The Overnight Chosen Wife: darling, kiss me deeper

When Luna was done talking to Luo Chen, she let Cheng Yu tell him what he would need to do as she gave Lanni a call.

"Ready?" The latter had been waiting for her signal with her finger over her mouse.

"Yes. Release the news." Luna had a sinister smile as she prepared to start this dad versus daughters game. Did Xia Hanchen really think that he would be able to fool everyone forever?

"Say no more." Lanni tapped the mouse and the news article that she had written was immediately aired for the whole world to see. Tian Yu Media had fired her, but CEO Qian forgot to revoke her access to the online media websites.

Even if Xia Hanchen realized that it was her who leaked the news, there was nothing he could do about it yet as he was still dreaming of gaining control over her. If he did try to do something, they were prepared to counterattack. It was a battle of two versus twelve; the result was almost predictable.[1]

...

"It was you!" Luna yelled as soon as she got to Xia Hanchen’s house, and the man seemed to be expecting her. He must have read the news that Lanni had released. Thanks to the hard work of Luna’s and Xiehan’s fingers, the news took over all the websites, including those that had nothing to do with Tian Yu Media. It was like a virus that had spread over the entire Internet, making sure everyone got hold of the news behind what really happened in Moonlight Studios.

"Dad, how could you do this?" She asked heartbrokenly. Initially, she was planning to act this out but now that she was facing him, she didn’t need to act.

She felt cheated, betrayed... How could he turn out to be that kind of person? How could he cheat them all these years?

He didn’t need to ask to know what she was talking about. He must have spent the entire day coming up with a suitable lie because it effortlessly left his lips. "It’s for your own good."

Luna laughed mockingly, not believing that she had once been stupid enough to be controlled by this monster. "You sabotaged my hard work and claim to have done it for my own good? What language are you speaking?"

He turned to face her, hiding the disgust in his eyes as he always had. This time, she caught his little action and her blood almost boiled out of proportion. She would have strangled him if he wasn’t stronger than her.

The man spoke out his practised excuse. "You need to study. Girls your age are finishing up their college education and planning to further their studies, not rushing into matters that they cannot handle."

"Matters that they cannot handle," She repeated his words with a playful smile. "Are you talking about me starting my company?"

"Drop that dumb start-up and go to school. It didn’t have a future, I was helping you get rid of something that would have broken your heart later." He said unflinchingly.

She had never heard such unconcerned words from him. But then again, she had never questioned him about anything so she never got to know how he would react to being challenged. Still, she pretended to not have noticed it.

"I can study part time like Lanni did. Didn’t she get her diploma already? She didn’t need to go to school. Surely, you don’t expect me to parade my baby bump in school, right?" She laughed then pretended to notice something. "Wait. Is this also why you had Lanni fired from her job? are you behind it as well?"

The man regarded her with a scoff, not caring to be pretentiously hospitable by offering her a drink like he had always done. "Why would I waste my time on her? How can you compare yourself to that little piece of trash?"

Luna gasped. She had already heard him talk ill of Lanni in the videos but it was still baffling to witness it first-hand. It was almost unbelievable.

He frowned when he realized what he had just said. However, he was not apologetic. "It is time for you to get a brain, Luna. I let you get close to her but not to be swayed by her! Do you know who brought her up?"

"Yes. Our mother. My biological mother." She answered unflinchingly.

The man almost exploded but he hid it behind his ’at-a-loss’ farce. "I don’t trust her. Even though she gave birth to you, why hasn’t she tried to reunite with you? All she does is try to sabotage you. Have you ever wondered why?" He didn’t wait for her to answer before he continued, "Because she cannot brainwash you. She has already fooled your brainless sister but it is hard to do the same for you so all she can do is try to separate you from her and both of you from me."

"Really?" Lanni spoke from the entrance, making the man turn and glance at her in surprise. When did she get in here?

Lanni sighed and smiled like she was hurt. "Brainless, useless fool...so that’s how you see me."

"Lanni..." He started.

"No need. I thought you had our best interests in mind but turns out..." Her statement trailed off before she glanced at her sister. "Luna, I’m going shopping. Are you coming?"

Luna knew that they were going to Li Yuming’s villa so she nodded and promised to visit her father and settle the matter some other time. Their appearance today was merely meant to create doubt and panic in Xia Hanchen’s mind and they had already done that. It might backfire if they overdid it so they decided to leave it at that for now.

___

Li Yuming was watching the door for their return and she looked relieved when she finally saw them, both of them in one piece. "I would never have let you go there if it wasn’t part of the plan."

"Don’t worry about us, mom. We are always careful." Lanni chimed and Luna seconded, as they both took their places to hug her arms.

It was just like when they were little, Li Yuming smiled. They would both cling to her from both sides just like they were doing now. She had so badly missed this feeling. Even without that man, her life felt complete now that her daughters were both by her side.

"How did you end up with dad anyway?" Luna asked when she remembered Xiehan’s recount of the past. Besides, if Xia Hanchen did not like Li Yuming a tiny bit, why would he be with her?

"I will tell you everything you need to know." Li Yuming promised, knowing that they would need to know as many facts as possible as some of them might help in their quest to bring the man down.

"At the time, I was close to the Ji family and he naturally assumed that I was there to seek revenge. It turned out, he sought me because he thought I was from the Li family that was close to the Guan family."

"No wonder." Lanni came to a realization. So Xingyu’s wild speculation was right. Her meeting with Xia Hanchen was not a coincidence.

"He seemed to be under pressure from someone or something and we got married soon. I thought he loved me, he treated me quite well despite the rush. It was my brother who found out that he had mistaken me for another woman, and that he was having an affair with the woman he had mistaken me for."

Luna cringed at the audacity of that man. Just how disgusting could he get?" What about grandma drugging him and putting Li Xiyan in his bed?" Wasn’t that what happened?

" That’s only half true." Li Yuming was finding 8t hard explaining such personal matters to her daughters.

"What’s the truth?" Lanni asked gently, hoping they were not probing too much.

"It was a facade. The Xia family is involved in the dark business too. That was the only way for the old woman to get Li Xiyan into the family without raising too many eyebrows. Melodramatic clichés are usually more acceptable in the eyes of the curious public. No one would speculate a thing."

The old lady had been right, since in these two decades, only a handful of people knew the truth.

" So that’s the only way to get to the Guans." Lanni thought aloud. It seemed that while the other two families disappeared, the Xia family remained intact. Xia Hanchen and Li Xiyan were proof that those two families could still be in existence and merely hiding somewhere. If they followed this lead, perhaps they would find them. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"I don’t think we need to worry about them for now. Should we get rid of that two faced man first? He is a worse threat." Suggested Luna.

"That’s not a good idea." Li Yuming shook her head. "We need to plan this first. Besides, Luna, stay away from this."

"Why?" Luna was baffled.

Li Yuming narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you forgetting something? You cannot let your emotions keep fluctuating."