Chapter 17 - A PANTHER (1/2)

???? Extra Characters:

1. Eunice Lacroix - the bride / a friend

2. Alice Tan Lacroix -the bride's mom

3. Antoine Lacroix - the bride's dad

4. Eloisa Tan - the bride's aunt / Alice's younger sister

5. Lucille Wang - the wife of Antoine's best friend.

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Eloisa Tan and Luo Jingyi moved through the crowd. But instead of hunting for men, Aunt Eloisa snatched a bottle from the wine rack and they made their way to the open-air deck surrounded by railings. Jingyi occupied one of the lined sunbeds, lounging lazily. There was a quiet whoosh of the waves hitting the ship.

Aunt Eloisa poured champagne into the two glasses that magically appeared out of nowhere. Jingyi deduced that Aunt Eloisa had been drinking in the deck alone earlier.

”Cheers!” The clinking of flute echoed to Jingyi's ears.

Luo Jingyi quietly gulped the content of her glass before Aunt Eloisa filled it up again.

”What happened to Director Choi's son?”

Luo Jingyi tilted her head to face her, studying Aunt Eloisa's expression.

”Off the record?” She inquired with a hint of a smile on her lips. Luo Jingyi never disclosed her patient's cases to other people, especially to the media. Aunt Eloisa owns a media company called Zine Media Inc. However, Jingyi was well aware of why Aunt Eloisa wanted the information. It was to calm her troubled heart. The other woman appeared to have moved on from her scandalous past but in reality, what people see is a mask and only in front of Jingyi that she dared to take it off.

”He's recovering well. He was transferred to another hospital.” Jingyi heard the CEO let out a sigh of relief before she looked at a distant, feeling lost.

Jingyi stayed silent and let the other woman on her own. She gazed up in the sky. Above her was like a black river that stretched endlessly and what's keeping it ablaze were a speck of stars scattered across its vastness and the moon that was hanging full and hazy.

'It would have been a perfect sight for lovers on a date.' Jingyi thought.

”One day, I'll be your stars and your moon so that you'll never be alone. I'll be the light in the darkness to keep you safe.” A husky voice whispered.

Then her eyes suddenly widened. Huh?

What is that? Where did that come from? It suddenly popped out of her memory but she has no recollection of it all.

Strange. She thought.

Maybe it's the original's memory?

”How's the hospital doing?” Aunt Eloisa's questioned woke her up from her trance. Jingyi tilted her head to answer the other woman who seemed to have recovered from her melancholy and put on her shield again.

”Chaos.” She summarized it in one word. With the Chen family under investigation and the CEO stepping down, the management was shaken up. The VP was assigned the interim CEO while everything is being sorted out.

”You made it that way. You're a bad woman.” The remark was neither a scoff or a joke. She was plainly stating the truth.

Jingyi's mouth curved up and muttered, ”I am.”

Eloisa Tan studied Jingyi and pondered that Jingyi would have made a career as a strategist if she didn't become a doctor. Jingyi planned every step so she could trap Minister Chen before the man could circumvent his crimes like he'd been doing over the last 15 years. Utilizing the Zine Media's resources, the shocking exposé about him was revealed on every outlet at the same moment the police knocked at his door. So by the time he knew of it, everything about him spread like wildfire. Hence, he couldn't do anything.

”Don't you feel afraid? What if the people behind him will retaliate?”

Jingyi crossed her arms and said confidently, ”Let them bring it on.”

Eloisa Tan always wondered where does Jingyi's fearlessness come from. The doctor never seemed to flinch at all. You can never attach the word meek next to her name.

”Thank you.” Jingyi murmured suddenly. Eloisa let out a slight laugh and shrugged her shoulders.

”Don't forget our agreement. You need to keep your promise.” The woman agreed with all her plans, not for the unprecedented fame her company will obtain, rather it was because Eloisa Tan wanted her to be a regular guest on one of her company's tv shows.