Chapter 167 - Everyone was preparing for war

~at the Lim branch family basecamp~

Shao Moshi walked into his wife's tent. 

"Have you heard the news, my beautiful wife?" he asked, a small smile playing upon his thin, perfectly set lips, a Moshi family physical feature.

Shao was an older version of Shen, his face more mature and slightly older. His eyes were aloof, unlike Shen's deep ones. 

Kira Lim walked over to the handsome, tall man she had been away from for five whole years. She hated his c.o.c.ky younger brother for separating them. Why did both their families have to be so troublesome? 

Her own bloodline was sullied by the foreign blood running through the main branch's veins. Her bratty cousins were spoiled and pampered, treated like royals because their late mother was some useless princess. 

Once they merged they Moshi and Lim empires together, they would rule the country as gods. Both husband and wife had only one motive - to possess all the authority and power to never have to bow down to another person again. 

Just as with Lina and Shen, Kira and Shao's marriage was also a closely guarded secret. Nobody on the Moshi side knew about them. Only Kira's loyal soldiers did. 

Kira laughed out loud. Of course she knew what was happening. It only made her plans more delicious. 

"That prideful bastard. He is actually following through with that crazy war he wants to wage. What a shame, he thinks he can run the world. That terrorist attack he fueled, and trying to destroy your brother has him distracted. It's the perfect distraction for us, my love" Kira was confident that they would have their opening soon. 

Shao was a little more impatient. His imprisonment by his younger brother had made him angrier than ever. He wanted to teach him a lesson quickly. 

Kira could see through his irritated expression. She walked towards him and threw her arms around his neck, fluttering her eyelashes playfully and pouting her s.e.xy, full lips at him. 

"Why don't you use me to distract yourself until we have our chance?" she dared him. 

Shao took the bait. He didn't have to be told twice. He pounced on her like lion trapping his prey. 

___________________________________________________________________________

Ro-kun sat in front of his computer at home, staring sordidly at his screen. He had finally received the information he had requested from General Sayu. 

She was a difficult woman to deal with, who loved playing the men around her. As his superior, she had always held some power over him. He despised her, but also respected her. 

But the last thing he had wanted, was to walk into her lair and get entangled in her games. Which was exactly why he was so relieved that she had only sent him a quick email with the list of dishonourable dischargees from the military forces, instead of meeting him in person. 

He had given her a valuable piece of information in return for the list of dishonourable dischargees to find the person who had shot at Ayu at the University, but had hit him instead. 

As he looked through the list, one image and name stood out to him. 

A woman in the special operations branch, a very quietly kept secretive branch of the military, used only to carry out singular missions in assassination and espionage at the behest of the government. 

The woman was discharged because of insubordination. The report didn't say what she had done, but he recognised her face from the drive by. 

Mari Tsukimori. 

"That name is familiar." Ro-kun whispered. 

Cold sweat broke upon his forehead when he realised where he had heard the name. 

"No way." 

How could he forgive anyone who had tried to kill Ayu just to send a message? 

______________________________________________________________________________

As Ro-kun waited in the Moshi Corporation company car outside Ayu's apartment building, he was pensive, deep in thought. 

He knew who had shot him, the person who had missed Ayu and had almost killed her. 

He watched the tall, elegant brunette walk out of the gate slowly. Her walk and gait were sluggish. Her body must have been so sore. She had injured her arms and body by trying to save Lina the previous night. 

She looked like she'd had a terrible night and hadn't slept much. Ro-kun sighed deeply. How could he take care of her without overstepping her boundaries? 

Ayu gingerly opened the car door and took her seat on the passenger side. Ro-kun noticed her having a hard time with putting on her seatbelt. 

Without a second thought, he moved closer to Ayu, leaning over her until their faces were only a breath apart. She inhaled sharply and sat still, as Ro-kun pulled the belt over her chest and buckled it down securely. 

"Take it easy. Just ask for help if you need it" he said to her in a taut voice. He wished he could be more expressive. But he wasn't an expressive man. And Ayu didn't make it any easier. 

"I'm fine" she mumbled back.

As they drove off, Ayu pulled out the phone that they had found at the club with the pictures of Lina with the gangster. 

"We need to put a trace on this phone, find out everything about who bought it and paid for it. That's the only way we'll find who tried to hurt Madam. It couldn't have been Mana" Ayu spoke grimly. 

She hadn't slept well after all. She had stayed up wondering how she could have let Lina get duped so easily. The bartender must have been in on it and spiked their drinks. 

"You think the bartender was in on it?" Ro-kun spoke Ayu's mind. Her eyes widened. 

"Yes, I do. I was watching Mana the entire time. She didn't put anything in the drinks. In fact, I was wondering how someone like her could secure VIP entry at a place like Tresor. She definitely couldn't have also had the bartender in her pocket" Ayu thought out loud. 

"That's true. She's just a simpleton lawyer trying to make it. No way she could employ the bartender, get VIP entry to a new snazzy club and also hire the gangster. Someone with a much greater influence tried to hurt Madam." Ro-kun agreed with Ayu. 

As they pulled up to the capital city Moshi Corporation office, Ro-kun carefully went over to the passenger side and held the car door open for Ayu. 

Ayu didn't protest and allowed him to help her. She waited for him before they walked inside the office building together. For once, she would allow herself to be taken care of. 

The two of them nodded at each other as they headed straight towards the bas.e.m.e.nt prison cells to find the one person who could decipher the origins of the mobile phone.