She rebutted his statement with her usual candour, "I don't believe for a second also that YOU have no inside information on this saga. Even if I believe your claim that brother Tang hasn't confided into you, I am not ready to accept that he hasn't mentioned anything to brother Chung as well. And if he has, brother Chung would have definitely come back and told you about it. Everything said and done, you are the cleverest out of them all."
Li Jie laughed at the blatant use of flattery by Tang's kid sister, "you do know that I have seen you grow up and all the manoeuvres you are trying on me, have been taught to you by one of us only."
Ethan guffawed and immediately tried to cover it with a cough.
Shooting him a pointed look, she continued, "you may say whatever but I am not going to give up. If you are not going to say anything, I shall go to Jia Li. At least she wouldn't lie to me."
Li Jie held her arm tightly preventing her from walking away.
"I don't want you going anywhere near her regarding anything related to Tang. I need you to promise me that," he said intensely.
Ethan, who had been quietly watching the banter till now, stepped in with a raised eyebrow at Li Jie's changed bearing.
He released Chu's arm but motioned them both to follow him outside the house.
He took a deep breath and addressed her, "what I am about to tell you is known only to a handful people. Even Chung doesn't know the whole truth. I need you to promise me that you are not going to mention this to anyone."
She squinted her eyes against the glaring sun and gave him a nod.
"Jia Li is getting a divorce from her husband and is going through a turbulent time, as we speak."
After a moment of stunned silence, Chu murmured, "why? What happened? Is she ok? Oh my God, does brother Tang know about this?"
Ethan held her and tried to calm her down.
"Jia Li discovered Cheng Fu's infidelity much early on in the marriage. Initially, she tried to play it down calling it his 'harmless flirtatious' nature. Later she tried to justify his actions by believing that something was wrong with her. She thought that she had been unsuccessful in giving the marriage her 100% because a big chunk of her heart still belonged to Tang and as a result Fu felt cheated. The back of their marriage finally broke when Fu walked up to her one day and told her that he had finally found a girl whom he loved and who loved him back. I believe that made Jia Li confront the truth. She finally had to face the sham that her marriage had turned into or had been from the beginning. Let me tell you, till such point, she hadn't breathed a word about any of this to a single soul," he paused to gather his thoughts.
"In fact, I am the only one apart from a couple of her work colleagues, who is aware of this till date. Do you know what is the most perplexing bit in all this? She continues to be good friends with him even today genuinely. Her guilt of not being the perfect partner to him has caused havoc with her self-worth and confidence," he finished with moist eyes.
Ethan was the first one to break the silence, "but don't you see, this is the perfect opportunity for two heartbroken people to come together?"