"Wei Wei," Yuan called out absentmindedly. The men around him looked at him and the woman in front of him in confusion, but none of them understood what was going on. Wei Wei looked up at the handsome, strange man in confusion.
How did he know her name? She thought.
"Excuse me, sir, do you need something?" She asked. She didn't want to believe that she knew him. Working at this club had been the reason she broke up with her fiancé, Jian. He had despised the fact that she was so close to dangerous and wealthy men who could take her away from him.
Things got difficult for Wei Wei when her mother needed an important surgery, and she couldn't come up with the money. Jian had tried his best, but his income wasn't even enough for his upkeep, so Wei Wei had taken the easiest way out.
She had spent the night with one of the men in the club who frequently requested her attention, but she had always turned him down. She regretted her decision, but she didn't have a choice, and he had given her more than she asked for.
After the surgery, she wanted to leave the job, but it wouldn't be easy finding another that paid this well, especially with her low academic qualifications.
"Sorry... Did you say something?" Yuan asked, confused about the memories that had flashed before him. He had mentioned a name, but he didn't know who it belonged to or why he felt like the woman in front of him was so familiar.
"Do I know you?" Yuan asked her, and she shook her head with a tight smile.
"You must have seen me here before, sir. I have been working here for the past few years." She filled the other glasses and walked out of the room without another word.
"Is there something wrong, Yuan? You've been acting strange," Cheng Li asked, and Yuan shook his head, and they continued the meeting. He managed to stay focused until they had concluded everything and he was now in the back of his car, and Xiangu was driving them home.
"Did you recognize the woman back there?" He asked Xiangu.
"Like she said, boss, she works there, so that must be the reason you feel that way." Yuan didn't want to ask more questions, so he remained quiet until Xiangu pulled up in front of a house that wasn't the house Xiao Mei told him was his.
"What are we doing here?" Jian asked, looking out the window at the fairly large house.
"It's Xiao Mei's house, you have lunch with her family today," Xiangu replied casually. Yuan shot him a look; how come nobody had told him about this, he thought.
"And you didn't think to tell me earlier." Yuan sounded so much like his former self that Xiangu turned around in shock to stare at the man in the back seat. But he sighed in disappointment. He would recognize his boss even if he had a twin by just staring into his eyes, and the man at the back of the car definitely isn't his boss.
"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you out of it. The family has been expecting you to say something about the wedding since you are now awake."
First, it was the meeting with the hungry wolves; now he wondered what his supposed fiancée's parents would be like. Xiangu paid him no attention as he stepped down and walked around to open the car door for him.
He sighed and stepped down. He walked through the gates and up the stairs to the door; he didn't have to ring the doorbell because a slender woman who looked just like Xiao Mei pushed open the door and welcomed him in with a smile.
Her hair was jet-black and just as lengthy as Xiao Mei's; they looked like twins, Yuan thought as he followed her inside the house. Xiangu followed closely behind.
"I have invited all my friends; it would be the wedding of the year." She bubbled with pride anytime she talked about the wedding. "My Xiao Mei would look very stunning in her wedding dress." She paused and turned around to look at him with wide eyes, "I specifically ordered the dress for her; it's the work of the best designer in the world. I won't mention her name until the wedding day."
Just as they walked over to the large dining table, Xiao Mei stepped out, and Yuan's eyes were immediately pulled to her lips. Her bright red lipstick stood out from her skin, yet it complemented it beautifully.
"Please have a seat." Her father offered with a tight smile; he was already seated at the table. Yuan thought it would be best he paid the old man some respects, so he walked over to him to say hello, but he felt the man's expression stiffen, and his forced smile dropped.
"Please take your seat." He said through clenched teeth. Yuan was beginning to wonder if the man liked him or not.
The table was awfully quiet as they ate. The chef had done a good job with the lobster; Yuan ate to his satisfaction and then settled down with his glass of champagne. Xiao Mei's father didn't look comfortable at all; he looked pale as if he was suffocating and would frequently glance in Yuan's direction. When Yuan returned the glance with a smile, the old man would look away, frightened.
"We are here regarding this!" Xiangu spoke up behind Yuan. He had been patiently waiting for this moment and couldn't wait to make the old man squirm more uncomfortably in his seat. They all knew the truth about Xiao Mei except Yuan.
Xiangu slammed a copy of a magazine on the table beside Yuan's plate. Yuan glanced at it, and his eyes quickly read the headlines. Xiao Mei's name written in bold letters was unmistakable:
"Zhi Yuan's bride allegedly pregnant." Yuan's eyes shot up to meet Xiao Mei; he found her staring at him, her usually stern appearance now looked frightened. Yuan looked around at the faces in the room, shocked, confused, and worried.
Something was definitely up about the whole thing, and his mind was still fixed on the accident. At that moment, an idea popped into his head.
"Mr. Yuan, we promise to fix this before it causes any damage to your image. It's just a matter of..." Xiao Mei's father began to plead, but Xiangu cut him off rudely. Her mother remained rooted in her spot, picking at her food, undisturbed by the sudden change in atmosphere.
"How dare you try to taint his image; this is unacceptable and it must be..."
"The baby is mine." Yuan said firmly, and the whole room went silent. Everyone turned in his direction, Xiao Mei's mother finally looked up from her dish.
"Boss..." Xiangu began, but Yuan cut him off with a wave of his hand. He stood up and took his leave. Xiangu couldn't argue; he simply followed his boss's orders, even though he wasn't comfortable with it because the real Yuan would have never done that.
Xiao Mei ran after him, "why did you do that?" She called after him, just as he was about to step out of the door. He paused but didn't turn around.
"Because I need you to be indebted to me." With that, he walked out.