The Mafia's Rose Married The CEO

Qing Chen was bored out of his wits watching a manager explain to him how it would be great to add kid-friendly amenities such as an enclosed inflatable playground where parents can leave their children on an hourly rate.

He was even more thankful when he saw his secretary walk in the room passing him a small note. Finally, a distraction! His father, Qing Zihao frequented these kind of meetings. He would say The Kingly was like his baby. He loved to know what was going on.

Qing Chen flipped the note open.

***

Trouble with school.

- FX

***

Qing Chen tapped his father on the shoulder and signalled that he had to leave.

"Why?" his father mouthed at him.

He passed the note to his father and Qing Zihao nodded. To his surprise, his father stood up.

"Stay here," Qing Zihao said. "I'll handle this. And get me that inflatable playground."

Qing Chen still felt uneasy and took out his phone from his pocket. He had a single missed call from Feng Xuan. He had forgotten to set his phone on vibrate as no one usually called him on that number. He thumbed her a message.

***

Sorry I didn't get your call. I'm in a meeting. Are you okay?

***

Feng Xuan replied almost immediately:

I'm fine. They are just curious about our marriage. No worries. ;)

Qing Chen furrowed his eyebrows at the wink emoji. Why was her school so intrigued about their marriage? And how come they knew? When Feng Xuan enrolled, she was still single.

He typed in a new reply:

Can I fetch you later? After your class?

He consulted Feng Xuan's schedule earlier and found out her classes end just before lunch.

Feng Xuan: Are you sure?

Qing Chen: Why not?

Feng Xuan: Okay, but don't get out of the car. HAHA

When the meeting was over, he asked for the formal doc.u.ments about the kiddie amenities to be signed ASAP. He stayed for a few more minutes in his office, looking through the other things he had to finish by the end of the day. He pressed his telephone. "Cancel all my other meetings for the day."

"What should I tell them, sir?"

"A family emergency," he said and pressed the button again.

While he waited outside of Feng Xuan's building in the back of a limousine, he was thinking how it was so ridiculous to even think about keeping their marriage a secret. Why did they even think of that? It was not like they were a pair of A-list celebrities that should keep their private lives so private.

Right, the mafia, he sighed. But the mafia was no threat. Maybe they should just tell the whole wide world about their marriage. It was not like something was going to change.

**

It had been hours since Feng Xuan was sent to the dean's office. It was almost the end of her classes and she just missed her first lecture because of this. The dean insisted on getting a copy of her marriage certificate to change her records in the school and to clear the misunderstanding.

Her phone was already running low on battery as she kept on playing games to keep herself entertained. She even chatted some of her friends from overseas but due to time differences they weren't able to speak so long.

The dean entered the room holding a stack of papers which he was still looking at. "You're free to go. I received a copy of your marriage certificate. You can leave."

Feng Xuan gathered her things. It seemed like her husband finally fixed this problem. "Well, thank you so much for wasting my time," she said.

"A p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e," the dean said with a forced smile, "Mrs. Qing."

Feng Xuan only gave him a pointed look before leaving. She raised her eyebrows at the people staring at her in the hallway. She suddenly felt like a western teen movie protagonist.

"Feng Xuan!" a hurried voice called after her just as she was about to exit the building.

She turned and saw Jiang Lijun.

"Wait up!" he called and jogged to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Feng Xuan replied with a scrunched nose. "I guess you've heard."

"Yeah, everyone knows about it."

She g.r.o.a.n.e.d inside her mind. Just great! "That's not true by the way."

"Which one? That you're married or that you're married to some dying rich dude?" Jiang Lijun chuckled.

Feng Xuan gave him a smile. "The latter," she answered with a deep breath. She saw the gleaming black limousine with the tinted windows and knew it was Qing Chen's.

She turned again to Jiang Lijun whose voice grew quiet. "So you really are married."

"Yeah," she answered. "My husband is inside that car. I should get going."

"Alright then," Jiang Lijun said. "I'll see you next class. Take care."

"You, too."

Feng Xuan made it down the steps and the driver opened her door. She found Qing Chen sitting inside reading the newspaper. "Hey," she greeted him.

"Apparently I am a dying grandpa now," Qing Chen said. "Show some respect."

Feng Xuan smiled. "Oh," she sighed. "This is such a mess."

Then she thought of something.

"You sure that was not a PR stunt of your father?"

Qing Chen looked surprised. "Of course not," he laughed. "Why would he do that? I mean it was not like we need more publicity." Surely, his father would have told him if he were planning something like this.

It just occurred to Qing Chen, now that there was an on-going rumor, it will reach the tabloid pages. Maybe it could really be a publicity for them when the announcement would come.

Qing Chen folded his newspaper. "Should we get some lunch?"

"What time are you supposed to be back at the office?"

"I'm not going back," he said. "Let's spend the day planning our little wedding party."

Feng Xuan smiled at him sideways. "I'd really like that."

While the newly-wed couple was enjoying their lunch in one of the private rooms of an oriental restaurant and spent the rest of their day finding white and champagne things for the weekend, Feng Xuan's step-mother was on the move.

Liu Lifen was in such a good mood this morning. She happily sipped on her tea. Even her maids were such in a shock on how much she was smiling that one spilled a little on her cup.

Nothing could ruin Liu Lifen's mood today. It was like the sun was smiling down at her, that was why she insisted on staying in the gazebo. Liu Lifen waved the spilled drink away and simply asked for a clean cup.

Earlier that morning, she had called Chengshi University and paid a couple of students to spread rumors inside the building about Feng Xuan.

Liu Lifen could not contain the evil laugh that was building inside her. "This is so fun," she told her maids. It was so nice to ruin someone's day.

Another thing, yesterday after Feng Xuan left, Liu Lifen called her most trusted private investigator. It was crazy to say that Feng Lizhao had not even shared where Feng Xuan currently resided. He was that careful with his little princess.

But Liu Lifen had her ways. The rest of her day she was just waltzing inside the house, putting on some music, humming to herself as she flipped through fashion magazines and calling branded stores and ordering the items.

Before dinner, an envelope found its way to her hands. She smiled happily. "Now, let's uncover who this man is," Liu Lifen pulled the papers out of the packet.

Her smile, fraction by fraction, started to fall as she scanned the pages. And then there were pictures. Pictures of Feng Xuan in a red dress and a handsome young man. Pictures with Feng Lizhao and another man who was obviously the father of the groom.

Liu Lifen gasped when she turned to the last picture. The Kingly Hotel. Feng Lizhao married his daughter to the ric.h.e.s.t hotelier. And he couldn't even set up one measly boy to date Liu Meilien?

Liu Lifen grabbed her phone, sent another message to the private investigator. She wanted to know the financial capabilities of this Qing Chen. After sending the message, she called her daughter.

"Mom?" Liu Meilien answered. "I'm almost home."

"Yes, you better get home soon."

"Why? Did something happen?"

Liu Lifen took the family picture of the Qings from the stack. "I think I found you a husband."