The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

"He found the most protected embrace. Isn’t he smart?" Jie replied with a gentle look in his eyes.

"Where is your daughter?" Ru asked.

"She is a hyperactive kid. So, by now she’s so tired that she’d sleep as soon as she hits the pillow." Jie replied with an affectionate tone. Recalling something, he asked, "Why did you hit Adrian again? You didn’t even wait and hit him directly in this female avatar of yours."

"His fiancee was coveting something of mine. He had to pay for that," Ru’s voice had a dangerous edge to it which Jie could feel clearly. But there was something else as well.

"So, Xiao Zhiren is yours now?" He asked with an inconspicuous smile on his lips.

"Of course, he’s mine. Who dares to say otherwise?" Ru replied without even thinking and it brought a full-blown smile to Jie’s face.

"Aye, why am I feeling proud of seeing you growing up?" He wiped the non-existent tears dramatically and went on, "My Ru’er has finally grown into a woman." He rubbed her head making Ru feel exasperated.

"Are you done with the performance?" She asked looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Ahem!" He cleared his throat and nodded, "Certainly done."

"Good. Then take your son before I kidnap him and run away." Ru gave Little Bao back to Jie but felt a tug at her shirt. She looked down to see her shirt was fisted in Little Bao’s small hands. As she uncurled his fingers, she said, "He has a strong grip. Sigh... Take him away fast. My heart is swaying. I might really take him."

Jie chuckled as he took Little Bao in his own arms and said, "Ru’er, my wife won’t go easy on you if you dared to touch her son."

"Huh? She won’t be able to find me in this life," Ru replied assuringly.

"Don’t underestimate the desperation of a mother for her child. It can shake heaven." When Ru didn’t give him any reply, he was surprised. Ru started walking with him silently as she decided to walk him to his door.

"Do you want me to knock down the door for you?" Ru asked standing before Jie’s room which was at the far end from her own.

"Nah! I can manage that myself. Also, I still remember how to pick a lock." Jie said confidently.

"It’s an electronic lock. You sure you can pick this one. It’ll alert the security if you did anything wrong." Ru reminded him out of goodwill this time.

"I won’t be in trouble. The ship belongs to your family, why do I have to worry?"

"You knew?" Ru asked wide-eyed.

"Come on, you don’t pay attention but I do. Of course, I know who owns the cruise ship." Taking a brief pause, he said, "Technically, you’re the owner."

Ru didn’t deny his words but neither did she accept them as well. She didn’t have the heart to deny and she didn’t know whether she still had the right to accept as well.

Seeing her lost, Jie asked, "Ru, how does it feel?"

"What?" she retorted instinctively.

"Love," he answered.

Ru looked at the beautiful face of Little Bao as she spoke, "It feels just like life. I feel like I have a million emotions in my heart but when I actually want to talk about it... No word seems good enough. No emotion seems true enough."

Jie silently listened to her answer and said, "Have you heard that the one who loves more always loses?" Ru nodded in reply and he went on, "That’s what is similar between you and me. We both are the ones who are losing because of loving more."

Ru was surprised to hear his reply. "I... I don’t think I’m the one who loves more." She denied it completely but something in her heart said otherwise.

"Ru, you never had a middle ground in life. Why do you think you can have a middle ground in love? You either love him way beyond your heart’s capacity or you don’t love him at all. And you know better than me on which track your heart is wandering on now." Jie said in a calm manner. His words weren’t hurried and he wasn’t scared to tell her what she was scared to accept herself.

"Well, goodnight! I’ll see you in the morning," Jie twisted the handle of his room and sure enough, it was unlocked as he said, "Isn’t she cute for leaving the door open?"

"She’s certainly not cute throwing you out of the room," Ru retorted as she was irked by his words.

Jie laughed out softly trying not to wake his son as he said, "Ru, she’s certainly not as cute as you are being all jealous just because someone coveted your Xiao Zhiren."

"You!" Ru raised her hand to punch him but he had closed the door of his room. "Hateful!" Ru screamed at his door and turned on her heels to leave.

She soon arrived in her own room and tip-toed her way in. She thought Xiao Zhiren was sleeping but she was proved wrong when she heard his voice, "Where were you?"

Ru looked at the bed where he was laying on his back with his eyes closed. He really seemed like he was sleeping. Was he sleeptalking?

"I was out for a walk," Ru replied nonchalantly.

"You’re gone for two hours," he stated.

"Was I?" Ru retorted skeptically. Obviously, she wasn’t keeping a track of time.

Hearing the silence in the room, he opened his eyes and looked at Ru who was preparing to sleep on the lounge floor. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"I’m looking for a place to sleep," she replied matter-of-factly.

"What is wrong with the bed?"

"It’s too soft," she answered while shrugging her shoulders. "Go back to sleep. I might not be able to sleep anyway. So, it’s okay for me to lie down anywhere. Your body needs recovering, you should rest."

Xiao Zhiren gave her a thoughtful look as he said, "If anywhere is good to lie down then why not just lie down with me on the bed?"

Ru looked at his face silently. Was it his favorite hobby to find loopholes in her words?

"Don’t want to," she said straightforwardly this time. Do you know how unsafe it was to lie down beside him on that bed? What if her inner beast woke up and she pounced on him? Who would take responsibility?

Obviously, those were her excuses because if she really pounced on Xiao Zhiren, wouldn’t he be over the moon?

"Are you coming yourself or should I pick you up myself?" Xiao Zhiren offered two options kindly.

"Don’t touch me or... I’ll really throw you in the sea." Ru threatened as she saw him walking towards herself.

"You want to throw me in the sea?" Ru nodded her head vigorously. "Okay. I’ll grant your wish." Ru was still frowning trying to understand his meaning but he had already slid open the glass doors and really jumped down from the balcony.

Ru was left watching wide-eyed. She was stunned but soon, her heart shook violently and panic rose in her being. She walked up to the balcony and was about to jump when she saw him waving at her from the balcony right below theirs.

Ru didn’t think and jumped down beside him and landed perfectly. She punched him without restraint as she shouted, "Have you lost your mind? How can you just jump? Something could have gone wrong. What were you thinking?"

Xiao Zhiren held her wrist and looked into her eyes, "I was thinking how worried you’d be to see me in danger. It seems you’re really scared. Why is that?" He pulled her in his arms and continued, "Sorry for worrying you but you need to stop lying to me. If you care just say you care. Don’t beat around the bush. It won’t do any of us any good."

Suddenly, Jie’s voice rang in her mind, "We are the ones losing, Ru. No matter how we deny it. In the end, we are really lost by loving with all of what we have. Because our love doesn’t see a timeline."

Ru had a self-deprecating smile on her face as she thought, ’So, Young Master Ru, this is what you amount to. A single man managed to make you lose even before your own will.’ But for the first time, losing didn’t feel so wrong. If anything it felt right. But why?

That unreasonable voice in her mind whispered back, ’Because he’s just right for us.’

Ru didn’t want to admit defeat but she still had to. This time the score was even.

Ru: 1

Jie: 1

But how strange it was that both of them were defeated in this play of love.