Chapter 78

Inside a private room at the bar.

Cheng Zhuo didn't beat around the bush and directly told Qi Mo what had been buried in his heart for a long time.

"Chief Qi, actually, I suspect your wife is my sister."

Qi Mo's deep and obscure eyes suddenly tightened.

Cheng Zhuo said, "This is just my one-sided guess, but really... Sister Sheng looks so much like my mom, with the same smile that makes her eyes curve and form a pair of dimples."

As if to prove what he said, he added with palms together,

"My brother also has dimples. I'm the only one in my family who was born differently, my dimples became eye bags."

Qi Mo's eyebrows furrowed tightly.

Judging kinship based on dimples, what kind of logic is this?

The brother Cheng Zhuo mentioned should be none other than Cheng Xin, the current president of Fangcheng Group, if Qi Mo guessed correctly.

That young businessman who has established a foothold on Wall Street at the age of only thirty-four.

In just five short years, he has turned Fangcheng Group from an unknown small company into one of the top 30 companies in the United States.

The reason why Cheng Zhuo suspected that Sheng Mumu was from the Cheng family was not only because of their looks.

He looked steadily at Qi Mo.

Perhaps it was because they were both successful at a young age and had started their own businesses early.

He felt that Qi Mo and his brother shared subtle similarities in temperament and demeanor.

Thinking this way, he involuntarily felt a sense of affinity.

His lips moved for a few times before he finally told this long-kept secret of the Cheng family to the man he met for the first time.

"Twenty-two years ago, my family still lived in a small city in the south. One day my parents heard that a theme park had just opened in the neighboring city, so they took us three kids there to play."

"That day the amusement park was very crowded. My brother kept yelling that he wanted to ride the pirate ship. I was eyeing the cotton candy in the hands of kids next to me. We went in separate directions."

Cheng Zhuo lowered his eyes remorsefully. "It was then that my mom's and sister's hands, which were holding each other, got separated by the surging crowd..."

"My sister got lost."

"My parents were extremely anxious and exhausted all possible means they could think of, but still couldn't find my sister."

Qi Mo's eyes flickered slightly, and he said lightly in a barely noticeable comforting way, "There was no video surveillance coverage in many places during that era."

"Yeah." Cheng Zhuo looked up. "Searching for a six-year-old little girl in the vast sea of people was like looking for a needle in the ocean." "After that, my mother blamed herself tremendously. No matter how my dad comforted her, she blamed the separation of my sister entirely on herself and lived in sadness every day."

"In order for my mother to stop indulging in self-blame, my dad made the painful decision to immigrate with the family to the United States, hoping that the change of environment could make her feel better." Cheng Zhuo's tone was a little choked up, and his shoulders sank. "But my mother still passed away shortly after immigrating."

"My dad aged overnight. In just a few years, he followed my mother as well."

In just a few brief sentences, Cheng Zhuo recounted the tremendous changes that happened in the Cheng family over the years.

But it left indelible marks in the hearts of each Cheng family member.

"After that, my brother took care of me like both a brother and a father..."

Cheng Zhuo adjusted his emotions and looked straight at the silent man across from him, speaking faster,

"Until a few months ago, when I saw Sister Sheng's photo with employees on the promotional webpage of Yueji Flower Shop."

"She looked so much alike that after checking, I found out even the age matched my lost sister's. What surprised me most was her name also contained the character 'Mu'."

After listening to Cheng Zhuo's words, even a man as rational and aloof as Qi Mo was touched. His brow slightly furrowed.

He remained silent for a few seconds before rationality finally prevailed over emotion. He spoke heavily,

"Other than looking alike and having the same age, do you have any other evidence that can prove Mumu is your Cheng family member?"

A fleeting bleakness flashed across Cheng Zhuo's eyes. His lips pressed into a straight line.

"No."

Upon hearing this, Qi Mo's tense jaw relaxed slightly.

He lowered his eyes to conceal the complicated emotions within.

He was clearly aware.

At this moment, a despicable thought had emerged in his heart.

He had to admit.

When he heard Cheng Zhuo say "no", he felt a trace of relief for some reason.

The relief stemmed from fear.

He was afraid that Cheng Zhuo really had evidence to prove she was from the Cheng family.

If the Cheng family wanted to find her back.

Would she immediately ask for a divorce and terminate the agreement?

He had no reason to keep her in the Qi family.

Qi Mo had never faced the darker side of himself like he did now.

He had said that she was free.

He had said that she could leave anytime if she wanted.

So why, would he suddenly be unwilling to let go. Cheng Zhuo couldn't discern the emotions from the frowning man across from him. He went on,

"I've been struggling with whether I should directly tell Sister Sheng or not, but I also feel it would be too abrupt, so I wanted to investigate secretly first."

Cheng Zhuo said, "I thought about directly taking some hair samples to do a paternity test—"

As soon as he said this, Qi Mo's eyes narrowed slightly, and his palm grasped tightly again with fingers turning white.

Cheng Zhuo noticed his abnormal behavior and quickly explained, "I didn't do that."

Collecting someone's hair without permission and taking it for testing would be very unethical.

"I think when the timing is right, I will tell Sister Sheng in person and do the test together with her consent."

After a long silence, the man finally let out a muffled "hmm" from his chest. The sharpness in his eyes faded away.

Cheng Zhuo leaned forward a little, a slight furrow between his brows, "When the timing is right, I will explain everything to Sister Sheng. Chief Qi, can you please not tell her about today for now?"

Qi Mo looked straight at Cheng Zhuo and responded in a deep voice,

"Okay."

Even without Cheng Zhuo stressing it, he would not let this unverified matter affect her.

Affect them.

Cheng Zhuo showed a grateful smile, "Thank you, Chief Qi."

Qi Mo looked away, tone flat, "No need to thank me."

After Cheng Zhuo left, Qi Mo stayed in the private room for a long time.

The lighting in the private room was very dim. There was a finished glass of red wine by his hand.

The profound eyes of the man were blurred by the wine.

His gaze vaguely fell outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Outside the windows, lights of thousands of households.

As if a thought suddenly occurred to him.

He impatiently loosened his tie and lazily leaned back into the sofa, withdrawing his gaze.

Unwilling to look at those lights outside the window representing families anymore.

Just then, the screen of his phone on the table lit up.

Taking advantage of her trip to the restroom, Sheng Mumu sent several complaining messages in a row:

"Mr. Qi, your mom suddenly came over. I'm at her place now. She wouldn't let me leave and insisted on teaching me to cook dishes you like to eat."

"Help, SOS, what sin did I commit to suffer the torment of learning to cook late at night. [crying emoji]"

"You'd better like eating them, otherwise I would have pretended to be a virtuous wife for nothing. I'll really feel wronged."

The faint light of the screen shined on the exquisite face of the man.

Unnoticed ripples of smile emerged in the unfathomable eyes as he typed a reply:

"Wait for me."