Master An

The moment An Qi Lu reached Xi Corporation, he strode off to the personal elevator of Xi Ana. He pushed the button according to the Morse code of Ana's name which directly led to Xi Ana's office. Once he's done the mechanical voice of a woman started speaking.

"Due to security purposes, please place your left hand on the handprint scanner."

He's been used to this. He is after all the person who installed this.

This elevator has only two end destinations: Pushing the button once would automatically direct you the Top Floor and you only need to key in the password, but if you used the Morse code you will need to undergo handprint scanner, iris identification, and you'll have to answer a certain question.

Ting!

The sound means the handprint passed, the man stood still waiting for the system to continue.

"Please stand still."

Ting!

That was the indication that the iris identification also passed.

"Good day! For the last stage of our security measure, please state where is Miss Ana on the 8th of September, XXXX"

"Venice, Italy."

Ting!

Soon as the sound chimed in, the elevator door opened. How would he not know when they were together on that day.

"Welcome back, Master An!"

"Thank you, Karen." he said and walked inside the elevator. Yes, this mechanical voice has a name. Karen contains a lot of information, Xi Ana and him worked on it for a long period of time.

"You're always welcome, Master An."

After couple of minutes, the elevator comes to a halt followed by the opening of the door. He immediately went out of it and the door closed, he watched the cabinet turn back on its normal state as if there was never an elevator behind it.

He scanned the room and saw the woman curled up on her bed. This is the personal room of Xi Ana which is adjacent to her office. He slowly walked towards the woman, as soon as she felt his presence she pulled herself up and sat down properly.

The man sat beside her. Her face is barely illuminated by the bedside lamp which is set on a dim light, he pushed the loose strands of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. Upon doing so, his heart, once again felt pained.

Given the cold temperature of the room, the woman is still having cold sweats. Her eyes were slightly red due to crying.

When he saw the man, her tears once again streamed down from her eyes.

"Sssshhhh… Don't cry. I'm here." he cupped both of her cheeks with his wide palm and dried the tears away using his thumbs.

The woman remained silent. An Qi Lu, pulled her in for a hug, he rested her face on his broad chest and her stifled cries once again erupted.

Her trembling hands circled on his waist and hugged him tighter. "I'm here. Don't be afraid."

His hand caressed the small of her back trying to calm her down. This is what he's always been afraid of, the attacks comes suddenly without a warning. During the eight years that they were together, he tried his best to keep her away from any triggers and yet this still happened.

When the woman finally stopped crying, he cupped her cheeks and looked straight into her eyes. "Ana, always remember that you're strong. Crying doesn't mean you're weak, you're only human and humans tend to become vulnerable."

She didn't make a sound and only stared at the man she's hugging.

"I'm always here." she knows that he will.

"Uhm." her response eased his heart. Xi Ana rested her head on his chest once again while An Qi Lu is combing her hair with his hand.

"Have you calmed down?" he asked lovingly.

"Uhm.. Thank you for coming here."

It's not their thing to thank each other but he let her be. He tightened his hug.

"God knows how much I missed you." he murmured and kissed the top of her head.

The woman responded by tightening her hug once again. She thought she's strong enough to face this alone, only to find herself coming back to him.

"Let's sleep for now, just wake up earlier tomorrow to finish your work. Okay?" the woman raised her head and met his gaze.

"Will you stay the night?" she asked.

"I will." he kissed her forehead and helped her lie down. He bent down and removed her heels and pulled the sheets over her. He removed his coat and shoes and gently lied down beside her.

When she saw him lie down, she snuggled beside him and let him hug her. Seeing her calm and comfortable face he can't help but sigh inwardly. Where in the world will you see a married woman sleep comfortably in the arms of another man? This is as good as adultery!

He laughed at the idea, how could this be an adultery if there is no relationship between them? Just what are we to each other anyway? His mood was dampen with this thought.

I shouldn't have let you married that man. Why can't it be me? What if she eventually fall in love with him? What if she decided to stop everything and be with him? Will I be able to take it? Will I be able to let you go?

"Ana, I'm scared of letting you go. I'm scared of losing you."

- - -

Lim Yi Sheng decided to stand up when he realized that he can't seem to fall asleep. He has an unsettled feeling that he can't shake off which started when he left Xi Ana's office. He's been contemplating whether to call her or not but decided not to as he knew that she has a lot of things to finish.

He went straight to the kitchen and brewed himself a tea before going back into their bedroom. Maybe he's gotten too used to having her in his arms whenever they sleep and her absence tonight makes it hard for him to sleep.

Scanning through some documents didn't seem to help with his situation at all and his mind is constantly going back to her. Do I miss her this much that I can't stop myself from thinking about her? We've only seen each other a couple of hours ago!

He set the documents on the bedside table and sipped on his tea. His eyebrows arched when his phone suddenly rang. It's already midnight and someone is calling him which is very rare.

Upon checking the caller ID he realized that it was his private investigator. What could be the reason why he would call late this night, he wondered.

"Young Master Lim!"

"What is it? Have you found out the identity of the man I was asking for you to call me so late at night?" he asked, he let this matter be handled by his private investigator through Feng Jinnian.

The man on the other line coughed when he realized the iciness on the voice of the person who just spoke. He cleared his throat and prepared to report his findings.

"Young Master, you know very well that it is not my way of doing work half done. I prefer to-" he was immediately cut off by the man who is getting impatient already.

"Just tell me, have you found it or not?" how could this man be so impatient?

"Young Master, the man you're searching for goes by the name Master An. I believe you've encountered this name a few times already."

"Master An?" he's the mysterious Master An of the corporate world. Some believes that he's real, that he has a huge control over businesses not only in City A but all over country but some think of him as a story that they don't need to be bothered about.

"Yes. Unfortunately, his tracks are clean. No one knew his full name nor they knew his face. He's akin to a mystery that no one could fathom."

There is actually not much information given to him as a base of his investigation and he really had a hard time finding out who the man is and when he stumbled upon something everything seem to have fallen into place.

"If what you're saying is true then how were you able to find out his identity."

"Indeed. It may seem impossible given the little amount of information, even after exhausting my resources I still couldn't find anything plausible so I tried to seek information through the underground means."

He managed to enhance some of the photos, dig through the exact places where those photos were taken which he eventually used as a lead. Once he managed to get a hold of the exact locations he determined whether someone could actually recognize the man. Until he stumbled upon 'Master An'.

At first, no one dared to talk about him but when he went underground there are some who are daring enough in front of money to sell teeny bit of information about the man.

"According to my investigation this 'Master An' seems to have a huge influence over the business world and even underground, but only few people knew that he's real. He's very low-profile and doesn't interact with other people that much. They said that his businesses weren't under his name, nor would there be any way to connect those to him that's why not many knew of him."

If the man is really this Master An, what is his connection to my wife? "Is he related to any woman? Or does he have a connection with one?"

Lim Yi Sheng could hear the hesitation from the other line but before he could speak the person already continued, "There is, but no one is daring enough to discuss about it, even if you threw millions of money in front of them they would not speak about this woman nor her connection to Master An. This woman seems to play a big role in his life." his body stiffened upon hearing the rest of his words.

"Okay. Continue with your investigation." he simply said and then hanged up the call not waiting for any response on the other line.

It's not like he still needs to know who the woman is, it's as clear as day that it was his wife. But, what is their relationship?