325 Dead?!

"Well… I didn't expect that you would have any connection to the Lee Group in Singapore," Zhuo Jingren said. "Avoid them," he added.

"They can bring me profits," Lily said. "I always connect with people who can increase my profits," she smiled. "Plus I'm using the term 'connections' very loosely. I have not met with any of them in person."

"The Lee Group are not good people. You don't want to involve yourself with them," he said, his tone serious as he stared into her eyes. "I don't want you to involve yourself with people like them."

In response, Lily stared at her husband in return. She studied his expression for a while before she gave him an affirmative nod. "Alright. Tell me about it when you are ready" she offered. "I won't accept any of their proposals." When she saw a flash of relief in Zhuo Jingren's eyes, Lily continued, "Of course… this is not for free. Those people are like a money tree. I need some form of compensation for saying no to them."

"Hmmm… Name your price," Zhuo Jingren offered.

"A hotpot," Lily demanded. "A seafood one! The place on the corner by my previous school, near the orphanage," she suggested. "Then an ice cream."

"Like a date?" he asked lightly. This instantly warmed the previously cold atmosphere in the room.

"It is a date," Lily confirmed before her expression became serious. "But we can only do this once we are sure that everything is safe," she said. "Now that you have Qin Mimi and Zhang Yifei's family what are you planning to do with them?"

"Throw them in the sea," was his curt reply. "Do you really want to know the details?"

"No", Lily answered.

"Then… let's just leave it at that," he smiled.

….

"When was the last time you saw Zhang Yifei?" Qin Hao asked the maid as he made his way to Old Man Qin's room. His expression was still dark as ever and it only got darker every time he mentioned Zhang Yifei's name.

"Maybe three hours ago. She went inside to check on the Patriarch and asked us to leave.  She said she had something to say to him in private."

"And after that… the Patriarch was still fine?" he gritted his teeth. "I've already asked you and everyone else not to let anyone go inside alone! Where was the butler? I gave him specific instructions!"

"We could not find him."

"So what happened after she left? Was the Patriarch still fine?"

"Yes. The Patriarch was still unconscious when the doctors and nurses checked him."

"B*tch," Qin Hao cursed in disgust. "Did the doctor come out yet?" he asked. Hours ago, someone informed him that his father's condition worsened. At that time, he was so busy looking for information about Zhang Yifei's other lies as well as her brother who had gone missing after the fire that consumed his property just a few days ago to remember to check back with the Patriarch's medical staff.

"No, the doctor hasn't come out yet. It's been more than two hours already," the maid volunteered  as she came to a halt. They'd just reached the door of the Patriarch's room.

Qin Hao didn't reply to the maid as he began pacing outside the room. After discovering that Zhang Yifei was someone who wanted to ruin his family, he immediately informed the butler not to let anyone inside his father's room alone, especially not Zhang Yifei!

Qin Hao gritted his teeth as he thought of all the things that he'd discovered lately. First was the fact that Zhang Yifei's brother is still alive. Second is the fact that her brother's warehouse had been burned to the ground by the time he found the place. Coincidentally, the warehouse was burned at the same time that he discovered Zhang Yifei's lies. Was the fire possibly Zhang Yifei's handiwork to cover up her evil deeds?

Then...this happened. The Patriarch's situation got worse just after Zhang Yifei left! How could he not think that this was all her doing? From the information that he had gathered so far, Zhang Yifei wanted revenge! It would be logical for her to hurt the old man just before leaving so she could accomplish her goal.

However, he also knew that Zhang Yifei had a side to her nature that he is unfamiliar with. She was so good at masking her true personality that he was unable to see through the layers to the real Zhang Yifei.

Qin Hao was still in his thoughts when he notice his phone vibrate. He instantly answered it.

"Yes? Is there a problem?" he asked. "Ten percent? How much does she have now?"

"Twenty? That is big! How did she obtain that many shares? She only had five a few days ago?!" Qin Hao's face immediately reddened in anger as he continued listening to the man over the phone. "What? That is… How is that possible?" Qin Hao's mind was in shambles as he thought about the situation before him.

Zhang Yifei just obtained another ten percent  of shares in the Qin Group! This means that her shares are now equal to his! Now… for Qin Hao this is not very good news at all. How could he allow the person who ruined their family to obtain their company just like that?

"Didn't I already tell you to watch her? What happened?" However, Qin Hao found his question truly stupid. Zhang Yifei had been playing with them for years now. It is to be expected that she would have connections inside the company as well. After some thinking Qin Hao's face grew pale. Even now… Even now his daughter, Qin Mimi, is still missing.

At first he thought his daughter and her husband had yet another petty argument and she chose to head off for a vacation on some beach in the Philippines or maybe Indonesia. This is not the first time that this has happened so Qin Hao was not really that worried. Even when his men was unable to locate her, he was not that worried at all. He even thought that it would be better for her to be out of the country this time.

Moreover, if Qin Mimi was out of the country, the media would find it hard to take controversial photos of her. After all, it's not as if she is a celebrity or someone really famous.

Unfortunately, the current situation led him to believe that Qin Mimi had been taken by Zhang Yifei. For some reason, Qin Mimi's seven percent shares in the company came into his mind. What if Zhang Yifei wanted to obtain those shares as well?

Zhang Yifei wanted revenge. Inexplicably, she thought that the Qin Family owed her something so she's been manipulating them for more than twenty years now! It would only be normal for her to want to obtain the Qin Family's wealth as well! Qin Hao suddenly recalled the time when Lily asked Zhang Yifei during dinner in Hong Kong if it was all about the Qin Family's money.

Now that he thought about it, Lily's words at that time were truly accurate, but they were the ones who chose not to believe her.

"Mr. Qin?" The doctor's voice interrupted him from his stupor. Qin Hao instantly stopped pacing and approached the doctor.

"How is he?"

"We apologize Mr. Qin… We did our best to save the Patriarch but the poison has severely damaged his internal organs and we could not do anything to reverse the damage. The official time of death is…"

Qin Hao did not appear to have comprehended the doctor's words yet his body involuntarily shivered. The doctor's words seemed to echo inside his mind over and over again. Qin Hao's face paled before turning purple and then green before it finally became extremely white. His father… His father…Old Man Qin is dead?!