An Almost Lan

Chapter 4

A/N: A brief look at Lan Qiren's circumstances. Thank you for your votes and comments, they really  motivate me. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Lan Qiren had never really contemplated marriage. In his youth, he had felt attraction only to one woman: Cangse Sangren. However, soon enough he realized there was not a single chance that she would reciprocate his feelings, and after some time he moved on discerning clearly that his feelings were a product of a simple infatuation, something akin to puppy love and nothing more.

In a way he was glad that his clarity of thought had saved him from the turmoil that true unrequited love brought to many people around him. He had witnessed the havoc that Jiang Fengmian's unrequited love had brought to his own family. He knew Yu Ziyuan had managed their loveless marriage with as much grace as she could summon in public, but he didn't dare to presume what happened in the Jiang's household behind closed doors.

Another case of unrequited love was indeed closer to home. His own brother had fallen victim of an obsessive and unreciprocated love. It started innocently enough, he had met the beautiful daughter of one of the Lan enterprises' partners. For him, it had been love at first sight. For her it meant nothing. She wasn't even attracted to Lan Qiren's brother.

Instead of moving on, his brother became obsessed with her, pursuing her with an intent that could be qualified as vicious. It was something disgraceful to watch. He went too far, forcing the girl's father's hand through Lan Enterprises. Bringing his future father-in-law to the brink of bankruptcy and putting her in an impossible position. Finally relenting, she accepted to marry him for the sake of her family. It was obvious to everyone but him that she would never love him.

The fate of that marriage had been beyond tragic. So tragic that Lan Qiren refused to find out the truth, he didn't want to know if his brother's car's brakes malfunctioned or if his brother drove his car willingly towards the edge of that cliff while his wife traveled with him. Lan Qiren suspected the latter, having found a divorce application signed by his late sister-in-law. The most logical conclusion would be that his brother decided to kill her and kill himself in one go.

The amount of selfishness and lack of responsibility that decision required from his brother's part made it a hard pill to swallow for Lan Qiren. It would demonstrate that his brother didn't care for his children, not one bit. That mere thought enraged him because in his mind, it was deemed impossible not to love his nephews.

All the speculation involving his late brother and his obviously unstable state of mind proved that his decision of taking the kids from his brother's home before their parents' deaths to personally take care of them had been the correct one.

His brother's sudden demise meant he had to abandon the idea of becoming a scholar, quitting his Ph. D. program to take control of Lan Enterprises as the new head of the family as he prepared both his nephews to take that position when they were old enough.

Lan Qiren had resigned to fulfill his duties to his family and his life had reached a rather stagnant point where his daily routine took precedence over his desires and dreams or lack thereof.

Therefore, the late visit of Madam Jin -of all people- to his office yesterday, had really thrown him into a state of confusion. He had been working late, as it was his habit lately. After calling his nephews' nanny to make sure everything was okay at home and being informed that the boys' schedule had been followed to the minute, he breathed a little easier.

***

It was almost eight at night. He regretted missing dinner with his nephews again, but he couldn't avoid it, he still had paperwork to do. The office was completely vacant except for him, so receiving a phone call from the security guard at the entrance of the building was a completely odd occurrence.