It was wishful thinking on Ji Syaoran's part if he really thought that he'd be able to lie to Ru. Her intimidating eyes were enough to make him succumb before her.
"Aiyo! Stop staring. I'll tell you." Ji Syaoran darted his eyes around to see if anyone was around and whispered, "Bro doesn't have a migraine history. I promise he doesn't. But..."
"Keep going," drawled Ru.
"It's a secret but bro doesn't remember much of his childhood. His memories are distorted," sighed Ji Syaoran. Seeing Ru's perplexed face, he added, "It's not that we never tried reminding him. It's just that... He'd almost died with a brain stroke. The doctors said we shouldn't force him to remember anything. Our family is in a mess for years just to keep him alive."
Ru was stunned for a minute. Memory distortion? Almost died?
"How much did he forget?" Ru asked curiously.
"Enough to draw a line between himself and his family." Ji Syaoran replied with a heavy heart.
"So, the Ji Family's biggest skeleton in the closet is that they are hiding the truths just to keep their son alive," Ru mumbled to herself.
"Please, don't tell him anything. Today, grandmother just mentioned something from his past and see, he is again in a hospital. He rarely gets sick but when he does, it always has something to do with his headaches that mysteriously starts. But today is the first time, he actually remembered something." Ji Syaoran spoke patiently with a helpless look on his face.
Ru looked at his face for a long time with a scrutinizing gaze. She lifted her hand and Ji Syaoran instinctively took a step away. Ru shook her head at him and tousled his hair saying, "You're a good brother, Syaoran."
Ji Syaoran was surprised by her action. He really thought she was going to hit him again. Thankfully, she didn't. Phew!
"Won't you call me the best brother?" Ji Syaoran fished for some more compliment.
"Nope." Ru refused to do so straightforwardly.
"Why is that?" Ji Syaoran pouted adorably.
"Because for this young master, only my little brother is the best," Ru answered, in all honesty, making Ji Syaoran speechless.
Right around the corner, someone was standing. With her words, a beautiful smile bloomed on his lips as he shook his head.
Ru felt weird as she started looking around. She ran towards the corner but found no one.
"What's wrong?" asked Ji Syaoran seeing her flustered state.
"I-I thought someone was looking at me," Ru said softly as her eyes kept roaming around in confusion or anticipation.
"You're being paranoid." Ji Syaoran was certain since he didn't feel anything. But he was forgetting that there was a vast difference in Ru and himself.
"Who are you calling paranoid?" Ru snapped at him with a glare.
Ji Syaoran backed out as he shook his head. Ru's cellphone chose this exact moment to ring and she held her finger up at him saying, "Hold that thought."
Ji Syaoran heaved a sigh of relief as he literally experienced, 'Saved by the bell' in flesh. While Ru was listening to the other person on the phone, she completely ignored Ji Syaoran which gave him enough time to slip his way out of here and away from her.
Meanwhile, from the other side of the call, Ru listened, "Master, your flight has been arranged. We have also handled everything here."
Ru stayed silent for a moment. She looked towards Xiao Zhiren's hospital room and thought about the uproar in Empire. Fudge it! She cursed and said, "I have something to deal with here. All five of you take my place and go to Italy. It's necessary to stop those organizations before we have to start another bloody war for power."
"Master, are you really not going? But they would want to see Alev Knight in person?" Edmund was feeling a bit anxious. Since when did their master stop caring about his power?
"Does anyone of them know what Alev Knight looks like?" Ru asked calmly in a whisper keeping her voice as low as possible.
"No, Sir!" came the prompt reply.
"Then why are we still having this conversation?" Ru's impatience was quite clear from her voice now.
"Understood! One of us will act as the dummy Alev Knight," came Adia's voice.
"Why do you sound so excited?" Ru's question made Adia stumped. Was this master a ghost? How does 'he' even know everything? While Ru continued, "If anything you will never be able to act like Alev Knight."
Adia understood her meaning and pursed her lips in a thin line. Of course, she was a girl. How could she act as dummy Alev Knight? Wuwu! This is unfair!
"Keep me updated." With that, Ru hung up the call after crushing Adia's pretty little dream. That's when she realized that Ji Syaoran was no longer around. However, he was decent enough to leave a message which read, 'I'll be back in the morning with breakfast.' She shook her head at his way of bribing her into forgetting. But gosh! It was working.
'I really need to learn to say no to food.' She mused to herself.
Following that, she did a whole survey around the hospital floor but still, her suspicion wasn't gone at all. How could she be wrong? She really felt someone's presence. And a burning intense gaze. Who could it be?
With a shrug of her shoulders, she went back to Xiao Zhiren's room and saw him sleeping soundly. he looked really calm this time around. There was no frown on his handsome but pale face.
Ru sat down on the stool beside his bed and allowed her mind to wander around.
From the glass in the door, someone gazed inside and said, "Get me the details on that man. Every single detail."
The person behind bowed his head slightly as he took the command, "I'll do it right away, Second Young Master."
The man's light brown eyes were unfathomable as he stared at Ru's straight back. And just as she turned her head with a jerk, he turned aside as well to hide.
"It seems my dearest love's sharp senses are certainly intact. Glad to know that there is no rust." He whispered before leaving in a languid manner, not at all acting suspiciously.
Around dawn, Xiao Zhiren felt discomfort in his throat and stirred awoke to find some water for his parched throat. But as soon as he opened his eyes, he was left stunned.
Ru's hand was holding his hand while her head was lying right beside his hand. Xiao Zhiren couldn't believe his eyes that she was actually this close to him, willingly. And it seemed like she stayed beside him for the whole night.
No one could describe what Xiao Zhiren was going through. Perhaps, even he couldn't describe the turmoil of emotions within him. Was he happy? Then why did he felt like crying? He knew she was capable of making him smile when he first met her. Then when she left she made him realize how she'd make him cry as well; only she could.
But who knew she'd actually be able to make him want to cry and laugh at the very same time? Only she was capable of making him an emotional mess. He was an emotional wreck just for her. But what could he really do? He was a sucker for her love!
Xiao Zhiren slowly pried his hand away from her before pulling the needle out of his vein. Then he slowly got up and with a gentleness one showed to a newborn baby, he picked her up before lying her down on his bed. He moved around the bed and settled right by her side.
Ru stirred in her sleep and he felt like she was gonna wake up to bicker yet again. However, she didn't. She just rolled her body and her face went straight to the crook of his neck and her soft breath there made Xiao Zhiren's whole body to shiver in delicious pleasure.
He stroked her hair lovingly as he whispered, "Are you trying to kill me, love?" He planted a soft kiss on her temple and added, "I'm already yours. With everything I have to offer." With a content smile, he wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her body close. He didn't give a damn if someone saw them like this.
Nevertheless, the person whom he thought to be sleeping was the true definition of a wolf in sheep's clothes. Ru was a light sleeper, to begin with, no matter how gentle Xiao Zhiren was, she was still awoken. Not by his touch though. It was his scent that pulled her with an undefiable force. He smelled like medicine and sweat, but she could still find his real masculine scent. It was purely all of him.
She wanted to open her eyes, she wanted to rebut but something made her shut up. It was the moment she realized how he was touching her. He must be the only one who actually held her with such caution and care.
When he placed her on the bed, her mind was again getting drowsy. She blamed it all on him. He was like a sleep drug now. But in her half-awakened state, she heard his words clearly which made her heart pulsate vigorously. And when he pulled her closer, for a second, she thought he'll hear her heartbeat.
But all she heard was a drumming rhythm of both their erratically beating hearts.