Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

"Kang Yuze, why are you standing there all alone? Come on, it’s your party. Enjoy it with everyone," Mui walked up to him with a grin.

She pointed at his employees. "Everybody is playing games and getting drunk. So go. Let them also get a chance to let loose with their CEO. Don’t worry, I will be sure to capture all the embarrassing moments."

Yuze rolled his eyes. "Very funny. I will join them soon enough, but…" he looked around, "I am not seeing Shui anywhere."

Mui raised her brow. "Oh my, you want her to join you too? Like a big happy family?"

He slightly cleared his throat. "Not like that. I just want her to have fun. But where is she though?"

"Must be somewhere. I…" she looked around, "I don’t see Alix around either."

"She would be-"

Suddenly, a hand ominously grabbed Yuze’s shoulder, threatening to crush his bone under its deadly pressure. Yuze was forced to turn and face the blast of wrath of the man standing before him and gritting his teeth. Mui was, too, taken aback.

"Liu Jin?" Yuze was confused. But what was more puzzling was his source of anger that he was directing to his shoulder to break it.

Jin almost dug his palm into his shoulder to which he turned slightly annoyed. "What are-"

A punch landed on his face the next moment. There were no heads or tails of any conversation or explanation, just pure rage flowing into Jin’s knuckles. It was a pretty strong punch that knocked Yuze off his balance and he stumbled heavily.

The merry atmosphere dropped into a steep silence.

Yuze somehow regained his footing and touched the corner of his lips. Blood smudged on his thumb. His gaze darkened and he stared at Jin, mirroring his anger.

"What…the hell do you think you are doing, Liu Jin?"

Ai snaked around the crowd and came out at the center of the retaliation. Her eyes widened at Yuze’s state and she rushed to Jin’s side. She lightly held his arm, concerned and anxious. He looked at her and whispered something in her ear.

"What?" Her shock increased ten fold. "Is she okay?"

Explore stories on m,v l’e-m|p, y r

"Look after her please…" he quietly urged her.

Though Ai was worried about the situation here as well, Shui’s situation was further perilous. She sped off in the direction where Shui was.

Jin focused his predatory gaze back at Yuze and snarled. "The fuck you asking me what I am doing? Why the hell don’t you ask that to yourself!? Tell everybody here how you drugged Shui. How you spiked her drink."

It was like lightning struck out of nowhere. Everybody had their jaws dropped, aghast.

Yuze stared at Jin, perplexed. The fury he was feeling a moment ago disappeared and was replaced with pure bafflement. "I…spiked Shui’s drink?"

Jin angrily laughed. "So you should understand that forget about the punch to your face, I feel like straightaway murdering you," he clenched his jaw, danger leaking through every corner of his expression, "You invite Shui to your damn party so that you could drug her and-"

"That’s ridiculous!" Yuze exclaimed in his defense. "I did no such thing! I don’t know anything about this drugging…" his expression paled, "Where is Shui? Is she okay? I-"

"Shut it!" Jin landed another punch before the first one had even registered in his brain. "You are the last person to ask about her well-being when you wanted to assault her in the first place!"

Yuze exhaled sharply as the pain stung twice as lethally. "That’s not true!"

Pain shot up in his face but he continued to oppose. "Shui is my friend, like hell I will do this to her. And what evidence do you have to accuse me?" He glared at her.

"You offered Shui her drink. You personally brought it for her from the bar," he gnashed his teeth. "I had seen you myself before I headed out."

Yuze froze. It was as if it was coming to him in slow motion.

The drink I gave her…?

But Yuze shook his head. "Impossible. I didn’t tamper with the drink at all! I simply went to the bar and brought one drink for her because she was thirsty. I did not spike it!"

Jin’s brows twitched menacingly. "Then is Shui acting about getting sick and fainting? Is she acting terrified just for the sake of it!? She cried and fainted. She was afraid of what would happen to her and you think it’s all an act?"

Amidst the hushed whispers, Yuze stared at him blankly. He couldn’t figure out where things went so wrong. But then, something suddenly occurred to him.

"Wait. It wasn’t just my drink that Shui had!"

Jin’s expression twisted.

"Before I gave Shui the drink I brought, she was already having another drink. The drink that Alix gave her!"

Jin’s eyes narrowed at the same time as the crowd let out another round of shocked gasps.

Ren Alix?

Ren Alix spiked Han Shui’s drink?

Everybody’s gaze immediately fell on Alix, who was leaning on the wall adjacent to the bar. She frowned. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Alix…" Yuze pressed his lips. "Shui was drinking something else before I came to her and you were the one who gave her that drink. I had even mentioned that Shui probably didn’t need the drink that I brought because she already had yours."

It was that lightbulb moment when everybody felt that the situation perfectly fell in its place.

"Oh gosh, Ren Alix did it because she was jealous of Han Shui!"

"She wanted to ruin her!"

"Such an actress! Ren Alix claimed that she has moved on from Kang Yuze, but she actually hasn’t!"

"Her change was just a farce!"

The scathing gazes would have burned anybody in Alix’s place to a crisp, but she stood poised and unaffected.

"How is it my fault?" She shrugged. "I wasn’t really in the mood for the drink so I casually asked Shui to have it in my place because she was thirsty. I gave the glass to Shui that was in turn handed to me by my sister, Mui. So if anything, ask her."