Yang Feng’s desolate eyes swept over the bugs in front of him. All he had to do was flick a finger and they would disappear off the face of the Earth. Such insignificant little things... What’s the point of having them alive? His uncaring behavior thickened the air around him, a menacing dark aura eluding from his tall, impressive frame.

Getting rid of Zhao Wenjin was easy. To handle these two babbling fools was childsplay.

Then he felt a small tug on his sleeves. A cold pair of eyes glanced down at the frowning woman beside him. His eyes, obsolete and dark like freshly grated ink, clashed with her molten copper eyes. Burning like a Phoenix whose flames ignited the night, she was unhappy with his behavior. When his eyes met hers, she could see her reflection within them. She stared at him as if she could understand what he was thinking. He didn’t like that.

Yang Feng tore his eyes away from Zhao Lifei. The longer he stared at her, the more he’s inclined to follow her wishes. Being so used to their insults, she couldn’t see the outlining threats behind it. If they had the guts to insult her in public, who knows what else they could do to her? On edge with everything and everyone, he was not willing to take any risks.

His eyes met with Wang Nuoli who stiffened at the unexpected contact. A cold bead of sweat trickled down Wang Nuoli’s spine, her fingers digging into her palm. She shuddered at the inhumane look in his eyes. He could tear her into pieces.

Wang Nuoli visibly gulped, "P-President Yang..." She nearly fainted when his eyes darkened further, turning into a black hole that could swallow everything in its path. She could practically see the Grim Reaper in the distance.

His eyes belittled her without words, his perfectly sculpted lips forming a thin line.

Zhao Linhua’s accusing eyes snapped to her older sister. Of course, in a time like this, she was refusing to help her family members! How dare she have the audacity to accuse her family of abandoning her when she was the first to leave?! Useless, absolutely useless!

"Jie-Jie, are you going to allow your boyfriend to treat mother like this?!"

Zhao Lifei’s impassive gaze landed on Zhao Linhua. She seemed bored with whatever her younger sister was saying. "I don’t have a mother. I have an egg and a sperm donor. That is all."

Wang Nuoli’s face turned bright red. Snickers erupted at her quick comeback.

She opened her mouth, ready to retort, but with one glance at the man beside her daughter, she shut her mouth and bit down on her tongue. She wanted to speak, to yell, to reprimand her useless daughter. However, her mind went blank when she looked at the President. His intimidating stare made her anxious and she nervously licked her dry lips. At a loss for words, she could only grit her teeth and play the pitiful card. Because after all, a man’s weakness was always a crying woman. Her eyes moistened, "My daughter, how could you—," unconsciously, she glanced at Yang Feng. She didn’t know why, but she always seemed to seek his confirmation. Perhaps it was because he could easily ruin her, that she couldn’t help but incline to see if she was angering him. Her eyes nervously met his only to drop the gaze a second later.

"Your father has gone missing," Wang Nuoli gritted her teeth, loud enough for Zhao Lifei and Yang Feng to hear, but for the crowd to be oblivious.

Yang Feng stiffened, his hand latching onto his wife, "I fail to see how that concerns us." With his hand grabbing her small hips, he was attempting to guide Zhao Lifei away from this mess.

"Since when?" Zhao Lifei could feel the gentle pressure on her body from his attempt to tugging her elsewhere. He squeezed her hips when she refused to obey.

"For a few weeks now.’" Wang Nuoli scowled. "Maybe if you had come home early and answered our calls, you would’ve known earlier! Where were you when we needed you?!"

"The same place you were when I also needed you." Zhao Lifei coldly responded, her eyes flashing with contempt. Just as her parents had abandoned her, she had abandoned them. What point was there to hold onto these people that never loved or cared about her in the first place? Only when she made a name for herself did they begin to acknowledge her. It was already too late. She viewed them as strangers.

Wang Nuoli was stunned by her daughter’s coldness. She was used to it but refused to accept it. She refused to accept that the little sparrow had learned to fly on her own, so high up, she might as well have been regarded as a Phoenix. How was it possible that a weak little bird, without the support or shelter of her parents, could have wings so big? Her eyes landed on Yang Feng, the wind who lifted her daughter up [1].

"You—"

"Have a good day," Zhao Lifei bit out, turning her back and storming off, Yang Feng hot on her trail.

"Jie-Jie, wait!" Zhao Linhua had another mission in mind when she stumbled across Zhao Lifei. She wanted to know where Xia Mengxi was. The dashing and beautiful woman had been ignoring her phone calls and messages for the past week or so now. There was no update on Xia Mengxi’s social media accounts and none of the magazines were able to capture an image of her. It was as if she completely disappeared from the face of this Earth!

Her eyes glanced at Yang Feng. "I just want to talk—"

Zhao Lifei never once looked back, even to the pleas of her desperate younger sister.

The disappearing view of Zhao Lifei’s nonchalant shoulders and confident strut would be forever branded into Zhao Linhua’s mind. Once again, her older sister had abandoned her. Once again, she had lived a life that Zhao Linhua desperately wanted. Her eyes danced with indignation, desiring the downfall of Zhao Lifei more than anyone else in this world.

If it meant Zhao Linhua could have Yang Feng look at her the same way he does to her older sister, then Zhao Linhua was willing to trade her parents’ love and shelter. Screw that. She would give anything to be by his side. She was willing to sacrifice it all just to see the smile he had shown her in the past. Her perfectly manicured fingers dug into the plump, smooth flesh of her soft palms.

If only she wasn’t such a sheltered child, perhaps she could’ve been more exposed to the dangerous, yet elite and prominent circle that only people like Yang Feng and Zhao Lifei were welcomed in. Xia Mengxi had brought her into the group, but Zhao Linhua wanted to have her own power. She didn’t want to be known as Zhao Lifei’s little sister or a piano prodigy. She wanted to be known as Zhao Linhua, the wife of Yang Feng.

- - - - -

The car ride home was silent. Zhao Lifei avoided all of Yang Feng’s gentle touches. He tried to caress her hair, but she scooted away from him. He tried to hold her hand but she moved it away. He tried to rub her belly but she turned her body. Everything he tried was ignored. Eventually, he was equally annoyed as she was. He could only remain patient to her tantrums for so long. Glowering out of the window of the car, his eyes had the intensity to crack the bulletproof glass. The air in the car was heavy and suffocating. Hu Wei sped to the house, not wanting to spend another second with the passive-aggressive couple.

When the car reached the front entrance, Zhao Lifei didn’t bother to wait for Yang Feng. She opened the door herself, climbed out, and roughly slammed the door shut like a child throwing a tantrum. To her, her anger was justified. He knew. He knew all along. She felt like a fool. He knew her father had disappeared, yet he never told her.

"Welcome home." Their servants bowed as low as their stomach would allow them.

Zhao Lifei flashed them a gentle smile before storming to the large staircase in the living room. Yang Feng’s eyes darkened warningly when he saw her determination to climb up the stairs in heels. He rushed to her and forcibly grabbed her elbow to which she pushed him off of her.

"Lifei," he growled. "Stop it." Like the violent waves on a stormy day, his tone crashed over her. Instead of scaring her, it added fuel to her burning fire.

"You’re going to hurt yourself. I don’t care if you throw tantrums, but I will not allow you to hurt our child."

historical

She paused and placed a hand on her stomach. Kicking off her heels, she grabbed it with her hand and proceeded to walk up the stairs. She acted like she was running a marathon. The doctor recommended light exercise. These flights of stairs were her daily exercise. For his sake, she gritted her teeth, pushed past him, stomped to the elevator and soon, they found themselves in the comfort of their bedroom.