บท 2: Wife : a hassle!!

Power was my weakness and my temptation.

J.K. Rowling

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" I heard you are getting yourself a wife " Long Jie's younger brother grinned as if it was the most fascinating idea in the world. He wanted to punch the ridiculous grin off his face.

Dammit, he couldn't not because he did not dare to but because he did not want to give his grandfather another opportunity to display how much of a disappointment he was.

"Get out of here, Yuan if you don't wish to die," Long Jie said, striving to curb his irritation.

His brother Long Yuan liked to test his patience and if he continued like this that day wouldn't be far when no single person on this planet would be competent to protect his brother from his wrath.

Nevertheless, he was Long Jie and he was known for his tolerance, apathy, and indifference. Responding to mere pests meant diverting his attention from his objective.

Control and restraint were what people knew him for.

However, when it came to his family. All his control and restraint were gone…

Once again, the family was a weakness.

He wondered if his to-be wife believed the same.

Hearing the bedroom door open and shut, he smirked to himself before jumping in the shower. It would be the last one until he met his future wife.

Xin Zhenyi. A Ghost.

He didn't know anything substantial about her other than her birthday and a few small facts. Everything else, her father kept concealed. He knew about the real capability of Xin Yichen given how he had hidden his princess from the world.

It made sense, though. He would do the same if he were to have a daughter. He didn't have a sister but if he had one, he would protect her from the life they lead too. Hell, he would die protecting her.

They fought against them for decades and suddenly Xins was going to be one of us. That's why Long Jie was against the very idea of his marriage with Xin heiress. Your father tells you to hate someone all your life and then one day, he announces that you have to marry the same person. Does it even make sense? How could he marry someone he unreasonably hates?

He wished to object to it but he couldn't if he wanted to continue being the president of Long groups.

The long Corporation owned businesses across the world, engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications. It was one of the most profitable companies in China and the largest company in Asia.

He had worked hard to accomplish this for almost ten years. Ten long years of struggle and he would be damned if he had to give it up on a platter to one of his brothers just because he did not wish for a hassle they called a wife. If she wasn't a hassle then what was she? He couldn't understand what was the need for a wife anyway. Just look at his father's wife, you would understand how some people were not marriage material and he wasn't one either!

Stepping out of his bathroom, he saw his father, brother and cousin standing in his room. The audacity! Now they were standing in his room without his permission. Then again, he shouldn't come to the main house and stay at his place only.

"Did you read the files I mailed to you, or were you too busy with your work?" his father asked. He was getting impatient with each passing minute. It was not his son's age to behave like this. Hell, he feared what his children would do if he died today! He only wanted to be of help to his children. With the number of enemies increasing, they needed cooperation with Xins fast and bad.

Yuan and Wei chuckled. They knew that there was a picture inside the file. All their hopes were broken like glass when they saw that their curiosity wouldn't be satisfied.

"Really, father?" Long Jie groaned. What was his father thinking all along? Oh god, he was losing his head.

Long Shaoming, walked toward his son and stood in his way. He had to make his son see the point that all of them were missing.

"You are missing the whole point of the meeting, son!" Long Shaoming said in an authoritative voice. "Do not undo the progress we made with them. A calamity is waiting on our heads to happen and all you care about is who your wife is! This is not the right time to whine and groan. This is the time to correct the mistakes of our ancestors."

He walked into the closet and picked up his suit and it took him ten minutes to get ready and when he returned to his room he saw his father standing alone at the same place where he left him minutes ago. It appeared as if his father had aged all of a sudden. He hated this vulnerability. He vowed to not show his vulnerability but….here he was again being a weak little boy.