Tang Lin's panic knew no bounds at the moment. In fact, it seemed to increase with every breath she took.
She tried to will herself to remain calm as she kept rummaging through her bag to no avail.
She still could not locate the case holding the medication, which meant that she could not calm down.
When she looked up, Zhao Jun and Hsu Jin seemed to be wrapping up their conversation with the police chief.
Tang Lin tried to listen to them and heard the police chief saying something about reaching out to them if they had any follow up questions in the course of investigating the case.
They were indeed wrapping up.
Her heart stopped beating for a second.
The thought of Tang Mei showing up in front of them sent another wave of panic through her.
Tang Lin was the epitome of composure, sharp intellect, and unwavering control.
Tang Mei on the other hand was… different. She was vulnerable. An open book that Tang Lin fiercely kept hidden away from any prying or curious eyes.
She did not dare to let anyone other than Master Wen or little Zhou see her!
Much less Zhao Jun, whom she barely knew. Not to mention that she had yet to find out what exactly he was doing in T City.
At this point she grabbed her bag and purse and emptied their contents onto the car seat.
Somehow, the little medicine case that she had almost organized a search party to help her find finally appeared in front of her.
She glared at it briefly before reaching out for it.
Finally, her fingers closed around the cool medicine case.
With shaky hands, she undid the catch to reveal the small white pills inside.
Her mouth felt dry, and so did her throat. She desperately looked around for some water and thankfully found a bottle.
Time was running out. The swirling sensation in her head intensified just as her thoughts became more and more hazy.
With a swift series of movements, she threw the pills into her mouth and drank some water.
Instead of the usual single dose per time, as she usually took it, she took double the dose.
Probably because she felt like it would knock her out faster.
She leaned back against the car seat and decided to play dead until the effects of the drugs kick in.
She hoped that the medication would work, fast enough to pull her back from the brink and hold back Tang Mei.
Unfortunately, it felt too late. The familiar assertiveness and sharpness that Tang Lin was known for began to fade out,.
So the minute she closed her eyes, Tang Mei had already broken through.
And the one who now opened her eyes was Tang Mei.
As Tang Lin faded away into the recesses of her soul, she could not help but feel annoyed…
Why did things seem to keep spiralling out of her control lately?
She didn't like it.
She didn't like it one bit!
Then she was gone.
.
.
.
Now a different kind of awareness began to spring forth within her, and her eyes shone with immense curiosity.
She looked at herself and realized she was in a car. Then she began to look at her surroundings.
The car she was in was in a sorry state. The windows were broken with shards of the glass everywhere.
Outside there were police vehicles a few paces ahead, police officers and some bodyguards.
Then there was a man. He looked very tall, and so cool.
When she caught a glimpse of his face, she was stunned.
As she was not the dominant one of the two personalities, she rarely got the opportunity to meet and interact with people.
So seeing Zhao Jun today, her soul nearly flew out of her body.
She kept blinking, trying to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
When she confirmed that he was real, she couldn't help staring.
How could there be such a handsome man?
It was so unfair that she didn't get to meet people a lot.
She didn't care. This time, she wanted to stay so much longer!
She had to!
.
.
.
When Zhao Jun returned to the car, he thought that Tang Lin was looking a little strange at moment.
He couldn't place a finger on what it was, but it was there.
The current "Tang Lin" looked like she was in a daze.
Then when he got to the car, her gaze became focused.
Yes, focused on him.
Her eyes that often looked cold, sharp and detached were now mellow and slightly curved at the edges.
She looked at him like she wanted to imprint his features on her soul.
Zhao Jun feared that if she looked at him any more, she would burn a whole through his body.
"Tang Lin, are you okay?" he asked.
After about five seconds of not receiving a response from her, he reached out to nudge her a little.
"Huh?" she finally reacted and tried to gather her wits about her. "I'm fine".
"Are you sure?" Zhao Jun paused and continued, "let's get you to the hospital for a full body checkup just to be sure."
"No, no," she refused, waving both her hands. "There's no need to go to the trouble. I'm fine."
When he kept looking at her skeptically, she raised two fingers on her left hand and said, "I promise, I'm fine. I know my own body. If I'm feeling uncomfortable anywhere, I would know".
Hsu Jin who had walked over at some point thought that it was weird…
Why was Miss Tang sounding so strange?
"Okay, you must tell me if you're feeling unwell immediately," Zhao Jun finally relented.
"Of course!" Tang Mei's voice was light and excited, like a kid who had just received her favorite candy.
When she raised her right her to brush the hair away from her face, that's when Zhao Jun saw the bruise.
Immediately, he grabbed her wrist.
"What happened to your hand?" He turned it this way and that, trying to see the extent of the harm done.
"Uh, I…"
She looked down at her hand and saw a big red patch on her skin. It looked quite serious.
It was the spot that had been hit when Tang Lin brandished the syringe at the assailant earlier.
Since Tang Mei had just arrived and wasn't sure about the details of what had transpired between Tang Lin and whoever hit her, she was stumped.
Zhao Jun observed her expression. He figured she had gotten the bruise during a tussle with one of the assailants.
Subconsciously, he began to rub the spot in order to ease some of the pain.
"Does it hurt?"
Tang Mei was once again stunned. The hand rub combined with his gentle voice had her mesmerized.
Immediately, her face took on the look of someone who had suffered a huge grievance;
Her lips puckered and trembled, her eyes became wet, tears hanging on her lashes and her voice choked.
Then, in a whiny and wheedling voice, she said, "it hurts, it really does."
Zhao Jun was speechless.
Now, he was almost convinced that the information from his investigation were not mere speculations.
The information regarding the occasional inconsistencies in her personality was not widely known, but that did not apply to him.
Anything he wanted to know, he would find out no matter what.
The talents on his payroll were not considered some of the best for no reason.
Having previously learned about her split personality, he had been surprised.
However, seeing how vast the difference between both personalities was left him lost for words.
He couldn't help the twitch at the corners of his mouth as he tried to coax her while trying to find an ointment for the bruise.
"Don't cry. Sorry, I'll apply some medicine on it for you. Soon it won't hurt anymore."
Tang Mei calmed down slightly and then went ahead to make another shocking statement:
"If you blow on it, it won't hurt as much."
Zhao Jun was flabbergasted by the requested.
What was this?
Was he coaxing a 3-year old child?
When he saw her eyes that were brimming with tears and looked like they would spill at any moment, he had no choice but to comply.
And just like that, the elite and peerless Young Master Zhao had to lower his precious head to blow on her hand.
He mentally clicked his tongue and thought, "how troublesome"!
To avoid upsetting her any further, he just kept rubbing and blowing on the back of her hand.
Unexpectedly, just as he was about to suggest taking her back to rest, she passed out and would not respond no matter how many times Zhao Jun called her.