The following morning was colder than the previous night. The mist in the air made Hu Lei shiver like a leaf in the breeze. She was also a little anxious. She was not sure if Frank would deliver his promise to introduce her to the man who had supported the organisation.

Furthermore, she was apprehensive because she did not know how she would react when she met him.

She did not know if she should blame him for the things she had lost due to her captivity in the lab. And she had lost a lot of things due to her time in that lab. Countless things… Her father, her faith in humanity, her sanity, years with Ah-Feng…

But she was not the kind of person who kept every grievance and avenged it. Her attitude towards life often depended on her immediate feelings towards a situation. And she did not feel like she could place all the blame on the mysterious man for everything she suffered.

Granted, he was responsible for protecting the International Health Alliance. He prevented the discovery of their activities, concealed them from the law and even actively encouraged them to experiment on human beings.

If he had not hidden them, Ah-Feng would have found her sooner.

However, when she thought of her life before her father died, she could not say that everything bad had come from the IHA. Knowing Hu Ming, he would probably have fallen into trouble sooner or later, and she would have had to bail him out.

It was also likely he would have pulled her back into that lifestyle of travelling with him, chasing after the advances in medicine. He would have kept her to protect him, cutting her path to a normal life completely.

And since her father was willing to experiment on her when she was just a bunch of cells, he would have probably come around to conducting tests on her again, even without the International Health Alliance. She had seen his look of triumph as she had changed in that lab.

She felt disturbed by her thoughts as she was bundled up into the town car by Zhong Feng. She did not know how she would respond when faced with the person she should have blamed for the horrible things that happened to her.

"It is going to be alright." Zhong Feng said as the vehicle drove out of the villa, even though he did not know the reason for her low mood.

Hu Lei leaned on him. "Ah-Feng, should I hate that person who supported the organisation?"

The soft voice was unlike the authoritative and firm tone she had used the previous evening to command the men. She felt vulnerable and confused. She had tossed and turned through the night, unable to rest.

Zhong Feng placed an arm around her.

"You don't have to hate anyone. And you can hate anyone you want. Follow your heart's desire as you always have." He said gently.

"Will you think I am weak if I do not hate him?" Hu Lei asked after a short moment.

Zhong tightened the arm around her, pulling her even closer to himself.

"Don't be silly. You are stronger than anyone I know. And it is your strength that keeps your heart clear and steady. And it is that heart that loves me. I believe you will be at peace regardless of what you choose to do." Zhong Feng said.

In his heart, he already knew that Hu Lei would not hate that man.

She did not have a true capacity for hate, even though she was an assassin. If she could hate, she would have hated her father who had robbed her of a normal childhood. However, she built him a memorial once she calmed down and still cried for him.

If she could hate, she would have destroyed her mother, who rejected her, tried to use her and even treated her brother poorly for countless years. However, she had been kind enough to give her their childhood home.

She could have used a thousand ways to destroy Lu Liang and ensure she never showed her face in Supreme City again. But she chose to let her live on. Even though the two of them did not speak, Hu Lei did not hold a grudge.

And if she could hate, she would not get along with his parents and his sister who had made things difficult for her.

She could kill to protect her loved ones. And even then, she would mourn the deaths of her enemies because she believed even bad people had their reasons. After all, she also had her reason for killing them. Perhaps, that clarity of mind had allowed her to survive and recover after all of her ordeals.

He could not do the same.

He hated all those who had harmed even a strand of hair on Hu Lei's head. He could not forgive those who hurt his wife. His grudges ran deep, even spreading to his own family for disappointing his wife. To him, only Hu Lei was perfect and right.

"Thank you, Ah-Feng." Hu Lei felt her heart become a little lighter.

The town car stopped outside Sugar Ray Pancakes. Zhong Feng lowered the window and looked at the simple diner. He saw a man with an eyepatch eating a pile of pancakes as if he had been starved for a hundred years.

His eyes darkened. That was another person he hated deeply, but Hu Lei seemed to have moved on from the kidnapping and the fight on the ship. Although to be fair, Frank also seemed to have forgotten about Hu Lei poking out his eye.

Zhong Feng could not understand. He was taught from childhood that he needed to respond to insults, slights and injuries with force. If he did not deal with everything through a show of power, people would perceive him as weak.

But after meeting his wife, he understood there was a different world. A world where enemy and friend was divided by the immediate mission… He could not grasp the concept on a personal level. He felt like he was watching some kind of unusual play.

Frank felt the gaze and looked through the window. He waved at Zhong Feng with maple syrup around his mouth. Zhong Feng turned away from the unsightly appearance. He did not know where that man was taking them, but he wondered if he could survive the journey.

"Don't let him get on your nerves." Hu Lei giggled.

"It is hard not to." Zhong Feng said. "Don't be nice to him."

Hu Lei laughed. "If you want to keep him occupied, find a trivia and challenge him."

Zhong Feng looked at her. "How do you know that?"

"When he and his companions kidnapped me, I realised he is an 'actually' guy." She said.

"What is an 'actually' guy?"

"A pedantic person who always corrects people about minor things that do not matter in the conversation." Hu Lei said. "For example, if someone says 'that girl is as blind as a bat'. An 'actually' guy will say: actually, the simile is erroneous because bats are not blind."

Zhong Feng laughed as the door to the car opened.

"Will someone share the joke?" Frank asked as he plopped himself opposite them with a grin on his face.

"I was just wondering what kind of pancakes this diner has. Are they thick American pancakes or English crepes?" Hu Lei asked.

"Actually, the English pancake is not the same as the French crepe. They might look alike to the casual eye, but the details are different." Frank said.

Zhong Feng and Hu Lei started laughing.

"What are you laughing at? Do I still have syrup on my face?" Frank looked at himself with his phone.

"No. We are just happy to have the pancake issue cleared up." Hu Lei laughed. "You are very erudite."