Hu Ge and Ryu Long were at a stand off as they stared at each other and Hu Ge tilted his head to the side and asked softly,"Tell me Ryu Long.When did you discover my ident.i.ty and how?"

Anybody would think that Hu Ge was pa.s.sing his time to think of a plan to escape when he asked this question.But in reality,he was really curious. He wasn't scared of the guns.They were actually toys to play with as far as he was concerned.

Ryu smiled at this query and started in a complimentary tone,"Your plan was actually well thought out.First becoming friendly with little Alicia so that she would not be scared of you later.Then was the court case where the poor you was doing this to save the baby from your dangerous father.And it would have worked on Onita,if Mi Rae had accepted and subsequently lost the case.But your plan backfired.And that is when the obstacles started,didn't they?Mi Rae was your cla.s.smate so obviously she trusted you.She would have also suggested marrying when you'd have laid your farce of threatening little Alicia.But she pa.s.sed on the case to Neil,didn't she?Something younhad not expected.And what was worst?Neil recognized Onita and took on the case.So the case suddenly became useless.But younstill tried your best.Setting fire to Onita's home,etc.But Neil made that move useless as well.Instead of pus.h.i.+ng her into your arms,Neil pulled her to safety and too far from your reach.So you actively started to look for another weakness to make Onita return to country C where you had a wide array of underworld army at your disposal.And voila,there was Alicia.The woman who Onita had named her daughter after.So you started to dig into Al's past.That was your mistake.The moment you started to search,I knew someone was digging.At first Inthought it was a business rival.So I let your people uncover little useless things so that these would lead me to you.But you covered your tracks well and I was unable to discover anything.You were that good.So good in fact that I would have remained in the dark and kept searching if not for an interesting coincidence.Really your luck turned bad for something like this to happen.

Hu Ge frowned at Ryu's explanation. Yes his plan was perfect and flawless.Then what coincidence could have happened?

Ryu observed the man as Hu Ge tried to process the information that Ryu had given.In actuality,it really had been a coincidence.His people had been trying to investigate the person who was trying to find Alicia's past but to no avail.And then that day at Mi Rae's office,she had found the answer.The woman in Mi Rae's  office had hired a detective to click pictures of her cheating husband in a famous hotel.And in the background were Hu Ge and An Jui.Once everything had been linked to Hu Ge,the entire complicated web had been revealed.Soon they started investigating Hu Ge, they were able to discover his underworld activities which were still being run under his father's name.From this everything unraveled like a thread.

Ryu smirked at the curious Hu Ge and said cryptically, "A woman wanted to catch her cheating husband but you were caught in the middle.You don't understand, do you?"Ryu threw the enlarged pictures at his feet so that Hu Ge would realize just how unlucky he had been.And now it is time for the ball to reach it's finale.

With that Ryu pressed a b.u.t.ton on the table next to him and two men came into the door and immediately stabbed him in the neck with an injection.As soon as Hu Ge felt the injection go in,he got into action and pus.h.i.+ng the guards away grabbed a gun out of the many pointed at his head and aimed at Ryu Long.In a harsh voice he asked,"What did you inject me with?Tell me fast or I will kill you."He needed to get an antidote fast!

But Ryu Long did not have the expected reaction. He simply swiveled in his chair and kept smiling.When Hu Ge could feel the drug spread in his body and he tried to shoot,only then did Ryu Long comment,"Ah,I forgot to tell you a few things.All the guns that were pointed at your head?They are empty.You see I expected you to do something like this."Shocked,Hu Ge opened the gun and it was indeed empty!He grabbed a gun from another guard who let it go without protest and saw that even this gun was empty.He looked incredulously at Ryu Long who then continued,"And the drug?See I don't usually support something like this but I had no option,you see because your nefarious intentions, my missus has chosen you to be her p.a.w.n in revenge.Though I must thank you for saving me from pretending to be attracted to that snake woman An Jui.So,you've been injected with a hallucinogen and aphrodisiac drug.I hope you enjoy your night."With that two of the guards came forward and catching the struggling wild man,subdued him easily and took him to a room and locked it from the outside.

On the other side,while Hu Ge confronted Ryu Long,Alicia's people had already captured An Jui and dragged her to an empty room as soon as the performance started.

Seeing her captured,Alicia smiled and said,"You should have left An Jui when you realized that I was onto you.But you chose to stay here and now you must pay the price."

An Jui was now scared.The moment the lights had dimmed,someone had covered her face and dragged her here.And now in front of her stood two burly men who could probably crush her bones with their bare hands.And she was pretty sure that she had felt the poke of an injection on her arm when she had been struggling.

She around and seeing there were no windows to escape,An Jui asked wildly,"What are you planning to do to me?Why have you captured me?"

Alicia sighed and said,"See,An Jui the biggest reason you people used me was because I was too good and you did not like it.I had never done anything to harm you or Alan.But now I have fallen from the pedestal and waited for revenge patiently.Sadly,I will not be able to inflict the emotional torture that the two of you inflicted on me but physical torture is all set.I have done my best!Let me explain the plan for tonight.You will be high on an aphrodisiac drug which will make you really want to spread your legs one for and all.Now don't worry I know you do not need a drug for that,but I need you to co-operate this once and slep with one.Ofcourse I have not hired any male wh.o.r.es for you so you need not worry.I am not that cra.s.s.You know Hu Ge right?You do remember him,don't you?You met him for lunch a little while back!But youndid not even acknowledge his existence tonight!How hypocrite of you.Well let's not get distracted,he happens to be obsessed with my friend Onita.Similar to how you and Alan were obsessed with each other?Anyways,to make a long story short,he is going to hallucinate that you are Onita and then try to sleep with you.And with the two of you drugged,we will have some very nice pictures for the media in the morning.Now I know you are wondering how he could possible confuse you for Onita even if he was drugged,that is because you will be dressed like her and h.e.l.lo!hallucinogen effect..Yes,you can feel the heat can't you?That is the potent drug in your system.Have fun baby.I'll see you in the morning.In the news of course.And for thebsakenof your safety,I hope we never meet again."

With that Alicia walked out of the room and a helpless An Jui was forced into a dress similar to Onita's and then pushed into the room where Hu Ge was locked.

By now both of their drugs had taken a hold of their minds.The moment An Jui was pushed into the room,Hu Ge's eyes glittered like a predators.And he went and directly pulled her into his arms.Once each could feel the other's body,the drugs did their work and soon the two devoured each other.

As Alicia looked at An Jui being dragged to the other room,her trembling hands were linked together in front of her tightly.But soon they were grasped in a warm hand.And Ryu smiled at his woman."What is done is done.Don't think about it anymore.That chapter is finally at an end.Lord Stemmings is now being arrested for attempt to murder and other charges of evidence that we have given.Soon he is going to sing like a bird and reveal all his allies.."

Alicia nodded and then breathing deeply went out to the ball to bid goodbye to all the hosts.She did not think agonize over whether what she had done was immoral or not.Alicia finally just let go.All her wounds had been gradually healed when she met Ryu Long.What she had done today was to teach them a lesson so that n.o.body else would suffer at their hands.The woman who had coincidentally helped her,had been here today as well while her husband was here with his mistress.The woman had been able to insult the other woman while the guards had stood by and protected the woman on Ryu Long's orders.As a result when the man realized that his ex wife to be had such a powerful backer he tried to win her back but she was out for blood and refused.

Alicia walked toward the ballroom and thought of her previous plan where Ryu was supposed to pretend to be seduced and they were then going to put a male prost.i.tute in his place.She had been uneasy about that while plan because there were chances of getting Ryu incriminated.

Alicia couldn't wait for tomorrow when the media discovered them at the hotel wrapped in each other.Tonight in the middle of the night,the two would be moved to a hotel and the media would receive an anonymous tip about them.The President's illegitimate daughter and the underworld lord.

But Alicia did not know something.She a.s.sumed that Hu Ge was only obsessed with Onita and thus trying to force her.But Ryu knew differently.The moment he had realized this unknown enemy he had done his research. 

Hu Ge and Hu Wei were brothers who had been trained since birth to take over the different sides of the Hu business.He Ge was trained to take over the underworld activities while Hu Wei was trained to take over the legitimate businesses. But suddenly some years ago,their grandfather decided to break all ties from the underworld making the mighty Hu Ge powerless.But it was too late for Hu Ge to change his ways.He tried for some time to be a good subordinate to his brother but his mind was already skewed and power hungry.And so on the surface he pretended to be going along his grandfather's plans but underneath he was gaining his own army.And slowly he became more greedy and wanted both the legal and the illegal.But just before he could use this army to gain from it,it was discovered by his brother.To make his brother not expose him,Hu Ge mercilessly had him killed and conveniently aimed the doubt on his own short tempered father.

Ryu knew that a man like Hu Ge would not suffer being attacked silently and retaliate immediately..Prison or no prison,he would come to take his revenge.And Ryu Long could not let this continue.So for his family, he did something that he wasn't sure that Alicia would find acceptable.But some decisions needed to be made and he was not one to dawdle.

By the time,An Jui had entered the chosen room at the hotel,the poisonous ring would be back on her finger.And the poison injected into Hu Ge.He didn't know how Alicia would react when she realized that he had precipitated another murder.No matter the reasoning,she wouldn't condone murder or hiding his plans from her.

As they went back to the ballroom,Ryu stared at his wife lovingly and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

Meanwhile,just outside his stately home, Lord Stemmings was arrested for plotting murder and Ryu had handed over the evidence regarding many frauds committed by his company as well as many under the table deals..The President had also been exposed to the audio clipping of his daughter planning to poison him in cahoots with Lord Stemmings.Lastly,Alan Xu's spying had also been brought to light.After seeing how he had been betrayed by those he trusted the most,the President was shaken but said nothing as he made his way home.He wondered at all the small sins he had committed to reach his position and this was his punishment.

THE MORNING AFTER THE BALL:

The media was already in sensation.In the middle of the night,the police had arrested Lord Stemmings for conspiring against the President and many illegal activities.The evidence for these had been received from anonymous sources and the media was in an uproar.By the time a new dawn broke out another news had taken the internet by a storm.An Jui,President An's daughter had been enjoying with her lover while her father had been facing an attempted murder. The next piece of news was even more astounding.Drugs!

It seemed the socialite princess was doing drugs with her lover Hu Ge of Hu Industries and her lover had pa.s.sed away from a drug overdose!The government had become very strict recently about the use of drugs so An Jui was arrested immediately. It was a time for all the news reporters to almost dance on their heads.So much news to cover and so much gossip.The news about the grand annual ball of Lance Inc was covered under the scandal but no one was bothered about that.The next day another scandal broke out that made them even rub their hands in glee while causing the ma.s.ses to shake their hand in exasperation about the rich.An Jui was involved with not one or two but three men!Her father's a.s.sistant,Lord Stemming and CEO Hu.And she was using all her lovers to kill her father!Yes.Ryu had twisted the truth to totally discredit An Jui.She had been an accomplice but not the mastermind.Finally after three days,An Jui was allowed to make her requisite phone call.She had no idea about the mud being slinged on her outside the prison cells.In a weepy voice she called her father.The phone continued to ring until just as she was about to give up hope,her father answered her call,"Father!Father!"She weeped!"I have not done any drugs!I am being framed!Please help me father please."Because of the shock of drugs,waking up next to a dead body,then being surrounded by flas.h.i.+ng cameras and finally escorted to the prison.An Jui was in a state of shock.Her once beautifully coiffed hair now resembled a bird's nest and every part of her ached because of Hu Ge's roughness.She kept weeping but the man on the other end hung up the phone without being moved.An Jui did not seem to realize that her father had hung up on her when the officer came back to escort her to her cell.She was now confident that her father would save her and scremed this at the officer."I am the daughter of the President!You all wait and watch!I will have you all fired and thrown out of here!I am the daughter of the PRESIDENT!!"

The officer shook his head at the woman's deranged belief.They ofcourse knew her ident.i.ty ad had contated the President for further instructions and been instructed to hold her like any common thief.The officer had almost admired the President for being unbiased until the news broke out that she had been trying to kill her father.Of course he would want her punished!Politicians were really selfis.h.!.+And to top it all he had even given this deranged woman hope that he will be sending a lawyer!Soon a court appointed lawyer would be coming to see her.And court appointed lawyers never won because they had too many cases and too little time!They wouldn't work very hard especially when the victim was the President.

The next day,the media houses wanted to go to temples with offerings for the Lord!This was a blessed week!Hu Industries were seized by the government for money laundering and links with the underworld.Hu Ge had been identified as the young boss!All the a.s.sets were now frozen and every employee under scrutiny.

Alicia and Ryu were sitting in their study.Ryu was currently scanning the news on his laptop while Alicia was staring at him.He could feel her constant gaze and he was avoiding it.In fact he had been avoiding being alone with his wife.And she knew this so she had conspired against him and trapped him into staying alone with her.He knew this would happen but he could pretend he knew nothing for a while longer,couldn't he?

Alicia finally gave up on being able to get her hubby to talk and sauntering over to him,closed his laptop with a snap and planted her bottoms in his lap.Instinctively his hands went to her waist and he forgot that he was avoiding her.She stared into his eyes while he stared back and then said with narrowed eyes,"You did this."

Ryu was about to deny knowing anything when her tone of voice caught his attention.Her tone was simply not accusatory.It was a simple statement of fact.Breathing in,Ryu just nodded.Alicia looked at him and slowly ran her hands through his soft hair.Giving him a small smile,she said,"Your hair are going to turn silver very soon if you keep worrying about these things.Ryu,I don;t care what you do and why.I know and trust that you will not do wrong by anyone so stop worrying yourself about my reaction.I just don't want you to fel guilty!"

Ryu winced at that and said,"That helps!Because I really was feeling guilty!"

Alicia's eyebrows rose at that!He felt guilty?He had not even felt guilt when he had killed his father's killer so what was this about?he shrugged and said,"I was feeling guilty for not telling you about it!But I was worried that you would try to dissuade me from it!"

Totally inapropriate!Alicia's reaction to Ryu's confession was totally inappropriate considering the severity of the situation!She giggled and then pulling his cheeks(as if he aas a kid),she said,"So cute!"This statement would cause the cuteness overload Ru to frown and Ryu was his father so naturally he immediately scowled at his wife!She giggled at him even more and said,"You are feeling guilty for hiding it from me and here I was worried for your soul!You are forgiven hubby!I will not hoild this against you.This time!But next time you do something so dangerous,you better be prepared for your punishment.Promise me if you ever do something like this again,you will discuss it with me first!"

Ryu immediately nodded his head in agreement but behind her,his fingers were crossed.And this time he did not feel guilty at all!

Alicia hugged Ryu and put head on his shoulders.She felt absence of peace from the strenuous week of the past.She was now set to go on a maternity leave so that she could work on her upcoming projects.Clising her eyes she made a list in her mind:

1) get Neil married while she could still walk normally as compared to a whale

2) get Zhao Min and Zhao Xin's uncle behind bars.

3)Handle the 'wanna be a mistress' a.s.sistants hovering around her hubby,

4)Find a bride for Matt.She wondered if he was gay?He didn't look like the type to hide in a closet if that was the case?

5)Try to convince Ah Hai to not move to the other  side of the world!

6)Prepare for her little baby's arrival

Alicia fell asleep while Ryu held her thinking of her to do list.Just thinking about it made her exhausted!What was going to happen when it was time to accomplish these things?Only the fates knew!

Just then Ru and Zhao Min entered the study room.Ru was still angry at being forced to attend the boring annual ball where he had been forced to interact with *people*.Of course he could only show his displeasure to his father because his mother would try to make him socialize more if she so much as thought that he was not a people's person.She was weird like that but he loved her so that was Ok.Seeing his mother asleep in his father's lap,Ru was about to turn back to leave but Ryu ordered them to stay in a  soft voice.Picking up his still sleeping wife,he placed her on the couch and covered her with a light blanket.He then took the two boys out to discuss their plan for the immediate future.

Zhao Min was worried and did not want to be a burden on the Long Family.So he was here to ask if Ryu Long had thought of any arrangements that would make thim and his little sister be able to live together even if it was at an orphanage.If the man said that it was not possible,then he would run away with his sister from here also if need be!