"I told you to look after her. What's not clear about that?" The icy tone in Si Weimin's voice brought a chill to Thomas' body.
"Bro, I-I didn't know she was outside already. I was expecting her call."
"You could've just waited for her." Si Weimin's voice was so cold, Thomas felt guilty.
"I know, bro. But –"
"There is no but, Thomas. If something happened to her, I don't know what I would do to you."
"I'm sorry I took this thing lightly. I thought you were just overprotective of her. I didn't expect this to be as serious as this." He couldn't hide the guilt on his voice.
"Never take things lightly when it concerns Jia. I trusted her to you. That's the only thing you have to do – make her safe."
"It won't happen again, bro. I promise to make her safe." He said with full of regrets. He knew how important Xu Jia Li is to Si Weimin. It wasn't really his fault but Shen Linqin's. However, he knew that it was of no use to mention that to him. It would only add to the annoyance the devil was feeling towards him.
"There should never be a second time."
Even before he could answer, Si Weimin ended the call. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes. He was even more annoyed with Shen Linqin than ever before. If it wasn't for her immaturity, he wouldn't even think to get out of the car.
He could still remember how she called her about something very important. Thinking that it's a life and death situation, he instantly went to her. To his dismay, what she was referring to as something important was the gifts from Xu Jia Li's fans that she wanted him to carry to the car.
He wanted to bury her alive together with the gifts she was handling. The annoyance he felt for her increased. He wanted to tell her that he was not her butler she could order around.
When they both managed to return to the car, she was shocked to learn that Xu Jia Li was still not there. They both looked for her until they saw her standing still in a dark part of the parking.
Even before they reached her, the smell of blood hit him. He immediately went straight to the dark part and saw a lot of blood on the ground. It was still fresh and based on his experience, whoever that someone who wanted to scare her was good. That someone knew what to do.
Something about the way it was done reminded him of a criminal who targets his prey with psychological distress. They attacked scaring the victim with subtle traces that would play incessantly in her mind. This would scare the victim even more.
He fought professional assassins, killed terrorists and solved some of the hardest codes, he was good in tactical combat, yet this one particular event caught him unprepared. He was ashamed of himself especially to Si Weimin.
After he brought Xu Jia Li in her apartment, he saw how it affected her. She was quiet the whole time – deep in thought.
They were clueless. He was clueless.
He suddenly decided to go and visit the place again. He rode his car and drove so fast. When he reached the same spot where he'd seen the blood, nothing could be seen, not even a drop of blood or markings. It was as if what happened earlier didn't even happen.
He looked around. Sensing any movement but there was nothing. It was as if it was only a nightmare – a nightmare he couldn't forget but didn't exist.
He looked around and saw that there was a cctv but it didn't seem to be working. He scanned the place, trying to get more clues, suddenly a shiny object caught his eyes. He leaned forward before he kneeled and examined it. There, he saw a single piece of diamond.
______________________________________________
Xu Jia Li was accompanied by Shen Linqin on her apartment. Shen Linqin didn't want to leave her alone. She insisted to be with her.
She was so tired to argue so she just nodded her head. She still didn't ask her about what happened earlier and the reason why she wasn't in the car. She was exhausted but what she experienced earlier left her wide awake.
'Whoever is behind this?' She told herself. She was confused. The only answer she could get was that Zhou Jiayin was behind all this.
Hate started to crawl deep in her heart. She abhorred his father. She knew that someone was doing everything to scare her.
'I have to find who killed my mom.'
She was cut in thought when her phone rang. She saw Si Weimin's name flashed on the screen. She wanted to pick it up but a part of her knew she shouldn't.
After a few more attempts of call from Si Weimin, her phone beeped.
She read his message.
[I hope you're alright. Please let me know how you're feeling.]
Tears escaped her eyes. 'I'm so sorry, Weimin. We can't be together.'