CHAPTER TWO

Meanwhile, a young man was sitting on his office chair, facing his laptop while staring intensely at it. The tapping sound of a keyboard could be heard inside his office.

His auburn brown hair was messy due to the ceaseless ruffling of his hair. A cup of coffee sat on the table close to his phone, near his arm.

In the big room of the office was a luxurious sofa at one end with a small glass table in front of it.

In front of his table were two executive black leather chairs. At the left side of his office was an adjourning parlour.

He continued working on his laptop when suddenly he heard the sound of his phone ringing. He tilted his head to the side and looked at his phone screen.

‘An unknown number?’

He ignored the call and continued typing away. The last thing he needed now was any form of disturbance. He needed to finish his work on time. 

‘I have a deadline to meet and a girlfriend to see before 5pm,’ he mentally noted.

After a minute, the call finally ended and he continued with his work.

About fifteen minutes later he heard another sound.

DING!

He ignored the sound of the new text message notification and read through what he was typing. His brows furrowed at a mistake he made.

Quickly he erased it and made the necessary corrections.

“All done and thoroughly checked. Yes, I can finally send the file.”

He clicked enter and waited for it to show sent. The moment the icon showed sent, he heard his phone make another sound and the phone lights came on.

‘Really now! Can’t a man ask for a little peace during his work time?’ He sighed and finally picked up his phone.

Unlocking the phone, he saw two messages, both from the same unknown number and clicked on it.

‘Ye Cheng! Come to Star city’s harbor. You have until thirty minutes to arrive or else she dies.’

He swiped down and saw a picture. What he saw made his eyes widen in horror.

Not wasting another second, he got up from his chair and made his way out of his office.

********

Li Jing hurried out of the Li’s residence with her suitcases and parked her things into a taxi waiting for her right outside.

“Shameless girl of a whore-like mother. How could you ever hope for Duan Tian to love you when he has your sister, the eldest daughter of the Li family? You really do not know your place, do you?” A middle-aged woman shouted after her.

Li Jing did not say anything to the woman who was insulting her and her unknown mother. 

The truth was that, for as long as she could remember, she had always called that woman, Ding Jiaying, her mother. 

But that was not the case. Ding Jiaying wasn’t her biological mother. Her father always told her he adopted her, but her mother and sister always said that was a lie her father used to cover up the truth.

Ding Jiaying would always say she was the illegitimate child of Li Chun and his unknown mistress. And so, she was treated as an outcast in the house. 

Her father really paid no attention to her, he never noticed how the mother and daughter pair maltreated her.

In this Li family she had no one but herself and the man she loved, Duan Tian. It turned out that he was faking everything up until today. 

She felt she had no place anymore in the family and packed out. It was for the best. She could not stay there anymore.

Li Jing packed her things into the car and entered the passenger’s seat. The driver closed the boot and got into the car as well.

She took one last look at the place she had come to call home and another tear rolled down her cheek. Her eyes were filled with pain and seemed distant and empty at the same time.

“Miss, where would you like to go to? The driver asked her politely.

“Crescent Moon,” Li Jing responded and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

“Okay, Miss.”

With that he started the car and drove on.

*********

In a black Ferrari car, Ye Cheng was driving at full speed ignoring the speed limit as he raced to Star City’s harbor.

He picked his phone and dialed a number, then left it on speaker.

“Hey man, what’s up?” A masculine voice from the other end of the call asked.

“I need you to handle things or me in the company just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

“They have her, Bai Qing Mei.”

“Who has her, Ye Cheng?”

“I do not know, Hao Huizhong. I got a text message. I am hurrying there now.”

“There, where?” His voice came out alarmed and panic stricken at his friend’s words.

“Star City’s harbor.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police or have, Jin Xiaowen use his men to raid there?”

“No. I got a text after the first stating that I do not play any funny games and involve any other person. If they notice it, they would pull the trigger.”

“Come on, don’t buy that. They are bluffing. This screams the word TRAP. You know what, I am heading over there now.”

“No, Hao Huizhong. You’ll put Bai Qing Mei in danger. Hao Huiz…”

Beep! Beep!

The call caught from the other end. “Damn you, Hao Huizhong!” he yelled, hitting his palm on the steering wheel twice. 

His left hand moved up to ruffle his hair, a habit he had when he was worried. Ye Cheng was feeling so frustrated right now. 

He knew Hao Huizhong meant well; they had been best friends since a very long time. He met his best friend and girl friend in the same month and since then they bonded.

But this was a different case; he could not risk putting Bai Qing Mei in danger because of his stupidity. 

Knowing Hao Huizhong, he should never have told him. He needed him to know just in case anything happened to him.

‘There’s only one way to stop that stubborn bastard, right? Get there before he does.’

With that thought in place, he increased his speed, going at 200mph.