บท 49: Come Home, Qing Yu

Washington, D.C.

The shrill ring of a phone echoed within a dark room. A man groggily answered it as he sat himself in the bed.

"Dad? What's up?"

The voice on the phone sounded solemn as he answered his question.

"They're plotting against your sister again. I've discreetly stopped the others in the past but I can't prevent this one anymore or else they'll suspect me. You need to come home, Qing Yu."

Yan Qing Yu's demeanor changed drastically at his father's words. Those women. Why couldn't they be content? His father already sacrificed so much just to keep them and their greed at bay. And yet they wouldn't even let his poor sister be.

He had told his father that they would never be content at merely obtaining him. They certainly wouldn't stop until they swallowed all of them whole. Yan Qing Yu knew as much. Zhao Ming Hua and her spawn, Yan Xiaoyi are the type of people who won't stop at nothing until they were all destroyed. They started with his mother. And now, his sister.

"Couldn't that man protect her? Why did you give her to him in the first place if he couldn't deal with them, dad?"

He heard Yan Tian Yu sigh at the other end of the line.

"Zi Jue is protecting her, son. He is protecting her from the countless assassins coming for her courtesy of your aunt. Under his wing, your sister's life is secured compared to when she was with me. But then again, Zi Jue can't possibly protect her from schemes he is not aware of. If only she stayed put in Japan."

Yan Qing Yu was silent. His understood his father's point. All he was doing was protect the both of them. He had rather put himself in the chopping block and send the both of them away.

He let Asahi Reo take Yan Qing Shan after their mother died because he saw how Zhao Ming Hua looked at her. He sent him overseas to a dear friend because of the very same reason. Even when Qing Shan came back suddenly from Japan, he tried to keep her away from them.

He sought the help of the most powerful man in City Z. Zi Jue declined at first. But for some unknown reason, when he saw her picture he immediately rescinded his decision. Even going so far as to personally taking her to his home and assuring his father of her safety.

Yan Tian Yu was all too glad of this development. He wasn't as stupid as others make him to be. He didn't drive them away and took in Zhao Ming Hua without rhyme or reason. He took her in to keep her close. Even if he had to bear a green hat and even treat the proof endearingly. All of it for the sake of finding out the truth behind his wife's death.

His father had suspected that Zhao Ming Yue's death wasn't as simple as it seemed. His suspicions led him to Zhao Ming Hua. After years of stumbling in dead ends Yan Tian Yu was able to confirm that Zhao Ming Hua was working with someone from the underworld.

"Qing Yu, I'm so close to finding out the truth. I know you're making your own investigations that's why you haven't gone back yet. But your sister needs you more. Zhao Ming Hua is arranging a marriage for her under the pretense of worry. And I can't refute it or she'll know that I'm not under her influence. She's too careful. Even I am forced to commend her for that."

Yan Tian Yu narrated further. Yan Qing Yu exhaled defeatedly. It seems he had no choice but go back. Although he didn't want to cease his operation in this country, he couldn't help but worry for his innocent sister. She wasn't aware about any of this. If he won't guide her, she'll die without even knowing how. Who asked her to be their princess and be sheltered all these years?

"Okay. I'll go back home. But I'm not living with those two. Seeing them makes me want to commit murder."

"I'll arrange for your personal apartment. If you could, do take a position in the company as well. They are even extending their clutches there."

His father added. Yan Qing Yu conceded without further arguments. He also wanted to see how much damage those two bloodsuckers inflicted and execute some control.

He stood and watched the glittering skyline from his flat. Yan Qing Yu swore he'd get back at those people soon enough. He didn't spend all these years like a dead dog. It was time he and his sister make everything right. He wasn't the Young Master Yan for nothing.

He took out his phone to make a call.