"You what?! Wedding? Where did this even come from?", Xi Yuan stared at his parents, as they revealed their motive behind the dinner invitation.

They were sitting by the poolside, under the open sky, cold breeze hitting their faces. Rong Xinghe had accompanied him until she received a call from the MCO. 'It's urgent.', she'd said before she left. She had borrowed his car, leaving him with no option but to wait for Xi Wei to get another one from the underground parking. Xi elders had followed behind him as he found a seat for himself by the mini-bar in the backyard. Only if he'd seen this coming...

"Yuan. We understand, Honey.", Li Jungah squeezed the man's hand a.s.suringly, "You are afraid of the possibilities. I am your mother. Even though I wasn't there for you throughout your entire childhood, I can still see right through you.

"But look me in the eyes, and tell me, you don't want it. You don't want to wed her and have a family with her."

Xi Yuan threw his hands up in disbelief, "You have no idea what you are talking about! I certainly want to build a home with her. One day. I really do. But this is not the right time for that."

"Why?", Xi Chongkun asked, "A girl always wants a royal wedding. She dreams of it since she is born. Don't tell me you don't plan to give that to Xinghe. 

"Because if that is the case, trust me, I won't hesitate once before I disown you. No one is supposed to hurt that girl."

"I get it.", Xi Yuan smiled, "And I agree. No one is allowed to hurt her.

"But that's the point, Dad. Xinghe never had a normal childhood. She is no ordinary girl. I don't even know what kind of marriage she has dreamt of. Or if she even wants to get married in the first place? We never discussed this among ourselves before."

"What do you mean?", Li Jungah cupped the man's face, as he let out a heavy breath. 

"Mom... I love her. More than I have ever loved anyone. Trust me. I want to marry her. But I can't shake off the feeling that she is not ready yet. 

"When she rejected my confession in New York, she told me that she wasn't destined for love, family, or happiness. She believed that her entire life was about pain, grief, loss, and hatred. The Rongs have shattered her hope, Mom.

"I want her to look them in the eye and smirk. That will be the day I will propose to her. Or maybe, I will just haul her into the Civil Affairs Office. You see, I cannot wait to make her my wife. But marrying me means that she will be the Queen to Xi Corporations too. And an Empress ought to hold her head high, in order to not let the crown fall.

"I want her to want it. It shouldn't be about the Xi Family, but us. Xinghe deserves that."

"You really love her, don't you?", Li Jungah asked, her tone astonished. 

"You have no idea.", the man answered. 

_____________________

"What is the matter, Mr. Shou?", Rong Xinghe strode inside her office as she looked at the panicked  man, "What's wrong with Ashfakh?", 

"Look at the screen, Chief.", the old man pointed his index finger towards the girl's desktop. 

The girl walked around her table and fixed her gaze upon the video clip mailed by her Officer. Ashfakh, the twenty-five-year-old man, looked into the camera, his expression earnest. Despite the wound on his head and the blood flowing down his lips, the man's eyes shone. For some unknown reason, Shou Wu found his personality oddly familiar to the girl standing opposite him.

'Xinghe, there is a traitor. Amongst us. In the Armed Forces. He has been financing some underworld organization.', Ashfakh reported, 'Look. I don't think I'll be able to make it out of here alive. But this is something you need to know. There is going to be destruction A ma.s.sive one. Explosion? a.s.sa.s.sination? Maybe both. So heads-up. For the country. It's a pity that we couldn't have that last gla.s.s of whiskey together, though.'

As the video came to an end, Rong Xinghe closed her eyes and processed it silently. "What does this mean, Military Chief?", Shou Wu muttered, confused. 

"Well...", the girl pulled out her phone, "For starters, Ashfakh is off the mission. He is coming back. Let me save his a.s.s first. 

"Secondly, the nation is in danger. I can predict some excruciating nights ahead. And lastly, we have a traitor to slaughter."

_________________

11:30 a.m., Military Chief Office ;

Rong Xinghe was texting Xi Yuan about her whereabouts, informing him that she would be late that night when a spare phone in her right-side-top drawer rang up. The girl picked up the phone and swiped the screen, bringing the device to her ears.

"Quite melodramatic that was.", the girl chuckled, "The entire 'I am not going to make it out alive' speech."

"Hey! You bought that. Accept it.", the man laughed through the other end, "Thanks for the backup though. It would've been difficult handling Mikhail Ivanov on my own. He knew I was connected to Country X. I could tell he wanted me to be dead. So what did you do to him?"

"He is dead. No one gets to touch my men.", Rong Xinghe shrugged, "But he was a prominent businessman. I mean, no one even knew he was involved with terrorist gangs and drug dealings. So I had to-"

"You made it look like an 'accident', didn't you? I figured that.", Ashfakh cut-in. He had known the girl for too long to not understand how her mind worked. "What's my next mission now?", the man questioned.

"No plan. Carol will be taking over from you over there.", Rong Xinghe shook her head, "You are coming back to Country X."

"What?! No. Xinghe, I don't think I should.", the young man protested.

"You don't have to stay away from your nation to protect it, Ashfakh. Flight tickets will be mailed to you. Come home.", the girl stated, "That, by the way, is an order."

"Xinghe. You do realize that our ident.i.ties can't be revealed, right?", Ashfakh sighed, "If I come back, it will be a dead end. People are curious about you. And about the people around you."

"We'll be fine. We've spent years together. All of us. A reunion is the need of the hour, you know?", Rong Xinghe countered.

"Alright then.", the young man agreed helplessly. It was still difficult to argue with this girl, "Home sweet home, it is."