CHOICE

"I'm not marrying Sheng Zheng." Wang Xiu answered with her head raised high in front of former CEO Long Bao Qing.

After Long Liu Wei's grand birthday celebration, the former CEO visited the Youshi Building to talk about appointing the next CEO with the shareholders. Long Li Jun and Zhang Wang Xiu were called to the chief executive's office to announce their official decision.

"What did you say???" The old man's voice quivered with his dry darkened lips.

"I'm not marrying Mr. Yang Sheng Zheng, yeye." The executive stared at the old man standing next to her uncle sitting at his black swivel chair behind the marble table.

Wang Xiu decided to decline the engagement after CEO Yang refused a marriage that would counter her son's surprising news. She didn't have any other option but to tell the old man her choice not to pursue the arranged marriage between her and Sheng Zheng. She made it clear with her uncle about what she feels about contracted unions. It's not for her and she proudly stands by her words.

Long Bao Qing stared at her with his brows furiously furrowed together. His body trembled with anger while holding the sturdy cane in his right arm.

"YOU INGRATE WOMAN!!!" Long Bao Qing ghastly yelled, pointing at Wang Xiu with his oak stick.

The young executive stepped back to avoid the end of the rod hitting her face. Her uncle Liu Wei stood up from his chair to support the elderly's wobbling knees while standing without the help of the wooden stud on his hand.

"After I accepted you in this family this is how you thank us???" The old Long continued to scream with his rough voice and quivering wrinkled lips, "I should have thrown you out to your insolent criminal grandfather!!!"

"Pa!!!" Long Liu Wei tried to calm the old man from his rants.

"Yeye!!!" Li Jun stepped to Wang Xiu's side to defend the woman from their grandfather's outrage.

"I want you out of here!!!" The former CEO harshly demanded, pointing at the female executive standing in the middle of the room, "If you can't do a simple obligation to this family, then you should get out."

"Yeye???" Wang Xiu mumbled, shocked by Long Bao Qing's fierce words.

"I want you out of this office!!! YOUR FIRED!!!" The old Long shouted, waving his cane to the woman to swat her away like an animal.

"W-What???" Wang Xiu exclaimed with the same shock as everyone in the room showed with their crumpled foreheads.

Long Bao Qing suddenly clutched his chest with his left hand. The intense anger struck an unexpected pain and his breathing shallow with the agony he felt in his chest.

"Xiu… get out." CEO Long Liu Wei pleads at his niece who stood stunned beside Li Jun.

"B-But…" Wang Xiu stared at the old man with pain and anger in his eyes.

"Wang Xiu, I said GET OUT!!!" Liu Wei shouted at the woman who caused his father an intense heartache.

Li Jun wanted to follow Wang Xiu but he decided to help her father assist the old man to sit on the chair nearby. He wasn't surprised by his cousin's decision to decline the arranged marriage but seeing his grandfather mad about it is too much.

Wang Xiu marches out of the room and into the hallway still shocked by the old man's surprising anger. The words from the old Long puzzled her, "criminal grandfather???".

Inside her office, she paced back and forth to calm herself. Worried that she caused the aged Long Bao Qing a heart attack that could kill him.

She walked to her table and nestled her palm on top of the wooden slab to gather her thoughts. Her decision to decline the engagement that Yang Sheng Zheng did to trap her is as surprising as the announcement itself but it shouldn't end up with her being fired from her job.

The glass door of her office opened and CEO Long Liu Wei entered with a fierce face, staring at her like she's a mischievous teenager who got pregnant by her boyfriend.

"Have you talked to Mr. Yang about this?" Long Liu Wei asked, setting both of his hands on his waist.

"No. I want you and grandfather to know about my decision first." Wang Xiu calmly answered, "How's grandfather???"

Her uncle dismissed her question and instead ordered her, "Don't do it."

"W-What???" Wang Xiu was surprised by Long Liu Wei's order.

"Your grandfather has been wanting to unite the Yang and Long family. They were best of friends when they were young. Unfortunately, they both had a son." Liu Wei explained with his tone pleading to be understood.

"And you had a son too. Why am I the one getting pressured to marry a man I don't like." The woman set her arms across her chest.

"He accepted you in this family even if… I...." Liu Wei cleared his throat before continuing with his speech, "I treated you like a daughter."

"And I'm thankful for it. Every second of my life, I am grateful for everything you have done but you don't own my heart." Wang Xiu pointed at her chest with her hand, "You don't get to ask me to spend my life living with a man I don't love."

"You don't need to love him." Liu Wei tried to reason out with his niece with a collective voice.

"Like you don't love Auntie Qiu?!?" Wang Xiu mindlessly replied with sarcasm.

!!!PAK!!!

Wang Xiu was shocked by the unexpected slap on her face. She gently caressed her reddened cheek with the back of her hand while staring at her uncle with narrow eyes.

"I love my wife." Liu Wei answered with his clenched jaw.

"Do you say that lie every day for the moment you married her, uncle? Or is it just me who knows how the two of you resent each other?" Wang Xiu gritted her teeth with every word.

She knows her uncle Liu Wei and aunt Ming Qiu married after being arranged together and though they live harmoniously under one roof, her aunt has set an invisible void between them. Particularly, when her uncle favors her more than his son.

"You have no idea what you are saying." Liu Wei's eyes moistened but his fierce glare at the stubborn woman remained.

"You are right, uncle. I have no idea what I'm saying cause you and Auntie always put me in the dark," Wang Xiu's lips began to quiver, "I haven't met any Zhang or any of my relatives other than you. I haven't seen any photos of my parents and whenever I try to ask about them, you would tell me Auntie feels bad remembering them."

"W-Wang Xiu…" Liu Wei stuttered, calling the woman's name. 

He wanted her to know the truth but hesitated to reveal it. In the past, he told himself he would tell the woman about her mother when she's old enough but every time he gets the chance, he cowardly holds back.

"All my life, I focused on being a good niece for you and Auntie. I never questioned your decisions, I always gave my best," Wang Xiu's tears flowed on her cheeks, "And all I ask is the freedom to marry the person I love."

Long Liu Wei felt heartbroken by Wang Xiu's words. Watching her daughter cry for freedom he cannot give her.

"You should leave this family."

"What???" 

"You will never get what you want from here, Wang Xiu."

"Uncle???"

"Maybe it was a mistake taking you in. You are better off without us… without me." 

Long Liu Wei found his mistake. After all these years, he thought that by taking in Wang Xiu, he could take care of his daughter better than her grandfather. He was even forced by his father to make her daughter grow up thinking she's only a niece to hide the truth from everyone.

"What do you mean, uncle???"

"You are fired. Don't come back here."

Wang Xiu watched her uncle walk out of her office. She wiped her tears with her fingers and breathed deeply to calm herself.

"Is this another mistake?" Wang Xiu mumbled, sensing the guilt from the painful words she delivered to the man who took care of her.

Between being a good niece and having the freedom to love, did she make the right choice?