248 I’ll Be There Soon (1/2)

Dragon Palace Home #10.

It was already past 1:30 AM but Jin Liwei still couldn't sleep. Ever since his baby girl left, he barely had any decent night of sleep. He only slept when his body couldn't take it anymore and shut down by itself.

He missed his baby girl so much. It felt like she took a big part of him with her when she left. He felt incomplete without her.

Even though she never replied, he sent her multiple messages and voice mails every single day. He woke up every morning after a couple hours of sleep (if he was lucky) hoping that she would at least send him a message or call him. And every day, he hurt when she didn't.

It felt like he was going crazy with every passing day that she was gone. He looked terrible. He looked thinner with dark circles around his sunken eyes. If it wasn't for his assistant Xu Tian who sent a barber to his mansion, his hair, beard and mustache would have already grown wildly like that of a caveman. Dominic also pestered him to eat his meals.

He was sprawled on the chaise longue by the glass windows in his bedroom. The night sky was dark, almost pitch-black because thick clouds covered the moon and the stars.

Depressed, he downed brandy directly from the bottle while staring at the darkness outside the windows. His other hand stroked Ice Cream who was curled beside him, her head resting on his thigh. Popcorn was sleeping belly up in the middle of the enormous bed as if he owned the entire thing.

”Baby, when are you coming back? Please come back,” he pleaded, hoping his feelings could somehow reach her wherever she was.

He almost broke down. So he took another swig of the brandy, trying to numb the pain of missing her.

Then his phone which he always kept beside him lit up. He glanced at it and froze when he saw the caller on the display. His heart jumped, almost as if he couldn't believe it was real.

The piano melody of ”Phantom of Your Love” began playing. It was his special ringtone for his baby girl's number.

”Hello baby?” His voice shook when he answered the phone, gripping it tightly in his hand. ”Are you alright? Please be okay. I've been so worried about you. Where are you? Can I see you? Are you ready to come back? I want to see you so badly. I miss you so much.”

Jin Liwei's words rushed out of his mouth in quick succession. He almost didn't breathe as he spoke. His heart hammered inside his chest.

When he didn't hear anything from the other side of the line, he looked at the phone's display again to check if the call was still connected. It was. He returned the phone to his ear.

”Hello? Baby, are you there?”

Silence.

His expression fell and he slumped back to the couch. Ice Cream mewled, complaining from the sudden movement before returning to sleep.

”Liwei…”

At last, he heard the voice that he had been waiting to hear for so long. His eyes watered, his grip on the phone tightening once again.

”Baby?”

Then he heard sniffing noises.

”Are you crying? Are you hurt? Please don't cry,” he told her, even when he wanted to cry as well. But he didn't let the tears spill from his eyes.

”I miss you…” she said.

Her voice was a whisper, almost inaudible. But he heard every single word and his heart soared.

”I miss you too, baby. So much.”

”I'm sorry I didn't contact you. I…I needed some time alone to…to figure things out…”

”No, no. Don't apologize to me,” he said in a hurried tone. ”I'm the one who wronged you.”