Venom

《 Thirty - Six 》

Dinner went by with Hana talking with Yifan and showering Lorenzo with praises. Jia's friend was impressed by Yifan's choice and smitten by the samller man's beauty. Risa tried a few times to talk to Yifan, but the tiger only nodded or gave one-word answers. His hands were glued to the elder. Lorenzo tried to swat them away shyly but they gripped his waist, almost leaving marks. The dinner passed with ease and when they got home, the family fell asleep instantly. Yifan slept with one arm wrapped around Bella and the other around Lorenzo. That night, Lorenzo had discarded their barrier. There had been no pillows between them. In his sleep. the elder had scooted closer to his husband's larger frame to seek warmth.

The next morning, the sun rose happily. Grandma Jia awoke Lorenzo early and asked him to go out with her to a market. The elder got ready and left the bedroom before the tiger could wake up. He went downstairs and had a light breakfast with Grandma Jia. Before leaving, they filled Bella's bowls with fresh water and food. The female dog was still fast asleep with her favorite person, but Jia knew that the kids would awake later than their precious pet on the weekends.

They walked out of the main door and went to the parked vehicles. Lorenzo held the passenger door open to his BMW and Jia sat inside. Lorenzo entered the driver's seat and brought the vehicle to life. The old woman gave him an address and he typed it on the screen. The GPS made a path to their destination and Lorenzo began driving.

"Lorenzo, I wanted to talk to you." The old woman said and Lorenzo nodded.

"Am I in trouble?" The man joked half-heartedly and Jia giggled.

"Of course not, sweetie." The woman said while patting his arm. "I wanted to apologize for not telling you that Risa would be at the dinner last night."

"Grandma Jia, what is there to be sorry for?" Lorenzo shook his head and smiled. "I trust you. You can never do anything to hurt me."

"When we moved here from Shanghai, it was Hana who helped us find a place to live. I'm sure Yifan has told you what happened in the past. I didn't have access to my money when we came to London. We used to live in the same apartment building as Risa's family and Yifan had a crush on Risa." Lorenzo felt his heart burn with jealousy but he tried to keep an open mind. This was the past. The thought of Yifan being interested in someone other than him didn't sit right with Lorenzo.

"Grandma Jia, you don't have to explain anything. It's okay." Lorenzo said but Jia shook her head. She needed to get rid of the guilt piling in her heart. Jia had seen the pain in Lorenzo's eyes when she said yes to Hana's request last night.

"Yifan and Risa went to the same high school. They dated in senior year for two months without telling her parents but she only used him for rides and to finish all her school assignments. Without telling Yifan, she was seeing other guys. One day, Yifan caught her on a date with another guy. Her actions broke his heart. After that day, he didn't show interest in anyone romantically. Hana never knew anything about what happened and she views Yifan as Risa's older brother." The truth about Risa was finally out of Jia's heart now and she felt so relieved.

"She made a mistake treating him like that." Lorenzo said while gripping the steering wheel. "He deserves so much love."

"Lorenzo, please protect him from her. The whole family is back from Japan and I know she will find so many excuses to be near him. I don't trust her at all and I'm not in a position to say no to Hana after all the help she has given me." The old woman pleaded and the man nodded.

"Don't stress." Lorenzo smiled. "Your grandson is in safe hands. I won't let her get close to my husband."

"I see you both are done fighting." The old woman teased and Lorenzo blushed.

"Y-Yeah, we made up yesterday." He replied.

"Couples fight all the time, this is normal."

The two reached a parking lot that had an entrance leading to a huge row of tents. Lorenzo parked and held the door for Jia. The market was buzzing with people and many tents were selling seafood. Jia walked next to Lorenzo while holding his arm. They decided to buy a king crab and oysters. The old woman pulled out her wallet to pay but Lorenzo shook his head. He pulled out cash from his pocket and paid. Grandma Jia tried to stop him but the man just rolled his eyes playfully.

"What else do you want, Grandma Jia?" He asked with a big smile.

"Let's buy shrimp, I will cook a recipe for you tonight." She pulled him to another tent and the man followed happily.

As they shopped, Lorenzo observed Grandma Jia. When he was with her, it felt like he was with his mother. He felt adored by her. The way she smiled so brightly and laughed at all his silly jokes. In the past, his mother had held his arm each time they went out. Now, it was Grandma Jia and this woman had treated him better than his biological mother. Her heart was so pure. The man felt lucky to be on her side.

"We have everything, time to go home." She said and Lorenzo nodded.

They were passing an empty path while leaving the market when a young man bumped into Jia while skateboarding. The old woman almost tumbled back but Lorenzo saved her. He wrapped an arm around her side and she leaned on him. The old woman's hands shook from shock as she tried to stand straight.

"Are you okay?" Lorenzo asked worriedly and Jia nodded.

"What the fuck?!" They saw a young brunet get up while patting his clothes. "Can't you see, you old hag?"

His rude tone and bitter words triggered something in Lorenzo. The man made Jia sit at the side and gave her the bags. Lorenzo's face became blank and his lips formed a frown. His eyes stared at the stupid man coldly.

"Apologize." Lorenzo said with a clipped voice.

"For what?" The young man smirked and grabbed his skateboard. "Old hags should just stay home instead of wandering in the streets."

The brunet turned to leave but Lorenzo lunged for him. Grandma Jia gasped as she saw him grab the brunet by the back of his hoodie. Lorenzo turned him around and landed a hard jab on his tan face. The rude man fell to the ground and his jaw became red.

"What the fuck?!" He yelled angrily.

Lorenzo didn't let him get the chance to stand. The elder kicked his side roughly with a blank face and watched him writhe on the ground in pain. Lorenzo held the stranger's hoodie and dragged him to the old woman. He dropped the bruised man to Jia's feet and stepped on him.

"Lorenzo, let him go." The old woman pleaded with a calm voice, shocked by the anger in Lorenzo's eyes. She had never seen him so angry.

"I said apologize!" Both the old woman and the brunet jumped at the sound of Lorenzo's loud voice.

"I'm s-so sorry, ma'am." The young man said while joining his trembling hands. "I will never be rude to my elders again. I-I hope you have a good day."

Lorenzo took his foot off the pathetic idiot's back and he grabbed the bags from Jia's hand. "Let's go, Grandma Jia."

Without looking back at the young man, Lorenzo lead the old woman to the parking lot. He held the vehicle door for her and she sat inside. Lorenzo put all their bags in the trunk and climbed into the driver's seat. He let out a deep breath and a small smile formed on his face.

"I'm so sorry you saw me act so violent." He said instantly.

"Why did you get so angry?" Jia wasn't mad at him, just curious.

Lorenzo pulled his vehicle out of the parking lot. "You are very important to me, Grandma Jia. I won't let anyone disrespect you."

The man said with a serious tone and the old woman felt proud. In her head, she praised Yifan for choosing Lorenzo as his life partner. Lorenzo had listened to all her words and even protected her from a rude stranger. She loved how much this man cared for his loved ones. Lorenzo never disappointed her in anything. Marrying him was the best thing her grandson had done. She saluted his choice. This kind human had entered their lives with bags of happiness to share and filled their hearts with joy.