Chapter 1749 Negotiation (Part Five)
"There, we let her go. Now, give me the videotape and the recoding," Sheena smugly requested. She had seen everything about Tiana and Rain from her cold, brutal eyes. She didn't mind showing Tiana how cunning and manipulative she actually had been to her all this time. Whether Tiana could accept this cruel truth was beyong Sheena's responsibility now. All she cared about was the evidence in Rain's possession that could destroy her life. "Don't worry! I'll definitely hand them over to you after we sign the contract," Rain replied. He wasn't some stupid man who got lucky. He was a sophisticated businessman who worked with Edward for so many years. He learned a lot under his tutelage. "Rain, what are you talking about?" Tiana asked in confusion. She was completely disoriented now. She had no idea what was happening ever since she had been locked up.
"Nothing that should concern you. Don't worry," Rain replied gently. He believed that it would be best if Tiana knew as little as possible between their deal, considering her physical and mental states. She was too weak to take all of this in at once. "What contract are you talking about?' Sheena asked, also confused. She didn't know what Rain was up to.
"Of course a contract that says, from now on, Tiana would have nothing to do with you people. Otherwise, who knows when you'll attempt to kidnap her again after I turn over the evidence?" Rain replied matter-of-factly. He didn't worry that they might cheat him after the deal, because the contract he prepared was full of contingencies and no loopholes.
"What if we don't sign this?" Sheena asked increduously.
"That would be fine, too. I have more than one copy of the evidence," Rain replied passively. Trying to play tricks on him? He never knew they were that stupid to attempt this. His IQ was leagues higher than these people.
"You shameless bastard!" Sheena cried angrily. It never came across Sheena's panicked mind that Rain would make copies of the evidence. If that was true, then the plan she came up with earlier would be useless. She couldn't kidnap Tiana back anymore, which again would mean no money for her. She even felt so superior to her sons when she thought of such a perfect plan, but Rain knew these people well. He knew their rotten ways.
"Well, not as shameless as you people considering you were going to peddle your daughter for money," Rain replied with a smile. He picked up the briefcase he left on the floor and placed it on the nearby table. He then opened it with a satisfying click and took out the documents he prepared earlier before coming to this mansion. In fact, signing the contract was actually beneficial to the Ke's as well. It was mentioned in one of the clauses that as long as they left Tiana alone for good, it was guaranteed that Rain would never hand over the evidence to the police in his lifetime. So they were protected by this contract as much as it protected Tiana. Since he still had the damning evidence Sheena dreaded, they wouldn't dare try to harm his family in the future. If they pissed him off again, they would find themselves in a heap of trouble. If they followed the rules to the letter, then it would be a win-win situation for both parties.Exclusive © material by Nô(/v)elDrama.Org.
On the other hand, Tiana had heard enough to put two and two together and realize the truth. She realized that she was freed not because her mother saw sense, but because Rain made a deal with them to release her. Thinking of all this, she shivered from the terrible chill that went down her spine. Her heart was hardened from the icy cold words and heartless acts done to her by her so called "family". She was trembling from phantom cold. A trance befell her, she felt nothing even when she had already been taken to the car by Rain. Only when their car stopped in front of a stark white villa did she recover a little from her stupor.
"Tiana, we're here. Can you walk by yourself?" Rain asked in a soft voice. Seeing how terrible she looked, he believed he made the right choice of taking her with him. Though he had never discussed this with Annie, he trusted her to make the right choice. Annie had a kind heart and when she saw Tiana, she wouldn't refuse to let her stay.
"Rain, everything I heard back at the house earlier wasn't real, right? I was just hallucinating and hearing things. My own family wouldn't treat me like that, right?" Tiana asked in a tiny voice. Her questions were more to convince herself than to know the truth. She didn't even know what kind of answer she wanted to hear. All she wanted was to feel that everything wasn't true. She was wallowing in her own thoughts. She had heard everything her family said. Too shocked to stay conscious, she was slowly feeling faint. Deep inside, she knew what was real. Everything was real. She could only wish that she had imagined everything. She couldn't accept the harsh truth, the ruthless truth that was her nightmare.
"Everything that happened, everything that you've heard, it's all true. What your family did to you, that's also true," Rain replied in a firm and stern tone. He knew Tiana was hurt deeply that she tried to avoid the truth. He also knew Tiana wanted so desperately to escape reality. But since the truth had been burned on her mind, he knew he had no choice but to bring her back and let her face this herself. She would have to do this eventually. The sooner she accepted her situation, the less pain she would feel over time. So he decided to be the cruel man that shattered her beautiful dream. But also in his strong voice, he tried to instil some strength, confidence, and love in her. He told her the harsh truth, but he also let her know the love and support from her real family that truly cared about her.
"But why did you save me?" Tiana asked again. She couldn't understand him either. It seemed that he gave up something important in exchange just to help her out.
"Maybe for my unborn sister who died before she could even see this ugly world," Rain answered, his voice lowering unconsciously. Everyone thought that he hated the Ke's because of his mother's death. But there was something more to it than that. The deeply buried wound was about his unborn sister, who died too early. This was also the reason why his mother became depressed all those years, which finally led to her death.
"What did you just say?" Tiana asked. She hadn't listened to him intently. As Rain spoke in an almost hushed whisper, Tiana couldn't catch what he had said.
"Nothing, let's get out of the car now," Rain replied. He had decided early on to hide his pain deep inside his heart for the rest of his life. He wouldn't easily tell anyone about his deepest secret. He didn't even mention this to his best friends.
"Well, okay then," Tiana replied, disappointed. She sensed that Rain wasn't willing to expound on the subject further, so she stopped herself from prying too much. She opened the car door and stepped outside. As soon as she put her weight on her leg, her body began to tremble. Fortunately, Rain was swift to catch her, otherwise she would have fallen on the ground the moment she left the car.0000000