Chapter 4: Her Enemy
The next day, Shao Lin went to work.
Shao Enterprise was made for car sales, rental agreements, and insurance. It was nothing compared to Long Group, but it was enough to live a lavish life. Though, she was not sure whether living a lavish life was worth it if she had no one to share it with.
She donated most of her wealth, and went to charity events and fundraisers, and raised her employee wages, feeling like there was no point in keeping all the money she recently inherited.
Although she ran the car insurance company, passed from her father, she wondered what he must have done in the past that led to this fate.
She wondered if his hands were ever truly clean, and if she was now entangled in a dark world she never imagined being in. But then she knew that an abundance of wealth did not come free and it came at the expense of others. So no one rich was truly ever clean. She'd known that, as much as she tried to ignore it.
Shao Lin spent her morning in business meetings. In the afternoon, she made some conference calls until it was time to go home.
Upon being welcomed by silence and low lighting, she received a phone call. "Miss Lin," the nurse said.
"Is my mother all right?" Shao Lin questioned.
"She's fine. Even better today. She said she wants to see you."
"I'll be right there," Shao Lin responded and left.
Shao Lin drove to the hospital where her mother was being taken care of for her mental health. Her mother's grief for her husband drove her sick. Her mother spent weeks crying in her arms, and even though she lost a father, Shao Lin took care of her. But her mother didn't eat, didn't sleep. She hurt herself and said she felt like she lost a part of her she'll never get back.
Shao Lin felt her mother's grief down to the marrow of her bones. Her mother shared half her life with a man she loved, had a daughter, and felt bliss for years. She wondered if she'd ever share that unconditional, heart-retching love with someone, but she feared it. If this was the result, she did not want it.
When she entered the hospital room, she found her mother with the nurse and a news channel running on low volume in the background. Her mother was frail and thin, but her skin glowed and she looked more alive than she did weeks ago. She was smiling. At the sight, Shao Lin felt like she could burst into tears but she held back.
"Lin," her mother said weakly.
Shao Lin wrapped her arms around her in an embrace. "Mother. How are you feeling?"
Her mother smiled again. "Better, my dear, now that you're here."
Shao Lin chuckled, settling onto a chair next to her bed. She reached out to tug a piece of hair behind her mother's ear.
"Lin. How are you and the company?"
"Good. I promise."
"Good," her mother replied. "Your father would be proud. I'm proud, darling. You're doing so well."
Shao Lin nearly choked from emotion.
Her mother then turned to the nurse and said. "I'm feeling hungry. I'd like to eat a bit."
Considering her mother rarely ate these days, the nurse looked ecstatic and she left to get some food.
When the woman was out of sight, her mother took her hands, her eyes expression worried. "Darling. Are you all right?"
"Yes, of course," Shao Lin breathed.
"Not in any trouble?"
"No, why?"
Her mother nodded in relief. "Good. I need you to stay out of trouble. I need you to not poke into anything that does not concern you," she demanded, her voice tight.
Shao Lin straightened. Her mother had no idea that she had already been looking into it with Detective Zhong no less. "All right," she lied.
Her mother's gaze hardened. "Please, Lin. Your father is gone now. We now only have ourselves to rely on and look after. Continue to work at the company. Find a nice boy, anything. But stay away from danger. You're all that I have left."
Shao Lin felt unsettled, shaken. The last two months had turned her world and changed her forever, and her mother was left broken because of it. She didn't know what to do with it.
Her mother then glanced at the television screen that ran the local news. "Most importantly," she continued, her voice sharp and deathly quiet. "Stay away from him."
Shao Lin glanced at the screen, finding the man with inky black hair and dangerous eyes. She had just seen the night before. Long Yat-sen.
"Why?" she could not help but ask. Staying away from him would not be a problem since she did not know him, but of all people, why him?
"Is there something you're not telling me, mother?"
She started shaking, trembling. Her eyes reddened. "Stay away from him!" she yelled in her face, on the verge of a breakdown. "Stay away from them all—I want them dead. I want them gone! I want to kill them all!" Her mother began hitting herself.
Panic flared and Shao Lin called for the nurse and not long after, she walked in, chucked the food aside and went to help her mother calm down. Her mother kept hurting herself and the nurse urged her to leave.
Shao Lin left, rattled by what her mother told her. She went into her car and took a deep breath, shaken by what she said.
Her mother had told her to stay away from Long Yat-sen. She voiced it with hatred, rage, and raw pain. What did that heartless man do to get mother so fearful, so shaken? Whatever it was, she'd find out. Though her mother told her to stay away, Shao Lin wanted nothing more than to unravel those secrets. She wanted to find out who Long Yat-sen truly was. What he did. She wanted to tear him apart. She to expose him, and more importantly, she wanted revenge.
And that made Long Yat-sen her number one enemy.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone