I've a secret dream.
Wonder with whom I could share.
Many secrets in it.
Would like to tell, but no one could understand.
Outside in the dead of night dew is heavy.
Tonight fallen petals have become a mound.
Springs came and went entirely without any trace.
Only left a secret dream.
- Secret Dream, Jiang Yuheng.
Su Mo sipped on his wine glass as he contemplated the actions of the young man earlier. His grandfather, Su Jinying owned the Su Amore Group in the city, one of the largest clothing manufacturers. Being the second eldest grandson and having showing excellent results in the industry since graduating as a fashion designer about four years ago, he was bound to be the next heir of Su Amore Group. At the same time, he had founded and managed Su Vogue, his own fashion magazine. He believed that he was capable of giving the girl what she wanted and desired. He wouldn't concede defeat easily.
He decided that he would openly challenge this man, whoever he was, and have a fair competition to win over the innocent-looking girl. From the way it seemed to him, she didn't seem that she was married to him. And he would seize every opportunity to be with this girl, after how she had caught his eye.
He had dated many girls, and she did not seem like any of them at all. She had been using plain makeup, dressed modestly and had tried to shy away from him. She hadn't even wanted to hit the dance floor, while the girls she was with were already dancing excitedly. He noticed that she was a flower among the weeds.
She had said she was in her final year in university. Which university was she in, and what was her major? But it wouldn't take him long before he would discover these facts for himself, and pursue her for himself. Especially with his pal Summer's skills, conducting a private investigation would just be a piece of cake for him.
..............................................................
Zhi Xun woke up still in the dress she had been wearing the night before, lying all alone in an empty bed. It didn't taken her long to recognise the design of Tian Yu's room. But where was he? Her mind was in a blank, and she had no recollection of what had happened the night before. As she had a toothbrush and bath towel handy at Tian Yu's place, she washed up and went downstairs to check up on Tian Yin.
Tian Yin looked nothing like Tian Yu at all. Though nowhere close to Zhi Xun in terms of her beauty, she had a very sharp nose, coupled with almond eyes and plump, rosy cheeks. Unlike Zhi Xun who had a dainty and petite figure, she had a fuller, curvier figure, gaining her the nickname "Modern Beauty" due to her not being skinny like the typical girls in her faculty. Her red dyed hair ended just above her shoulders in a short bob.
Tian Yin coolly scooped her milk and cereal from her bowl, slowly savouring her breakfast. No matter what day it was, there wouldn't be a day when Tian Yin would go without breakfast. Tian Yu had often described her as the princess of the Gao family, as she would often get what she desired and was heavily protected.
Seeing Zhi Xun approach, she looked from her bowl and greeted her, "Sister Xun, morning. Would you like a bowl too?"
"I'll help myself later," she answered with a smile. "Have you seen your brother?"
A frown spread across Tian Yin's pretty face. "Getting rid of that pesky mosquito," she said, chewing on her cereal.
"Who is this mosquito?"
Tian Yin, cleared her throat and looked lost for a moment. "Zhang Jian," she said, after a few minutes had passed. "He's one of the members of the media communications committee."
Tian Yin continued, "Somehow he got wind that I failed. He came over to console me as he says, but I don't feel like seeing anyone. He wouldn't leave until he had seen me, he said, so my brother had to talk some sense into him."
"How did he know where you lived?" Zhi Xun asked, slightly curious about this young man. She knew how protective Tian Yu was over his own sister. How would Tian Yu react to the realisation that his own sister had a suitor? Rest in peace, young man, she thought. She imagined a battered up man crawling before Tian Yu, "Bro, please let me off...I promise that I will never go near your sister anymore!" the man said in her imagination, and Zhi Xun stifled a laugh. Fortunately, Tian Yin did not hear her laugh.
Tian Yin replied, "He and his parents moved here a week ago. They live on the same level. We've met so many times outside the condo." She didn't seem happy when she made the statement. Perhaps, this Zhang Jian was very ugly or a nerd?
Thirty minutes passed, and Tian Yin invited Zhi Xun to a few rounds of Words With Friends, a mobile game resembling Scrabble, only for Zhi Xun to emerge the victor. Tian Yin was undaunted, determined to win over her future sister-in-law, but Zhi Xun could feel that there had been something on her mind that had been distracting her.
"Ayin, is there something on your mind?" she asked without hesitation.
Tian Yin avoided her gaze. "I think... I will be all right."
"Is it about the boy you were talking about the other day?" Zhi Xun asked. "Did something happen?"
"I don't know," she said. "He's disappeared from my social media accounts and deleted his WhatsApp accounts."
"Would it be better if you spoke to him about your feelings?" Zhi Xun asked. "Maybe it would be better if you had some closure between the two of you. Even if you failed, you had the chance to tell him of your own feelings. Of course, don't go to him all alone, have someone with you." She recalled how she had made the mistake of going to end things with her ex while she was alone, only to end up in a trap.
Tian Yin looked down at her fingers. "I could try, but I'm afraid he will reject me."
"Fear not. I will go with you," Zhi Xun said. "Even if you don't have him, you have us. We are your close family. I just don't want to see you continuing like this and being in so much pain."
Tian Yin looked guilty as she looked back at Zhi Xun in the face. "Would my brother be okay with the meeting? You know how protective he is, and how he doesn't like the idea of me dating. I'm already twenty. It hurts how I've been keeping all my feelings inside me for so long. Of course it's not my brother's fault, Fang Qi had many admirers before I even liked him."
"How did you end up liking him if you have been friends for so long?" Zhi Xun asked. She was a little curious with how everything worked between the siblings.
"I've liked him for five years, but the only time he made any advances to me, was when we were drunk during the camping trip. It's just a kiss though!" Tian Yin explained. Then she quickly changed the topic.
"What about you and my brother? How far are you in your relationship already?" Tian Yin grinned mischievously as she watched Zhi Xun's face for any clues.
Zhi Xun paused at Tian Yin's question. Though she had only loved and desired Tian Yu, Zhi Xun wasn't who she used to be in her former lifetime as Aranya. She barely remembered Aranya's memories, apart from those existent in her dreams of Aranya and Chen Ye. Six lifetimes had caused her personality to deviate from Aranya's initial personality and turn her into a bold and sensual soul.
She could remember vaguely how she had once lived as a consort of a king in one of her six lifetimes. One night, she had resigned herself to her fate and voluntarily spent the night with the king. She remembered many faces, partially of the women in his harem who wanted to kill her again and again, until she had died accidentally at the hands of a masked assassin, when she disguised herself as the king to take his place in death.
Perhaps part of these memories and the reality of her past lifetimes carried over to her current lifetime and had accounted for her sensuality. Despite this, she was by no means a hussy. She believed she genuinely loved and had had chosen to give herself entirely to Tian Yu.
While she wanted Tian Yin to secure her own happiness, Zhi Xun didn't want her making mistakes like how she did when she thought her ex had been her Mr. Right. What if Fang Qi wasn't Tian Yin's Mr. Right? And then, there was Tian Yin's personality. She was a little naive and could be considered easy prey. Tian Yu had considered protecting her to be his duty as the eldest child of the Gaos.
She made up her mind that since she was studying in the same university, she would find out how Zhang Jian and Fang Qi were like, and judge for herself if they were safe near her boyfriend's little sister. Then, she would have a little talk with Tian Yu about his sister's relationship and how he should let her have her freedom to pursue any boy as she liked since she was already twenty. But first, when Tian Yu got back, they needed to discuss about the options she had, since she was about to lose her scholarship.
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