Dragon Palace Home #10.
It was already past 1:30 AM but Jin Liwei still couldn't sleep. Ever since his baby girl left, he barely had any decent night of sleep. He only slept when his body couldn't take it anymore and shut down by itself.
He missed his baby girl so much. It felt like she took a big part of him with her when she left. He felt incomplete without her.
Even though she never replied, he sent her multiple messages and voice mails every single day. He woke up every morning after a couple hours of sleep (if he was lucky) hoping that she would at least send him a message or call him. And every day, he hurt when she didn't.
It felt like he was going crazy with every passing day that she was gone. He looked terrible. He looked thinner with dark circles around his sunken eyes. If it wasn't for his assistant Xu Tian who sent a barber to his mansion, his hair, beard and mustache would have already grown wildly like that of a caveman. Dominic also pestered him to eat his meals.
He was sprawled on the chaise longue by the glass windows in his bedroom. The night sky was dark, almost pitch-black because thick clouds covered the moon and the stars.
Depressed, he downed brandy directly from the bottle while staring at the darkness outside the windows. His other hand stroked Ice Cream who was curled beside him, her head resting on his thigh. Popcorn was sleeping belly up in the middle of the enormous bed as if he owned the entire thing.
"Baby, when are you coming back? Please come back," he pleaded, hoping his feelings could somehow reach her wherever she was.
He almost broke down. So he took another swig of the brandy, trying to numb the pain of missing her.
Then his phone which he always kept beside him lit up. He glanced at it and froze when he saw the caller on the display. His heart jumped, almost as if he couldn't believe it was real.
"Hello baby?" His voice shook when he answered the phone, gripping it tightly in his hand. "Are you alright? Please be okay. I've been so worried about you. Where are you? Can I see you? Are you ready to come back? I want to see you so badly. I miss you so much."
Jin Liwei's words rushed out of his mouth in quick succession. He almost didn't breathe as he spoke. His heart hammered inside his chest.
When he didn't hear anything from the other side of the line, he looked at the phone's display again to check if the call was still connected. It was. He returned the phone to his ear.
"Hello? Baby, are you there?"
Silence.
His expression fell and he slumped back to the couch. Ice Cream mewled, complaining from the sudden movement before returning to sleep.
"Liwei…"
At last, he heard the voice that he had been waiting to hear for so long. His eyes watered, his grip on the phone tightening once again.
"Baby?"
"Are you crying? Are you hurt? Please don't cry," he told her, even when he wanted to cry as well. But he didn't let the tears spill from his eyes.
"I miss you…" she said.
Her voice was a whisper, almost inaudible. But he heard every single word and his heart soared.
"I miss you too, baby. So much."
"I'm sorry I didn't contact you. I…I needed some time alone to…to figure things out…"
"No, no. Don't apologize to me," he said in a hurried tone. "I'm the one who wronged you."
"Oh Liwei…"
They stopped speaking for a few moments, but the silence wasn't awkward at all. They listened to each other's breathing, feeling the connection between them. No words were necessary to convey how much they missed each other. They just knew.
It was Iris who broke the silence first.
"What is it?"
"I want to tell you in person. I want to see you, Liwei."
"I want to see you too, baby. So much. When are you coming back?"
"I…" She hesitated and then sighed. "I can't right now. I still have some matters that I want to finish here."
The anticipation he was feeling crashed down, replaced by disappointment. He took a few deep breaths to control his emotions.
"Alright…" he forced himself to say. Then cautiously he asked her, "Then can I come see you instead? Is that okay with you?"
"Really?" He could hear the excitement in her voice, making him hopeful once again.
"Yes, of course! Tell me where you are."
"But…I'm far away. You have Jin Corporation to run…"
She hesitated once again. He waited patiently for her to answer.
"I'm at Cross Academy in Switzerland," she finally said.
"I'm coming right away, baby. Wait for me."
He stood up, headed for the bathroom to quickly wash up and change into clean clothes. He was already making plans in his head to arrange his flight at the shortest amount of time as possible. He would need to rouse people from their sleep, but he honestly couldn't care about them right now. His baby girl was more important than them.
"I know that it's already late there. Why don't you sleep first and fly in the morning instead?" she suggested.
"I want to see you…I NEED to see you as quickly as possible. Besides I won't be able to sleep anyway. I'll just sleep on the plane."
"What about Ice Cream and Popcorn?"
"They don't have the necessary travel papers. I'll leave them to Dominic. He's still staying here at the mansion."
"Okay," she said. He could hear the smile in her voice, making him smile as well. "I'll inform Grandpa Lu that you're coming then. I'm sure he can do something so that the academy can grant you permission to enter even in such short notice. Keep your phone on. He'll most likely call you after I tell him."
He was now smiling with joy, almost grinning. Finally! He could see his baby girl and hug her and kiss her.
"I can't wait to see you, Liwei." Then she whispered, "I'll be waiting for you, darling."
"I'll be there soon, baby. I love you."