Chapter 126 - Piecing it together

Shen breathed in sharply. It wasn't as if he was trying to hide anything from his wife. He only wanted to keep her ignorant and blissful. 

But if there was anything he had learned since she had woken up, he had figured out that she had been anything but clueless before the amnesia. 

Lina had been making progress with her memories, much quicker than Dr. Yoshi had expected. Her visits to Dr. Hayama had stimulated parts of her brain that she was afraid of accessing. 

If he was honest with her, and trusted her to look after herself, maybe she would heal faster. 

He sat up straight, and held her hands in his, stroking them with his thumb. 

Lina felt a strange sense of relaxation within her. She had made her decision to give herself to him completely tonight, after coming out from her coma. She knew she was ready to hear his story and that he wouldn't do anything to harm her. 

"You know baby, there's people I am involved with because of Moshi Corporation's dealings that aren't the easiest to work with. I was visiting one of our partners tonight for dinner at their family home." 

Lina looked thoughtful. 

So Lila's family, the Lim clan, operated Magnolia Holdings, the company that was partnering with Moshi Corporation. 

Those were the inventory files she had come across. She definitely knew something about them before her coma. That's why the name was so familiar -- yet she didn't know how. 

Lina looked up at Shen, daring herself to ask him the one question she had been afraid to ask. 

"Darling, if something went wrong..." she began. But Shen already knew what she wanted to ask. 

"Yes, they would hurt us, personally. They would hurt me. They would hurt me by hurting you. That's why I hide you away." 

"Does that mean...that you would do anything they asked if it came to that?" she probed further, wondering about his relationship with Lila. 

She pulled her hands away from him, as if to shield herseld from words that could hurt her. 

Shen looked confused. Why was this girl asking such strange things? Did she know something he didn't? 

"What do you mean? Did someone threaten you?" Shen was overcome with worry. This was what he was afraid of, Lina being involved with the dangerous people he worked with. 

Lina put on a smile quickly, so she wouldn't worry him. She shook her head vigorously. 

"No no! Nobody would dare to threaten me! It would be their funeral!" she announced confidently. 

Shen laughed, partly relieved, partly still confused. 

"Of course, who would dare mess with my angel?" 

After the strength she had shown him lately, even he was beginning to doubt whether she really needed his protection after all. 

But Lina wasn't yet done with her interrogation. 

She eyed him carefully. 

"So who were these partners that you went to meet tonight?" she still wanted to know if he would stop holding back and come clean. 

Shen grit his teeth. This was the test they hadn't yet been through. They had decided to get married despite the secrets between them. 

There had been no confrontation between them so far, even though their love was strong. There had only been blind faith. But that could only hold out so far. 

Both of them had questions bubbling within them, and an endless desire to protect the other. So why was it, that they had to endure so much silence? 

One of them had to break first. But Lina wouldn't be the first. She had forgotten everything she was supposed to tell him. So it would have to be Shen. 

"I went to meet the family that runs a very discrete company called Magnolia Holdings." Shen said quietly. 

Now she knew who. She just didn't know what. He hoped she wouldn't ask. But he knew better. Lina had always been willful, even if she had acted coy about it in the beginning. 

"What business did you have with them?" she continued to ask. 

Shen breathed in sharply again. 

"It was a contract renewal meeting. They use Moshi's shipping services to transport massive amounts of their goods and carry out trade internationally." 

"What do they ship?" Lina's head started to hurt slightly as her eyes bore deeper and deeper into her husband. 

It was like she was fighting a battle against him and herself at the same time. 

She was fighting with herself to concentrate harder and drag out her memories into her consciousness, and at the same time exerting enough pressure on him to give her the information to piece her life together. 

She was done! She was so done feeling helpless. If these people wanted to come at her, they'd better do it in the open. 

In that moment, she felt heavy and suffocated...yet strangely invincible. 

Shen noticed beads of sweat forming on her n.a.k.e.d body, as her chest heaved, fighting to breathe. 

Was she having another panic attack? 

No, her eyes were sharp and cold, as if she had turned on a part of herself that had been buried deeply somewhere. 

She looked like this when she was operating on Ro-Kun, when she snapped up a gun and shot that sniper through the glass. Her mind was like steel. 

"What do they ship, Shen?" she asked again through grit teeth. 

"Various items! It depends, they aquire and manufacture a range of goods. Baby, what's wrong? You look unwell. Lay down and rest-" Shen began to fuss over her. 

"No! On the contrary, I find my mind to be most receptive now. They trade mostly with Country A using Moshi Corporation, don't they?" Lina's grilling continued. 

Shen furrowed his brow. 

How did she know so much? He knew she was no fool, of course. But she had never shown this much awareness about his work before. 

Or had she just pretended not to? 

"How do you know this?" It was now her husband's turn to get serious. 

He had been gentle too with her all this time, but now he wanted answers to. 

Lina knew that this was no time to think about filtering information. She was in no mood for pretenses either. 

"Shipping container 128 to the Capital in Country A. Inventory and Checklist. I saw your files in the study."