Chapter 25: A half naked man with cotton candy.

The helicopter blades were spinning, but Weijun could not hear the sound. His whole world seemed to have stopped for the time being.

“I will not let you go after that lizard.” His aunt held on to his arm, determined and looking at him with disapproval.

From the helicopter, Cross yelled, “Wei, we need to leave now. Your wife is heading to the Flame district. Think fire, think hot oil, think of every disaster that has occurred when she is around food. We need—”

“He needs,” Shen Biao interrupted, “to stay here and make things right. His marriage to that woman was a mistake and I will see to it that we remedy the situation quickly.”

The helicopter blades stopped spinning. Hale killed everything with a single button, because he knew his boss was not going to move, not until he got his fill of Shen Manman’s face. Every man had a weakness and she was his.

Manman smiled softly, the practiced smile of an actress which was a little too sweet. “Hi stranger,” she said, as if she hadn’t disappeared from his life like smoke. “Have you missed me?”

Weijun froze, questions flooding his mind. Did she know that he was Weijun, not Weifeng? Where had she been all these years? What had she been doing? How had his aunt found her when he had used all of his resources and failed? “Why did you leave?” he blurted out.

He winced. He regretted not starting with a simple greeting. Maybe now she would find him too pushy and the more suffocating brother.

Manman tilted her head, wind blowing through the brown locks of her shoulder length hair. Her eyes had the innocence of a lamb. “I had to. I was torn you know, between you and your brother. Before I came along, you two were so close but after I joined the gang, you started drifting apart. It was unbearable. Your mother begged me to make a choice, but we both knew that no matter who I chose, the other one would grow resentful. So I left. I thought it was kinder.”

Weijun clenched his jaw. His mother had not told him that she had played a role in the disappearance of the woman he loved! No wonder Manman left abruptly.

She laughed, lightly. The sound was almost musical and to Hale’s ears, it rang false. But, Weijun did not hear it.

Manman poked him on the shoulder, “But look at you now–married. I suppose I should be happy for you. Although the bride was an unexpected gift.”

He smiled stiffly.

“Do you remember,” she said, eyes glinting, “how you talked about performing a sexy or trending dance at our wedding to horrify the guests?”

He clenched his fists. “That was years ago.”

“Yes,” Manman sighed, “I don’t meant to bring it up. I was just thinking of your wedding and the chaos that happened. I saw the videos.” She laughed again. “There was no sexy dance but the room was on fire. The guests were horrified.”

Shen Biao eavesdropped with satisfaction, clearly hoping nostalgia would chain her nephew in place.

But Weijun’s mind was not craving for nostalgia. He wanted real answers. He wanted to know why she had not trusted him enough to express her struggles. Why she had chosen now to return and why she seemed comfortable twisting the knife by mentioning a wedding she had laughed off when he made the joke, hoping she would build on it. But every time he opened his mouth, she deflected with another sweet memory, another laugh, another reminder of what the had once shared. Did his marriage not bother her at all?

“So your wife stole your helicopter.” Manman said, waving at Weijun’s men in the helicopter in stand by. “She is certainly bold and spirited.”

If one listened close. they could hear the subtle challenge in her voice and condescension whenever she mentioned his wife.

“Give it time.” Manman said softly. “She is reckless because she is used to being unruly in Beijing. Her mother is the only dragon in the world after all, and the president of the SOB. When you think about, she is from the one percent of the one percent and used to getting her way. But, I am sure when she understands your position like I do, she will make adjustments.”

When she said the word understanding, his mind traveled to Weifeng. His brother said it all the time, that Manman was the only person in the world that understood him.

Suddenly, his phone rung. Not just his, but his men’s phones as well. Then came the news. The helicopter his wife had taken was tangled in some wires. His men were shouting out similar news. One said it had exploded, another said it had crushed into a five star hotel. The details were chaotic, but the urgency was undeniable.

He staggered, heart pounding. He regretted hesitating. He should have known better than to let her go ahead. Bad luck followed his wife everywhere. Hopefully, it was not fatal.

Manman touched his arm, feigning concern. “Oh no. Could she really be dead? We should go into the house and wait…”

Weijun pushed her away. “No. I have to go.”

Manman laughed. “But I just got back.”

Weijun didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His mind was already racing ahead, toward the wreckage, toward the woman whose family would set the world on fire once accusations of assassinations and the like were uttered. He had fought to rebuild the Shen family from the wreckage of Han Ce. Not even Tai Liwu’s bad luck was allowed to send them back into the shadows.

And Manman. Now was not the time to deal with her. She was not as important as the survival of his family and the position of the alliance.

As he climbed into the helicopter, his phone buzzed. A new notification that made his blood run cold. On one hand, there was good news: his wife was alive. On the other hand, there was bad news: whether by accident or just willfully, she had just shared a half-naked picture of him online. Not just to friends or family, but the entire world.

Of all moments, the picture had been captured while he happened to be eating pinkish blue cotton candy!

The image was already spreading, memes multiplying, reputations crumbling.

“When did she take this?” Mo Xia giggled.

The helicopter rose and the notifications continued coming in. The picture was spreading faster than a wild fire. Even serious media houses were sharing it. In one image, someone had already added bunny ears.

So many years of building a reputation and he had been reduced to a half naked bunny eating cotton candy!

The air vibrated with Weijun’s rage. “Tai Liwu! How dare you! Are you seeking death? It is a good thing that you are not dead because I am going to kill you myself.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep