But at the same time, Jia Li slipped her hand in his to grasp his fingers. Holding them tight, she scooted towards him, closing the distance between them.
"Now, I want to sit quietly for a while, so can you put that phone away?" saying so, she put her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes.
Tang mirrored her action and leaned his head against the back rest of the seat.
At the wedding
"What do you mean that he has gone? Where has he gone? Wasn't he your responsibility?" Mr. Xie was looking around for Tang when Patricia walked back into the wedding with the empty wheelchair.
"Well, he told me that he had something important to do. So he left," she said, stalling for time.
She had no idea about how would the family react to Tang leaving with Jia Li. She assumed that the woman wouldn't have resorted to going away with him in a hurry if she had been welcome here.
"What could be more important than his sister's wedding? And why did you not come and inform any of us? And how could he have gone by himself? Who is with him? What aren't you telling us? You don't know who you have messed with, Ms. Patricia Woods," Mr. Xie was getting more and more aggressive.
"It is not her fault. Xie Tang left willingly with Lin Jia Li. I believe you may be acquainted with her. She has asked me to inform you that she will bring Tang back safely to your house, tonight," Hui intervened.
"Lin Jia Li? She is here? And who are you?" Mrs. Xie who had been listening in, shot rapid fire questions at him.
"Ying Hui, what's happening? What's wrong?" Eric had come over seeing his boss in the middle of a commotion.
Everyone was thoroughly confused by now.
The newly wedded groom pacified everyone and asked Hui, "how exactly do you know Lin Jia Li? Aren't you Eric's boss from London?"
Before Hui could respond, Eric intervened and answered his cousin, "Jia Li works for the same company as well. She is here to attend my wedding."
"Wait, are you telling me that Jia Li is…" Eric suddenly recalled Xie Tang's name from the file which he had collected and read on her at the time of her recruitment.
"Jia Li has been in London all this while?" it was Chu's turn to ask the question.
"Yes, she has been in London and your brother is well aware of the fact. He had come over to sign a business deal with our company in partnership with his cousin, Mr. Zheng last month," Hui explained calmly.
Mrs. Xie sat down on one of the chairs with a thud.
"You mean to say that he was coming back after visiting her when he had that collapse in the flight?" she asked.
"I guess the timing matches and he was on a flight from London to Shanghai at the time," Mr. Xie said quietly.
The wedding vows had been exchanged and Chu had gone to look for her brother right after it. That's when they had realised that he was missing.
At the hotel
"Don't move, stay like this. I need to catch my breath after all that hard work," Jia Li was lying halfway on top of Tang on the bed in her room.
After helping him get on the wheelchair from the taxi and to the room, she had struggled under his weight while making him get off it and onto the bed. In the process, she had fallen with him under her and that's where she lay currently.
"Huh! Tired already? What happened to the tall claims you made in front of Patricia and your boss?" Tang continued belting out his one liners on the phone.
Jia Li sat up and scowled at him.
"I was trying to postpone the confrontation and be kind to you a little longer. But I guess you need a dose now," she threatened him.
Getting up from the bed, she helped him prop up against the bedrest and went and sat on one of the sofas across him.
"So tell me… what was the reason for you not reaching out to me when you needed me the most?" she asked, arms folded across her chest.
"You know the answer to that. I wasn't being a martyr, only practical. Initially I didn't know whether I would get better or not though everyone around me kept assuring that I will. Later, when I saw myself dependent upon a barrage of people to help me survive each day, I couldn't bring myself to have you see me in this condition," he wrote to her.
"Shame on you, Xie Tang. You are not worthy of my love. How dare you make assumptions and decisions on my behalf? In the zillion years of knowing each other, is this my character assessment in your eyes?" she said, the room reverberating with her hurt.
But at the same time, Jia Li slipped her hand in his to grasp his fingers. Holding them tight, she scooted towards him, closing the distance between them.
"Now, I want to sit quietly for a while, so can you put that phone away?" saying so, she put her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes.
Tang mirrored her action and leaned his head against the back rest of the seat.
At the wedding
"What do you mean that he has gone? Where has he gone? Wasn't he your responsibility?" Mr. Xie was looking around for Tang when Patricia walked back into the wedding with the empty wheelchair.
"Well, he told me that he had something important to do. So he left," she said, stalling for time.
She had no idea about how would the family react to Tang leaving with Jia Li. She assumed that the woman wouldn't have resorted to going away with him in a hurry if she had been welcome here.
"What could be more important than his sister's wedding? And why did you not come and inform any of us? And how could he have gone by himself? Who is with him? What aren't you telling us? You don't know who you have messed with, Ms. Patricia Woods," Mr. Xie was getting more and more aggressive.
"It is not her fault. Xie Tang left willingly with Lin Jia Li. I believe you may be acquainted with her. She has asked me to inform you that she will bring Tang back safely to your house, tonight," Hui intervened.
"Lin Jia Li? She is here? And who are you?" Mrs. Xie who had been listening in, shot rapid fire questions at him.
"Ying Hui, what's happening? What's wrong?" Eric had come over seeing his boss in the middle of a commotion.
Everyone was thoroughly confused by now.
The newly wedded groom pacified everyone and asked Hui, "how exactly do you know Lin Jia Li? Aren't you Eric's boss from London?"
Before Hui could respond, Eric intervened and answered his cousin, "Jia Li works for the same company as well. She is here to attend my wedding."
"Wait, are you telling me that Jia Li is…" Eric suddenly recalled Xie Tang's name from the file which he had collected and read on her at the time of her recruitment.
"Jia Li has been in London all this while?" it was Chu's turn to ask the question.
"Yes, she has been in London and your brother is well aware of the fact. He had come over to sign a business deal with our company in partnership with his cousin, Mr. Zheng last month," Hui explained calmly.
Mrs. Xie sat down on one of the chairs with a thud.
"You mean to say that he was coming back after visiting her when he had that collapse in the flight?" she asked.
"I guess the timing matches and he was on a flight from London to Shanghai at the time," Mr. Xie said quietly.
The wedding vows had been exchanged and Chu had gone to look for her brother right after it. That's when they had realised that he was missing.
At the hotel
"Don't move, stay like this. I need to catch my breath after all that hard work," Jia Li was lying halfway on top of Tang on the bed in her room.
After helping him get on the wheelchair from the taxi and to the room, she had struggled under his weight while making him get off it and onto the bed. In the process, she had fallen with him under her and that's where she lay currently.
"Huh! Tired already? What happened to the tall claims you made in front of Patricia and your boss?" Tang continued belting out his one liners on the phone.
Jia Li sat up and scowled at him.
"I was trying to postpone the confrontation and be kind to you a little longer. But I guess you need a dose now," she threatened him.
Getting up from the bed, she helped him prop up against the bedrest and went and sat on one of the sofas across him.
"So tell me… what was the reason for you not reaching out to me when you needed me the most?" she asked, arms folded across her chest.
"You know the answer to that. I wasn't being a martyr, only practical. Initially I didn't know whether I would get better or not though everyone around me kept assuring that I will. Later, when I saw myself dependent upon a barrage of people to help me survive each day, I couldn't bring myself to have you see me in this condition," he wrote to her.
"Shame on you, Xie Tang. You are not worthy of my love. How dare you make assumptions and decisions on my behalf? In the zillion years of knowing each other, is this my character assessment in your eyes?" she said, the room reverberating with her hurt.
