Villain: The Play of Destiny

"So, what troubles you, my dear Yue?" Keith gently smiled at her and curiously asked. 

Qingyue could not help but blush at being called by her nickname. It was not the first time he had used it, but it sounded so sweet from his mouth that her cheeks always warmed up at this address. 

"Nothing..." She timidly shook her head, feeling a little guilty in her heart. 

She knew that she had failed to keep her worries to herself and had spoiled the night of celebration for him. It was not her intention, but she could not help wearing those lost expressions on her face.

"So, you would hide things from me?" He playfully questioned and laughed when he saw a frantic expression dawn on her face.

"No..." 

"I know." He cut her off and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I know that you don't mean to hide it from me, but you don't have to keep it to yourself for another time. Whatever troubles you, you must tell me about it." He seriously said and then smiled. "And I promise I won't laugh too much at you." 

"Hmph!" She folded her arms on her chest and turned to look away from him, pouting in dissatisfaction, but inside her heart, she felt really sweet. 

Keith patiently waited for her to tell him what was bothering her. He leaned back against the pillar and folded his arms on his chest. The faint sound of music from the slightly opened door next to them seemed a little too loud in the silence that reigned between them. 

Everyone else was inside the Music Room, having a Karaoke Night, and right now, it was Celine who was singing a song for everyone. 

"I just did not want to spoil your special day, Keith..." The grey-eyed girl finally spoke. 

"Try me." He playfully said. 

"My counsel informed me in the morning that Lin Houtian is proposing a clause in the settlement in return for giving me everything that once belonged to my mother." She took a deep breath and looked at him. "The clause prevents me from marrying you for the next four years." She said, and stared into his eyes, gauging his expressions. 

"And what do you want to do?" He lightly smiled and asked. 

His question made her feel a little guilty and she lowered her head. 

"I..." 

"You want to agree to it." He said, and she felt suffocated in her heart as fears whispered in her mind. 

"Keith, I..." She knew that it was selfish of her to make him wait for four years. But she really did not want anything that belonged to her mother to remain in that despicable man's hands. 

"Have you wondered why he wants you to wait for four years?" He suddenly asked, catching her attention. 

She had indeed been pondering over it for the entire day. 

"Maybe he thinks that my feelings for you would fade away..." She whispered. 

"And would they?" 

"No!" She immediately answered and looked him in the eyes. 

They both stared into each other's eyes for a good minute until Keith sighed in disappointment.

"For an intelligent girl like you, to show such a dumb side, in this case, in this case, is disappointing." He said, and the grey-eyed girl narrowed her eyes at him as her heart started getting a little restless. "Let's suppose he is indeed counting on you losing your feelings for me. How does this help him? He would still lose his Businesses." He asked. "It isn't like you would return to the Lin Family after you stop loving me..." 

"Keith!!!" She angrily shouted at him, cutting him off. "I love you!" 

"I know..." 

"And I would never stop loving you!" She again cut him off, and glared at him with her misty eyes, her body trembling a little as she found it hard to control her raging emotions. 

She really did not like the sound of it that she would stop loving him. His words hurt her and her heart was aching right now.

"I know." He sighed and then stepped forward to pull her in his arms, soothing her back comfortingly. "It was just a conjecture. I would never doubt your feelings for me." He planted a kiss on her head, and her racing her started calming down after his gentle words. 

She had not noticed it, but the Music inside the room had stopped playing. Keith knew that there were people now eavesdropping on their conversation, and he smiled in his heart. 

"So, let's suppose your father..."

"He's not my father." She cut him off as she separated from him. 

"Okay." He sighed. "Let's suppose that Lin Hountian is counting on you losing your feelings for me. But would you return to the Lin Family if that was to ever happen?" 

"No." She adamantly shook her head. 

"So, why does he want you to sign the clause that prevents you from marrying me for the next four years?" He raised the question again, and Qingyue finally felt her heart constrict. 

Lin Houtian was not a dumb man. He was cunning, wicked, and someone who could use any method to get things done. 

Lots of thoughts ran through her mind, and there was one that she had already thought of and rejected in the daytime. But now it came haunting her back.

"He would kill me and Mama..." She whispered but heard Keith sigh disappointedly. 

"You think he can pull off something like that with me and my family behind you and incur our wrath?" 

And Qingyue felt like she really had lost some brain cells somewhere today. 

"What does he want then?" She frowned and asked.

"He has a promise to keep, remember?" He smiled at her. "He has to return his life-saving grace to the Chinese man who saved his life from certain death. And he has to hand his daughter in the hands of a reliable Chinese man." He smiled at her. "Have you ever wondered that if he could promise his daughter to someone to return his life-saving grace, he could also give that son-in-law a share in Family Wealth?" 

Qingyue felt a little restless in her heart as things finally made sense to her. 

"Let's suppose that in the next four years, the man he has chosen for you enters your life, wins your heart, and you end up leaving me for him. The wealth you took away would become his, just as intended by Lin Houtian." He smiled as he said those words. 

Keith was not making things up. It was indeed meant to be like he had told her. Lin Houtian planned on making Ye Tian part of his family to secure a bright future for the Lin Family in Sameran City. 

"He..." Qingyue was about to say something when the door of the music room suddenly opened and out walked Celine, wearing an angry expression. 

"You are not singing any clauses that despicable man proposes!" She clearly said and glared at her daughter. "Even if it means that he would not give you anything." 

"Mama..." The grey-eyed girl tried to step forward to calm her mother down, but Celine shrugged her hand off and kept glaring at her. 

"Tell me you won't sign any such clause..." 

"She will, Aunt Celine." Keith suddenly said, taking everyone present by surprise. 

"Keith..." The grey-eyed woman's eyes turned misty, but her heart calmed down when she found him gently smiling at her. 

"He has made his move, but we can turn the table on him." He smirked. "Now, we know that the Inheritance Qingyue wants is not the main issue for him, but the real issue is the promise that he wants to keep." 

Keith waited for her to calm down a little. 

"If Qingyue now decides that she does not want anything and she just wants to marry me, the helpless Lin Houtian can not do anything about it." He pointed out. "But if she does agree to sign the clause, it would give him hope of being able to keep his promise. And if she asks for a little more than she is entitled to, he might feel reluctant about it, but he would likely agree to it, hoping that it would all eventually fall into the hands of the man he chose for her." 

He let his words sink in and then smiled when Celine's eyes widened in surprise.

"And even if he does not agree, we don't lose anything." 

His words made Venessa and Rebecca smirk, but the rest of the people were surprisedly looking at him. 

"The way I see it, he has presented Qingyue with an opportunity to negotiate much more than 15% of the Lin Family's wealth." 

"Keith... We do not need money." Celine narrowed his eyes at him.

"I know. But making that man bleed after what he did to you would be fun to watch." He shrugged and said. "As for not being able to marry Qingyue for four years..." He smiled at the pair of mother and daughter. "We can't marry officially, but if we really want to, we could always marry in private and make it official after four years. And even if we wait for four years, it's nothing. We already planned on waiting for some time." He nonchalantly said. "Also, we have a very long life ahead of us. Four years would pass in a blink of an eye." 

"You are not in the least worried that you might lose her?" Celine disappointedly asked. 

"No." He shook his head. "No one takes away something from me that I consider precious in my life. Besides, Aunty, do you really think that I would lose to any man given how blessed and handsome I am?" He mischievously smiled at her and winked, and Celine could not suppress her giggles as they managed to break out of her tummy. 

"He's just like you!" She said to Venessa. "Just as cunning!" 

And his mother smirked at her friend. 

"I know." 

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