21 Jealous Text

Meanwhile back at his own apartment, Sun Jingwei pumps his fist in the air at the successful date request. He could have invited her over to his apartment and cooked a meal for her, but a Michelin star restaurant would be more impressive.

He had not told her it was a dinner date, but he refused to possibly risk their lives on an empty stomach.

Jingwei hopes she wears one of the dresses, but to be honest, she could have worn a potato sack and he would still be happy to see her.

Because this would mean that she had shown up. She had stayed, and not quit at his outrageous request and less than professional behaviour.

(He ignores the ugly voice in his head that murmurs 'she is just doing this for work' 'she's using you like all the others' 'she doesn't even like you, no one likes you, go away'.)

Things will be fine. They will have a wonderful dinner and then they'll go to a club where hopefully nothing terrible happens and the case will be solved and Sun Jingwei doesn't have to worry about endangering Xue Ning's life again.

And then they can perhaps go on another dinner date together. Lunch. Breakfast. Supper. He thinks it would be nice to finally go out with someone that's not pretending to butter him up only to stab him in the back.

Xue Ning seemed like someone who would stab him from the front. She is terrible at hiding her intentions… and it's refreshing. He stares at her name on his contact list, thumb hovering on the Message button, before forcing himself to stop.

She would find him too clingy otherwise, he reminded himself. He didn't like it when women constantly contacted him with nonsense, so he shouldn't do the same to her.

But it was hard to resist the impulse to text her something completely ridiculous just to see what scathing retort she comes up with to reply.

Maybe just one message wouldn't hurt. It was to reply to her earlier question after all.

To Xue Ning

P.S. The tigers are real. They eat and shit a lot.

There. That's all. He'll put his phone away and focus on important things, like the company's share prices and whether or not the paparazzi have finally vacated his premises.

His phone buzzes with a new message. He immediately picks it up, hoping for a reply.

It's from an unknown number.

He opens it, only for the earlier excitement to be replaced with confusion.

From Unknown Number:

ENJOY YOUR EVENING

IT'LL BE YOUR LAST

Was this a prank? How did someone even know he planned to go out tonight? He repressed the urge to shiver. This wasn't anything he needed to worry about.

Did Xue Ning send this message? No, that was impossible. He only knew her for a few days, but he knows she would never send an anonymous text to threaten him. She would have just called him outright to cancel their date.

Crap, didn't Xue Ning have a boyfriend? Or at least something like one? He rubbed his temples, trying to recall their meeting in the club VIP rooms. He remembered the sinking feeling of disappointment when he heard that she was attached.

Maybe it was Xue Ning's jealous boyfriend who sent this message to threaten him.

But in his honest opinion, this mysterious boyfriend of hers wasn't any good. What kind of boyfriend didn't visit his girlfriend when she was hospitalised? He didn't even show up once!

Xue Ning had no visitors during her stay in the hospital at all, which was why Jingwei made the time to keep her company.

This mysterious boyfriend also didn't even attempt to deck Jingwei for accidentally putting his girlfriend in danger. What kind of man was he? A heartless bastard?!

He was a coward too, for choosing to threaten him via text. Jingwei scowled and called the number, determined to give him a piece of his mind, only to be greeted with an automated voice message.

'The number you have called is no longer in service. Please, try again later. The number you have called is no -'

Jingwei cuts off the call in disgust. This mysterious man probably used a burner phone just to send one threatening message. He didn't even have the guts to use his real phone number!

He'll let Xue Ning know during dinner that her boyfriend is a spineless bastard that threatens people via text. How could she want to spend her life with this kind of person?!

"What a coward," he mutters to himself, flinging his phone on the sofa irritably. Hopefully, Xue Ning will dump that sorry bastard after giving his number to Jingwei so that Jingwei can hire people to scribble it on the walls of public bathrooms everywhere.

The thought makes him smile. He stretches, deciding to spend more time preparing for his fun night out than thinking about this issue.

Xue Ning clearly deserved better - and perhaps he'll use this dinner to prove it to her.

=

"Sun Jingwei, you bastard… You still want to go out and date?" A feminine voice hissed in anger, before it chuckled darkly in disgust. If anyone else had heard it, they would have shuddered and hastily made excuses to leave, but the one person who was listening merely smiled peacefully.

"Let him have one good night," the second voice said, like it was trying to cajole a child throwing a tantrum. It belonged to a man, and his voice gave the impression of a snake-oil salesman trying to make a sale. "You know the Boss has his plans. Trust him."

"Of course I do!" The first voice yelled. "I always trust the Boss. Don't insult my loyalty!"

"Then, make sure you don't screw up this time," the second voice loses its geniality, becoming harsher and colder almost immediately. "Our Boss' benevolence isn't infinite, he won't tolerate another mistake."

"I won't… I won't…" the first voice promises, almost feverish. "I just need one more chance…"

"And you will have it, Xiumin…If you succeed…" The man throws his head back and laughs.

"The Sun family will fall tonight, starting from that arrogant Sun Jingwei!"