"I am hungry too...", the girl pouted, her voice mellow, "Can we order?"

"No need for that.", Xi Yuan pecked the girl on her forehead, as he helped her sit on the couch and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, "I'll get something for you."

The man then turned around and nodded a shade at his butler, gesturing the old man to move the bodies away from the living room. Naturally, this wasn't the first time the CEO of Xi Corporations had been attacked. The staff was well-aware of the risks of their jobs when they'd signed up to serve the Young Master of the Xi Family. It was an honor, in fact. So this time too, they couldn't care less about the bloodbath that'd happened there, tonight.

"Little Xinghe!", Li Jungah waited for the man to walk away before she grabbed a seat beside the girl, as she held onto her right hand worriedly. Her arm was bleeding, and the injury looked severe. "My God! Why didn't you tell Yuan about this?"

"It's no big deal, Mom.", the girl laughed softly, "I didn't want to trouble him."

"What nonsense?!", the woman glared at the girl, "How could taking care of his to-be-wife, be any trouble to that douche?

"Did he say that to you? He must've said something like that. That insensitive boy. Let him come! I will beat him to a pulp, like how you did to these men, just now."

The girl could only hold onto the woman's hand assuringly, as a laugh slipped her mouth, "He didn't. He loves me too much to do so."

"That's better then.", Li Jungah smiled back, "Anyway, let me get the first-aid box from Yuan's room."

"Ok.", Rong Xinghe nodded. Only when the woman had walked away did she turn to address her darling's staff, "Retrieve the phones and IDs from their clothes, or bags, and put them over here on the table.", she commanded, "Do we understand each other, gentlemen?"

"Understood, Madam.", the old butler bowed down courteously.

_____________

3:30 a.m., Elite Saphire Penthouse ;

"It's hot. Be careful, or else, you might end up scorching your tongue.", Xi Yuan smiled, as he looked at the girl cramming her mouth with the Mongolian meatballs. "This is so delicious!", the girl babbled, "Anyhow, what were you saying earlier? Sorry I didn't get you."

"I asked about your opinions regarding my Uncle, Xinghe.", the man repeated himself, calmly, "What do you think of him?" Now that Li Jungah had left for the Old Xi Mansion, the man could finally have a word with his Xinghe about the matter that'd been bothering him the most.

"I don't think it's appropriate for me to say anything, Yuan.", the girl answered after some careful thought, "I love you. But I don't know anything about your parents, or Fang's. So far, I really like your Mom. She is so warm. Even your father. He is aloof but considerate. But your Uncle and Aunt, I don't think I know them that well to form opinions about them, no?"

"Your choice of people is always based on your instincts, Love.", the man shook his head, "And I trust your judgment more than anyone. Just tell me what you think I should do? I could really use some advice right now, and that has to be unbiased and just. You are my most sincere and honest confidant and advisor. So cut the formalities and help me out here. Alright?"

A smile crept across the girl's lips as she listened to his words laced in his entrancing deep voice. There were thousands of reasons why she loved him. But this maturity of his was what she'd always admired the most. He made her feel like she was... family. And that her opinions, her views, they mattered. That she was needed, and that she was as important as he was. Such a pure soul her Yuan was...

"What?", Xi Yuan lifted the girl's chin up with his index finger, as she had her eyes fixed upon the bowl on her lap, "Did you even listen to me?"

Nodding at the man, the girl quickly pushed back her thoughts. Right. Priorities, Xinghe!

"Well, talking to him won't do you any harm, would it?", the girl asked after some time, "I understand that this is a sensitive issue for you, baby, but don't you need closure? Don't you want to know exactly what happened back then? Doesn't 'not knowing' scare you? What if... we are blaming the wrong person? And what if the real perpetrator is still alive, killing someone else, ruining someone else's life? All these questions have one answer, Yuan. Your Uncle, Xi Chonglin."

"But...", the man clenched his fists, as he placed his head against the girl's shoulder, "I won't be able to pull this off by myself. I don't think I can. Those memories, they terrify me."

"Do you want me to come with you?", the girl raised her brows as her frisky laugh resounded through the living room, "Won't the Xi family elders think of me as an outsider? We are yet to marry, President Xi."

"They wouldn't dare.", the man promised, his tone filled with authority, "They might be my family, but you... you are so much more. You are my heart, Baby."

"Hmm.", Rong Xinghe smiled, "Okay then. I will be there. After all, you did help me get closure from Zhou Che too. I guess we will stay together for the years to come, from now onwards. In sickness, and in health, huh?"

"In sickness, and in health, indeed.", the man laughed, and in a moment, pressed his lips against hers, "By the way, your Sisters-in-law ganged up on me in the hospital today.", he informed, his fingers circling around the girl's small of the back, beneath her mustard yellow crop top, against her bare skin, "Never thought any woman, other than you, could intimidate me. Turns out... I was wrong."

"Whoa! They bullied you? Why?", the girl giggled, "What happened?"

"They want to see our babies. A little Xinghe or a little Yuan is what they've specifically ordered.", the man smirked, his eyes turning a few shades darker, "We've got to stop letting our work disturb our intimate sessions, don't you think?"

"..."