"Alright, Jinxu. I don"t think it would help to prolong it either. Let"s go.""Where?"
"We have to meet some people. It would be easier to share the secret with you." Chen Linyun grabbed Xue Jinxu"s hand gently, guiding her to stand, and consequently towed her towards the labyrinth of streets.
They only stopped when Chen Linyun made a call to someone anonymous. "Perhaps he informed those people that we are meeting them tonight."
She already made a resolve. There was no turning back at this point. Xue Jinxu allowed her husband to guide her wherever they were about to go.
She did not care where, as long as the matter will be put to an end that night.
"We"re here."
Chen Linyun announced as they stopped in front of a door. Surprisingly, they entered a hotel and were now standing at a room that"s probably where people they were meeting were staying.
Xue Jinxu inhaled deeply as she braced herself. "So be it."
Chen Linyun did the same. "I pray to my ancestors that all will be well tonight." His chest was drumming loudly as his nervousness reached a new high. His face was pale with seriousness and even distorted with anxiety and even fear of the unknown.
"The matter is grim. I"d rather protect her from the impending upheaval, but she"ll most likely be dragged into it by connection."
"I would rather tell her now and make it known to her as early as now than allow her to know about it sometime later when things have gotten awry already. Then, she would have asked me why I had not told her about it from the start."
"We"re part of it already, whether we want to take part in it or not."
Chen Linyun reviewed all the justifications inside his mind as if trying to convince himself further. "
"Ready?" He tightened his grip onto her hand.
The lady nodded reluctantly. "Whatever happens, don"t ever forget that I love you, Chen Linyun, and all I wish is for your genuine happiness… Even if I wouldn"t be the one to give it to you. I cherish all our moments together…"
"???!!!"
"Huh?" Chen Linyun was taken aback by the wife"s enigmatic speech. AS he tried to a.n.a.lyze the missus" words, Xue Jinxu opened the door.
It revealed a decent receiving area with scanty decorations. It wasn"t the best room nor a suite, but it was neat. More like the average hotel room.
Xue Jinxu studied the place and was almost disappointed that n.o.body welcomed them.
"It"s empty—" She turned and exclaimed to the husband standing just behind her.
"Jinxu. You came. It"s been a while." A deep voice of a man reverberated in the air, and cut her off in mid-sentence. Her eyes widened as she locked her gaze with her husband.
Certainly, she was expecting a lady, but it turned out to be a… man?
Apparently, the man knew him as he called her by her name, no prefixes of respect nor t.i.tles of status. Just Jinxu.
"Who?" She asked her husband as she had not turned her head yet. The voice was all too familiar that she had subconsciously heightened her expectations, and now she"s too frightened for her heart to be broken once she found out it"s otherwise.
Chen Linyun nudged her through a nod, gesturing her that it"s alright to take a look and see for herself, as he approached her and stood by her side. He rubbed the small of her back supportively.
Xue Jinxu turned her head inch by inch, and as she did so, her heart went *thump* *thump* *thump* in the same rhythm as her movements.
Funny how her heart could go berserk for another man when her husband was just standing inches away from her.
However, this other man was not ordinary, because this man had been her other half since birth, or she guessed that he was.
As her eyes landed onto the man, she gasped and ran towards him. Her hunch was confirmed. It was indeed her twin brother, Xue Minhe.
But how in the earth did he end up in Havana, Cuba?
"Is it really you, Ge-ge?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight welcoming hug. "We thought… We thought… It"s been seven years!"
Xue Jinxu kept blabbering. The two men, Chen Linyun and Xue Minhe, stared with each other in understanding.
Soon, Xue Jinxu had wetted her brother"s dress s.h.i.+rt with her tears of longing and of all the sufferings she had gone through when her brother was gone.
She pulled away from the hug and moved on to studying her brother"s countenance. He had lost so much weight, and developed more angularity on his face, although his body ma.s.s would most probably be composed mostly of toned muscles. Aside from that, he had gotten all tanned up. What"s more surprising and even heart-breaking was that white scar that ran across his nose bridge. Xue Jinxu traced that white scar with her fingers.
"You"ve suffered, brother."
"What happened to you?"
"Mhmm?"
Xue Minhe retorted, "You"ve suffered too. Thanks to your husband whom I met providentially, I am able to come back."
Xue Jinxu had gotten more questions than answers. She frowned in discontentment. She wanted to inquire more and know more about her brother.
Because she was too engrossed with her brother, she had not noticed that two other ladies were standing on the background. One of which whispered to the other, "I better go and prepare the meals, Young Miss."
The lady who was addressed answered an affirmative, "Mhmm…"
By now, Xue Jinxu discerned the higher tone of ladies" voices. She side-glanced to the source, only to find more familiar places.
"Man Rui. What are you doing here?"
She instinctively s.n.a.t.c.hed a glimpse of her growing belly, but she hurriedly looked away.
"Why are you together?!"
Xue Jinxu took a step back, and another, and another. Chen Linyun caught her waist and held her in place. The missus was getting fl.u.s.tered. First, she was happy and relieved to have found out that her brother is safe and alive, but Man Rui"s presence there ruined it all.
"What"s the meaning of this? Mhmm? Brother, Man Rui!!!"
She looked up at her husband"s face searchingly. "Linyun?"