Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

"Are you an idiot?" Alix dryly asked.

"That's not the answer to my question."

"Yes, because I don't answer stupid questions."

She scoffed and tried to walk past him but he blocked her way.

"Will you really go out with him?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Does it concern you?"

"I wouldn't have asked if it hadn't."

She tried to overturn him again but he blocked her way again.

"Yeah now I am convinced that your right place was in jail only, considering how you are harassing me right now."

"I just want to know if you will be going with him."

"Is 'stupid' written on my face anywhere?"

"Of course not."

"Then you should understand the difference between using somebody out of necessity and being actually interested in him. Besides, I don't have a fetish for Frenchmen."

"Then what fetish do you have?"

She grimaced.

"For starters, how about a man who doesn't stalk me all the way to the other end of the world and block my way?"

"I was just concerned for you," he pursed his lips.

Alix arched her brow. "Over a model who cannot even hide her affair? I wonder how she survived until now."

"I wasn't sure if Wang Tianhui had any contacts or men keeping an eye out. What if somebody could have hurt you?"

"I don't need your help."

"You should drop that attitude. You can play all the mind games you want but you cannot ensure your physical safety. Politicians have some very nasty people under their belt who can go beyond hitting women..if you know what I mean."

Alix made a face and since she didn't have counter to his point, she simply walked away. Jin followed, walking beside her.

"Why are you following me?"

"Exit's the same way."

She expected him to be on his way once they exited the hotel but to her extreme annoyance and frustration, his company continued.

"Fuck you!"

Jin paused. "Let's get married first."

She blinked rapidly, her expression then turning indescribable the next moment upon realization.

"Jin!"

Their heads turned towards a cheery and zealous voice of an elderly woman, excitedly waving her arm at him.

Alix stared at her for five good seconds.

Why does she look so much like Mrs. Liu?

"Grandma," Jin smiled.

Damn it. I forgot his maternal grandparents live here.

Nana's mother and Jin's grandmother, Liang Xiao Dan, merrily hopped to their side with a face beaming with joy and eagerness.

"I missed you!" She sniffled and pulled him into a hug.

"I missed you too," Warmth shone in his eyes. "How are you?"

She pouted. "I keep missing you and the adorable cats."

"You should come back to Beijing."

"We are preparing for that. In the next few months, we will definitely return."

"Perfect."

Her husband, Liang Zou, joined her as well, pulling Jin's ear. "You brat. Don't lie. You completely forgot us."

"I swear I didn't."

Their attention quickly fell on Alix with Liang Xiao Dan asking, "You must be Ren Alix."

She threw Jin a silent glare, wondering why they knew about her or more importantly, how they knew about her.

"Hello," she smiled, albeit stiffly. "It must be after a long time you are meeting your grandson, right? I won't interrupt your time. I'll be on my way."

"No, no, we want you to come with us!"

"..."

"Please join us for dinner," she shone. "And stay the night at our house too~"

Her brow twitched hard. "I have a hotel booking."

"Oh we can cancel it, no biggie~ How can we let Jin's dear friend stay by herself when we are here?"

Are they this charitable towards everybody he knows?

But she could guess whose plan this was. For his grandparents to be so conveniently waiting outside the hotel at the right time and were now asking her to stay at their house?

Alix inwardly cursed him.

Will all my life be spent cursing this man?

—

Alix studied their luxurious but modest house that gave off the typical European decor feel. They had it in the best location with a view of the Eiffel tower in the far distance that was scintillating in the night. She stared at the peacefulness for a long moment and then her gaze fell on one of the walls where a neat wavy line of photo frames hung.

She went ahead and took a curious look. The elderly couple were naturally a part of the family pictures but what puzzled her was Nana was nowhere in them. They did have some childhood pictures of her but lone pictures. All family pictures included only a boy.

Probably their son. So he has a maternal uncle too. But why is Mrs. Liu not in any family picture?

"Mom was separated from them at birth."

She glanced up, surprised. Jin soundlessly stood beside her, staring solemnly at the same picture frames with his hands in his pockets.

"Mom was raised in an orphanage until she was adopted. There she met Uncle Yukito and Uncle Yukira."

A look of disbelief stretched over her expression for she wasn't expecting Nana to have a backstory like this.

"...Why were they separated?"

He pursed his lips, grim. "Long story short, Grandma has a twin sister who also happened to give birth in the same hospital. Grandma and Grandpa didn't know then."

He proceeded to explain how Liang Xiao Fan lost one of her twins during birth out of neglect and lack of hospital care for which she held Liang Zou responsible. Revenge had brainwashed her to snatch Nana away from them just like they took her daughter away from her. Then also how she had used her daughter Serena to bring chaos in Nana's life years later.

"It was after Mom's marriage that she reunited with her family."

Alix stayed quiet.

It was yet another horrifying saga of how a blind revenge had slipped everything out of spiral and destroyed a family's years of happy life and future.

She felt terrible for the couple but Alix found herself relating more to Liang Xiao Fan. The pain, the tragedy, the fury, the helplessness - she could relate to everything she had felt at that time.

Jin quietly stared at her, making a good guess of what she might be thinking.

"She must be hated a lot…" she murmured. "Guess we are two peas in a pod."

He hummed. "There was a phase of distance like that. But time slowly healed their differences. If you ask Grandma about her now, she will beam like the morning sun."

Her eyes slightly narrowed as she turned her gaze towards him. "Why do I feel like you are trying to make a point here?"

He simply smiled at that. Slowly lifting his hand, he playfully tugged with a lock of her hair before tucking it at the back of her ear.

"That our future wouldn't be any different."