Chapitre 16: Change is Inevitable

"You. Did. What?!" Lianne gasped, looking at her reincarnated mother in disbelief.

Kyle shrugged, "I went and met with Kai. Talked. Prodded."

"And now he knows I'm connected to you," Lianne said, "Brilliant. Just brilliant."

Kyle smirked, "Well, you have to give him something. Put out a small lure on a line, see if he bites, and then reel him in slowly."

"I. do. NOT. want. to," Lianne replied, emphasizing each word.

"Oh? Really now?" Kyle asked, looking at her in the eye, "You have absolutely no interest in him? Zero, as in, one empty digit, and not your Zero? Zilch? Nada?"

Lianne crossed her arms across her chest, replying, "Nothing. Not even a little bit …"

"So if I am to look into your sketchbook right now, there would be no sketch of him at all?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow and giving her a lazy smile.

Lianne pursed her lips, "That doesn't mean anything and you know it. He's beautiful. I draw beautiful things."

"Uh-huh," Kyle said, "One or two, perhaps but I am sure there's a whooooole bunch of them. Maybe even an entire sketchbook."

"That's nothing," Lianne continued to argue, "I have ten sketchbooks full of Zero."

"Yeah, and Zero is your beloved non-blood brother that you trust and rely on completely," Kyle replied, "So which one does Kai fall under? A beloved …"

"Stop!" Lianne said, putting up her hand and then leaned forward on the table, putting her forehead on it, "Just stop."

Kyle sighed and resisted the urge to stroke her head. Something she doesn't like him doing, even back in his past life as her mother. It was fine if it was Zero, though.

A parent doing it felt like he/she was still treating the child like a child and Lianne didn't like it. Zero, on the other hand, was more of a doting older brother and she didn't mind it. The pampering of a parent was completely different from the pampering of a brother.

Kyle didn't resent it, but it didn't mean he wished he could do it.

"Look, Lianne. Avoiding the issue would not solve anything," Kyle said gently, "And you know it. It's been three months now. Almost four. He's not gotten bored yet and your sketching hasn't lessened, has it?"

Lianne mumbled something incoherent.

Kyle took out a thumbdrive and pushed it towards her, nudging her shoulder with it. She turned her head and saw it, then got up and looked at Kyle.

"What is this?" Lianne asked, taking it.

"A recording of my talk with Kai," Kyle replied, "You make your own judgment about him. See if he's sincere enough and if you want to give him a chance, or not."

Lianne stared at the thumbdrive, her curiosity peaking.

Then, she looked at Kyle again, "Does Zero know?"

Kyle couldn't help the smirk on his face, "Oh, I made sure he did."

Lianne rolled her eyes and gave a silent prayer to Kai.

A test from her mother was bad enough. Now, Zero is in the mix. Grasping the thumbdrive in her hand, she sighed deeply and nodded.

"I'll think about it seriously," she promised Kyle.

"Li, just remember this," Kyle said to her, "The only constant thing in life - other than death and taxes, that is - is change. I know you're comfortable in the world you've made for yourself but it can be boring. Kai may, or may not be, worth entering your world. Just don't dismiss him because you don't want to face change."

Lianne sighed again, "I know."

Then, she grinned, "If Zero okays him, I'll give him a chance."

"Zero?? Why Zero??!" Kyle said with a huff, "Isn't my evaluation of him enough?"

"Even if you are a guy right now, Mama, you're still my mother," Lianne said, "It's different. You will have different considerations, and ultimately, will be thinking about me. Also, you might be biased since you saved him so long ago."

Kyle nodded, "Perhaps."

Kyle had met Kai when he was 14, and the latter was only 7 years old. He had been kidnapped by his stepfather, Cornelius, to be handed over to his uncle, Sheng Xian. It all had to do with the Sheng Family and the Heir Apparent position.

Kyle had rescued Kai, and Kai had not only felt he owed his life to Kyle, he had also learned to accept who he was. Kyle had a soft spot for Kai because of what Kai had gone through, and was proud of the way Kai had turned out.

Didn't mean he was ready to hand over his daughter to him, though.

Still, Lianne was right.

Kyle would be thinking of the bigger picture while Zero ...

Kyle rolled his eyes and nodded, "I know, I know. He's just going to demolish Kai completely. No guy is good enough for you, especially since you went and started Level 5 Shield."

Lianne grinned.

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"What do you mean, there's nothing?" Kai asked in exasperation.

It had been over a week now and there was absolutely nothing in the news about Kyle other than his business deals and his family. It was as if Kyle had no other life other than work, and family.

No friends?

Even the Elite Five news were scarce and limited to their own news rather than being connected to Kyle. The only time they could get news about Kyle's social life and 'normal' activities, were all before he graduated from Sakura Academy.

After that, it was as if Kyle disappeared and then poof! Big news about him taking over Smith Industries as the ever youngest CEO.

Then, an idea hit Kai.

"Zayn!" he called out into his PA system.

"Coming, Sir," Zayn replied politely. Barely a minute passed before Zayn knocked before entering.

"Find out which school has a graduation gown with this emblem. And find me pictures of the graduation from the year 20xx," Kai told him, handing him a rough sketch, "The colour of the lapel is gold with blue trimmings."

Zayn cried inwardly and silently.

Well, at least he could just give the badly drawn emblem to other people.

"Any particular area, Sir?"

"Nationwide, of course," Kai replied with a smile, "The entire Country Tz."

"Noted," Zayn replied, thinking of the number of people he would have to put on this.

Kai watched as his capable assistant left the room. The reason why Zayn was so good was that he would do whatever Kai told him, without question and complaint. Well, his pay was high enough but even then, people would tend to show or question their boss for the more difficult and weird requests.

Kai did not need subordinates that would question him. He needed capable and efficient ones that got the job done.

Kai smiled when he thought of the results that would come in. He should have known better than to think he would have gotten information easily. Since Kyle had approached him, it was apparent that his Angel had a high level of protection.

How could his Angel have been so easily connected to Kyle?

That was why he could not find her either.

He knew now that this was most likely a test that Kyle set for him.

He should have thought of that earlier.

The picture Kyle had shown, may have been brief, but the image had been burned into his mind. The little details sprung into his memory. The husky plushie wore a graduation cap that had the year of his Angel's graduation.

His Angel was the valedictorian, or the honor student, as she wore a gold lapel with blue trimmings. Right at the bottom corner, was the school's emblem.

The problem was, he didn't have a clear picture of the emblem so he could only give a rough sketch. However, if he was to see it again, he would know.

The search was drastically narrowed down.

Kai had hope now.