Seeing her cold demeanor Joseph raised his brows in surprise. Indeed she is not the same Alice anymore but a completely different person. Alice"s presence was like a bright sunny day, she was approachable but this woman is not.
All this while they talked she never even smiled for once while Alice was all about smile and happiness.
Xiu Mei waited patiently until Joseph gradually recovered from his shock and pointed towards the chair nearby, "Have a seat. I guess this is going to be a long discussion"
Joseph laughed coldly and shook his head. He leisurely walked over and pulled out the chair as he sat down on it with legs crossed.
Xiu Mei noticed something changed about Joseph too. Although he looked calm, his black eyes exuded a dangerous aura.
"Why do you want to know about MY FAMILY?" Joseph asked with a frosty expression stressing on word my family to remind her she don"t have any relation with them.
"I grew up in his care. He was like a father figure to me" She replied.
"Father figure? Really?" He mocked her, "If he was really a father figure then why did you run away without thinking of the consequences that poor Uncle Xavier might have to suffer"
"Just answer my questions" Xiu Mei clenched her fists tightly. She felt a pang of pain as she realized that uncle Xavier"s condition has something to do with her. Instead of love and care, she could see the resentment in Joseph"s eyes
"Dead! They are dead! Aunty Martha and Rose died seven years back" Joseph icily yelled as he gritted his teeth
A dreadful silence lingered in the air for some time as Joseph looked at her like a raging bull.
After sometime Xiu Mei breaks the silence.
"How?"
He got up from the chair calmly and stood in front of her. Feng Jianyu hugged her protectively while Lu Xion moved a step ahead to stand in between Xiu Mei and Joseph.
Xiu Mei acted swiftly and pushed both the men aside, gesturing them to not interfere. She raised her head and looked into Joseph"s dark eyes. "Tell me how?"
Joseph pondered about something and gave a chilling smile…. "Then listen!"
"After you ran away, Kong Da immured Uncle Xavier to a secret location when he came to know that Uncle Xavier was your confederate in this. In order to bring you back to Country B...." Joseph stopped for a few seconds and looked at her intently, "Kong Da tortured that poor man to know about your whereabouts but he refused to yield in front of that ugly pig"s demands. No matter how intense the torment was, he remained unmoveable. Instead of risking your life, Uncle chose to sacrifice himself. How selfless of him, right?" Joseph scoffed and Xiu Mei closed her eyes for a moment. She recalled the deep scar on Xavier"s face that damaged his left eye completely. She pulled her lower lips inside and hardened her heart.
Joseph continued…..
"But Uncle"s choice was cut down to zero when he was made to choose in between his own flesh and blood and you" Joseph sighed before he turned around and settle back on the chair as his tone became heavy talking about Rose and Martha
"That disgusting Kong Wei used Aunty Martha and Rose as bait to get the information. They blackmailed uncle in the name of stripping Rose"s clothes and r*pe her in front of everyone. What was Rose"s age? She was barely 17? How can a father let his own daughter go through this?"
"Uncle chose Rose over you"
After saying this Joseph looked up to see Xiu Mei"s expression. He was surprised to see that her expression softened a bit as the corner of her lips lifted up a little.
"I"m glad Uncle Xavier made the right choice. Afterall I was merely an orphan and a stranger whereas Rose was his real daughter. No one would have cared whether I was alive or dead anyway" Xiu Mei genuinely smiled, but there was a pinch of irony hidden in her emotions that Feng Jianyu and Lu Xion caught easily.
Kong Da, Kong Wei and Kong Wen"s willingness to toy with a girls" innocence proved that they are demons. At last Xavier gave up when they tore away Rose"s clothes shamelessly, ignoring her painful whimpers and struggle as she begged for help from her father.
Joseph stopped for a while as he felt his throat choked, and wiped away tears. He was Xavier"s nephew but after his parents" death in a ma.s.sive earthquake, he was officially adopted by Xavier"s family at the age of twelve as the elder son. That time Rose was only two years old and being the only child in the family, everyone dotes on her.
To support the family financially and fund Rose"s higher education, Joseph went to work overseas. Back in the country….When he failed to establish any communication with his family for almost a week, he called Kong house to speak to Alice and was secretly informed by the servant what happened with Alice and Xavier.
Joseph"s story was only halfway through, but Xiu Mei managed to join all the dots. It was obvious that even after getting her location details, Kong Da didn"t let go of Xavier and his family.
Now that she looks back at the doll lying on the floor, she remembered it was Rose"s favorite doll from his childhood. Uncle Xavier"s bday present for her.
Xavier was not trying to put a lifeless doll to sleep but little Rose. After Rose"s death, that doll became his precious daughter, to whom he wanted to protect at any cost. This explains the reason of his violent behavior when Xiu Mei touched it. He was only protecting his daughter.
Xiu Mei contemplated about the metal wires on the lower body of the doll. Thinking of something she looked at Joseph.
"Rose was molested" It was a statement rather a question from her.