Qian Qian woke up with a splitting headache that felt as if there were a few people hammering in head. She rubbed her temples and tried to recollect what had happened but all she could feel was aches and pain. Just then the door opened and Aunt An walked in with a bowl of egg congee and some medicines. Placing it on the side table, she said," So finally you are awake! I came prepared to feed you in your half conscious state!"
Even though Aunt An was not very loud, Qian Qian felt as if she was screeching in her ear. She remembered that Aunt An had to go to her sister's place last night, she could not help but groan, "I am so sorry about this! You had planned to go to help your sister last night and then had to stay here because of me. Please forgive me."
Aunty An tsked and said," That was two days ago! You have been bed ridden for two days! I went to my sister and already came back after arranging a good care taker for her! Who would have thought that you would be half dead when I came back! It was good that Mr. Long was here and could handle Ella while you were unable to! Now, drink up this porridge and then freshen up. Maybe you will feel a bit more alive. Ella is gone out with Mr. Long and will be back soon."
Qian Qian sipped at the porridge listlessly. This was the first time she had fallen so severely ill and it had to be witnessed by that Matt Long. In the last few days, she had actually come to loath the bossy man who was always looking at her suspiciously as if she was hiding something from him! Of course she was but it was nothing that he needed to know! She had survived this long in this world on her own, She could survive longer!
After a lengthy bath, Qian Qian did feel rejuvenated as she brushed her teeth vigorously trying to erase the taste of sickness from her mouth! Maybe she had offended some Gods in the recent days or maybe it was Matt Long who had brought her a streak of bad luck. First she received the scare of Shawn having found her Ella, then they were in a car accident, then there was the threatening Mayor Oh then the goons and now she had fallen sick! She wondered what more could go wrong! Shaking her head, she decided that nothing more could go wrong now but could not have imagined that this was just the peak of the mountain she was about to face.
She walked out just as Matt and Ella entered. On seeing her mama, Ella let go of Matt's hand and rushed to embrace her mama almost causing Qian Qian to lost her balance from the impact. Laughing she hugged the little girl tightly and held on letting the warmth of this little body soothe her. She was then dragged to the couch where Ella regaled her with all the stories of what she had done these few days so as not to worry and fret over her mama. All through this she could feel that man's gaze on her, making her hair stand on end. Something was different in his gaze, however. Qian Qian could almost feel it. She was suddenly tempted to grab and Ella and run away from impending danger.
Shaking her head over her flight of fancy, Qian Qian finally interrupted and asked," And what did you do to study when mama was sick?" The chattering train came to a stop and immediately jumping up, Ella raced away from her mama shouting back," I will go and do my work right now mama!"
Qian Qian stared after her daughter who had run away leaving her alone with Matt Long. Qian Qian wondered if she could fake illness and excuse herself and go back to her room even though she had just assured her daughter that she was perfectly fine. Miraculously her headache also seemed to have disappeared! And so she knew that she could not get out of thanking that person...again
Yet before she could say anything, she heard then growl, "Miss Xue. We need to talk."
Ugh! She knew she should have excused herself. She was going to be subjected to questioning again. Just as she was about to snap at the man to stop poking his nose in their matters, he seemed to have read her reluctance. Instead of forcing her, he simply opened his cell phone, clicked on the link that he had recently frequented and placed it in front of her. With a frown, Qian Qian looked down at the phone and soon, her face lost the little color it had regained. Her head started to shake of its own accord as she tried to tell her self that she was probably having a nightmare due to her sickness and this could not be real.
But as she looked at the cold man who had shown her this, she knew..she just knew that this was reality..something much worse than a mere nightmare.