Silence.

The only sound that could be heard in Mingshen's office was that of the ticking clock. The hands of the clock that propelled the time forward scared Wei.

He felt as if his sweet life with Lihua was close to ending. Time was approaching fast when Lihua would know everything one day. At that time, she wouldn't smile at him like usual. Instead, she would cry and curse him.

Wei covered his ears and tightly shut his eyes. He wanted the ticking sound to stop. It was irritating. It was threatening him with the impending danger that he might soon face. But even so, he could clearly hear the sound of time moving forward.

He gnashed his teeth as he grabbed the pen stand and threw it towards the clock in his office. The clock came crashing down with a loud thud that broke it apart.

Mingshen raised his brow and was unaffected by that broken clock. Wei inhaled and exhaled deep breaths to calm down. The ticking sound stopped, but the fear of losing Lihua still rushed in him in full swing. There was the silence that he wanted, but it failed to help him.

Mingshen smirked. "Breaking the clock isn't going to stop the time."

Wei said nothing. After a long silence, he whispered,

"Y-you know, Mingshen. She said that she hates the Mafia King. I have hurt people. I have killed people. She doesn't like the Mafia King at all. If she comes to know that the Mafia is me, she will start hating me, right? I am the man who lied to her. I am the man who has snatched her family from her. She is waiting for Song Jia to return. But she is never going to come back…"

Mingshen said nothing.

"So-so I don't understand. Why does she have to be Song Jia's sister? Why does she belong to the Song family?" He faintly laughed. "If she wasn't from the Song family, it would be so much easier. She will never ask about Song Jia again. She will never try to investigate her sister's disappearance. That means she would never l-leave my side, right?"

Wei got up and grabbed his shoulders. "Tell me Mingshen. I am right, right? If she wasn't from the Song family, she would never leave me."

His throat went dry as adrenaline crashed through him. His thoughts were tangled up in a huge mess. He couldn't differentiate between what was right and wrong anymore. The only scene that hammered his mind was of Lihua leaving forever. He could only see his figure going farther and farther away from him until she completely disappeared.

Mingshen propped his elbow on the wall and lazily leaned his cheek on his palm. "That is an ideal situation. That is not the reality though."

Wei's blank gaze met his eyes and he parted his lips. "Then I will make it a reality."

He chuckled. "And how does the Mafia King plan to do that?"

"Erase her memories, Mingshen. Make her forget everything. Her identity, her family - everything. S-she doesn't need to belong to the Song family. She can only be my woman and we can live happily."

Mingshen looked at him in surprise. He never thought that Wei could suggest something like this.

"Of course you are not serious, right?"

"I am. This is the only way. If she forgets about Song Jia, there would be no threat to us. She would never know anything about the truth. She would never question anything."

The more Wei thought about it, the more he got convinced.

"Taking her memories away is the only option. Mingshen, you can do it, right? You are a doctor. Do it. I will bring Lihua here and you-"

Mingshen coldly said, "Shut up!"

He froze.

He shook off his hand and dusted his coat. He snickered. "Stealing away memories, huh? Is that what the scaredy-cat Mafia King could think of?"

"Then what should I do!?" He loudly yelled as he kicked away the chair. This was the first time that he had raised his pitch so high.

Mingshen took a threatening step towards him. "This is MY office. Break one more thing and I will break you."

Wei ignored his icy threat and said, "Mingshen. Take away Lihua's memories, okay? I-I will pay you how much ever you want. Just make her forget Song Jia. I cannot afford to lose her. It's scary, Mingshen. A world where Lihua is not a part of my life scares me. She will leave me and t-then what if she finds another man? I cannot see that. It should be only me. Only Jiang Wei. Help me Mingshen. You must know about it, right? You are the best doctor."

Mingshen quietly sat on his chair and stared at him. He thought for a long time before he said, "It's impossible to just make her forget about Song Jia or the Song family. Memories don't work like that. We forget about a specific individual only when their presence in our life is traumatizing. For example, if a child suffers abuse, he may unconsciously block his memories about his parents. Or if a woman is assaulted, she will try to forget about that man. But Song Lihua? She doesn't hate her sister. There are no traumatizing feelings associated with her. But even if there are some bad memories and people try to forget them, the memories never go. The brain is a complex organ in our body. It doesn't erase memories altogether. We can only suppress it."

Wei's gaze brightened. "Suppress is also fine! I don't care what or how you do to achieve that. Just take them away."

He chuckled. "Didn't you hear me? I cannot take away only Song Jia's memories specifically. If she has to forget it, she would have to forget everything. And by everything, I mean everything. Her name, her identity, her friends and even you."

Wei froze.

"W-what?"

"Yes. Lihua will forget Song Jia. I can help you with that. But it would be at the cost of forgetting everything. She wouldn't remember you or anything about herself. So, tell me, Mafia King. Are you ready to sacrifice her memories of yours as well?"