Forced by fate – Destined to be his Wife

“I went to detective Kim and gave him copies of everything while filing the report and opening the assault case. He’s going to see TangShi tomorrow to take a statement and take it from there. He’s going to be discreet but it’s a very obvious case and we might have to pull PR in to cover all bases to keep this hidden. Rong Cai won’t get away with this.” ZhengLi squatted down and held the napkin to YuZhi’s head, shaking his own and sighing heavily.

“We really screwed this up.” ZhengLi’s remorse reached as far as his relationship with Linlin too, and her words from that first moment. Telling him to trust her judgement, that TangShi would never. They were eating at him like a brain worm. She had been right, she had known, and yet ZhengLi had ignored his own heart and yearning for Linlin and pushed her away too.

“I hurt her……. I left her. Punished her and pushed her out of every part of my life. Why couldn’t I trust what I knew about her to second guess it? Why couldn’t that doubt that was there be what I focused on instead of the pain?” YuZhi was caught in his own head, his words soft and not real questions for ZhengLi, but more of a self-criticism. Thinking to how much he hadn’t wanted it to be true and had asked her to tell him it wasn’t.

“TangShi didn’t know at first either and believed she cheated. What we did is wrong but not unforgiveable. What we do from her on now matters a lot more. We can’t leave her to deal with this alone. You need to bring her home and protect her while this is investigated.” ZhengLi had told Linlin that no matter what he would do anything in his power to see TangShi righted over this. And that he would do anything to be forgiven by both of them.

Linlin had coolly looked him in the eye and told him he could go deal with the police report. Neither accepting his words nor refusing them and he knew it wasn’t going to be a simple case of sorry for her either. He doubted her best friend, and hurt her, so Linlin wouldn’t let him off easy. ZhengLi had been missing her like crazy but when focused don YuZhi’s emotional state it was easier to tell himself he couldn’t see her.

“I need to go see Tang, right now. I don’t care if she hates me, throws me out, or refuses to see me. I’ll stand outside and wait for however long it takes. I wasn’t there when she needed me but I won’t let her down again. I’m such an idiot.” YuZhi pushed his head back against the wall and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“It’s late. Linlin said she was in bed as she’s been sick lately, not sleeping. Maybe it’s best if…..”

“What? Sick? Is she okay, what’s wrong with her? I’m not staying here if you tell me that.” YuZhi was on his feet in a flash, his thoughts a blur and the only thing he knew was that gate that had been holding back, all the longing and craving her had been unleashed and a tidal wave was hitting him hard.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“YuZhi, be smart about this. She’s already a mess and you showing up at stupid o’clock after everything that’s happened won’t help. She’s hurting and you are probably the last person she wants to see right now. She’s processing a lot.”

“What am I supposed to do? Knowing this now…knowing what she’s going through? Knowing she’s sick.” YuZhi despaired, pushing ZhengLi aside so he could go find his car keys and shoes. It’s all he needed.

“We can go over their tomorrow with detective Kim and give her support while she makes her statement. I think for now at most, send her a message. If she’s awake she’ll reply. If she’s not we see them tomorrow.” ZhengLi knew TangShi wouldn’t readily let YuZhi back near her after what Linlin said today. The girl had been crushed one too many times by her life and this one was the deepest scar.

“I told her I didn’t love her anymore.” YuZhi turned on ZhengLi unexpectedly, his eyes misted over as a tear trolled down his cheek and his heart broke all over again. “What must that have done to her?” He tugged at ZhengLi’s jacket, almost like a lost child would, begging him to understand why he couldn’t stand still here. “At the very least she needs to know I didn’t mean it. That I love her so much that my life has been an empty mess without her.”

ZhengLi shifted his gaze to the floor between his feet, swallowing hard. Choking up too at how painful this was to witness.

“Call her and let her decide if she wants to see you. I don’t think you’re in the right state to comfort her face to face. Give her the choice.”

YuZhi didn’t hesitate but pulled out his cell phone and swiped to his block list, even that detail causing a wave of self hatred to swell up at his own stupid behavior.

“Wait. Here. She changed her cell number because Cai kept harassing her.” ZhengLi reached into his pocket for his own cell remembering why Linlin gave him a new number earlier.

YuZhi’s expression snapped from one of sadness to instant fury, a furrowed brow growing deep and a scowl emerging as it really sunk in that Rong was still going after her after everything he’d done. An inner volcanic anger surging up like molten lava. Turning towards the door and moving to storm off.

“I’ll kill that mother fucker. You’re right, Tang won’t want to see me, I wouldn’t either, but I can spend tonight taking my anger out on that bastards face for a second time. Making sure he never goes near her again.” YuZhi pushed his phone back into his pocket with intent, riled up and fierce, and ZhengLi grabbed him with force and swung him back towards the living room before marching him backwards to the couch. Knowing once his friends psycho switch was flipped he could get himself in a whole lot of trouble. It was a rare thing but not unheard of.

“Hell, No! We involved the police so let them do their job. Let’s do this right.” ZhengLi stayed bent over him bearing down to keep him in place. “Look, I too want to smash that fucker’s face in, but it won’t help TangShi in the long run. Be smart about this and think of the bigger picture. Your family name, hers, and even the spotlight on that Cai prick. Think of what the media attention would do to her and what the world knowing what he did would cause her.” He was grasping for anything to calm him down and change his course of action.

“I have to do something.” YuZhi crumbled, his anger still simmering but his overwhelming guilt eating him up, making everything raw. Back to being an emotional wreck who couldn’t stop seeing her tear stained face in his mind’s eye and ripping his heart apart all over again.

“Give her breathing space. Take time to let this sink in and I’ll show you the CCTV footage when you clam down. We need to approach this from a different angle and think about protecting her. If it gets out, which it might. What happens if he denies it and wants it to go to trial? …. We need to be logical here and figure out the best steps for TangShi in all of this. That’s what we can do for her. Maybe even take her away from Shanghai for a while in case this erupts.”

YuZhi calmed down as sense got the better of him and he nodded in deflation. Knowing what ZhengLi was saying was right, but it didn’t make any of this easier. It’s not like he could step back into TangShi’s life, take over and whisk her away. He wasn’t even sure TangShi would ever want to see him again, especially after how he treated her at Leng group. YuZhi sunk back into the soft cushions as ZhengLi exhaled with relief at his submission and sat down beside him, sensing the dying breath of his hostility fading away.

“Rip up the divorce papers, get her ring back. Reinstate her finances and anything else she needs. Undo everything I fucked up for her…. I’ll even move out and let her live here if she can’t stand to be around me. I want a bodyguard and a driver and car for her. She needs constant protection.” He leaned his head back on the rest, suddenly exhausted to the core and knowing he shouldn’t wake her up at this hour. He should let her sleep, give her that luxury of escape where she could forget all of this for a little while and do what ZhengLi said tomorrow. “From here on in, I do everything I can for her to make up for what I’ve done to her. Even if she never wants to come back to me, I won’t let her down a second time.”