429: [Bonus chapter] You are old

[Bonus chapter] You are old

[OLD ZHU RESIDENCE]1

"Grandma, are you still upset with me?" Silas smiled helplessly, staring at the woman knitting on the bed. "I already learned my lesson. Although I played a bit, I didn't mean to harm anyone."

Grandma Zhu had her back against the headboard, keeping her attention to her activity. "Silas, it's time for my afternoon nap. Just say what you want to say."

"Grandma, I just came to keep you company. I heard Heaven went out with Axel, so I was worried you'd be alone."

"Hmph! What's new?" Grandma Zhu harrumphed, casting her grandson a glare. "I was always alone before everyone moved in here."

"Haha. My bad... I forgot." Silas let out a chuckle, taking the Old Madam's Zhu's remarks lightly. "Grandma, seeing how lively you are puts my heart at ease."

"If that is all, then escort yourself out. I'm tired, Silas."

"Grandma, this is unfair. I know you're biased, but how can you always rub that I'm not your favorite every time?" Silas frowned, sighing. "I heard my dad is already dead, skinned alive." 

Grandma Zhu's breath hitched for a second, turning her head to him. The moment she did, Silas burst out in laughter, bringing a frown to the old madam's face. 

"This brat..." Grandma Zhu grumbled. "Are you really trying to anger me to death, huh?!"

"Grandma, don't be like that. I'm just playing." He shook his head as his laughter faded. "I don't care about him. I still blamed him for everything. After all, you would not be so heartless to me if not for him, right?"

No.

Grandma Zhu kept her lips in a tight slash, assessing the young man on the chair beside her bed. There was no point in explaining why she was like this toward Silas, because no matter how she would try it, Silas already knew it. And Silas didn't care.

"I heard Dominic had been looking for him months ago." Silas leaned back comfortably, sporting an amicable smile. "That's how I heard about my father's death. I'm not sure how he died, though, but definitely not of old age. If anything, I'm surprised he lasted this long. But then again, they said bad people tend to last long while the good goes back to the paradise where they belong."

"What nonsense." Grandma Zhu hissed, sprawling her arm toward the bedside to ring the bell to call Butler Fu. However, just as she took hold of the bell, Silas grabbed her hand, stilling it and the bell on the bedside table. 

Grandma Zhu froze at the tight grip around her hand, looking up at Silas, only to catch the menacing glint flashing across his eyes. 

"Grandma, you don't have to pretend," he whispered, smirking like a devil. "Even without ringing this bell, Butler Fu is already outside, ready to kick the door and cut me with his knife."

His smirk stretched, peeling her fingers from the bell one after another. "I heard an interesting story while I was abroad. They said back in the day, there was this infamous hitman who could go against the world if he wanted to. However, all of a sudden, this person vanished from the world as if he didn't exist in the first place."

"This story impressed me so much, so I researched everything about this legendary person in the underworld." When Silas placed the bell back on the bedside table carefully, he held Grandma Zhu's hand with gentleness and affection. "I was surprised when I saw the only existing photo of this legend. Although the photo was old, I was speechless. Grandma is surely amazing. How did you keep such a person so loyal?"

"Silas Zhu, what do you think you're doing?"

"Admiring you, Grandma." Silas held her hand with both of his hands, nodding at her reassuringly. "After all, my only problem now is how to keep some people loyal. You see, in business, it's really hard to keep people without conditions. It's rare to have someone who will stick around even when you have nothing to offer anymore."

He let out a deep exhale once more and his shoulders lowered. "All the people I meet don't seem to know what loyalty means. They can all toss people aside once they are no longer useful. It stresses me out."

"Hah..." Grandma Zhu used every bit of energy she could to snatch her hand from Silas's grip. Fortunately, the latter loosened his hold and Grandma Zhu succeeded. 

Silas raised his brows, blinking. 

"If you want your people to stay loyal, you should be one yourself," she spat out in dismay. "Leon surely brought a nightmare to this family. How can you threaten me in my own home?"

"Grandma, when did I threaten you?" Silas sighed helplessly. "I just want to talk, but every time, you're always like this. The only thing I tell myself whenever you treat me so terribly is that because you are old."

Silas slowly leaned forward, planting his hands on the edge of the bed. Grandma Zhu leaned back slightly until his face was half an arm's length from hers. 

"That's right, Grandma. You are old," he repeated, stressing each syllable as if he wanted her to realize something about that sentence. "I don't need to threaten you to prove a point, nor do I have to sully my hands just so you stop bitching on me. Your time is running out and I only need to be patient."

Grandma Zhu slowly clutched the blanket over her legs, eyes glued on him. "You brat…" she ground her teeth, feeling her breathing slow down at the overwhelming anger swelling in her chest.

"I used to hate you for being so biased. But now that I think about it, I wish that you live a long life, Grandma." The corner of his mouth stretched from ear to ear until his eyes were squinting. "That's my only wish now, Grandma. That you will live a very long life so you can witness how your beloved family falls one by one."

"Sir Silas."

Silas didn't respond to Butler Fu's voice behind him, holding Grandma Zhu's gaze. "You hear me, Grandma? So, you don't have to be scared of me because I'd do anything to keep you alive…" he trailed off when he heard the cock of a gun, letting out a brief chuckle. 

"Gosh… old people surely have short patience." Silas pushed himself away, raising his hands over his shoulders. When he lazily turned around, Butler Fu was already holding a shotgun and aiming at his head. 

"Please, don't kill me," he begged half-heartedly, cocking his head back as his eyes fell on Grandma Zhu. "I'll go now, Grandma. It's already your time to take your medicine, though I had fun spending this quality time with you."

He then snapped his eyes back to Butler Fu, showing no sign of fear at gunpoint. Silas flashed the latter a smile before turning on his heel, strutting away as he dropped his hand as if he knew Butler Fu wouldn't shoot him.

"That brat…" Grandma Zhu clasped her chest as soon as Silas left the room, closing the door behind him. 

"Madam." Butler Fu glanced at her, placing down the shotgun on the chair before rushing to her side. Seeing that the old madam's complexion was not good, Butler Fu hurriedly grabbed her medicine kit and called the in-house doctor to check on her health.

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