?"

"Not me. Qi Xia will."

"So you will frame him."

"Only if he still refuses to apologize to his father. I will give him until tomorrow to come clean and tell his father and mine about his plans and the person behind them. If he won't tell him, then I won't have a choice but do something about it."

Lily nodded. "Then… do it the other way around. Kill Qi Xia and frame your cousin."

"Why?"

"Zhou Huifang knows more than Qi Xia." She answered. "I have talked to Zhou Huifang and I know that he knows a lot more about you and your past than Qi Xia. So kill Qi Xia and spare the one with the most information."

"Alright then… that will be done." He nodded. Using a secured phone, Zhou Jingren immediately called Bei Tian so he could explain the changes to their plan.

Now that he carefully thought about it, sparing Zhou Huifang would mean a lot to his uncle. This might also make his uncle grateful and therefore would be more loyal to Zhou Jingren's father. Lily must have thought about using this too.

He gave a wry smile at his wife's cunning intelligence.

...

proofreader: Dragon777

2/3

This is late. I will release the third one after a few hours.