121 Paranoia

While Lily and Zhuo Jingren were enjoying their time together, Xuan Hui was having a bad day in Hong Kong.

When Xuan Hui woke up this morning, he received a call from his secretary who informed him that Liam Arison was ousted from his CEO position in Arison Holdings and that put him in a pensive mood. So when his wife Qin Fei came up to him and began to talk excitedly about the Fashion Week's after party which was going to happen on Friday, Xuan Hui just wasn't in the mood to talk at all. To Xuan Hui, Qin Fei's excitement seemed to be over the top that it even got a little on his nerves.

"Why are you mad? It's early in the morning and you already have a dark look on your face. Is there something wrong in the company?" Qin Fei asked while fixing her make-up. She paid particular attention to her neck, making sure that the dark spots which started appearing during her pregnancy were properly concealed with make-up.

Qin Fei had always been mindful about her appearance, even when she was no longer active in the filming industry. Both Xuan Hui and his mother agreed that Qin Fei should take things slow and rest more at home when she got pregnant. Even at seven months pregnant, Qin Fei was not the type of person who would just stay at home and do nothing. Moreover, it had been her dream to start a fashion business and now that she was taking a break from filming, she could devote all her time and attention on launching her fashion brand.

"Yes," Xuan Hui answered curtly while reading some reports relating to Lily and Liam on his tablet. Through these reports, he came to know about what happened in London. He read about how Lily had issued a statement saying that Liam was cheating on her when they were still engaged. Somehow this news didn't surprise Xuan Hui as all along he suspected that Lily must have had some dirt on Liam. Otherwise, it made no sense for Liam to agree to end their engagement which would benefit them and even part with A.R Mall and Boutique and its three branches in the Far East.

Now, reading the news in front of him, Xuan Hui couldn't help but wonder if the compromising photos of Liam and Sofia were released by Lily to ruin them both. Between Liam and Sofia, Sofia's scandal was an even bigger one. Her scandal rocked the socialite circle in London, making it the talk of the town. It was also rumored that Sofia was hospitalized in a mental institution for depression. And the most baffling thing was that all of these happened in a span of two days.

Liam and Sofia's scandals implicated Arison Holdings and the company suffered some losses as a result. Surprisingly, George Arison managed to appease the shareholders and the board of directors and stabilize the operations within the company.

This was something Xuan Hui couldn't fathom. How could a company suffer a devastating attack overnight and then recover the very next day? Was George Arison that brilliant?

"Hui… you are not listening to me…" Qin Fei's voice woke him up from his stupor. He quickly turned off his tablet and lifted his head to look at his wife. For some reason, the sight of her pouting immediately irritated him.

"I'm sorry… I was just thinking about something important," he forced himself to apologize while cursing inwardly. Everything that happened to Liam made him a little afraid of the future. What if this was all Lily's doing? What if she comes for him next? With her influence, it would be easy for her to squash him like an ant.

"I said… for Fashion Week's after party this Friday, you can go ahead and enter without me because I want to make a grand entrance with Mother. I will be wearing a gown that I personally designed. Do you know how hard it is for a pregnant woman to find a nice and elegant gown that actually fits? That's why I…" Qin Fei continued to chatter, unaware that Xuan Hui's mind was wandering elsewhere again. The fear in his heart seemed to magnify by the minute.

Xuan Hui remembered how Mr. Martin, the investor that he wanted to partner with, had told him that Lily was someone who instil fear in businessmen in Europe. She was known to acquire businesses using the most ruthless and unpredictable ways. She was also known to attack businessmen who opposed her.

Xuan Hui had found that Mr. Martin's words unbelievable at that point in time. After all, he knew Lily since she was young and had watched her grow up. She was not ruthless or smart. Rather, she was soft-spoken and kind who loved animals and sparkly things. Xuan Hui had always found her weak and boring. So how could someone like that, someone who had fallen into Tang Lingyun's scheme be smart and ruthless in business world?

However, now that he saw what happened to Liam, Xuan Hui was a little more convinced that there was some truth to Mr. Martin's words. He remembered how Liam left in a hurry on the day of the A.R Mall and Boutique's quarterly meeting. Then his scandal broke out which caused the major shareholders to lose their trust and confidence in the man. The timing was just too perfect that Xuan Hui couldn't help but conclude that someone… someone powerful was scheming and orchestrating everything.

"So? Do you agree with me? Hey… what are you thinking about?" Once again his thoughts were interrupted by Qin Fei.

"Alright. I will do as you say," he answered nonchalantly before swallowing a mouthful of saliva. The knowledge of Qin Jinghua's identity as Lily Facci-Qin was really starting to bother him. He could even barely sleep as he thought about the possibility of Lily exacting her revenge on him and his family for what they had done to her in the past. Xuan Hui was unaware that on a subconscious level, he had begun to be more cautious of Lily.

Of course, Xuan Hui was not aware that Lily was already starting to collect the interest of the debt they owe her. It was Lily's intention all along to make Xuan Hui recognize her. Make him fear her existence that he would even lose his sleep while thinking about what her next action would be. After all, paranoia is another way to weaken your enemy. Make them guess and fear your next move. Make them anticipate the worst.

What Xuan Hui failed to realize was that Lily could have been planning for his downfall long before she returned to Hong Kong. After all, Lily had been away for a very long time and that gave her ample time to meticulously plot her revenge.

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Editor: Swaning