Words I was Afraid to Hear

"Mei, let me introduce my sister, Romina Ta." Lu Shaoting looked gentle but proud.

"Uhm, hello, I'm Romina Ta. Nice to finally meet you, Sister-in-law."

"Uh...what?!" Jiang Mei Ling had an astonished look on her face, bouncing glances over the two before her.

"My parents forbid me to meet her and discouraged me to find out more about our relationship because they were afraid that I will discover the truth."

"But...but isn't she supposed to be your cousin?!" Jiang Mei Ling had a gaping mouth. Her expressive eyes were wide with shock.

"My aunt had always been so good to me when she was still alive. I thought that she was just channeling her love and care for her lost child to me, but I was wrong. She treated me like a son because I am her son."

"What?!"

"My father succumbed to the demands of the Lu family since he was just an ordinary man working for a clan. He tried to accept losing his son by believing that he will be in a well-off family. The only thing he regretted was that we could not continue to live with my mother." Romina Ta explained.

"The parents I grew up with failed to conceive a child. They didn't want to adopt a stranger to be their heir, so when my real mother had me, they made her give me up and sent my real father away." Lu Shaoting had a grave face.

"How...how did you know all of these?"

"We found my mother's diary in the old house my father built for us. I did not want to believe any of it, but my brother made me undergo DNA testing. True enough, we are really siblings."

"Before my aunt...my real mother died, she stored some of her blood for testing when her child ever appear. Romina is her real daughter. They are my real family."

"Shao...I...I'm sorry...I...I'm sorry I told your parents...I...I didn't..." Another tear fell from Jiang Mei Ling's eye.

Lu Shaoting hurriedly stood from his seat and came to her side to embrace her.

"I'm sorry, Mei. It's not your fault. I'm sorry for leaving. I...we just had to settle this matter on our own. I don't want you to have to lie to my parents if you knew..."

"Shao, I missed you!" She embraced back as tears poured out.

"Brother, Sis-in-law, I'll be heading out first." Romina Ta felt awkward as a third wheel and volunteered to leave first. She knew they needed some time alome.

"Mei, let's go home."

"Hmmnn." Jiang Mei Ling nodded as she put out a sweet smile behind the tears.

________________

"CEO Zhou, please have some coffee." The secretary served a steaming cup with a shy smile.

"Hmmn." Verdan Zhou nodded. He scanned the office. Its decor reflects how minimalist and masculine the CEO of XCG is. He is confident that it will be an easy transaction.

As he was finishing his cup of coffee, the clicking of the cup with the saucer on the coffee table synchronized with the clicking of the doorknob.

However, instead of hearing the sounds of oxfords, he heard heels clicking against the black granite floor.

He suddenly looked up to the person who barged into the office.

His eyes shook as he recognized the person before him as he stood from the sofa.

"CEO Zhou." The woman who was wearing a black blazer over her neoprene solid white dress offered a hand to shake but she looked indifferent.

Verdan Zhou hurried to take her hand and shook it firmly. He had a familiar feel to the soft touch of her hand. "Uhm...hello, I'm Verdan Zhou."

"Takagi Midori." She gestured to the sofa. "Please have a seat." She sat on the opposite sofa.