"Why did you leave me again?" Gripping his arms she repeated the question and looked at him as he formulated an answer."I didn"t want to. I was forced to. I have been looking for a chance for us to meet for a long time."
"Then how come I have never seen you after all this time? Who could force you Jian?" Her hurt and confused expression hurt him and he felt his heart twist.
"Do I tell her about Jean-Jacques" involvement. She seems to care for him and I want her to have family that she can trust and care for. I don"t want her to lose trust in the only other family she has."
"It is complicated. There have been outside forces at work, keeping me away. It"s not been of my own will that I have been away." Avoiding her eyes he tried to explain while skirting the topic.
Grabbing his shirt collar her eyes hardened as she looked into his.
"Tell me the truth Jian. I"ve had enough of lies after my mom I can"t stand being lied to especially when it is important. There"s no time in life for that. Since you"re here and you"re forcing us to talk now, I want complete honesty."
Holding onto her hands that were gripping his collar tightly he pulled them off and answered her as straight forward as possible.
"I made a bargain with your grandfather last year when you first came to stay with him to stay from you until I could prove several conditions to him. He did not approve of me or of several choices I had made regarding our relationship. He did not believe that I would be able to provide a stable environment for you, that my position is too tedious, and I needed a breakthrough to solidify this."
"You both made a bargain concerning me but did not even bother to ask me what I wanted?" Liang Jian Amal grimaced hearing her pointed tone but didn"t interrupt as she continued. "You"re a CEO, and you took your company international, how could you not be considered stable?
"It had more to do with my father and those who support him within the board of directors. I had already ensured several things though, before I came looking for you, as I did not want my father to come after you as he had done."
"What did you do to your dad?"
"Maybe some untoward things, mostly I just pushed him into an early retirement. I also did some internal changing to facilitate things and destroy the political drama."
"Heh, I am sure he was thrilled about that." She couldn"t help giving a dry chuckle. "Knowing him he probably did something crazy."
"Perhaps a little less than enthusiastic at notion, we have not really had a chance to speak since so I am not sure how he is enjoying his retirement days."
"Oh." "What do I say? I am glad to know he was always trying but it doesn"t change things. I was alone when I needed him, while I appreciate he did things for me all I really needed was him."
Even though she was right in front of him her hands still held by his, he could feel her pulling away still and becoming distant.
"Chang it doesn"t change the wrong I have done, I should have been there for you when LiHua pa.s.sed when you needed me. I"m so sorry." Liang Jian Amal tried to pull her closer but she resisted firmly holding her place with her eyes averted from his.
"I already told you that I didn"t want to talk about that."
"Then what do you want to talk about?"
"So much, but I guess nothing, in the end words can"t change how I feel.."
Watching the words flit across her face as she pursed her lips, he felt a thorn pierce his heart and leaned down and kissed her brow.
Knitting her brows she closed her eyes and leaned into where he placed his lips. Moving his hands from her wrists to her forearms he pulled her closer. After the side of her brow he planted one between them on the furrow.
"You shouldn"t frown so much, smile, you are so beautiful when you smile." Stroking the side of her cheek with his fingertips he commented sadly his eyes tracing her face.
"And I wonder why-" Before she could finish her lips were sealed with his and he pulled her closer caging her in his arms. Feeling the familiar pleasant feeling she started to close her eyes and surrender to it.
Bang! Bang!
"Hey are you two alright in there? I heard yelling and then it went silent, are you OK Shar? Do I need to beat up a certain someone again?" Through the door Justin"s worried voice came through and he tried turning the locked handle.
Irritated with the intrusion when things were going smoothly he pulled away to deal with him. Looking down he saw her still holding his arm looking mystified before she shook the stars out of her eyes. Sending him a complicated look, Chang pulled away. Opening the door automatically unlocking it she rushed out to Justin, pulling him away.
"Are you Ok?"
"Yeah I"m just fine, just got lost talking about the past let"s go!"
"Hold up, I realized we left last night without my suitcase, and I don"t have anything besides my dress suit from yesterday."
"I"m sorry that"s my fault. Well fine, I can be your sugar momma now and to start we"ll go buy you some clothes."
"Rowr! Okay momma! What about him? Justin pointed at Jian standing behind her with his chin.
Chang flushed avoiding looking at him.
"Just ignore him, get dressed I"ll be down in the garage warming up my car, I"ll pick you up by the front entrance."
"Chang."
Ignoring his alluring voice, she opened her coat closet near the front door and grabbed a coat and her keys before closing the door behind her.
"Struck out again huh?" As soon as she was gone Justin looked at him with a sympathetic look.
"Things were going fairly well until you interrupted actually." The taller man glowered at the other his displeasure clearly shown.
"... Sorry my bad, and here I am rooting for you two too. Didn"t mean to mess up your moment." Cringing Justin apologized before heading into his room to quickly ready himself for Chang. Searching all over the house he eventually found a piece of paper and pen and script he"d his numbers on it quickly and pa.s.sed it to the man standing near the front door about to exit.
"Hey, here take this, this is my number, she"s kind of a stubborn person, maybe a bit too much for her own good, but I know from the way you two parted she was really unhappy and has wanted to see you. She"s probably really hurt though too so it"s gonna take some work with this one, and I"m here to help you help her, you feel me?" Justin lifted a brow at him smiling before opening the door.
"C"mon now let"s go, I got to meet up with my suga momma."