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Waner was the older sister.
Perhaps she had not given Shaoshang as much attention as she should have, especially after her marriage, her divorce, and while trying to find her own meaning in life, but that did not change the fact that Shaoshang was her younger brother.
And because of that, Waner had responsibilities.
She knew Shaoshang would not listen to her if she told him she did not approve of the person who had stolen his heart. She knew she could not force him to reconsider their relationship.
So she had to take care of the person who had stolen her younger brother’s heart.
“Yuan Hong, I hope you are not too busy. Could we talk?” she asked when she visited the police officer at his workplace.
She knew Shaoshang was somewhere nearby, either bothering the other officers or planning something dramatic for later. Thankfully, that was not her concern.
“Oh, of course. What can I do for you, Miss Zhao?” Yuan Hong asked, immediately standing up from his chair. With a quick movement, he gathered the documents scattered across his desk and offered her the seat opposite him.
Waner nodded in thanks and accepted the offered chair.
“Did something happen to Shaoshang?” Yuan Hong asked quickly the moment they sat down. He glanced toward the window of his office, almost as if he expected Zhao Shaoshang to appear there simply because he had thought of him.
Waner almost smiled when she noticed how adorable Yuan Hong became whenever the topic of conversation was Shaoshang.
She straightened in her chair.
Regardless of the fact that she was physically more than a head shorter than Yuan Hong, at that moment she wanted to appear bigger than him. She needed to remind him of his position.
She pierced him with a look Yuan Hong had never seen from her before. During all their previous encounters, the woman had been calm and friendly.
Right now, however, she looked like someone who was perfectly willing to use the gun Yuan Hong had once given her against him.
“Everything is fine with him,” she said, reassuring the nervous man. “But something very dangerous might happen to you if you do not listen carefully right now, Yuan Hong.”
The man silently nodded and gestured for her to continue.
“Shaoshang is my brother. My younger brother, whom I care for and worry about with all my heart. So you need to understand, Yuan Hong…”
Her voice became colder.
“If you hurt him, if you break his heart, use him and abandon him, or if you ever make him cry, I will find you no matter how deep of a hole you crawl into to hide.”
She looked him directly in the eyes.
“I will find you. I will skin you alive and bury you in the garden. I will wait and watch as worms eat you from the inside while you can do nothing. Nothing except suffer.”
Her expression did not change.
“And no one will be able to help you, because you see, Shaoshang has many people who respect him and care about him, even if he himself does not notice it. Every single one of those people will help me turn your life into hell on earth, and your death will be on the front pages of every newspaper.”
She paused.
“Do we understand each other?” she finished, her expression completely serious.
Waner’s eyes were colder than ice.
The tone of her voice was tense and deadly serious.
For a moment, Yuan Hong wondered which version of this woman was the real one.
The fact that the girl who usually smiled innocently and asked simple questions, always careful not to hurt the feelings of the person she was speaking to, was capable of becoming someone who threatened a police officer inside his own office…
That was probably the most frightening thing of all.
He swallowed loudly.
He was certain that Waner’s eyes, following his every movement, could sense the nervousness slowly building inside him.
“Yes. Of course. I understand.” Yuan Hong finally agreed, unable to find better words to say.
“I love Shaoshang. I would never want to hurt him,” he added, hoping he had chosen the right words.
Waner nodded.
Briefly.
Decisively.
“I will be watching you,” she added.
Then she stood up and left the office without bothering to close the door behind her.
Yuan Hong watched her retreating figure through the window of his office, observing her footsteps slowly fading away and her silhouette becoming smaller.
But he could not worry about it for long.
Shaoshang approached him and stopped half a step away from Yuan Hong’s chair, drawing his attention back to him and silently demanding his full focus.
Their eyes met.
“Your sister just threatened to kill me if I ever hurt you,” Yuan Hong said before he had time to think about his words.
His first thought simply escaped his mouth, as if there was no connection between his brain and his lips at all.
He said it while trying to sound calm.
“Mm-hmm.”
Shaoshang hummed softly, leaning closer toward Yuan Hong.
“And you’d better remember that. You should worship me and cherish every moment you have with me. Waner is very serious when it comes to threats.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“She will definitely keep her promise.”
The explanation did not improve Yuan Hong’s mood at all.
On the other hand… he envied the bond they shared.
His own family was large. There were quite a few people he could call brothers or sisters.
But none of those relationships carried the same connection that Shaoshang and Waner had.
Because of that, he knew with absolute certainty that no one would ever visit Shaoshang to have a conversation like this with him.
A soft smile appeared on his face, and he simply nodded.
It was a strange feeling.
Cold with fear, yet warm with the overwhelming sense of closeness.