Mia stood splashing her face with cold water in the staff toilets, she'd completed her rounds and was looking forward to getting some rest. After letting her raven hair loose, she took off her glasses and studied herself in the mirror. To her dismay, she had dark circles under her eyes, luckily her glasses his them on shift. After being under a lot of stress the past few days, it had taken a toll on her body. Sighing she shook her head and made her way to the staff room.
"Ling Ling, don't worry we'll find someone." Mia walked in to see the staff hurdled around a young ward nurse whom was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Ling Ling are you alright?" everyone jumped hearing the boss and Ling Ling wiped away her tears.
"Forgive me Doctor James, my brother was just in a car accident. My parents just told me." She said quietly fighting back her despair.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, is there anything I can do for you?" Ling Ling hesitated for a second but shook her head. Mia had a keen eye and exceptional memory, Ling Ling was on night-shift that night.
"Family is top priority it would be cruel of me to deprive you of that over a shift. Take the night off I'll cover for you." Everyone looked at Mia with stunned faces.
"Doctor James, are you sure about that? You've just completed a twelve hour shift you'll be exhausted." Ling Ling said worriedly.
"Don't worry about me. Give your family my condolences." Ling Ling looked at Mia like an angel and began crying once more.
"Thank-you Doctor James, your very kind." Everyone got ready and left Ling Ling giving Mia a warm hug before leaving. Mia was happy she could help her fellow comrade but also knew this was going to be a tough night. Kai and Hao also said their goodbyes and headed home leaving Mia alone in the ward. Mia got herself a coffee and sat in the office reviewing the patient care plans. For a few hours she walked around keeping herself busy, night-shift was boring. Most patients fell asleep early being on medication, so she didn't have many to contend with. As she was typing up her report, she was surprised to see the solitary room buzzer alarm, it was 1 am so Mia thought it would be strange a patient would be awake at that time. Making her way down she reviewed the patient chart outside of the door and was worried to see it was her mothers' solitary cell. Questioning whether it was a good idea to see her after her last psychotic episode, she eventually succumbed and entered. Jane was lay back in restraint looking up at the ceiling. Upon entry Mia she didn't call out with her usual remarks, so Jane had no idea it was her daughter.
"Mrs. James did you call?" at first, she didn't respond and then weakly replied yes still under sedatives for her own safety.
"Could I talk to you for a while?" Mia was startled to hear a soft voice call out in the darkness, it didn't sound like her mother at all.
"Of course, that's what I'm here for. What do you want to talk about?"
"I had a husband once you know?" she said amusingly. Mia felt suddenly conflicted, she wanted to hear this voice more but when her father was brought up, she felt like she was prying in her mother's vulnerable state.
"I see. It was written on your file yes. What about him?" Mia was treading water trying to keep her voice neutral as possible, so she didn't give herself away.
"I miss him a lot. I think my daughter does too." She said sadly, and Mia shared her heartache.
"I'm sure she does. I'm sorry for your loss Mrs. James." Mia heard her mother chuckle in the darkness, but it wasn't hostile in any way it was warm.
"You have no reason to be sorry my dear. It's my daughter who should be sorry." Mia could feel the resentment in her mothers' words and yet again doubted if she should pry further.
"C-could I ask why?"
"My daughter had a kind heart, she always put herself before others. So, when she found a boy who put her before anyone, I was so happy for her. Nothing could stop that girl from achieving her dreams, not anyone." She was referring to Aiden. Mia didn't know what to do this was the first kind thing her mother had said about her in years.
"I'm going to tell you something that's been eating me up for years. I can't bear to burden my daughter with it, but I have to tell someone." Was this it? The secret she'd been protecting for five years, being told to a nurse who her daughter was really.
"Thank-you for confiding in me." Mia didn't want to push her even through her body was aching for the truth.
"Don't thank me yet this isn't a good thing for me to say. They call me crazy but I'm not. My husband didn't die from complications… he was killed." Mia felt the world stop in an instance hearing the pain in her mother's voice.
"K-K-Killed?" she stuttered.
"I hate this culture, I hate their ideals. My daughter was happy, so I turned a blind eye, but I regret that every day. It's amazing what a family will do to protect their investments. If she would have just let that boy be in his own circle I wouldn't be here. My husband on the other hand would be." She sobbed uncontrollably but Mia couldn't make any sense of it her brain had went to mush.
"W-who did it?" Mia asked desperately.
"I'm not exactly sure but it was from the Li family, they wanted to make sure my baby girl was punished for loving that boy. My husband, my poor husband why did it have to be him. Why didn't they punish me instead?" Mia felt droplets on her lap and pulled her hand to her face steaked with tears.
"M-mom… please… please say your lying." Jane suddenly stiffened in her bed and pulled her heavy head from the pillow to see Mia hanging from the chair in despair.
"M-Mia…"
"Please, tell me it's not true!" she blubbered. Jane came to her senses, she never wanted to burden Mia with this information which is why she treated her so poorly.
"Mia, I'm sorry…" Mia couldn't cope anymore she knew what her mother said was true. How could she keep that from her?
"Mia please don't go…I'm sorry." Jane cried with her buckled hand outstretched to her inconsolable daughter.
"I-It's my fault… you're right mom. I am a murderer…" with those painful final words Mia ran from the room and escaped to her office. Locking the door, she slumped to the floor knees up to her face and cried harder than she'd ever done in her life. Li…The Li family took her father away because she was in love, escaped they were so hell-bent on power? There was still three more hours left of her shift, but she couldn't bare to look at the bright walls a second longer, everything she ever knew was a lie. This resentment she had for Aiden was misguided, the Li family wanted her to hate him. Wanted her to push him away.
Mia left a phone message for Jhan telling her she had a family emergency and needed to retreat from the shift, she couldn't be around anyone right now. All her medical training went out of the window, this was a heartache so brutal she felt like it would explode at any minute.
Mia was observant and intelligent so when an unfamiliar car stayed outside of her work the past two days, she knew someone was watching her, jotting down her every move. At first, she thought maybe it was Sam but upon further inspection she could recognize that lanky, thin idiot anywhere. Mia stormed through the parking lot and banged on Yai Chu's window so hard he mistook it for a bomb. His face went blue with fear upon seeing Mia's face glaring through the icy glass. Reluctantly rolling down the window he prepared for the worst.
"Nice to see you again Chu, scouting for the rich boy?" she said sarcastically. Chu could barely form a sentence, he was a private investigator every move was sneaky, but she'd been watching him the whole time.
"Y-Yeah…" he said knowing Mia could smell a lie in a field of truth.
"Okay, so this is what's going to happen. You take me to the Li residence or I'll report you to the police. If that doesn't sway you then I'll admit you to my clinic and we can have a really fun time together." Mia had no expression on her face and her words were cold as ice. Chu could see her red eyes and tears=streaks cheeks and could see she was upset about something. What it had to do with the Li family baffled him.
"I-I don't think that's a good idea Mia those peo—"
"People are dangerous sadistic cowards who would rather hide in the shadows while other people get their hands dirty. If they want a war, then they've got one." Mia cut him off and basically took the words out of his mouth. Mia wasn't letting up, her despair soon churned into burning rage and she was ready to confront them.
"Take me to them and if you tell Aiden. I'll do more than threaten you. Do you understand?" Yai Chu couldn't win not against the legendary Joni so he opened the passenger door and gave in. Yai Chu had a sly plan in his mind but Mia wasn't stupid. As he reached for his cell phone Mia snatched it from his grasp and threw it in the backseat.
"Ghost calling him, how clever. Aiden doesn't need to be involved in this it has nothing to do with him." She said warning.
"Mia, I don't know what this is about but they're his parents. Would you care if—"
"If what? If Aiden challenged my parents, good joke Chu. Just drive there is nothing you can say to me, the rich will bottle tears from the poor to bathe. It's that simple, well now it's my turn." Chu could see Mia's clenched hands shaking in her lap. This wasn't the usual angry Joni he remembered, whatever the Li family had done elicited a much stronger response.
"You're a Doctor Mia, if you act rash you could lose your job."
"I don't care anymore, I've lost everything else. My father, my mother…that spoilt brat I gave my world for. Everything. Why should I be the sweet girl that puts everyone else first huh? While those with everything squander every last breath on selfish endeavors?" Chu pulled up to the wealthy estate trying to decipher Mia's words.
"Mia please don't do this Aiden will kill me." Chu feared only two people in this world. The first sat next to him in his Ford Mondeo and the other was Aiden Li. Known for his explosive temper if you tampered with the thing, he loved the most…her.
"You were forced to do this you're not at fault, also if Aiden in that concerned about me then tell him to face me head on. I expected him to grow up in these past five years, yet he sounds the same coward he always was." Mia threw her words in Chu's face with might before exiting the car. The minute she left he climbed into the backseat and phone Aiden watching Mia make her way up the Li mansion steps.
"Aiden, we have a really big problem, like really big." Chu was in a panic, if Mia really wanted to start a war, he knew what the Li family were capable of. She was smart, but they were rich. Could she really stand against them?
"Calm down, what are you talking about. Is it Sam?" Aiden was suddenly very worried thinking Sam was making a move on his girl.
"You have to get to your parents house right now!" he bellowed down the phone.
"What the f*ck are you doing there, you're supposed to be watching Mia."
"I am watching Mia! I don't know what's gotten into her, but she's pissed Aiden." Aiden felt the world suddenly go dark, this was his worst nightmare. If his parents did anything to Mia it was nuclear war.
"Jesus Christ I'm on my way." Aiden hung up and rushed from his office. Employees were baffled to see him run from the building like his life depended on it. Hopping into his Audi A8 he sped off to his parent's mansion.
--------------------------------------Li Mansion--------------------------------
Mia stood outside of the billion-pound home and felt her heart fill with hatred, she needed to know the truth. This whole time she'd believed her mother was deluded and her father died from complication referring to an injury he sustained in the armed forces. Mia knew when someone was lying and as much as she wanted to disregard her mother's confession, she could hear the pain in her voice and regret in her eyes. Rationality dissipated, Mia didn't care if this was her last bout of freedom, she needed to hear them say it.
Letting herself through the front door the house had barely changed. Aiden would sneak her in sometimes when his parents were away on business, she knew the layout well. As well as the wealth of each item, she would play guess the price with Aiden to annoy him when they dated. Mia felt her legs moving on their own as she walked up the spiral staircase hearing the television blaring from the second floor.
Unsparingly Mrs. Li was standing making breakfast in the kitchen, while Mr. Li was watching television just across from her. Mia stood in the doorway studying them for a while, watching as they lived their lavish lives benign to see the girl, they had broken standing less than ten feet away. Mrs. Li was humming away while she made pancakes in her fox skin robe until she turned around to fetch the eggs when she was stopped dead in her tracks. A high-pitched scream alerted Mr. Li who came running to his wife's aid.
"I-It's y-you." She stammered clearly in shock.
"Oh, so you know who I am, great that'll save me a lot of time." Mia said coldly with a blank expression on her face. She had never met Aiden's parents and was hidden away from them, for her own protection in Aiden's words.
"C-call the police…" Laura stuttered clutching onto her husband for dear life, but Mr. Li was in awe. Mia stared him deep in the eyes and immediately he knew why she had come. It was only a matter of time before the truth was set free.
"No, we're not calling the police." He said sternly. Mia smiled and sat down at the table unphased by their words.
"You wouldn't want to get the police involved would you Mr. Li. Publicity is the biggest killer of wealth after all." Laura also knew why she was here but was so shocked that she had the guts to face them head on was frozen.
"It's been a long time Mia."
"Don't say my name so easily, I'm saving that for when you use it to beg for forgiveness. I can tell by your eyes you know why I'm here. Should we skip the formalities' and head straight to the point." Mr Li couldn't even form a sentence, she wasn't crying or tearing them apart. She was frighteningly calm and collected, they were at her mercy.
"I'm guessing your mother told you. Did she tell you why?" Mr Li said sadly, Mia wasn't falling for the sympathy act.
"It doesn't matter why, I want to hear you say it."
"How dare you come into my house, spouting such nonsense." Laura spat her words spitefully. Mia couldn't help but smile.
"Individuals only get defensive about topics they know they're guilty of. I'll ask this once so listen carefully, what did you do to my father?" tears streamed down her face reminiscing her fond memories of the man who gave up everything for her.
"I have no idea what your talking about." Mr Li said conservatively.
"Perhaps your mothers' delusions are genetic." Laura was talking especially vicious, but Mia was waiting for her mouth to run faster than her brain.
"How would you know my mother was deluded if you know nothing about of what I speak. You seem to know a lot about my mother considering you have nothing to do with me." Mrs Li clammed up and Mr Li rubbed his brow in annoyance, she had let the cat out of the bag.
"Only the best for your son, right? Is that why you took my father's life, to warn me off? No, that would be too cruel for you to do with your own hands. Did your money do this because you're too cowardly to do it yourself?" Mr Li didn't know if she was deluded or just that smart. How did she know all of this?
"You seem awfully sure of yourself commoner girl, I could have you arrested for slander as well as breaking and entering." Mia laughed at his words, if he wasn't so consumed by pride he would crumble under the pressure.
"Then call them, I'd love to expose you both to a criminal court. Why would a clinical professional go out of her way to challenge Shanghai's richest family if not for good reason? You can't win Mr and Mrs Li, tell you what if you can both look me in the eyes and tell me you had nothing to do with my fathers' death. I will admit I'm wrong and hand myself over the police." This was a trap, Mia wanted them to make eye contact, so she could see for herself the guilt buried in them. It was her specialty she was practically a lie detector. Mr Li scoffed and averted his eyes, that's all Mia needed to confirm.
"That's what I thought. Fine, you won't say then how about I give you another proposition?" Mrs Li was unnerved to see and evil glint in her eyes.
"Would you rather confess your sins, or I call your son and tell him all about this. You wouldn't want your precious investment to resent you, forever would you?" it was a low blow but effective. Mr Li had underestimated this lower-class girl and now they were at her mercy. Mia had an IQ of 133 and excelled in human development skills, she was technically a genius. Mr Li had met his match.
"You have the nerve to threaten me? I could have you killed with the click of my fingers, how dare you threaten me you naive girl. Who would miss a lower-class mental health professional?"
"A lot of people, including your precious son. If you ever expect him to forgive you then you won't lay a hand on me." Mr Li was dumbfounded, if Mia knew about him becoming independent from them, she'd been spending time with him.
"You still have your claws in him I see. If it's for his own good, then I'll kill you right here." Mia began laughing once more, Mrs Li didn't have anything else to say than empty threats.
Mia, "More like he's latched on to me, that boy won't leave me alone."
"Pah, he's the Li official he could have any girl in the world. Your just an ant in the path of grasshoppers, know your place girl."
"Maybe you should know your place, power doesn't corrupt people Mr Li, people corrupt power. I have nothing too corrupt, or anything to lose. You on the other hand have everything to lose. You've just started a war, don't be so bitter when the poor girl wins." Mia smiled cunningly, and both Li's were lost for words. Just as Mia was about to leave Aiden sprinted up the stairs and walked into a kitchen so silent you could hear the air circulating. Mia's blue eyes locked onto his parents, to his surprise they both looked rather pitiful. It was clear Mia had won without fail.
"Son get a leash on your pets. We just might have to put her down." Laura said hatefully. Mia was still locking eyes with Mr Li and payed Aiden no attention.
"Pets have masters, not lovers. No-one owns means including your precious son, you were the ones who sent him away weren't you. No wonder he despises you, how cruel you would burden him like that. You say it was for his own good, but you used him like any other investment. You call yourselves parents, how pathetic." Aiden was also frozen on the spot, there she was the love of his life still defending him like she had all those years ago. Breaking his parents' pride, word by word.
"You sly--!"
"That's enough mother. We're leaving." Aiden grabbed Mia's arms and dragged her put of the kitchen. Mia snatched her arm away, but Aiden wasn't letting up. Taking her hand tightly he led her out of the Li mansion. Mia had never seen Aiden this angry ever in their time together and in truth she knew he had an explosive temper, one she even struggled with. Aiden opened to door to his Audi A8 and gestured she get in without looking at her at all. Mia suddenly felt like her life depended upon getting in that car. Reluctantly, she stepped in and he slammed the door behind her. Chu watched from the side-lines in apprehension watching the power couple leave the estate. Thunder on Aiden's face…
"Oh dear… anything but that face."