The Mafia's Rose Married The CEO

"Qing Chen had been acting weird last night," Feng Xuan told Wang Yimin.

"Considering what happened the past couple of days, I would be more worried if your husband was acting normal," Wang Yimin said and sliced a cupcake with a fork. She took a bite, "The cake… this is really good," she said, covering her mouth. "What did you put in this one?"

"It's a secret," she said and sighed, putting her elbows on the kitchen counter and let her head fall on her palms. "I wish I could help him, you know? I did not know he would be this busy."

Wang Yimin also leaned on the counter and bumped her shoulders with hers. "Running a hotel is really stressful. You just do not see it. There are always things that could go wrong there. There would be rude customers. A chef's hair in a dish. Missing luggage. Something was missing in the rooms. Booking problems. It's an endless list. That sort of stuff. But other things also happen, Xuan. Once in a while something like this comes a long."

"But a murder?" Feng Xuan shuddered at the thought. Qing Chen had not given her any information about it. What she knew, she only saw on the news. It was not like she wanted to know more. In the cooking academy, they had been taught how to butcher animals and on those days, Feng Xuan always called in sick. Or she would go out of the kitchen until it was all clean and tidy again. Just thinking about all that blood and the wailing of the animals before their death… she shuddered again. "It is too gruesome. I mean, who in their right mind would kill someone? In a hotel?"

Wang Yimin shook her head. "It is not something for us to think about. There is another thing you mentioned. Qing Chen's brother? Wu something? Who is that?"

Feng Xuan had called in Wang Yimin not only because she wanted her cousin to taste her new recipes, but also because she did not really wanted to be left alone in the house. She needed someone to talk to. "They call him Wuming," she said and when Wang Yimin raised her eyebrows at her, "they really call him that."

"What's his real name?"

Words echoed in her ears: 'for the safety of us all, call me Wuming'. She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Don't you think it's fishy that your husband didn't tell you anything about his older brother? That's his family! You should've known in the first place. He never mentioned him? Not once?"

Feng Xuan just pouted. "Of course I think it was fishy. But I sort of get it you know? I think Wuming was working for someone in the higher-ups. Or maybe someone in politics. He said his job required him to be away from his family."

Wang Yimin leaned closer. "Like a secret spy?"

Feng Xuan chuckled. "That's what I guessed. Or maybe someone who was working on classified information—like the ones about the aliens. You know, in the West, there were a lot of conspiracy about extraterrestrial life. Maybe he's part of that."

Wang Yimin nodded and exclaimed, "Oh! Like the ones in the movies, right? The men in black?"

"Could be," she shrugged. "I don't think they would tell me anyways, so let's just keep it at that."

"Right," Wang Yimin replied and took a bite on a pink cupcake and immediately made a face like she was about to spit it out. She swallowed. "That one is too sweet. Less filling, please!"

"Noted." Feng Xuan raised herself and wrote it down her recipe notebook.

"By the way," Wang Yimin started, using the voice she only used when she was prying for gossip, "how are those kisses coming along?"

Feng Xuan blushed but let a smile take over her face. "Going well," she answered, her lips stretching more.

"Ahh," Wang Yimin returned her grin. "Is the forty days already done? Did you finally kiss?"

"The forty days is next weekend." Feng Xuan's smile fell off her lips. "I don't think I'd be able to do it. He has a lot on his plate."

Wang Yimin held her hand and gave her a firm smile. "It'll die down in a week. Trust me."

While the cousins were busy in the kitchen of the couple's house, Qing Chen had just received the report regarding the murder at the hotel and it looked like it was far from over.

Detective An was seating in front of him, on the other side of his desk with an inquisitive look. Qing Chen wanted to roll his eyes at his effort in putting him in a hot seat. Detective An was obviously trying to look intimidating by squinting his eyes as he questioned Qing Chen but he only looked like he only got two hours of sleep—which was also probably the case.

"You don't really know anything?" Detective An asked yet again.

Qing Chen took a deep breath before closing the report. They had finally uncovered the identity of the body. When Qing Chen had seen the name, goosebumps raised on his skins and it took great effort to not looked shocked when he read it. So Qing Chen braced his muscles to prevent any unusual movements and let his eyes fly through the doc.u.ment. "I don't know anything."

"We interviewed his wife, Mr. Chen," the detective said. "The wife said her husband had been complaining about the new CEO of The Kingly Empire and that you were getting on his nerves. She also said her husband had come home multiple times looking distressed and sometimes, work would take until the morning that the victim barely had time to rest."

Qing Chen handed the report back to the tired-looking detective. "Whatever the victim's past time after work hours is none of my concern. And I have to warn you, Detective An, if you keep on pressing these questions that might incriminate me, I would have to pull out all my support in this case and call my lawyer."

The detective kept his face blank.

"I already told you what I know," Qing Chen said, sitting straight in his chair. "I know just as much as you do. It's now time for you to do your job so we could finally reach the bottom of this. Thank you for the update, Detective An. I hope to hear from you soon."

Detective An got up from his chair with a grunt and Qing Chen rose up too. They shook hands. "This is not the last time you're going to see me, Mr. Chen."

Qing Chen gripped the hand too hard. Too much empty threats. "Till next time, Detective."

He saw the detective's jaw clenched before returning the pressure in their joined hands. Then he left.

After making sure the detective was already out, Qing Chen immediately pulled out his phone and called his brother. "Wuming!" he said in a hushed shout when he answered.

"What's up brother?" he sounded out of breath.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Running on the treadmill. I need to keep in shape if I want to stay alive. What are you calling about?"

Qing Chen quickly typed in his computer. He had hired a really expensive tech guy who installed a software in his computer so he could access files from the different sectors of the government. Of course, there was always the risk of being discovered, that was why he never really used it not unless in situations such as this. He pulled up the doc.u.ment and created a copy of it and logged out as immediately as possible. "They found out who it was. The body."

"Yeah? Who is it? Someone relevant?"

Qing Chen was staring up at the report, an unsettling feeling resting on his stomach. "He was a member of The Kingsmen."

"Uh-huh. What else?"

"He had been causing a lot of troubles in The Underground for months and it reflected on his performance in the company. The detective is up my a.s.s."

"Okay. Anything else I need to know?" Wuming breathed out in a huff.

"Yes. His name was Wei Gen."

Qing Chen suddenly heard a few quick beeps from the machine and the whir from it came to a stop. Wuming was quiet for a few seconds. "What did you say?"

"His name was Wei Gen."

"Wei… like how my name is spelled?"

"Yes, as in Wei. It might be just a coincidence or they are really after us."

There were another few moments of silence. He could hear Wuming's breath, still ragged from his run.

"Hello?" Qing Chen asked. "You still there?"

"Wei…" said Wuming. "Wei," he repeated, his tone going higher with the two syllables. Then the next moment, Qing Chen could hear him laughing—an animal-like laugh, more like a howl that came from the stomach. It sounded daunting.

Qing Chen was already praying that his brother was not going to make things worse. "Wuming..." he began in warning.

"Yes, brother?" he asked, voice full of mirth and laced with excitement. "You know what, don't say anything else. I'm sorry to have brought this mess in our family. I'll do everything to make all of you safe again. I am going to kill those fvckers."

The line went dead.