Chapter 428 [Bonus chapter]Not eating  

"How can you be sure without any hard evidence?" It wasn't that he was doubtful of his bosses accusations, but Viktor wanted to be sure they were going against the right enemy.

Edward turned around to hit his bodyguard with that glare that usually threatened the most strong willed people to silence.

"My missing dead fiancé is enough evidence Viktor. Jinn Yang has been playing me for a fool all along; sent that oaf of a daughter to distract me. That was no deal for our benefit, there's always been a hidden agenda."

Viktor ruminated on this information for a while before speaking, "I see that sir. But why rope your parents into the mix? If the beef was with them, he would have stopped after their death, but he didn't which means the beef is with you so why kill your parents at all?"

"Use your head Viktor; he's trying to take away everything I love. Everything I value."

"But why?"

"Does it matter?" the reply was sharp and conveyed bitterness. Edward squeezed his fists in both anger and sadness as a intense feeling of loss overshadowed him. "He's already succeeded."

Uncomfortable silence fell over the room at those words. Viktor let out a deep sigh as he allowed himself mourn the losses with his boss. He had nothing to say and even if he did, the moment did not call for words. So, he just allowed the silence to reign.

"But he'll pay," Edward whispered to no one in particular. "He'll pay with his life and I swear it."

"Yes, sir. When do we begin?"

Edward Wu turned away from the window for the final time that day and looked straight into the eye of his most trusted man and said clearly, "Right now."

***

"I don't know what the problem is, he won't eat no matter what I give to him."

Edward sighed as the words sank in. He rubbed his fingers around his left temple in an attempt to stop the oncoming headache. There was just so much to think and worry about and each new day came with a new set of things. If he said he weren't physically and mentally exhausted, Edward would be lying.

"Is he there?"

"Yes."

"May I speak with him?"

There was no reply, only silence as the lady on the phone transferred the device to the person in question. Through the speaker, a brief shuffling sound was heard as the new speaker fumbled with the phone until it was at a comfortable enough position for him to speak.

"Good evening, brother "

"Gu Zhou," Edward greeted. He called his name so tenderly it conveyed the worry he felt for the boy. "How are you my boy?"

"I am fine."

"Are you sure? Your aunt Chynna says you're not eating."

There was silence on the other end. Gu Zhou was either smarting over Chynna telling on him or he was thinking of how best to answer a man he now saw as his father figure.

"I don't have the appetite to, sometimes and other times, I'm just not hungry," he finally settled for.

Edward sighed again. "Why don't you have the appetite?"

"I miss Amy," Gu Zhou could no longer hide what was bothering him. Tears clogged his throat and for a minute he couldn't speak. "I want to see her brother. Where is she?"

The tears that threatened to spill from Gu Zhou's eyes were not alien to Edward. He had to pause for a minute before replying so as not to give anything away.

"She's not around for now my boy." He told the same lie everyone had been telling Gu since Amy's demise.

Edward hated himself for having to lie to the little boy. He was no baby, almost a man himself now, but even the oldest of people could break down in the lieu of the death of a loved one and Edward did not want to crush the boy's spirit. He would reveal the truth eventually, but he wanted to have Amy's body first.

Immediately the incident had occurred, Edward had sent reinforcements to Florence to bring the boy back. He'd had the half-mind to leave him with Yizet since less harm was likely to come to him there. But, Edward hadn't been comfortable with having him so far away.

The need to protect him had cloaked his senses so strongly, it was almost maddening not having him close. Plus, the holidays were soon to be over and the boy would need to return to school; so, Edward had had. O choice but to bring him back to China.

Initially, he had wanted the boy to come back to live with him but his friends had raised solid arguments.

"You're unstable Edward, it won't be healthy for him to be around you," had been Jun Mo's argument and the others had agreed.

"And if we want to keep the truth for him, he can't be in your house. He'd find out somehow."

With the number of men that had trooped in and out of his house because of meetings he'd organised in search of Amy, Edward had had to agree with Henry in that vein. The boy was no dullard; if he were around anybody from the mafia who knew what was going on, he'd have figured something was up with Amy.

Even then, Edward knew the boy had his suspicions, but nothing had been confirmed to him yet so he wasn't panicking.

After much deliberation on what should be done about the boy's habitat, a unanimous decision was reached and it was concluded that Gu Zhou would be staying with Chynna. Other than Amy and perhaps Edward, there was no one better equipped with the wherewithal to take care of the teenager than Chynna.

And she was ever so willing to be of help. All Edward did was call everyday and visit from time to time. Although he kept the visits at a minimum; he still wasn't mentally stable and did not want to break down before the boy for any reason.

Chynna had been taking care of him for weeks and gave back daily report on how things were. Recently, she had called with numerous complaints about Gu Zhou's eating habits.

He'd been getting real anxious lately and asking about Amy a lot. Initially, they had made it seem like she was away on an important business related trip, but weeks had gone by since then and that story didn't hold water anymore.