10:00 p.m., Elite Sapphire Penthouse ;

Xi Yuan stepped down his car and reached towards the main entrance as usual, clearly uninformed that someone was already waiting for him there.

"Yuan.", the feminine voice resonated through the empty air right when the man was about to unlock the door. Pinching the space between his brows, Xi Yuan turned around and took in the sight of the drunk woman lying leisurely on the cold bench, "Miss Huang.", he acknowledged. What the hell was this woman up to now? Hadn't her elder brother explained to her the Huang family's standpoint about all the fantasies she'd designed involving him or the Xi family, already?

"You... How could you do this to... me?", the woman stood up from the bench and approached the man in a hasty manner, like a toddler, her legs too weak to even stand steady, "I've dreamt of... nothing but... marrying you since the day I saw you... for the first time in high school. Yet, you ruthless jerk, you did not even dare to reject me in a dignified manner. You humiliated me. You..."

Before the man could even respond, the woman knelt down and started laughing. Hysterically. A few minutes after she blabbered something under her breath, which Xi Yuan was more than sure were insults directed towards his woman and him, Huang Biu fell down unconscious upon the considerably smooth dark wooden flooring.

"Brother? What are you--", Xi Wei approached the man from behind shortly after with a frown, confusedly, "Whoa! What is she doing here this late?!"

"What do you think?", Xi Yuan asked back, "Carry her inside and text her brother to pick her up later."

"Hey! I can't just 'carry' women around, you know?", Xi Wei countered defensively, "I have got a girlfriend, man."

"Huh.", Xi Yuan raised his brows in mockery, "Among the two Rong sisters, who do you think is not worth being poked? Xinghe or Xiao?"

"Right. Definitely Sister-in-law.", the man sighed, "I don't think the world is ready to witness, let alone go through the consequences of, her jealousy. Not yet."

"Smart."

____________________

12:30 a.m., Military Chief Office ;

After skimming through roughly a hundred files, the Florence brothers threw their hands up in the air, in resignation. "Alright! I give up. There is nothing I can decode from these babies."

"Come on, you guys.", Rong Xinghe muttered, absent-mindedly, as her eyes raked up and down, some stapled set of pages with casual appraisal tirelessly, "Keep your spirits high. We've got the whole night to ourselves."

"What?!", David Florence almost yelled up, "Entire night. There's no way I am staying here for that long."

"May I know why?", Shawn Florence questioned as he closed his eyes and started massaging his temple inertly.

"No. You may not, little brother.", the man rolled his eyes.

"What about me, David?", Rong Xinghe asked this time, turning a page over lazily, "What's so important than this?"

"Sex!"

"..."

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Shawn raised his hand in mid-air, gesturing to the girl that he would go first, and finally cleared his throat, "When the hell did you even meet a woman?"

"Five minutes ago."

"Who is it?", Rong Xinghe scoffed.

"The coffee machine girl? Nancy?", David smiled at the woman triumphantly, "So pardon me if I take a break for myself. It's been quite a day.

"Not to mention, I think all of this, that we've been doing for hours here, is a dead end. It's all good for nothing, Xinghe. Do you really think that a terrorist like Ahmed Ali Fadhil would repeat some pattern?"

"Every criminal has a specific pattern, boys.", Rong Xinghe shook her head, passing a dull-yellow colored file to Shawn Florence, "Here, look at this. Business. Politics. Borders. Every country he ever attacked, Ahmed Ali Fadhil chose these three passages altogether to enter the target locations.

"So that if one method fails, he would-"

"He would still have two more options, through which, he could infect the body, the system of the entire country. From the inside.", David Florence cut in, realization slowly bringing a grin to his face, "Oh my god, Xinghe, you are a genius!"

"Tell me something new.", the girl haughtily smirked, "Evidently, Aftaab Ali is a critical business pawn to him. He doesn't trust anyone else in the business sector. Jackson and Abram are already in charge of that arena, though. So nothing to worry about.

"And as far as the borders are concerned, I can entrust Elijah with it. He is a mastermind when it comes to troop deployment and strategy formations.

"That's two out of three. Coming to politics, I will have to speak to Prime Minister Li regarding this issue, first thing in the morning tomorrow.", the girl concluded.

"Okay then. I will tell Mr. Shou to schedule a meeting for you, with the PM on my way out.", David Florence clasped his hands eagerly as he turned around to head out of the cabin.

"Wait a second. You already knew about it, didn't you?", Shawn Florence squinted his eyes at the girl accusingly, earning a faint nod and a broad smile from her.

"So you've been fooling us all this time?!", David Florence was, of course, in a state of disbelief and infuriation, "Unbelievable!

"No. What the hell do you think we are? Unemployed? Huh?"

"Yes?", the girl looked back at the two men questioningly, "I mean apart from the missions I assign you, what else do you even do for an earning, David?"

The man stared at Rong Xinghe for some time, an expression of distress and helplessness plastered across his face, hoping for the woman to take her words back. But deep down, both the men knew that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Rong Xinghe could literally hear the man's self-esteem getting crushed bit-by-bit. And she would've been lying if she were to say that she wasn't enjoying it. Long face did really suit David Florence, she thought to herself.

"Your words. Sometimes... they truly hurt.", the man clutched his chest as he stormed out of the girl's office, akin to some 4-year old angry kid.

"Now, you've hurt my elder brother!", Shawn Florence chuckled, shaking his head defeatedly, "Who will put him to bed tonight, hmm? I am telling you. He isn't just my kid, Xinghe."

Letting out a soft laugh, Rong Xinghe leaned back and rested her head against her chair headset, "You are right. It is ours. And I have been a careless and irresponsible mother over the past two years. But I promise. I will try to be there for him more often now. Okay?"

"You better.", the man chuckled as he organized the messed up bookshelves hurriedly, "So... do you have time for a roadside tea tonight? After work?"

"Do I look like someone who would turn down tea? Hell no!", the girl smiled, picking her coat up from the arm pad of her chair as she dialed her driver's number.