************

CHAPTER 258

"Okay." Lin Huilang cleaned her eyes and blew her nostrils into her handkerchief. "I would wait."

"No worries. Thank you two for today. I appreciate," Lin Zian thanked his brother and his sister-in-law.

Coming from him, it meant a lot as their older brother was just too stubborn to admit to some certain things.

"It is okay. We must take our leave now," Lin Jie informed them.

"You can sleep over here if you want. There are plenty of rooms to accommodate everyone."

"I beg to decline. We would just lodge in the hotel. I have already booked for three nights. We leave first thing tomorrow morning for Star Cross City."

"Oh. If that is what you want. I would ask for someone to drop you off then."

"Thank you. Hope to see you two soon in a much better family gathering," Lin Jie said, his eyes darting between his two elder brothers.

"I would try my best. I also need to spend time with my new grandniece and make up to her mother for us not finding her on time," Lin Liqin said.

Li Jing was feeling so happy hearing these brothers speak like this. Now that it was well proven that she was from the family, she would not want the initial family to have this disjointedness and be apart.

'Thank you all for accepting me as a part of your family."

"Nonsense. You are one of us whether anyone approves or not, they cannot change your DNA."

Li Liqin had a point. It was either the family members accepted it or not but all in all, she was the heir apparent and granddaughter of the patriarch of the family.

For those who were wise, they would warm up to her and be on her good side rather than being against her. Regardless, it was normal for everyone not to like or accept someone especially when they had ulterior motives against you.

"Thank you all so much. If you would excuse me, please I would love to retire to bed early."

"Why yes, carry on. Your grandfather and I would have a chit chat before I leave."

"Okay, do have a nice day and a safe journey." Li Jing took her leave, leaving the siblings to themselves and went upstairs.

The day sure was a stressful one for her but she was glad it ended in her favour. Just as she made her way to her room, her phone began to ring.

She checked the caller and found out it was Yin Lifen. That was when it rang in her mind that ever since she saw her friend with that handsome guy, she had not seen her again.

'Oh Li Jing! What kind of a guest are you anyway? Up till now, you did not think about Fen Fen's welfare first and just let her scurry free.' Li Jing scolded herself mentally.

She answered the call and placed the phone on her left ear. "Hello, Fen Fen, how are you? I am so sorry for not checking up on you since," Li Jing quickly apologized the moment she heard her friend breathe into the phone.

She did not wait nor give Yin Lifen enough time to say anything and bombarded her ears with her words.

"Calm down Li Jing. I am not angry. I am fine. I called your room line when I noticed you were not picking your calls earlier on and Alix mentioned that you were in a heated family meeting. Baby, I am concerned about you though."

"Oh me, please do not worry yourself. The situation managed to take care of itself. I am good."

"Thank goodness. I am glad."

"Yeah, things went well. Oh, that reminds me, where are you by the way? Where went you yesterday?"

"Umm about that… Uh, can I call you back later? I need to do something quickly. Love you, bye."

"Wait, Fen Fen…"

POM! POM!

Li Jing looked at her phone and saw that the call had ended and shook her head. She could not exactly wrap her mind on where or what her friend was doing but judging from the soft laughter she heard just before the call ended, made her have second thoughts.

Knowing just who her friend was and how she could take care of herself, Li Jing did not worry much about the issue. She was fine with how Yin Lifen sounded. It simply meant that she was okay wherever she was and would not hesitate to put a call through to her in case she needed or wanted her help.

With that settled, she walked towards her own door and was about to turn the doorknob open when something in the distance caught her attention.

At first, she wanted to ignore it and go and take a nice hot bath then sleep but something at the back of her mind kept on nagging her to go and have a look.

Letting out a deep sigh, Li Jing shook her head before releasing the knob and heading straight for the portrait down the hall.

By the time she arrived at the scene her eyes widened at the sight. Due to the fact that she had to prepare for yesterday's event, Li Jing did not have enough time to stroll or visit her grandfather's room which she was informed was on the fourth floor.

And if she had done that, perhaps she would have seen this portrait.

It was a wall long portrait of the most beautiful lady she had ever seen. Although the lady looked so familiar she could not tell who she was exactly or was it because she had seen that her grandfather and his siblings all had the same face that she was confused as to whom the lady in the portrait was.

Instinctively, she looked at the bottom of the portrait and read out what was written there.

"Portrait of Young Miss Lin Quinyang on her twenty-second birthday."

If she thought she was surprised then that was just a start. This was her very own birth mother when she was two years younger than Li Jing.

At first, she had wanted to think that it was a picture of her grandmother but when she read what was written below, she could barely believe her eyes.

Everyone told her she was a beauty and she believed but compared to the lady in the portrait on the wall, Li Jing began to have second thoughts about her own looks.

She looked so much like her mother no doubt, only just slightly less beautiful than what she was seeing there. Now she knew where she got her beauty from and now it even further intensified the claim on the fact that her mother could and would never become any man's mistress.

Her grandfather was right and he had every reason to be. Just how could the woman before her be second to someone?

She was the kind of person that men would grovel at her feet for. She had all it took, beauty, brains and brawn. If she had run away it was probably because she could not withstand the pressure or something else.

'Wait a minute, what if mother was kidnapped and she did not run away?' Li Jing thought inwardly.

It was not an idea that one would throw away just easily. Nope. Especially considering just the kind of persons that were present in their family tree.

Nope. It was totally feasible and now she had a very good clue as to where to begin her investigations from.

She would make sure to check all the possible options and not rule anyone out. In fact, now, her two grand aunties where the first suspect she had on her list.

Both of them had motives that would make them want to remove the heir to Lin Zian's fortune.

Although among both ladies, Lin Xiulan had the most serious motive as removing her mother would ensure her son took over but Hu Qi on the other hand was just jealous and coveted the necklace on her neck.

Subconsciously, Li Jing reached up for it and her fingers grazed the shining gem on it till her mind began to calm down and she continued her thoughts once more.

~~~~~

Thank you all very much for reading. Like I promised, here are the names of Li Jing's family members and her relationship with them.

LIN'S FAMILY TREE.

Lin Zian – Li Jing's grandfather.

Lin Liqin – Li Jing's second grand uncle.

Lin Qi / Hu Qi – Li Jing's third grand auntie.

Lin Jie – Li Jing's fourth grand uncle.

Lin Xiulan – Lin Liqin's wife and Li Jing's Grand auntie.

Lin Huilang – Lin Jie's wife and Li Jing's grand auntie.

Lin Jingyi – Li Jing's cousin.

Hu Shen – Li Jing's uncle (Hu Qi's first twin)

Hu Shan – Li Jing's uncle (Hu Qi's second twin)

Lin Luli – Li Jing's young aunties (Lin Huilan's adopted female twin)

Lin Long – Li Jing's young uncle (Lin Huilang's adopted male twin)

NB: As other characters are introduced into the story, I would drop their name for easier understanding. Thanks.