Twenty One

"You brought your obsessed girlfriend into our home so that she could humiliate us didn't you!" Liling screamed from the top of the stairs as she stared down at her cousin who stopped and put his hands in his pocket and observed her quietly.

"That is true Jie, You knew that despicable girl was coming here tonight and you did not inform us, you definitely did that out of spite. Who knows if you are not conniving with her." Cheng Wei said, pointing at Jie.

"You don't get to speak like that after you slapped and humiliated our daughter." Rou said and glared at her husband.

"But i did not have any choice in the matter, that old cripple would have yanked away his money and the company can not afford that with the state we are in. I could never harm my princess, Jie is the one who is at fault." He pointed out and they all turned to stare at Jie, united in their anger against him.

He remained unflappable and rocked on his heels, his eyes piercing them, amusement written in them.

"I would have been able to tell one of you about Mrs Xhi's identity if anyone woke up before midday. Blame your laziness for this situation not me." He said and as they opened their mouths to retort he continued,

"I might not have ever complained but that does not mean that I am not aware of how you have misappropriated and misused the company's funds leaving us in dire straits. You are responsible for our downfall." He finished.

"Ca can you, can you hear him blame me instead of his fraudulent brother who was the CEO." Wei stammered but Jie strode away, leaving them dumbfounded.

Cheng Wei had been the one to mobilize most of the company's shareholders to side with Wong instead of Jie and through their help he had eventually become the CEO of the company. As a reward, Cheng Wei had been given full rein of the company's finances which he had squandered without a thought for the future.

"Look at how rude he was, how dare he speak to his uncle in that way?" Rou demanded after Jie had left.

"Maybe if any one of you actually monitored the situation in the company you would have an idea about what was happening and not heap all of the blame of your ignorance on Jie who does nothing but work hard to build back the company." Mrs Cheng scolded as she walked in.

She was aware of the sacrifices her son had made to come back home and work for the company when it had gone to such a state. She knew that Cheng Wei was not happy about Jie's appointment and would do anything possible to topple him from the position so she found herself defending her son often.

"Instead of trying to find fault in what he does we should give him our support most especially after the ruins he met." She added while looking at Cheng Wei then walked away after her son leaving them there.

They stared at her back, the venom in their eyes barely concealed. In Cheng Wei's opinion Mrs Cheng acted superior simply because she was the wife of his older brother but he should have been the one in charge not her son.

"I think I know someone who is going to want to know about what happened here today, that little whore is going to learn a proper lesson." Liling said deviously.

She would never forgive Natzin for making her father slap her simply because she told the truth, was she not just an elevated sugar baby? What then was there for her to be angry about?

*

"I know that must not have been easy for you to go through." Mr Xhi rested a hand on Natzin's folded hands and she turned to him with a wry smile.

It had taken all of his wills not to pull out of the partnership with the Cheng. After all that they had done to Natzin they still had the nerve to insult her even though she had done their company a huge favor.

"It was not hard, what is hard is sitting still because it is going to take too long for me to bring them all down to their knees." She said, the glint of hate shining in her eyes.

Mr Xhi sighed softly as he looked at her pretty side profile. What he wanted for Natzin was for her to move on from this painful part of her life and actually live fully instead of focusing on revenge. He knew firsthand what a life like that could do to a person.

"I really wish that you would not waste a moment of your time on these people who are not deserving of your energy. You have such a long life before you." He said softly.

"That life would be wasted on me.." she said with a downturned smile and looked out the window.

The thought of dumping her revenge plan was unacceptable to her, it was thanks to her that the legacy which had been left behind was rotting away. And her little girl, even if she was going to forget everything that was done to her she could never leave her daughter alone and from the look of things Bing was not going to just drop her off.

"You don't have to worry about me, I know that dragging you into my battles is not wise for you and that is why I asked you to stay behind instead of coming with me to Osmanthus." Natzin turned to him, eyeing his wrinkled face in concern and smiled sadly. "You don't have to do this."

"That is where you are wrong. I would not be alive without you and I have promised to see that you get your revenge, I just wish you would not take this path." He said, his eyes filled with warmth.

"Whatever you wish to do I will stand beside you to till very last."

"Thank you Han." Natzin said gratefully.