"I — " Thomas stuttered.
"Why are you here?" he growled, narrowing his eyes at Thomas.
"I — " he cleared his throat as he composed himself. "I need to talk to Lily."
"Lily?" an icy smile crept on his face. "I was not aware that you are… on a first-name basis with my wife." Zhou Jingren dragged the words 'my wife' as if informing him that she is his.
Confusion immediately swirled in Thomas' eyes. How could this man act like this? He wondered why would Zhou Jingren show so much anger towards him. Did Zhou Jingren think that he liked his wife? "It's not like that — I was just — " Thomas felt the other's sharp gaze towards him. "I have something important to tell her."
"You can tell me." Zhou Jingren's clenched his jaws.
"Jingren… let the poor man in."
Thomas' immediately let a sigh of relief when he heard Lily's words. He wondered what could have made Zhou Jingren act like this. Was it because of his grandfather's death? Seeing Zhou Jingren did not move an inch from the door, Thomas' cleared his throat again. "Miss Lily said… to let me in."
In response, Zhou Jingren narrowed his eyes at him before he reluctantly opened the door, letting Thomas go inside the room. After Thomas went inside, Zhou Jingren closed the door and led him towards the living room of the suite that they were staying in.
"Sit," Lily said as she clutched the long robe closer to her body. "Is this about Isaac?"
"No," Thomas sat opposite to Lily as he gave a wry look towards the shirtless Zhou Jingren and his messy hair. Was it possible that…
Thomas shook his head as he closed his eyes. How could he even think about this matter?
"What is it then?" Zhou Jingren asked. He sat next to Lily. His face was still dark as he stared at Thomas. "Is it really worth disturbing us?"
"I—" Thomas swallowed his nonexistent saliva. "I believe Ron Is planning something against you."
"Oh?" as expected, Lily only smiled when she heard his words. "I'm listening."
"Ron and my father were close since they were younger. I always see him… I mean, we always see him as a part of our family. I see him as my father's best friend. Someone who is willing to give his advice. I always knew that he is influencing my father's decision." He took a deliberate pause as he eyed the interest in Lily's eyes.
"I just never thought that this is all possible." He added as he sighed.
"You can go directly to the point." Zhou Jingren's words were still sullen. Thomas' words did not even gather a hint of interest in the latter's eyes.
"Well… Ron together with a woman called Chen Shi is planning to ruin Lily's name. They are also planning to obtain the Lee Group." He wanted to add that they are planning to manipulate him and Adrian. But chose not to say it. After all, this was his personal matter. Lily has nothing to do with it.
"Interesting," Lily's eyes glimmered with mischief. This instantly surprised Thomas. Was it possible that they already know who Chen Shi is?
"I… If you don't know who that woman is then let me tell you… that woman is the worst." He said. While Lily is smart and manipulative in her own way, Thomas could not deny that this Chen Shi was an original case of lunatic. "That woman was the previous matriarch of the Liang Family. She is Demi and Ben's mother before Jun Liang and Chen Shi divorced seven years after their marriage. At that time, Ben was six, and Demi was three."
"Hmmm," Lily added. While Jun Liang did not tell her about the specifics of the divorce, she already knew that something was wrong. Lily knew it from the way Jun mentioned her name, or the way his upper lip trembled when he warned her about his ex-wife.
"Everyone thought the divorce was amicable. That it was because the two lost interest towards each other." Thomas continued. "This was before she… she came here in China to pursue her singing."
"What everyone didn't know was that… the woman actually framed Jun Liang and blackmailed him." Lily immediately raised an eyebrow when she heard his words.
"With what?"
"Well… she faked her injuries and bruises. She gathered some evidence of physical injuries and threatened to sue him if he does not give in to her demands."
Lily's brows furrowed when she heard the latter's words. At that time, the issue of women being abused by their husbands could ruin anyone's reputation. With the absence of social media, people will always believe the news from the tabloids.
If you think about it, this is a very calculative and manipulative method.
"How did you know this?" Zhou Jingren asked.
"Well… I unexpectedly found out about it. I stumbled upon the file when my father had mistaken it for another file and gave it directly to me. The file was from my father's secret vault. That vault contains all the materials that my father," he eyed Zhou Jingren. "Your maternal grandfather could use to blackmail someone. My guess was he was also planning on using her in some way. But he didn't have the chance to do it."
"Do you still have a copy of this… evidence?"
"I do." He nodded. "I had to keep it safe somewhere in Singapore." He answered. At that time, he always thought that he could give the evidence to Jun Liang so he could use it against her. In return, Thomas would ask the man to support him in his fight to keep the Lee Group under him. However, he never got the chance to do this as Isaac Lee discovered that Zhou Jingren, his grandson, was alive. "I can give it to you…" he added. "But you have to promise me something."