433 A Losing Battle

Sky City.

\"Wait… So you think she is alive?\" Li Shanshan sucked her breath. She widened her swollen eyes at Zhou Jingren. \"Lily is alive?\" This time her words were laced with relief. She eyed Fernando and smiled at him. \"She's alive! Did you hear that?\"

Fernando pursed her lips at her before he shifted his gaze at Zhou Jingren. \"Cathy said… the DNA test was positive.\"

\"It was. I am not sure how they did it. But I am sure it wasn't her.\"

\"And you didn't tell us until now… to make a show?\" Fernando confirmed. His voice a little stern as he looked at Bei Tian then at Zhou Jingren. \"Who else is aware of this?\"

\"Few. I would like to keep this between us, for now.\"

\"The Royals…\"

\"No.\" Zhou Jingren shook his head. \"Just us.\"

Fernando knitted his brows as he eyed his wife. Li Shanshan's eyes were swollen, her face was still pale, yet the smile in her face was clearly visible. He sighed. \"Do you know who did it?\"

Zhou Jingren raised his eyebrow at the question. He immediately wondered if Fernando also doubted his instinct. \"No. Whoever did it was smart, and we should not underestimate their network. They were able to create an explosion and even sneak in a burnt body with no witnesses. This alone speaks volumes about them.\"

Fernando clenched his jaws, his gaze turned sharp. \"What about your family?\"

His questions surprised both Zhou Jingren and Bei Tian. Seeing this, Fernando scoffed. \"What? You think… I know nothing about both of you?\"

\"I want to know… if this has something to do with your family.\" Fernando continued. Fernando is known for his custom jewelry design. Because of the nature of his job, he is very well acquainted with the wives of powerful families. This included Royalties just like the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg, Mafia leaders and some Politicians.

Women loved jewelry and because of this simple reason, Fernando created some solid connections with people who could easily control the world market with their deaths.

\"We don't think, so.\" Zhou Jingren met Fernando's eyes. \"At least… I don't think they have the capability to do that. Not in Hongkong.\"

\"So you are saying that whoever took her away was influential in Hongkong? How did you know that they did not pay someone to do it? You do know that everything in this world has a price, right?\"

\"Fernando…\" Li Shanshan tried to butt in.

\"No. We are talking about Lily here!\" Fernando said. \"I have treated her as my little sister and I know very well that she has a lot of enemies. Both in Asia and Europe. So I want to know…\" He looked at Zhou Jingren. \"I need to know if you dragged her into this mess.\"

Zhou Jingren held his gaze. \"I understand that you are angry…\"

\"Angry is an understatement.\" Fernando interrupted him. \"You…\" He rose from his seat and walked towards Zhou Jingren. \"I keep quiet because of my wife. She had been crying, and I want to be there for her. However… this does not mean that… that I am not upset about all this.\"

\"You are blaming me.\"

\"I am.\" The fire in Fernando's eyes was hard to miss. \"You were… too lenient. Your family had been around before Lily came and you did nothing to prevent them from touching her! You could have easily destroyed them years ago. You are capable of doing that! And yet… you didn't .\"

\"Hey…\" Bei Tian stood next to Fernando. \"Watch your words.\"

\"Or what?\" Fernando challenged. \"Are you going to cut my tongue and feed my head to your dogs?\"

Slowly, Bei Tian narrowed his eyes at Fernando. \"Careful—\"

\"Enough.\" Zhou Jingren's voice was not loud. He didn't yell or made his voice deeper to attract their attention, but the chill that coated his tone was unmistakable. He eyed the pale Li Shanshan before he tilted his head towards Fernando. \"You are scaring your wife.\"

\"Listen.\" Zhou Jingren started as he stood in front of Fernando. \"Lily… is my everything and I know she is important to you. I understand that you are angry. However… anger won't do anything right now.\"

\"And neither can your schemes.\" Fernando fired back. He is not someone that is known for his temper or his killer instincts. However, when it comes to the people that he considered as family, Fernando is not someone that you would want to cross. \"Tell me… President Zhou… What is your plan? What have you found out so far?\" His lips lifted into a mocking smile. Seeing Zhou Jingren just stare at him, he added.

\"You are hiding something from us,\" Fernando stated. \"I want to know everything.\"

The temperature in the room dropped a degree lower as Zhou Jingren clenched his jaws. He narrowed his eyes at Fernando. \"I think it is Jack.\"

\"And you never said this because… you thought we would doubt your sanity?\" It wasn't a question. Fernando was not dumb. He can see the way Bei Tian had been standing near Zhou Jingren all the time, observing him, scrutinizing his words, his actions.

\"I don't have any concrete proof and it is hard for me to trace Jack without Cathy's help. My resources in Europe are limited.\" As hard as it was to accept, this is a fact. Zhou Jingren was not that influential in the West, and Lily never involved herself in any illegal activities in Europe. This made it more difficult for them to penetrate Europe's black market.

\"Why not asked for Cathy's help?\"

\"I don't want to involve Lily's resources in this. The Arisons and the Facci have really close family ties. Cathy is pretty close to George. I don't know where her allegiance lies.\"

With these, Fernando took a step back and walked towards his wife. He patted Li Shanshan's shoulders and asked her to leave them as he had some things to discuss with Bei Tian and Zhou Jingren.

Though hesitant, Li Shanshan nodded.

\"Aside from the timing… is there anything else that you can use to find her?\" Fernando immediately asked after his wife left.

\"I am tracking all cargo ships in Hongkong at that time.\" Bei Tian answered. \"It is hard. Considering that most of these illegal shipments are owned by mafias and triads from the West.\"

\"We are treading carefully. Jack is my main suspect as of this moment and I don't want him to know that I am doubting Lily's death.\" Zhou Jingren added as he went back to his seat. The Mafia that is lead by the Arison Clan is considered one of the deadliest in the world. \"Jack is dangerous. As much as I want to confront him right now. I don't want to fight a losing battle.\"