46 Two women on the same boat Part 1 (1/2)
An Ning didn't go to Moira's shop in the end. She took a cab and had the driver drove her to her father's old house instead. The house was closed off but there was a couple who was taking care of it and it was them who let An Ning in at the gate.
An Ma inherited the house from his parents when they died. He brought his family there to live soon after he and Yu Yan got married. Yu Yan liked it because it was some distance away from the city. An Ning liked it because of Richard, the son of their nearest neighbor who lived next door.
An Ning entered the house, her thoughts still in a whirl. She was still feeling unsettled after seeing that mysterious man back in Han's office. She knew who he was without being told. Knew what he wanted without being asked.
Richard was a complete mystery to her. She grew up with him most of her life and yet he was the only one whom she didn't really understand. What was he like? Why did he marry her if he didn't love her? Was he intent on revenge? Why her? What for? An Ning didn't know. And so, the unsettled feeling of the unknown. Because she didn't understand Richard's motives and she didn't know if she could fight against it or not.
Sometimes, she wished that she could have her memory back. She didn't even have bits and pieces of it. Only what other people's opinion of it based on what they've seen or been privy to. What will Richard do and how can she protect her family, especially her unborn children, against him?
When she received Han's phone call, she lied to him. Lied to him without blinking or having any second thoughts. She told him she was in a friend's house catching up. She was safe. So he had nothing to worry about. No, she didn't need him to pick her up. She just needed him to leave her alone so she could think of a way to defend herself against an avenging spirit. But of course, she didn't tell him that.
Of course, Han being Han was terrified that An Ning was mad at him because of Valerie, whom he found really pathetic. He told Du Lu to let her go, end the contract so he wouldn't have to deal with his brother's mistress now or in the future. Richard was dead. He will have to find a way to tell her that one of these days. She deserved to be told the truth at least.
An Ning laughed because she of course knew what he was thinking. The memory he shared with Richard had made him putty in front of Valerie. Richard had been unable to resist her, and Han who was as intimate as anyone with Richard's body and soul had been just as perturbed and disturbed. Did she want Han to fall victim to Valerie's charms like Richard did? Of course not but because of this a tiny seed had already been planted in An Ning's mind. Trust really was a giant leap with a man who shared the same memory and feelings of her vanished ex-husband.
An Ning's mind was stuck too much in the past that it took her a moment to realize that a figure had detached itself from the shadows and is now waiting for her. An Ning wasn't even surprised or afraid because it seemed to be part of the pattern of swirling memories and future events she will have to confront sooner or later. She was expecting this, she realized. She knew this will happen the moment Sam left the building in tears.
”So brave of you to come and see me,” Maya said mockingly in greeting. ”Aren't you afraid?”
”Hello, Yu Yan,” An Ning said. ”I wasn't expecting you but now that you're here why don't we sit down and have a little talk?”
Maya smiled and gestured to An Ning to go ahead. An Ning opened the doors and walked inside unafraid. She took a seat in front of a roaring fire and warmed her cold hands on it. A maid appeared and put hot cocoa on a table beside her.An Ning drank the cocoa then leaned back on the seat with a satisfied sigh.
”How far are you now?” Maya asked, taking the chair opposite An Ning.
”Eight months.Thank god I don't have the symptoms of being pregnant. No depression, no feeling of heaviness. I eat right and I've never felt better,” An Ning smiled.
”Is that an appeal to my better nature?” Maya said, smiling back at her. ”You scattered my plans about those crazy Amazons and you know about Gara. Maybe I should kill you now before you could do more damage to my plans.”
”What plans? Take over the world and kill all men? You've been planning that for what, twenty years now and you're still at the planning stage?” An Ning scoffed scornfully. ”Please, don't make me laugh. What do you really want Yu Yan?”
Yu Yan picked up the bottle of beer the maid put on the table in front of her and took a swig.
”Isn't it too early for a beer?” An Ning asked, frowning.
”Would a martini satisfy you?”
An Ning harumphed distastefully.
”You never liked me, didn't you?” Maya suddenly asked. ”You loved An Ma the best. As for me, you didn't like me.”
”I didn't like you because I thought you were a foolish woman with no sense. It had nothing to do with the fact that you faked being my mother.”
”It was fun though,” Maya said, laughing delightedly. ”Fooling you, fooling An Ma. Imprisoning Ceres. And those Amazons....they looked down on me so I punished them.”
”I thought it was because some man rejected you to marry another woman,” An Ning said dryly. ”You really are a fool. If you wanted revenge, go after the men not the women. Why? Because that woman was prettier than you? Wetter than you so better get your revenge from them?”
”How dare you!” Maya was so angry her face was was twisted with hate and dislike. ”That woman seduced him! It was me he loved but he seduced him!”
”Sure, sure,” An Ning soothed. ”That's why he forced you to have that abortion, right? Because he loved you so much? Are you sure we're reading from the same page, Yu Yan?”
Maya's face again twisted with hate but then she laughed.