Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

After a long and arduous time of torture that Liu Hai and Zhou Yichen's duo showered him with, Jinhai somehow made his way out of the chaotic gang to take a breath. His chest heaved up and down, and he felt as if he already lost a lot of his precious years just by being in their company. He looked back and saw that they still had the energy to play and goof around.

Jinhai glanced back again, and his heart and gaze felt bitter with how Nuo seemed so closer to Zhou Yichen.

"It's just that he noticed her curls. It wasn't a big deal..."

Up until this point, Nuo was only closer to him and he always enjoyed her undivided attention, but now seeing her getting warmed up to another father figure like person didn't sit well with him.

He felt a foreboding with Zhou Yichen getting added to the mix of Liu Hai's gang. Plus, he also seemed serious about actually becoming a temporary CEO of Liu Corps.

"I need to stop this from happening..." he whispered to himself.

"That will be impossible."

A calm and unhurried voice came from his back, and he raised his brow seeing Ai walk up to him and slightly bowed. "Hello, Mr. Liu."

Jinhai tilted his head. "...What will be impossible?"

"Stopping my Dad. Once he sets his mind about a job, he won't stop until he gets to do it."

His brow twitched. "I am the CEO. If I don't have the power, who else has?"

Ai stared at him. "Dad has his ways to get things done. You will be helpless. It's better if you just let him do as he pleases. It will be for a short while anyway. The phase doesn't last for long. It's alright. Liu Corps won't be at loss. Dad has a good business sense."

Jinhai blinked. "He could have started his own business."

She pursed her lips. "He wouldn't have been able to stick to it forever. He is a free bird."

"You have interesting parents."

"To me, they are just two children in adult bodies picking fights with each other," she grimaced and then glanced at him. "You are not any less interesting yourself," Ai tried to probe, "I really do wish to know how you met Mrs. Liu. My writer's instinct can sense a deep story behind it."

Jinhai cocked his brow. "I will tell you someday."

Ai blinked rapidly. "Really?"

He hummed.

"By the way..." she cleared her throat, "I want to confirm something. I mean I already saw it, but I still wanted to ask."

"What?"

The glow on her face looked different to Jinhai for some reason.

"Are Mr. Liu Jing and Mr. Yukito r-really married to each other?"

He tilted his head. "Yes."

Ai's face blushed crimson like a ripe tomato. "Oh."

"Did Jun never tell you that?"

"I don't think so."

"Why did you ask that?"

Ai coughed and fidgeted with her fingers. "I have read all sorts of romance stories including Boys Love. But it was my first time seeing two men as a couple in real life," she covered her face, "It was exciting. Mr. Jing is quite passionate."

"..."

Her face reddened further. "They actually gave me inspiration to try writing a boys love story too," her eyes sparkled more and more, "No, I will definitely write it one day. They will be my character inspirations."

"I see," he cocked his brow, amused.

Jinhai thought this conversation with his future daughter-in-law was going smoother than what he had imagined. He hadn't talked to her so directly after his and Nana's wedding anniversary banquet.

Ai's question snapped him out of his daze.

"What do you think about Jun now?" She quietly asked.

Jinhai stared at her unblinkingly.

"Do you still resent Jun for what happened?"

His deep, black eyes ever so slightly widened as he connected the dots. "...Did he tell you everything?"

He was doubtful if she was actually talking about Jun's rebirth or something else.

She smiled. "He told me that you know everything. You were the first person he confessed to about his rebirth."

He kept a long silence.

So he told her...

But then he didn't find it so surprising a second later. He knew his son inside out and that there would come a day when he would have eventually confessed to Ai. He wouldn't be someone to hide this important fact forever.

When he gazed back at Ai, he could feel that she sincerely believed Jun despite how fantasy it would feel like.

Jinhai slowly said, "I am glad to know that you didn't dismiss it as...something ridiculous. This is important to him."

Ai nodded. "I understand it very well. I am myself reborn."

Now, this was something that took Jinhai by shock.

"Since Jun shared and trusted you with something so important and personal to him, I know I can do that too. I am the woman who died that same night by falling from a terrace onto his car roof. It wasn't suicide but at this point, I don't know if it was an accident either."

Silence.

Jinhai's eyelashes trembled. He couldn't believe the coincidence that Jun fell in love with the same woman who...

Is it really a coincidence though...?

Ai asked, "Do you still resent Jun?"

Jinhai seemed as if he was organizing his thoughts. "...At first, I was," his low voice rang in the air. "I resented him very much and if you know the whole story, you would know that Jun wasn't completely innocent either. Nana...is my whole world. I cannot bear anybody threatening to take her away from me whether it's our children or be it herself. When I heard for the first time from Jun that she died, my first reaction was to punch him. I threw him out of the house without a second thought. I didn't need to hear anything more after that."

She said nothing.

"But yeah...you made me realize how blind I was to my own mistakes that I made in the past," he faintly smiled, "Sometimes I feel envious of Jun that he got a second chance. If I had gotten one too, I wouldn't have chosen the path that had hurt Nana so much at one point in time."