Chapter 28

"This is fucking bullshit! And you! You just sat there as if you were ok with all of it?" Li is trembling with suppressed rage. Since I expected this, I rolled my eyes and took a seat.

"Li, what could I say. Do you want me to argue with them and get the same response? Such a waste of time." I type out after massaging my temples. The situation is beyond problematic, but I will not give up. Li glares at me crossing his arms. His pout reminds me of a four-year-old who didn't get to play outside.

"You could have protested. Protesting on your behalf while you're just sitting there meekly is infuriating!" Li moves towards the table, stopping at a chair next to me.

"I cannot even hold a normal conversation. I don't want to message these officials, and I purposely left the tablet here. It just seemed best to gauge the situation. Anyway, we don't even know what the situation is. Everything is just suggestions and idle threats. Until I have confirmation that they are betrothed, she's still fair game." I press a button on the table, and my personal Butler arrives. "Can you bring me some coffee?"

"Yes, My Lady." She advises leaving the room. Because of Li's jealous antics, Lady Yanyun assigned me a female butler. I laughed at the irony of it at the time. Li doesn't trust anyone for obvious reasons.

"Dani, that's not how it works here. He doesn't have a choice. Or if he chooses, he has to choose a better option." He finally relents and collapses into the seat before him.

"A better option?"

"Yes, and the better option would be one of the debutantes. These are usually the daughters of the Governing Council members. Since Xie-Yu is already married, you and I are betrothed, and QiQiang is in Russia, it only leaves the Yaotiáns. Jaidan is the oldest officially now that he has been adopted. He's also in the South, closest to the Shin. They are using this marriage to gain some balance." Myo ticks off each point with his fingers.

"So what you're saying is, it's pretty much a done deal."

"Only thing they can do is drag it out." Sighing, he leans forward in the seat, grabs my chair, and pulls me closer to him.

"That said, we should really focus on getting married. I worry the Council will try to intervene in our relationship since you are directly related to the Chief as they know it. Suppose what they say is true, and Alisha was not responsible for the twins or that she had no intention of handing you to Kyoto. In that case, it's possible she was trying to protect you."

"Perish the thought. How is sending me to Jaidan protecting me?" I give him an incredulous look which he ignores.

"I hate to admit it, but it would make a lot of sense. From what you overheard, the plan was to send you to Kyoto, but then she changed the plan. Did she say anything to you at all?" Li's severe expression and sharp, piercing gaze is a new experience for me. I don't like it.

"No, just that we are even, and the building was set to blow in two hours," I admit grudgingly. I want to look away, but my pride won't let me.

"I don't like what she did, but I have to admit, if her plan was to kill everyone, Alisha could have blown the building at any time. She also could have sent you directly to Japan. She had plenty of time." Li starts playing with my fingers. I snatch my hand away.

"Since when can you reason? Are you now not wanting to help me? You were so angry at the meeting up until moments ago. Now you're defending her?" My tongue is sore from my outburst, but all I do is laugh wildly. He reaches for me again, but I kick the chair back. I get up and move towards the window.

"It's not like that. I have to put our feelings aside and process this properly. Xie-Yu isn't himself right now." Li follows me, encircling his arms around my waist. Ignoring my rigid pose, he whispers in my ear. "I promise I will help you."

Turning me, he gently kisses my lips. Searching his eyes, I forgot how pretty they were. The brown is more honeyed, and I feel myself finally relaxing. His sincerity is quite evident. Li smiles that dangerous smile and then kisses my forehead.

"Good girl," Li praises me, then laughs as I glare at him before guiding me back to the table and sitting me in his lap. "As I was saying, we still need the big picture if we are to get married. Let's think like Xie-Yu would."

"Fine."

"Are you willing to at least listen?"

His tone makes me feel like I am the four-year-old now. Annoyed with myself, I just nod. He nibbles my earlobe and briefly licks the outer shell, causing goose pimples on my skin. Overwhelmed. I push off immediately, and he lets go, almost causing me to lose balance. If it wasn't for his strong hands steadying me, I would have ended up on the floor. I glare at him, and he looks at me innocently.

Before I can react, the Butler arrives, places the coffee I requested on the table then leaves. Li's hands possessively hold my body as he watches the Butler perform her task and leave the room. Amused, I gently remove his hands, pour some coffee, and wait for his explanation.

"If I think as Xie-Yu, it makes me wonder what the plan was and how the twins even play into that. They are close to your family, so maybe it was an attempt to force a marriage to gain a hold in Korea? But why?" He's now mumbling to himself. I can see what he means, though. Why would Sumi want an alliance in Korea? Or is Sumi not even the one pulling the strings.

"Unless Sumi is an amazing actor, he can't plot that deeply. Vengeance? I can see that. But a whole plan to undermine our syndicate? No, he couldn't come up with it on his own."

"I was thinking this as well. Kyoto may be just a pawn. Kyoto has a direct connection with the Bloody Baron. The gang was able to hide in China. He also has a direct connection with Alisha, but she doesn't seem to like or be loyal to him. Then there's Yin Mu and Yin Liu's betrayal, which doesn't seem related to Kyoto in the slightest. The kidnapping of the twins is completely an anomaly and doesn't fit in with the events. Everything circles around you, but the Shin were unaware of the twins' kidnapping, and neither was Park Zixin. In fact, Fang Kai didn't know either."

Li had begun writing things down on the paper provided, separating events and people in a chart format. Looking at it this way, it is hard not to see that there is clearly a third party.

"Sumi was also in Japan, but disappeared the day I was kidnapped, and now there's a lot of discord in Japan." I point out. Li writes it down but on a separate sheet.

"The discord started before that. Probably about three months ago, which is also when we found out our warehouse had activity in it even though it had been abandoned for years." This information he writes on the same sheet of paper as the discord. He adds in Han and Hyun-Ki's escapades on this form as well.

"I came here about three months ago." I gasp at the realization. "This is all related to me." He also writes down and then sets his pen down before looking at me.

"Seems so. All the more reason we just need to get married. The longer we wait, the more chances they have to force a marriage between you and someone of their choosing."

"But you just said I am safe here. With the Yaotiáns." I protest.

"Ok then, just stay inside and never leave. That's the only other option. If you leave here, you put yourself at risk. And since it's an unknown enemy, we cannot guard against the unknown." His voice snaps.

I cringe as it's the first time he has ever yelled at me. Part of me wants to shout back, but the other knows he's right. We glare at each other for a while before I finally look away.

"Can you please just stop fighting me on this one?" He runs his fingers through his hair, causing the waves to break away, and then sits on his haunches before my chair. "I know you want to maintain your freedom and control. I am not trying to take that from you. Look at my mom and Lady Yanyun. They are very much in control of their own syndicates and task forces. They both have children and are married. Besides, it's not like you can really do much as it is with your healing."

"Yea, well, also look at my aunt, Lady Yuma. She had to go into hiding for 30 years. What did she do while she was in hiding?" I speak to him.

"I don't know, Dani. I cannot even guess what she did. Call her and ask her yourself. My mom still runs her syndicate, and Lady Yanyun still runs hers. Not only that, but Lady Yanyun didn't even want to marry Chief Yaotián initially. They really didn't like each other at all. He still gave her the freedom to do as she pleased. At least we love each other and respect each other. I promise I will never cage you in. It's just not something I can promise since you and I are not married." His pleading eyes seem to be searching my soul, making me uncomfortable.