Jiang Weiyuan confessed to his crime, completely unfazed. There was no trace of panic or guilt in his eyes. In fact, his gaze burned in inexplicable fury as darkness consumed his black irises. His demeanor turned icy just by the thought of Jiang Zemin that crossed his mind.
"B-big brother…" Jiang Xiurang was still in disbelief as she stared at him.
Jiang Weizhe slightly stiffened and ever so slowly turned to look at him. "So it was really you…"
"I guess you knew about it."
His lips straightened into a thin line. "It was odd. The way he died. Almost too similar to how his father died of a heart attack."
Jiang Weiyuan sneered. "I just gave him the taste of his own medicine. He should know what it feels like getting killed by his own son with the same method that he used on his shitty father. I was grateful enough to let him know that I mixed the poison. You should have seen his face. At that moment, I finally saw fear in his eyes. His whole life would have flashed in front of him. He got what he gave. He was the very first man that I killed. I had promised to myself that no matter how long it would take, the first person I would kill would be him. No exceptions."
The outline of the green veins popped on his forehead. "He had to die. There was no other way. He was abusive. He had destroyed your life, bro. Xiurang and I lost you only because of him. I wanted to become the Mafia King because I wanted my brother back."
He froze.
"I wanted to protect you. But I failed. No wonder he was so obsessed with making you the ruler. As an elder son himself, he had lost his position to his younger brother. That's why he was so fixated on you."
Jiang Weizhe trembled. "You...you are an idiot, Weiyuan. What were you thinking? You didn't have to protect me…" his fingers curled hard in his palm.
"I didn't want to lose you and neither did..." Jiang Weiyuan faintly smiled. "Xiurang. I only did what you would have done if you had been in my place."
He pursed his lips. His gaze dimmed. "...You didn't talk to me. You refused to look at me after he announced the news. I thought that...you really wanted the position but I snatched it away from you."
Jiang Weiyuan widened his eyes. Just like Lihua said, he was thinking along those lines…
He shook his head. "I was never interested in that title. I didn't want to have that position that made our lives miserable. That made Jiang Zemin so crazy that he destroyed our lives because of greed and hunger for power. I wanted power so that I can free you and throw that thorn away from our lives once and for all. I couldn't become the Mafia King, but that didn't mean I would have allowed him to live. He had crossed...far too many boundaries."
Lihua slowly nodded.
Sometimes, a man would be so irredeemable that the only way to get free of his tyranny was his death. Jiang Zemin had hurt far too many people out of selfishness.
"I did wonder that the spy story that Grandma said sounded really fishy."
Wei said, "She didn't want to outrightly admit it perhaps."
"But now we know what is happening. Jiang Shan is pulling all the strings and forcing Old Madam to act like his puppet."
Jiang Weiyuan said, "She didn't have to worry so much about him exposing it to the world that I killed Jiang Zemin. We are not at that stage to get affected by something like this. If Jiang Shan thinks that he could really put me to jail or I would be scared, then I doubt his intelligence. Surely, I kept this truth to myself, but I was ready to handle it if it did come out by any chance."
Lihua shook her head. "Grandma's fear is right in her place. She had already lost Zhao Weisheng to him. She must be afraid to lose you too…"
Jiang Weiyuan couldn't retort to that.
"That Jiang Shan is so vicious!" She glared.
Jiang Xiurang worriedly said, "He is taking revenge. Jiang Zemin killed his family. Now he is making our lives miserable. We are supposed to be "Jiang Zemin's" future generation for him."
Wei patted her head and said, "Don't take stress. Jiang Shan cannot hide from us anymore. I will find him anyhow."
Lihua looked worried. "Wei...do you really think that Zhao Weisheng is... W-what if he is just fooling Grandma. I-I really want him to be alive," tears pooled in her eyes. "But if he is playing with Grandma's feelings then I would never forgive him!"
Jiang Weizhe smiled. "Wei is right. I also think that he is alive. Sure Old Madam is doing everything he is saying, but she would also want an assurance that she is not going against her family for nothing. She must be asking him to let her see Zhao Weisheng through video call or something."
Lihua thought about it and agreed. "En."
Wei said, "I will immediately ask Renshu to find everything he can."
"Yes! Once we get Grandpa back, we can finally punish that bastard who was torturing Grandma all this time!"
---
It was very early in the next morning, around just four-thirty am that Old Madam slowly stepped out of her room. She stood in the living room and looked around the villa. She thought about everyone for the last time as tears plopped down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them.
"This is for the best…"
With tired steps, she walked ahead.
"Where are you going?"
A calm voice came from behind her, making her startled. Jiang Weizhe slowly stepped out of the darkness and stood in front of her.
Old Madam stiffened. "Weizhe. What are you doing awake so early in the morning? S-shouldn't you be with Yubi?"
"I must ask you the same question. What are you doing here so early in the morning? Where are you getting ready to go?"