Dark Purple Rose [YiZhan FF]

Chapter 21

When Zhan and Yibo started the day that morning, they were in a good mood and were already joking around with each other at breakfast, teasing each other with their criss-crossing hair and still puffy eyes. They both pressed tablespoons to their eyes and even chased each other around the kitchen for a short time when Zhan took advantage of the situation where Yibo couldn't see because of the tablespoons and simply gave him a light kick in the butt.

They drove to the office in Zhan's car, stopping at Zhan's favorite bakery on the way, where they bought hot chocolate with lots of creamy foam for Yibo, an Americano for Zhan and three bagels topped with cream cheese, cucumber and tomato slices for themselves and Sia for their second breakfast at the office.

When they arrived at the office, Sia surprised them with fresh fruit salad, natural yogurt and sesame buns. They decided to bring the second breakfast forward and have breakfast together straight away. In the meantime, they discussed the day; Zhan actually had an outside appointment that had been postponed and there wasn't much else to do. Sia would answer the phone and reply to emails, Zhan would finish one or two designs and Yibo would be the moral support for the two of them and work on a new choreography that had actually occurred to him in his sleep.

Zhan had just started working on a new logo for a client when his cell phone rang. A video call from this woman. Zhan rolled his eyes in annoyance, waved Yibo over and accepted the video call. But what they saw was not Mrs. Isari. It was Isko and he was completely distraught, with blood on his clothes, on his face and nervously looking back and forth while sweat and tears ran down his face. "Oh my god! What happened?" Zhan asked, terrified and panicked.

"You... you... oh god this much blood... please you have to... please help me." Stuttered Isko.

"What happened Isko? Are you hurt?"

"What? Um, no... no I... oh no the blood is everywhere... no..."

"Isko!!! What happened? Are you hurt? What is this blood?"

"I... I'm fine... yes I'm fine. But... Zhan... she I think she's going to die."

"Who's going to die?"

"My boss. I don't know what happened... I don't know. She came back... she's... hurt. Yeah, hurt."

Yibo snatched the cell phone from Zhan's hand and spoke to Isko, "Isko, look at me."

"Um... yeah." Said Isko. The video image shook because Isko was shaking so much.

"Isko. Listen to me carefully now. You have to breathe! Don't look and just look at me. Breathe in and out very slowly and deeply. Do that a few times. You have to calm down and tell us what happened."

Isko cried bitterly, wiping his face with the sleeve of his sweater. His hand was covered in blood, as was the sleeve of his sweater. "I hate her and I always wished she was dead. But now I don't want it anymore. Not like this." Sobbed Isko.

"I know. Please breathe."

"I will."

"Good, when you've calmed down a bit, tell me exactly what you see, what happened and where the bodyguards are." Yibo said, pointing at his and Zhan's jackets at the same time. He whispered to Zhan that they would get dressed and make their way to Isko. Zhan, who was surprisingly calm, nodded and obeyed. He helped Yibo put on the jacket, then put on his own jacket, then went to tell Sia that he and Yibo had an emergency and needed to leave again. They then drove to Yibo's car, which was still in the parking lot in front of Zhan's apartment building, and got into Yibo's car, which they used to make their way to the villa.

Only when they had already reached the city limits was Isko able to tell them a little about what had happened. He began to tell them in the frightened voice of a little boy. "I was sitting at my laptop, going through business emails, when I heard a loud bang outside. The bodyguards immediately ran to the door. Then bang, bang, bang, bang. Then I heard a scream. I hid behind the desk. I heard footsteps in the house, then bang, bang, bang again. I crept into my room and hid in my closet. Bang, bang, screams, bang, bang. Shots fired in quick succession. Someone entered my room and opened my closet. Then a voice: "Come on." The closet was closed. The man left my room. More shots. Then my boss's voice. She screamed very loudly. A man laughed. She screamed again. Then the man laughed again. Stifled screams. Footsteps passing by my room again. I heard someone come into my room. And my boss was there. She was crying. I heard him choking her. Then she shrieked and I heard my bed squeak. The man laughed and asked: "Have you forgotten who you belong to?" He had a heavy accent. Then he laughed again. The bed continued to squeak. My boss cried. And then the man again: "Where have you hidden your son? Where is my brother's son? Where is A-Si? How old is he now? 26? Or 27? It doesn't matter. If I find him, I'll kill him just like I killed his father." Then my boss cried again. She replied: "A-Si is dead! He died the night he was born!" He asked again where A-Si was. She said: "You murderer! First you killed my lover, your own brother. And then you wanted to kill my son and me! And all because my heart belonged to Wang Mao alone and not to you!" Then he hit her again. She gasped. Someone from below shouted something I couldn't understand. I think it was Russian. A shot, very loud. Then the man left. I heard a car drive away. I came out of the closet. I saw my boss lying on my bed, bleeding and with her panties torn. She put her hands out for me. I went to her. She cried and stroked my cheek. "Shhh, it's all right my dear. It's going to be okay." She said and kissed my hand. Blood ran from her mouth. I started to cry. She smiled. "Shhh, it's okay. It's alright. Please call Zhan. Tell him I need to see him. I need to tell him something before it's too late." I nodded. Then she coughed and blood splattered on my face. She tried to wipe it off. "Shhh, it's okay, it's okay. I'm with you. I won't let them hurt you. Not you my dear Isko." Then she passed out and I called." Isko cried again.