Chapter 19: A trap.

The bedroom had already been arranged by Liwu’s people. Even the original bedding had been stripped and replaced with sheets and a duvet of her favorite purple color. Even the room smelled like her favorite purple orchids.

She collapsed on the bed and breathed in the wonderful orchid scent on the sheets. Some people would have thought it was too much orchid everywhere, but not her. Her bath gel was orchid, her perfume, her body oil–nearly everything she used carried the scent.

“The view here is…err. Lacking.” Majesty commented from where he sat on the windowsill, flicking his tail from side to side. “It should have been a view of the sea but at the height of the system wars, your grandfather diverted the sea to punish IH. No wonder sea food costs an arm and a leg here. And they don’t have natural beaches.”

Liwu replied with a bored “hmm” as sleep started claiming her slowly.

Suddenly, the door was opened with a force and her husband strutted in. He paced like a caged tiger as he stripped off his coat and threw it on the bed.

Liwu sat up and kicked it down. She turned to look at him, only to be stunned when she found him unbuttoning his shirt, his jaw tight. And then he stopped when the shirt was half undone.

“Are you saving the view for your sweetheart Manman?” Liwu asked him.

He hissed at her. “You embarrassed my mother in front of the entire household. Do you think witty sarcasm makes you clever? No! It just makes you more unlikable.”

Liwu replied lazily, “I am not partaking in a popularity contest so why should I care who likes me? And how did I embarrass her? By pointing out that star fruit is a questionable breakfast choice or highlighting the fact that the honey in the porridge was lacking? Please, if honesty is not allowed here, then this family is built on dangerous lies. That should be your biggest worry.”

Weijun stopped pacing, eyes narrowing. “Don’t try to turn this on my family, we trust each other. You on the other hand, I don’t trust you. Your first day meeting my family and you came armed with a deadly tongue and talking pets, mocking tradition, mocking my mother.”

Liwu pointed to the paper on the pillow. “I am the one here that is entitled to trust issues. Your people have already started leaving traps for me, like this list of names on my pillow waiting for me to peek. If you want to see if I am a spy, at least be subtle.”

Weijun’s face flushed red. He slammed his fist against the carved bedpost. “So, you did look at the list. You admit that you were tempted.”

Liwu rolled her eyes. “Tempted to find the writer of the list and give them a piece of my mind. I am not blind and paper was placed on my pillow so of course, I glanced at it casually. I don’t expect your trust because trust is earned. It is the number one thing you work on as a police officer when you are partnered with a stranger, and you become responsible for each other’s lives.”

She settled her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. “Take your list, I am not interested in it. And I am too tired to continue this fight. You are dismissed.”

Weijun pointed to himself, screaming in his mind as disbelief settled in his heart. How could she dismiss him? He was the one that dismissed others.

The air thickened. She remained still and he fought the urge to yell. Finally, he spun on his heel, grabbed his coat and stormed out of the room, the door slamming so hard that the bottles on the dressing table rattled.

There was a second of silence, and then a soft thump. Majesty leapt onto the bed, tail flicking, eyes gleaming with curiosity and wisdom gained over the years from witnessing many relationships. “Well, that went well.” He let out a sound that was half chuckle, half cough. “Your father had a temper, but he had a reason. He was in a wheelchair and he hated life. This one, I don’t know why he is all thorns.”

Liwu laughed. “He is always one spark away from exploding, especially around me. The media lied about him; he is supposed to be a flirtatious playboy with a happy go lucky attitude. What the fruit is this? This marriage feels more like a battlefield than the annual budget meeting of the SOB.” In those meetings, people came to blows.

Here, no blows had been thrown. Yet.

Majesty stretched luxuriously, then sat upright. “Do you think something is off about him?”

Liwu nodded. “Most definitely.”

“Then let me do what I do best. Spying. I will follow him, listen through doors and perch on the window of the kitchen to know what the servants are saying. Nobody ever suspects the cat.”

Liwu was not so sure. “A talking cat is different. But i won’t stop you. Find out where he has gone and what he is plotting. If he wants to test me, I will test him too.”

Majesty bowed theatrically, as if he were a knight accepting a quest. With that, the cat slipped out, silent as a shadow. For a cat his size, it was amazing how he could be invisible when he wished.

Liwu yawned softly, “System, initiate a minor misfortune. The target is Shen Weifeng, make him trip in exchange for 5 points.

[Affirmative]

***

Meanwhile, in the strategizing room in another wing of the mansion, her husband’s men lingered. They were finishing another list. It had names, shipments, coded entries. It was bait, like a fish circling on the surface of water, taunting fishermen.

Zhao Lang was taking great care to make the list look flawless.

Lu Wei whispered to Reed, “No matter how flawless it looks, she will know. She is a police officer, one who works for the Bureau at that. She was trained for this.”

“Curiosity is a vice of every good spy.” Mo Xia smirked. “She will look and later, she will look up a name or shipment. Sooner or later, we will get her.”

Hale shook his head. “Or maybe she will ignore it. She did not marry into the Shen family for her loyalty; she married for the alliance.”

Cross, twisting a thumb ring slowly said, “Either way, we set the trap and see what happens.”

***

Somewhere in Italy, Shen Weifeng strode confidently on the steps of a cathedral–until his foot caught on a loose stone. He stumbled, arms flailing, and landed face-first on the ground.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep