After Veronica Vang disappeared from sight, her butt exposed to the full disdainful view of the public, everyone turned to stare at Riley Rong, as if they had only just realized he was there.
"What are you doing here?" Lily Ling asked, bewildered. Riley Rong stared at her seriously.
"I am Riley Rong. What is your request?"
"Eh? What request?" Lily stared at him blankly. She turned to me for help, but I shook my head and shrugged, not understanding what was going on either. She clutched her head, perspiring profusely. "Strange. This cold guy is obviously speaking in Chinese, but somehow I don't understand a single word that he is saying!"
"Sorry about this!" Richard Rong, for some reason, chose to pop up at that moment. He grinned and raised a finger. "What my brother means is that he'll grant you any request as thanks because you saved little Roland."
"…uh…" Lily glanced at me. "But I wasn't the one who saved Roland. It was Trevor who…"
"I don't care about him," Riley Rong interrupted her. "I said you are the one who saved Roland, therefore you are the one who saved him. No one else."
So Riley Rong was the kind of guy who believed in alternative facts. Even though some people might despair at his complete lack of common sense, unfortunately I had seen plenty of people disregard logic in reality. Especially politicians. I still remembered the denial of climate change about a century ago by oil tycoons, who defied reality and insisted on their distorted statistics and fake "facts" just so they could maintain their monopoly on fossil fuels and continue to earn big money.
It might be counterintuitive, but sadly enough, it happened far too often in reality.
Fortunately, Lily decided not to argue against that. She raised both of her hands and shook them.
"No, no. You don't have to thank us at all. In the first place, Trevor was the one who saved Roland, no matter how much you deny it. Also, we were only doing the right thing…doing what anyone else would have done in our position."
Except that most people wouldn't be carrying a plasma pistol and shooting at the kidnappers like I did. They would probably just call the police.
However, despite Lily's words, Riley Rong continued to glare at her. She gulped and shrank back, using me as a shield as she broke out in cold sweat.
"I didn't say anything wrong, did I?"
"No, you didn't," I assured her.
"Then why is he wearing such a scary expression? What exactly is this situation?"
Unfortunately, I had no idea. I was just as confused as she was, and more than a little irritated. This bastard came here with his alternative facts and was harassing my fiancée for no reason. I wanted to shoot him, but obviously I couldn't just commit murder in broad daylight. Sparks flew as I met his glare, both of us refusing to back down.
"Hey, bro…" Richard Roland raised a hand, also looking uncomfortable. "You're acting really scary now. Instead of looking grateful, you look as if you want to take revenge."
He sighed and turned to Lily, unable to hide his exasperation. "Sorry, Ms. Ling. I think it's best if you just tell us what you need. My brother doesn't like owing favors."
Lily looked like she was in despair, and I could tell she was thinking something along the lines of, "is that how this works?"
Instead, she shook her head, flustered. "But I don't have any requests! I really don't need anything! I didn't even do anything to help! You can check if you don't believe me!"
"I won't allow it," Riley Rong said firmly. Both Lily and Richard Rong turned to stare at him fearfully and uncomfortably. Lily then glanced at Richard Rong for help, so that he could interpret his brother's words for her.
"What the hell is he saying?!" At least that was what her look meant. "What is he saying? Help me!"
"Uh…" Richard Rong hesitated for a moment, and then he sighed. "We already saw the footage that was filmed by the studio. It was definitely Mr. Shen…ahem, I mean you who saved Roland. Therefore you must ask a favor from my brother in return."
"Isn't this unfair? I mean, Trevor was the one…"
"I said you're the one, so it means you're the one. Nobody else." Riley Rong was really good at rewriting reality. Except that his words didn't change the fact that I saved his son. What a bastard.
"Well…Ms. Ling is Mr. Shen's fiancée, right?" Richard Rong forced out an uncomfortable chuckle. "Just think of it as you giving your reward away to the woman you love. Don't be petty, yeah? It's every man's duty to pamper his woman, after all."
What kind of stupid logic was that? Admittedly, I couldn't care less about asking Riley Rong for favors. I didn't need him to do anything for me.
Lily sighed and shook her head. I could tell what she was thinking. Who the hell forced another person to ask for favors? But she didn't seem to have a choice.
"Well…maybe…" she thought hard for a few moments before she sighed. "How about you guys just pay me a bit of cash?"
There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Riley Rong glared at her. Lily began to panic.
"Huh? Uh…was that not okay?"
She then quickly turned to Richard Rong for help, and he scratched his head before sighing wearily. "My brother believes that giving money is an insulting act."
What the fuck?! First this fool forced Lily to request something from him, and now when she asked for a monetary reward, he deemed it an insult? What was his deal? Then what the fuck did he want?!
A few moments later, I regretted asking that question. Riley Rong came forward, staring seriously at Lily. Then he opened his mouth and uttered a couple of words.
"Marry me."
Lily looked as if she had turned into stone. She slowly turned to Richard Rong, demanding an explanation.
"Second Master, what did he mean?"
"Uh…I don't know?" Richard Rong gulped and turned to Riley Rong. "Bro, what did you mean?"
Riley Rong merely glared at him silently. Richard Rong sighed and shook his head before turning back to Lily. "No good. I can't make any sense out of him. Why don't you try asking?"
Lily covered her face with her palm before mustering her courage. "Don't tell me you plan on proposing to me just to pay me back for saving your child?"
"You could say that."
Lily almost fell onto her knees, and I helped her up. She gritted her teeth, but turned to glare at Riley Rong seriously. "I'm sorry, but I can't marry you. Even if you promise to devote your life to me, I will have to refuse."
"Why?" Riley Rong asked coldly.
"Really? Yeah, why?" Richard Rong joined in enthusiastically. "He's a world-class, top-tier husband! He's so handsome that most girls fall for him at first sight! He's also the richest man in the world! The most eligible bachelor in Hua Xia!"
"So what?" Lily placed her hands on her hips. "You do know I already have a fiancé, right? What are you playing at, proposing to me in front of him? Are you ignoring his existence? Don't you know that insulting and embarrassing him is the same as embarrassing me? And you want me to ask a favor from you?"
"Just break up your engagement with him and marry me instead," Riley Rong replied flatly. "I don't care if you're married. If you're already legally married, then file for divorce and marry me after that."
Was this guy…insane?
"You are going too far." Lily took my hand and pulled me away. "We'll be excusing ourselves now. Until you learn to conduct yourself properly, you should avoid talking to us."
"Did I give you permission to leave?" Riley Rong asked. I glared at him.
"We don't need your permission to do anything. On the other hand, I never gave you permission to talk to my fiancée, yet you're selfishly imposing your one-sided demands upon her. I've never seen anyone so shameless."
How did someone like him become a CEO? He was behaving like a spoilt brat…like a five-year-old child in an adult's body. He would find it difficult to broker deals with clients like this, especially since he was the type to offend them with his rude arrogance.
Shaking my head, I allowed Lily to lead me away from the scene of carnage.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it.
That night, Lily decided to stay over in my house and celebrate the finishing of today's filming with hotpot.
"I'm looking forward to this hotpot!" She exclaimed happily, carrying a plate of raw meat and placing it next to the pot of boiling water. "Do you want kimchi soup base?"
"Uh…you do know I can't eat spicy food, right?" I swallowed, looking a little uncomfortable. When I saw her face fall, I shook my head. "Just a little. Please don't put too much or my stomach can't take it."
"Yay! I love you!" Lily added a bit of kimchi soup base to the water, and we watched it turn slightly red. She began humming as she began putting sliced meat into it. I prepared some seafood and tossed them into the boiling soup as well. It took only moments for the food to be ready and we enjoyed it, using chopsticks to grab the meat or seafood and chewed on it. Lily beamed. "It feels great enjoying hotpot with somebody!"
Then I heard the doorbell. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I turned toward the door in surprise. Sighing, I rose to my feet. "Coming!"
"Who could be visiting at this time?" Lily asked curiously, joining me. I shrugged…only to have my jaw drop in shock when I saw who was outside the door.
"Huh? What are you doing here?" Lily asked when she also saw the visitors. Riley Rong was carrying Roland, who was holding up a basket of fruits, and they were standing outside the door.
"To check on you," Riley Rong told Lily, completely ignoring me.
"To check on me?" Lily repeated incredulously. "You even brought your child along, at such a late hour…just to check on me?"
"Do you mind?" Riley Rong asked.
"Of course I do mind," I snapped irritably.
"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Riley Rong asked. "What kind of hospitality is this?"
"Now look here," I snapped, my anger increasing. "You are in no position to talk about hospitality. What kind of person shows up unannounced? If you want to visit, it's basic courtesy to inform the host in advance. Don't you know how rude it is to just drop in on people out of the blue like this? And you dare lecture us on hospitality?"
"I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to Lily Ling."
"Um…I'm afraid that this house actually belongs to Trevor. So he has the right to refuse you two entry and there's absolutely nothing I can do." Lily forced a smile, her patience fraying at the edges. "So it's best if the two of you just go back for the day."