Blood is thicker than water.

Was a lie.

That wasn't really the real quotes. It was probably something that was created by someone who wanted to curry favor to their relatives. Or at least that's what Bella thought. The saying, Blood is thicker than water is actually not the original quote.

The geniune quote says: The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the w.o.m.b. It means some relationsh.i.p.s that had been cultivated are more important than genetics. It means that some bonds are more important than the ones that were created by bloodlines.

Of course, this is very applicable in Bella's situation.

Bella's eyes were glued to the television that she didn't notice Mo Li who sat next to her.

"Satisfied?" His honeyed voice startled her.

"Ah?"

"What were you thinking?" he asked.

"Well… I was thinking about the current news." It was actually some scandals about the Mayor's family. Lately, a case was filed against the mayor's wife. And the person who was leading the case was none other than Gabriel Ting. It was a huge scandal and some old problems about the mayor's family had been unearthed by really devious reporters. "I am expecting some calls from the media soon." She sighed.

"Don't worry too much. I will be with you all the time." His assurance made her smile.

"I know," she smiled. "The news that I gave Gabriel about Daniel is — " She didn't continue her words. Tomorrow will be Daniel and Sarah's wedding and Gabriel is still not giving the media any of the juicy news that she gave him. She couldn't help but wonder what was the man thinking. Is he really going to just give up Sarah like that?

"But if you think about it, the scandal suddenly happened just before her wedding. I think it's suspicious, no?"

She shrugged in response. He is right. This scandal should be something related to the wedding. But she couldn't understand why Gabriel did it. Was it to create chaos inside the Qin Family? In her mind, this scandal is actually a double-aged sword. It could make the Qin Family dependent on Daniel Rogers' family. This would be bad news for Gabriel.

Unless of course, he was planning to make Sarah abandon her family.

That is possible too.

"Stop thinking too much about it. Just relax… Have you prepared everything?"

"Yeah, I don't have many clothes anyway." Mo Li was talking about their upcoming trip that had been delayed because of Sarah's wedding.

"Alright… you should stop watching the news like this. Especially during the night. The world is cruel and brute. It will give you nightmares."

She laughed at that. She found those words familiar. She didn't know where she heard it before. "Go ahead and sleep. I will finish the news." She eyed the TV and was surprised to see some familiar faces on the news. Amy Sy, the woman from the university is actually being interviewed. She was trying to avoid the reporters but some of them were really aggressive, surrounding her and asking her questions about her father and Mayor Qin. In the end, Bella turned off the TV. She was hoping to see Gabriel reveal some juicy news tonight, to stop the wedding.

Ah, maybe she still needed to wait a bit more.

….

The atmosphere inside Mayor Qin's study was suffocating, to say the least. The smell of tobacco filled the room. The sound of the mayor's finger drumming against his wooden table echoed.

"Mayor… Miss Sarah just called. She wanted to know what time are you going to— "

"Tell her, I'll be there!" Mayor Qin uttered. "Can you stop pacing?" he hissed at his own wife. You are making me dizzy!"

"Husband… I really didn't do it. How could I accept bribes and— "

"Shut up!" the Mayor barked. "I don't want to hear anything from you right now! Steve, what about the media? Were you able to answer their questions?"

"Yes, sir. But… But they insisted on hearing the explanation from you. The evidence… The evidence this time was too convincing. It was both audio and video. Denying it is pretty hard. Moreover, at least five thousand people were able to download it on the Internet before we were able to delete the evidence. There were also more than twenty thousand shares so… so everyone is currently thinking that it's true."

"Husband… this… I really didn't do it. How could I—" Annabelle Wu sat on the couch, defeat visible on her wrinkled face. Since Mayor Qin become the mayor, this was the first time she encountered a scandal like this. Her body trembled when she thought about the vicious questions of the reporters that blocked her way just after she had her hair done earlier. It was frightening. It was something that she would never forget until she dies. "I am worried about the wedding tomorrow. I am worried about Sarah." She blurted. Actually, the only thing that she was thinking about right now was her daughter's wedding.

This wedding is very high profile. Celebrities and politicians were invited to attend the wedding. They even invited international CEOs that is very well known in the business circle. With the news erupting just a day before the wedding… She really couldn't think about the consequences that they would face tomorrow!

She couldn't accept it!

She couldn't accept the embarrassment.

She could already imagine the mockery from her friends that will attend her daughter's wedding.

She couldn't stand it.

"I am not going to attend Sarah's wedding." It pains her to say this. However, she no longer has any other option. "I can't do it." The evidence against her was too strong. How could she show her face in front of everyone after everything that happened?

"Are you crazy?" Mayor Qin asked. "Not attending would only show that you are guilty! How could you miss such an important event in your daughter's life?"

"But… But those people will only laugh at me! They will surely…" she used her trembling hands to cover her face. "No matter what you say, I will not show my face tomorrow!"