Siren Song 38 Paradise V

Liang Jian Amal lay back in his seat, he had lied about sleeping and was just taking advantage of the moment. He wanted Chang to get used to his presence and touch.

'There's definitely going to be more of that' he thought to himself with a wicked grin, 'and I cant have her running to the hills or into a bathroom every time. You're mine.'

Chang was lulled into sleep with the warmth and his presence, also knowing her mother was safe with her she truly relaxed and let go of the anxiety she held in her sleep.

As she slept Jian kept watch over her, he looked to his right though and saw that something seemed off about the two women sitting on the other side of the aisle. Hao Jin Ying's posture was rather rigid with her back turned as if she was conversing with Li Hua, if not for her unnatural posture, he would believe it.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

Hao Jin Ying turned to Liang Jian Amal, uncertainty showing in her eyes as she shot a brief glance at Chang curled up in his arms.

"She's asleep. Tell me."

"Li Hua had another attack. They're getting worse and more frequent. I fear she might not have much longer, her eyes dropped after saying this and her voice broke. Hao Jin Ying had been assigned to caretake Li Hua after her boss had learned of her lady boss's mother's predicament. Over the months of living with Li Hua and coming to know her Hao Jin Ying had grown attached to the middle aged woman. She had done her best, but feared it wouldn't be good enough, Li Hua refused to do certain things.

Liang Jian Amal's expression grew troubled hearing this. He had known it was getting worse from the reports he received, and from receiving notice that Li Hua had collapsed after a seizure and was hospitalized. 'How do we tell Chang?' He worried about this issue, it had been one of the driving forces in finding her, he needed to bring her to her mother's side. Now that they were heading to his grandfather's country they would have access to the best private treatment for Li Hua, he would do whatever was in his means for her. Chang still needed her. Liang Jian Amal looked at the woman sleeping peacefully in his arms, unaware of the sadness surrounding her.

"How is Li Hua now?"

"She is sleeping, I gave her something for the pain, she passed out shortly after."

"Hmm, thank you for your service." He motioned to the flight attendant who awaited any commands on the sidelines. " Bring her a pillow and a blanket."

Both mother and daughter slept for several hours of the flight over half, and both woke up ravenous at the same time. The flight attendant prepared an in-flight meal for everyone, a simple eggplant lasagna. After satiating their hunger, wolfing down their food the mother and daughter finally found a chance to have a good conversation. Chang urged Hao Jin Ying to change spots with her, much to Liang Jian Amal's displeasure. She eventually did trade places.

Mother and daughter happily chatted away, Chang told her mother all about LA, and living with Justin, her friend she had met down there.

"That's wonderful, Xiao Xie, but what made you move to LA?"

Chang coughed, 'so we come to this.'

A pair of ears tuned into the conversation, curious for the truth as well.

"Well I came to a wrong conclusion, that Jian and I weren't meant to be together, and so I left."

"Why didn't you just come home?"

'Could you make this any harder mom?!' Chang sweated. "I wanted to just try to start afresh somewhere new for awhile."

"How did you get to LA with none knowing?" Her mother leaned closer and whispered to her.

Chang saw her conspiratorial nature and responded in turn. She leaned closer, "I had help from a friend of Jian's father."

"Who?"

"You promise to keep it secret?"

"Pinky swear." Her mother extended her finger just like they used to when Chang was very little.

"His father's right hand man made all the arrangements for my travel to LA, and money to survive on after I ment with Jian's father."

"Why would he do that."

"Jian's father doesn't approve of us." Chang looked down, this pricked her heart a bit to know she had been so thoroughly misled. "He doesn't think I'm worthy."

"Not worthy of my Xiao Xie!?" Her mother's tone raised incredulous hearing this.

"Shh shh" Chang put her finger to her lips and motioned for her mother to lower her voice. She didn't want Jian to overhear their conversation.

"Sorry, but that's absolute bulls**t!" Li Hua swore startling Chang, her mother almost never swore. She could count on one hand the number of times she had heard her mother use profanities.

Chang didn't have a response and Li Hua eventually settled her ruffled feathers. "Well at least my son-in-law seems to be cut from a different cloth. Please tell me. How did you two meet?"

Chang smiled and told her mom. Of course omitting some of the details such as her being drunk as a skunk, her mother didn't need to know those things, she would never hear the end of it! Chang sweated weaving the details making it so that Jian and her met at a business meeting, and he proposed to her right after and she agreed.

"Hmm, that seems so irresponsible, why would you just agree to marry a stranger like that? What if he turned out to be a bad guy, what then, you're lucky my son-in-law is a gentleman!" Li Hua shook her finger at her daughter enunciating her points. "Still that's not like you, this doesn't quite seem to be the truth, were you drinking again?" Li Hua crossed her arms over her chest her tone reproachful.

Chapter end

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