"What is it?" Teng Man Rui's whole persona was laced with apparent concern.

"Your parents, the master and madame, they encountered some peril on the roads while they were traveling in the countryside. Bandits."

Teng Man Rui's eyes flickered. "Where are they now? Why is your report incomplete? What happened to them, specifically?" She pressed.

"They're back in Beijing. The reinforcements were quick to act, and had transferred them immediately through chopper. They were slightly wounded."

"Slightly wounded? Define it!" Teng Man Rui was getting worked up.

"Some abrasions, as I was informed, Miss." Yin Yue reported. "Their blood pressure is being checked and monitored closely right now, and they are to subject to complete medical check-up."

She clenched her fists in deep thought. 'I have to see them for myself.'

And so she decided to come out from hiding and went straight to the hospital. "Inform the house to send the chopper and pick me up right this instant."

"Understood, Miss." Yin Yue left her sight.

No more than an hour had pa.s.sed, and the chopper landed onto the hospital's helipad. She alighted from it, no more donning her peasant clothes and veiled hat. She had returned to being Teng Man Rui, the heiress. With dignified air and such elegance, she went straight to her parents' hospital suite.

Some nurses were gatheres around them, reading something from the equipment beside them.

"Xiao Rui! You've returned."

"Mom!"

"Dad!"

"How are you? I've heard the news!"

"It wasn't that serious, Xiao Rui." Her mom pacified her daughter's worried heart while caressing her cheek. "Just minor sc.r.a.pes from the rough car ride."

"It was a simple scare. That's what it was." Dad said. "They didn't take any valued possession. I'm not sure if they knew who we are, but if they knew, it's quite strange they didn't plan on taking us as hostages for something more valuable. It could be just a threat."

Teng Man Rui furrowed her brows in deep worry.

"You are scaring her." Her mother said to her dad. "Don't worry child, we're out of danger and nothing serious really happened. You look so tired yourself. Have you been eating? You've lost so much weight. Why don't you go home and rest?"

"En, mom. I'll go home for a while." Teng Man Rui agreed. She opened her phone that was turned off for these past months. Surge of messages came through. She had lots of time to go through them later on. What matters was to turn her location off from her phone. Then afterwards, she contacted the house for a car to pick her up.

However, it was too late. As soon as she left her parents' suite, right at the end of the hallway, stood the devil, s.h.i.+ Fan Hai.

"How have you been, Man Rui. It's been a long time, my love." He went towards her slowly, the lady was planted frozen on her spot. She was panicking, trembling, but what could she do? If she ran, she would have been overtaken easily.

s.h.i.+ Fan Hai kissed her lips tenderly. And by the second, it's becoming more and more aggressive, possessive. He held her in place on her nape.

She wasn't fighting back, nor acknowledging the kiss. She was there standing like a statue, wide-eyed.

"You're going with me." s.h.i.+ Fan Hai said, almost gently. He intertwined their hands, then dragged her out of the hospital, towards the backseat of his car that was waiting for them outside. He gave the signal to the driver to depart.

'It's useless to struggle. I've been caught. I'm defeated.' Teng Man Rui thought. She was still in shock.

They arrived at s.h.i.+ Fan Hai's two-storey house in Beijing. He led her to sit down on the couch. Their hands still intertwined.

"How… How did you know that I will be at the hospital? The timing was so perfect." She looked at him suspiciously.

"It's not important anymore. What's important is you're here again, by my side. Finally." He started to shower her with kisses, his hand caressing her back. He was getting into the moment, and headed towards her neck.

She pushed him lightly. "Let's just talk. Did you cheat?" She was pertaining to their little game of hunt.

He smiled tauntingly at her, the gaudy smile he usually wore on his face. "I didn't. It's past three months already. I waited, in line with your conditions. I should be rewarded. For waiting that long…" He continued what he was doing. He made her lie at her back on the couch.

She pushed him, and stood up. "Are you somehow behind my parents' scare attack?" Her back was turned from him, her arms crossed under her bosom. She's having a foreboding.

"I might." s.h.i.+ Fan Hai partially confessed. He stayed seated, and rested his elbows on his thighs. "That's not cheating."

The lady gasped in disbelief. She turned around to look at him. Tear after tear flowed from her eyes. "What has become of you? What has become of the man I fell in love with all these years?"

"You tried to hurt my parents just to lure me out. What else can you do? Will you try to hurt me too?" Teng Man Rui sobbed softly. Her heart was crushed. She was full of love for this man, yet he's turning to be a different man.

"Hush, hush." The man stood up, and locked the crying lady into his muscular arms which were once shouting security for Teng Man Rui. She once believed that no matter what, this man, no matter how evil other people thought of him, would never hurt her or her family. But he did today.

The man stroked Teng Man Rui's hair tenderly. "I was out of choices." He said.

"You weren't like this before. Have you forgotten? How we met?" Teng Man Rui tried to remind him.

Some years ago, when Teng Man Rui was still trying to establish her life alone in Hangzhou, they met at the most unexpected, harrowing moment of the lady, which until today, she had considered her life's nightmare.

"You saved me once, didn't you? You saved me and that was what made me drawn to you. Because I'm indebted to you. And I had been convinced since then that there's goodness in you despite your cold exterior."

"But now, I'm not so sure." Her eyes dimmed.