Five years ago

"I have never seen such a shameless and greedy person like him. In front of his prestige and power, he doesn't care about anything else. There is no feeling, no love in his heart. He only needs power, power, and more power," she rambled angrily.

"Since you were little, he forced his will on you. You wanted a nice, peaceful life, but he turned you into a cold-hearted killer. Your pains are caused by him. Your fears are also caused by him. Five years ago, that incident, which made you fear the water is also caused by him," she added.

"Instead of trying to become a good father and feeling bad for what he has done to you, he is sending you to that stupid cruise ship. You know what Xiaoruo, sometimes I feel like taking my gun and shooting him in his head," she fumed.

Su Yanruo chuckled, "Don't let him hear that."

"Don't worry, Uncle won't kill me." Xia Ming shrugged her shoulders carelessly. "Thankfully, my mother did one good thing for me before dying. Otherwise, how much would I have missed this good chance of going against Uncle again and again?" she smirked.

Su Yanruo sighed. Poking Xia Ming's rosy cheek, she said with worry, "Still, don't test his patience level. I know you love me and care about me and that's why you argue with him. But, Xia Ming, I know him well. Once he gets mad, he won't even spare you. Forget about that promise; he won't even care that you are his niece."

Xia Ming snorted. "Then why don't you do something about it?"

Su Yanruo sighed shaking her head.

"Why? Xiaoruo, look, I can't kill him. Brother Xian is under his grace so even if he can, he won't do it. But, you are different. You are smarter than him, stronger than him and you are going to be the next leader of this organization. In this whole house, only you can kill him. You know the rules."

"I won't do it, Xia Ming," Su Yanruo steadfastly refused, turning around and showing her back to Xia Ming.

"Why? What is stopping you?" Xia Ming was confused. Every time, when she asked Su Yanruo about this matter, she would refuse. She knew Su Yanruo have no love for her father and has seen that hatred in her eyes for her father. Then why was it that every time Su Yanruo would deny to take this one step that could get her back her freedom? Was there something that she didn't know? Is it related to that incident?

Surely, when Xia Ming thought like this, she felt that Su Yanruo might be hiding something from her.

"What are you hiding from me, Xiaoruo?" she asked, grabbing her arm.

"Nothing," Su Yanruo lied with a straight face.

"Really?" Xia Ming arched her brows. "How about I ask Uncle and I think he would be quite delighted to tell me," she said, turning around to find Su Junhan.

"Wait, Xia Ming…." Su Yanruo called. " You don't have to go. I'll tell you," she sighed.

"Painter Brother is in his hands," she informed helplessly.

"What?" Xia Ming was genuinely shocked. "Jing Mingzhi is still alive? But didn't you say that he died during that incident?" she reasonably asked.

She remembered clearly, that five years ago when she was away on a mission with Brother Xian, something big happened in the Su family. When they came back, they received the news that Su Yanruo was in a coma and Jing Mingzhi was dead. They tried to get information regarding what happened with Su Yanruo, but everything was well covered up by Su Junhan. They tried to ask him, but he told them nothing. It took almost one year for Su Yanruo to recover and when she woke up, she was like a lifeless person. She didn't speak, she didn't eat, she didn't paint, she didn't do anything.

That period in their life was something that Xia Ming didn't want to go through, once again. It was like Su Yanruo wanted to die and she had nothing to live for. No matter how much they tried, Su Yanruo's condition remained the same. Until one day, when Su Junhan had enough, he took Su Yanruo somewhere with him and when they came back, they saw their original Su Yanruo. She was well and was back.

But something was changed. Initially, they didn't realize it but later on, they saw that Su Yanruo would go near the sea, pond or lakes, her hand would start shivering, her breathing would be uneven and sometimes she would even faint. She became aqua phobic. It was a sequela for something, and Xia Ming was pretty sure that it was related to her Uncle. After this realization, she had a very big fight with her Uncle, and Su Yanruo had to come to her rescue.

Since that day, nobody has dared to mention this incident in the Su Mansion. It was a taboo topic for them and she never asked Su Yanruo about this thing because she wanted Su Yanruo to be fine and this was enough for her.

Su Yanruo nodded. "Five years ago, when you and Brother Xian were on a mission. I tried to run away with Painter brother. I didn't want to be controlled by my father anymore. I wanted to live my life freely, like how I wanted, like how I dreamed it to be so along with Painter Brother, I made a plan." she narrated.

"It was a perfect plan. We had purchased a big boat by which we were planning to flee. I knew that if I remained in this country, then my father would do everything to find me. So, we decided to go to any other country where our destiny would take us."

"Xia Ming, when I got into that boat, I was so happy. I was finally free from my father's evil clutches but I didn't know that this happiness was only for a short while."