Vesna took off Ziyan's glasses and put them on the nightstand next to the bed before adjusting the blanket over him. She had a soft look on her face as she stared at his peaceful expression. He had only drunk a couple of glass of wine and had already passed out which was quite surprising knowing he was used to be a business mogul and would often attend events where he was needed to drink.
"Cute," she murmured before turning around and leaving the bedroom.
The moment the door closed, Ziyan's eyes opened and he stared at the closed door. There was a sharp, almost predatory look on his face but then his lips twitched before they curved into a smile.
"Out of all the compliments, you called me cute?" he mused, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
He then opened the drawer of the nightstand and picked up his spare phone since his personal phone was left in the living room. He unlocked the phone and dialed a number.
"Boss," The phone was answered after the first ring.
"Did you find out who were the people chasing us?" Ziyan asked.
"We were able to catch one of the cars while the others escaped. From what we gathered, they were members of a small local gang and were paid to harm young Madam Luo." the person on the other end answered.
"Who paid them?" Ziyan questioned.
"They didn't know as they never met the person,"
"But you still found out, didn't you?" Ziyan asked with a knowing look.
"Following the money trail, it all led back to the main villa in the capital city," the man replied.
Ziyan sighed. He already had his hunch about this. It was always someone from the main family villa that was trying to harm him. But even after so many years, he was not able to find out. That person was good at hiding his trail, too good that even his most skilled people were not able to trace him.
"I want you to bring your best of best men to protect Vesna," Ziyan told him.
"But from what I have seen, young Madam Luo might not need protection," the person answered.
"I can't take chances," Ziyan told him. "Bring you men here tomorrow. I'll let her choose the person herself."
"Yes boss," the person replied and the call ended.
Ziyan put the phone back in the drawer and laid back on the bed. He stared blankly at the ceiling as he thought back to the events of the past week. The room was dark, but the darkness didn't bother him—he had grown accustomed to it. He couldn't help but think of Vesna. She had laid such an elaborate trap to get married into the Luo family not realizing she had walked straight into her own grave.
The name of the Luo family might be a synonym for power but it also meant death. There were power-hungry vultures in his family who would do anything to get what they wanted. If they did not care about their own blood, they would certainly not care about those outside the family. He was a living breathing example of that.
He closed his eyes and placed the back of his hand on them.
It hurt knowing that you could not trust your own blood. It hurt more than it did when he was on the verge of dying. It hurt more than when the doctor told him he had been in a coma for a year and was almost declared brain dead. It hurt more than when he was told he had a severe head injury and could no longer see like normal people.
It fucking hurt!
It fuking hurt to realize that the people who were supposed to protect you were out there trying to kill you!
Ziyan's hand tightened into a fist as he lay there, his mind replaying the events that had led him to this moment. t was supposed to be a routine inspection, only to end up getting locked inside the industrial freezer. That day, two of his men died, while he fell into a coma. When he had finally awoken, a year had passed, and the world had moved on without him. He had been declared brain-dead, his empire parceled out among vultures disguised as family members. And worst of all, he had been left blind. But what the world didn't know, what no one else knew, was that his blindness wasn't complete. He could still see, but only in the darkness. The bright light of day was blinding to him, reducing everything to a painful blur, but in the shadows, in the absence of light, he could see clearly.
His mind drifted back to the question Vesna had asked him.
"Do you want to regain the power you once had, or are you going to spend the rest of your life as a useless blind man?"
No, he didn't want that power—the kind that had made him a target, the kind that had cost him everything. It had brought nothing but pain and betrayal.
he wanted more. Much more.
He wanted control. Total, unquestionable control.
His mind turned to Vesna. She was clever, far more capable than she let on. She had come seeking power through marriage, not realizing the true nature of the game she had entered. But perhaps, just perhaps, she could be molded into something more - a queen to stand beside him as he built his empire anew.