Strength

After chatting idly with each other for some time despite the power shortage, Cree discovered her fast asleep with her head in his lap. Her eyes were closed peacefully, and her straight tresses curled around his thigh. Smilingly, he lay her on the sofa gently and walked soundlessly towards the door. It opened with a light push, and he chuckled softly at his realization that she had him fooled.

Cree exited the room and approached the power room nearby. Glancing directly in a straight line at the switches in the power room, he laughed again, amused. She must have known about the energy-saving timer, which had been the cause for the late-night power outage. He turned the power back on and returned to his room. She was still sound asleep, and he removed his jacket to shield her from the cold of the air-conditioner.

It was already eleven, and they had forgotten their hunger entirely while she was pulling on her pretence that somebody had trapped them inside. Cree saved his work carefully and closed the lid of his notebook computer, before stowing it away in his backpack.

"Xiaoruo... Xiaoruo," he called out.

She mumbled. "I want to sleep...Let me sleep a while longer, Aunt. Please."

He just smiled, and lifted her in his arms, carrying her out of the building.

..............

After a pleasant dream, Qiao Ruo woke up in her room in Cree's mansion, and the bed was still warm where Cree had just left. A message scrawled in an italicized script had been left on the desk, and compared to the previous note he had written for her, he had hurriedly scribbled the message.

"Need to go to Qing Tian as Cree today for an emergency meeting. Since you were up late yesterday, you don't have to go into the office until the afternoon. Call me if anything and I'll get to you asap. Love you."

He hadn't bothered to sign off the note since it was already evident that nobody other than Cree would conclude a message to her with 'love you', and there was no other person in the house. She last remembered falling asleep on Cree's lap and realized he must have been a sweetie and carried her to the car before driving them home. She wondered what he had thought when he had changed her clothes, but maybe he had just wanted her to have a comfortable night in some loose clothes.

She soaked up for a good twenty minutes in the long bathtub before heading out of the bathroom and pulling on a warm knitted sweater since it was a cold day. She matched the grey sweater with some black leggings and put her hair in an adorable messy bun. Just as she was dressing up, the doorbell rang.

It was just ten in the morning, was Cree done with his meeting already? She thought, and danced to the front door, expecting to surprise him with a hug, until she saw the stern-looking face from the security camera.

A woman in her late forties was clad in an expensive-looking jacket worn over a long dress and had some serious-looking high heels. Knowing there could be no mistake, she opened the door cautiously in a panic.

"Who are you?" the woman asked. "Surely you cannot be the housekeeper here."

Her intuition told her the woman must be Mrs Ye, Cree's mother Li Yao, and so she responded with a polite bow and a broad smile across her face. "Auntie, I am Cree's girlfriend, Qiao-"

"I have heard of you, Qiao Ruo," the woman cut her off. "To think we will be meeting for the first time here."

Qiao Ruo smiled courteously. "Auntie, Cree is in an important meeting. Why not you take a seat first, and I shall serve you with tea."

The woman entered the room without a further word and took a seat gravely in the living room. She didn't appear to be delighted with Qiao Ruo, scrutinizing her up and down, like a teacher marking her student's homework. Qiao Ruo could have sworn she had heard the woman sigh.

Finally, the woman opened her mouth and interrogated her, "Just how did you meet and seduce my son?"

Qiao Ruo smiled. "We met at the gym Cree goes to, Auntie. It was my first time there, and he helped me with the equipment."

"Qiao Ruo, I know who you are. I already had a background check done on you. Nothing can escape my eyes," the woman uttered crossly. "You may have my son fooled, but you cannot trick me. Just what do you want?"

Qiao Ruo dropped her amicable behaviour. She recalled how Cree had wanted her to act as his faux girlfriend then to tackle his adoptive mother, and the woman was already starting to get on her nerves. She calmed herself, then responded calmly, "Auntie, from your point of view, did you assume that I'm after money?"

"I've seen a lot of young women like you after my husband when I was young. But gold is the language they spoke, so it didn't take me long to dispatch them. Name your price."

She said persistently, "No money you can offer to me will make me leave Cree. We are already together. I respect that you are his mother, and I mean no threat."

"Have you ever looked at yourself?" the older woman mocked her. "Cree is meant for bigger things, not a normal-looking woman like you. We will have him engaged to the daughter of the biggest investor in the stock market of the country, or at least, a daughter of a billionaire, not an unworthy pauper like you."

Qiao Ruo clenched her fist behind her back but continued to keep her calm. "Whether or not that Cree is suited to the daughters of the rich, shouldn't you ask your son what he wants? I repeat myself, Cree is my boyfriend, and I am not giving up this relationship."

"Don't go overboard," the woman hissed. "I can easily crush you with my palm, Qiao Ruo. Know your status! I can easily find a wife for my son, and you are only his plaything. Once he is bored with you, he will leave you, and you will have nothing left at all. Leave now, when you can, and I'll consider giving you fifty thousand dollars."

"I am not a beggar," Qiao Ruo stated flatly.

"Qiao Ruo, I know your parents died at a young age, and your aunt has been in debt for some years. Look, I'll increase the sum to a hundred thousand dollars. With this money, you can have a good life. You can even complete your studies and start your own business."

While money would tempt any woman out there, she was determined to fight for her happiness. What was the point of having all the money in the world, when she wasn't happy without Cree? What were one hundred thousand dollars, when she was to end up single and lonely all her life?

Unsuccessful in her plans, the woman got up and stormed out of the house. "I will be back. You watch, when all your efforts to seduce Cree get washed down the drain and you end up with nothing!"

"I will prove it that you are wrong," Qiao Ruo said with a confident smile. Perhaps this wasn't a good first impression for Cree's mother to have met her this way, but her relationship was with Cree, not his mother. Time would tell and show that Li Yao was wrong and that she wasn't with Cree for monetary benefits. Li Yao's words flashed in her mind, reminding her again and again that she wanted to have Cree engaged politically to wealthy and influential young women. She recalled how just the night before, Cree had mentioned before his feeling of being shackled to his adoptive parents' plans to use him to get into a political relationship with a wealthy billionaire family, the Xus.

The Xus had an only daughter, Xu Bing, who was his classmate during university. They had attended a few classes together, and he remembered the girl to have a boyfriend already then. However, Qiao Ruo was oblivious to the history between Cree and Xu Bing, and only knew he was only a part of their bigger plans.

She reflected on what Cree wanted her to do to help him. He had wanted her to free him by going against his adoptive parents and showing them he was no longer their pawn, and he would stand up to them by choosing his own lover. Li Yao looked down on her because she was a normal woman giving them no benefit to a union with Cree. She would show them that they were wrong. Qiao Ruo questioned if she was made for all this. Qiao Ruo, you can definitely do this, she said to herself.

The door opened again, and Qiao Ruo braced herself for further drama, closing her eyes and praying. She had never prayed for anything all her life, but she now wished for the strength to overcome doubts. Her eyes were slightly wet with tears, but she would always remain strong in front of Cree's mother and those who endeavoured to bring her down. Fortunately, the person who had returned was Cree, and he greeted her with a loving hug.

"Dear, I'm back early from my meeting! Will we go for lunch..." His words came to an immediate halt upon realizing her tears. "What happened?"

She didn't want him to look into his surveillance recordings, so she plastered a fake smile across her face and said chirpily, "The dog back home just died! He lived up to a ripe old age of eleven years. His sudden death just daunted me."

He tightened his arms around her, and asked, "Do you think we should get a kitten? Cats have nine lives."

"That's a good idea, but do we have the time for it?"

"I'll have to ask my dear."

She hugged him back, allowing her worries to dissipate as she absorbed herself in the warmth of his body on hers. She needed a lot more strength to get through everything, and she told herself, love conquers all.