Yibo's pov

It has been almost a week since we visited Bodhi, and I  was glad that Zhan liked him as well as the temple.

Bodhi liked Zhan as well and he told me that Zhan was a good guy. I was glad that Bodhi liked Zhan, the man was like a father to me, and getting his blessing mattered.

I smiled at myself as I stared in the mirror, I was getting ready for another family dinner with Zhan's family.

Zhan's family was nice, his uncle and aunt were great, and I was now good friends with his cousins Yanli and Cheng. Those two are highly protective of him and were always ready to fight for him.

And there was A-Xiang the sweet kid, she was like a cute chihuahua. She is a well-mannered, disciplined kid, no wonder everyone adores her.

And then there was Lucy. I didn't interact with her much, other than her being an influencer and dating Zhan's enemy; I knew nothing else about her. Her image is not very good in my eyes, because of her dating Jessie.

Zhan's other cousin Sarah was great too, she and I were good friends too, she was a chill, go with the flow type of person, who does not give a shit about anything, and I like that about her.

The doorbell rang and I went to answer it.

As soon as I opened the door, I was met by Zhan who gave me a huge smile before he moved forward and hugged me tightly, he kept his head on my neck and inhaled my scent and I did the same.

He kept his bag on the table before he moved towards me.

"I missed you," he said before he kissed my forehead and then my lips, I wrapped my hands around his waist and pulled him closer, he wasted no time and pushed me against the wall before deepening the kiss and kissing me senseless.

"You look so handsome." Zhan said after breaking the kiss, he was breathing heavily and so was I, "but you look ethereal without these clothes."

I giggled, "we would get late."

Zhan looked at his watch, "we can still make out for at least ten minutes."

"Then what are you waiting for," I said before I grabbed his collar and smashed my lips against his, Zhan's lips were soft and wet, his mouth tasted amazing, his wet, slippery, hot tongue invaded my mouth and dominated every corner, his strong grip over my waist kept me in place and his hard thigh rubbing between my legs really turned me on.

He was in charge and I happily let him dominate me.

After making out for a long time, we finally broke the kiss, "it's time to go." Zhan said.

"Yes," I replied breathlessly.

"Or we can cancel and fuck."

"We can come back and fuck."

"Good idea." Zhan said before he moved back, "it's so hard to be away from you."

I grabbed his hand, smiled, "let's go."

"Oh wait." Zhan said before he went to his bag and took out his laptop, "I need to send this email, let me just complete this task and put my laptop on charge, I will take it back when we come back to your house."

"Sure," I said as I watched him work, Zhan worked really hard for his company, his projects. I looked at him as he was staring at his laptop, focused on his task, he looked really hot, my Zhan has come so far. He is no longer that kid who was unsure of his future and who never wanted to go to college, had no motivation, and had given up on all his dreams and life.

He was now a man, full of life, with dreams and motivation. 

"And it's done." Zhan said before he got up from his seat and gave me a gentle kiss, before he grabbed my hand, "let's go."

~~

We were late.

Everyone was already there by the time we reached.

We were greeted by his family members as soon as we entered the house, and this time even Jessie came to us and greeted us with a smile, Zhan just outright ignored him, and I just gave him a nod.

"Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes," Aunt Audrey said, "Zhan, Yibo, why don't you all sit in the living room?"

Zhan and I nodded, he grabbed my hand and led me to the living room, where his uncle, Cheng, Yanli, and the rest were already present.

Zhan turned to me and said, "You wait here, I'll have to take this call, will you be okay?"

"Sure, you go."

"Are you sure? You won't be uncomfortable, right?" he asked, and I gave him an assuring nod, "yes, I will be okay, now go, Mr. CEO, get the work done."

"Yes sir," Zhan said before he walked away.

Once he was gone to another room, I turned around and saw Jessie, who was staring at me, I ignored him and sat on the sofa with Yanli and Cheng. other than Yanli and Cheng, Zhan's uncle, Max, his grandfather, Lucy, Danny, and Jessie were also present there.

While A-xiang, Aunt Aundrey, and Aunt Nara were in the kitchen.

I started a small talk with Yanli and Cheng.

"So." Cheng spoke, "Zhan told us that you are religious, I mean you believe in god and all."

I nodded, "that I am."

Yanli added, "that's great, so were you always religious or did you become interested recently."

"I was in a very dark place in my life, when I met my mentor and through him I learned a little about religion and got interested in the ideologies and philosophy."

"Interesting." Zhan's uncle spoke, "So, which religion do you follow?"

"Buddhism." I replied, "My mother was a devout Buddhist too and it was another reason why I started to practice Buddhism, it was a way of connecting with my mother."

"I see." Zhan's uncle replied, while we were talking, I heard Jessie scoff, but I ignored him, after a while he got up and came back with alcohol, "let's drink a little before dinner," he said before he started to pour drinks.

I looked at the alcohol and felt a little uncomfortable, my throat felt tight and I felt nervous, Jessie slowly started to pour drinks in glasses. Unable to take it anymore, I got up, "um...I'll be in another room."

But before I could take another step, Jessie was in front of me, "Where are you going? Take a drink," he said as he brought the glass closer to me, I stepped back, "I don't drink."

"Leave him alone Jessie," Cheng said.

But Jessie moved closer to me and brought the glass near my face, "come on, drink it." he pushed the glass towards me while I refused, and suddenly brought the glass near my face, I shoved him back and slapped the glass away from my face, "NO!" I yelled.

I was hyperventilating at this point, I closed my eyes as I got flashbacks of my past, the days when I was in rehab and suffering from withdrawals, lying on the streets and getting beaten, and used just because of drugs and alcohol.

Everyone stood up and Jessie said, "Why don't you drink? what's the reason? Is it religion? or your addiction?"

Blood drained from my face and I broke out in cold sweat as I stared at Jessie with wide eyes, I had not told anyone about my addiction other than Zhan, my addiction was my dark past and I was still ashamed of it, I am not over it. 

Jessie smirked, "what? shocked that I know that you are a bloody drug addict?"

"What?" Zhan's grandfather said, I felt all eyes on me and that made me a nervous wreck.

Jessie spoke, "yes sir, Zhan is naive but I am not as someone who cares about him, I did some digging, this man here is a fucking drug addict, and even his father disowned him because he was violent and was a lost cause, a threat, a burden. I also learned that he did some shady things just for drugs."

"Is that true?" Zhan's grandfather asked, and I was silent, Aunt Audrey and Nara had also come to the living room, and everyone was looking at me.

Jessie smirked, "come on, tell them."

Zhan's grandfather came forward and asked, "Is it true?"

I swallowed, my lips parted by no voice came, my eyes burned and I felt goosebumps, in the end I nodded, "it is but-"

"What the hell!" Max spoke.

Zhan's grandfather spoke, "I can't believe he brought someone like you in my house." he said with disgust, and suddenly I felt dirty and disgusting in my own skin.

Jessie spoke, "Your mother had schizophrenia right, and she tried to kill your dad so many times, how are you sure you don't have it, what if you also tried to harm Zhan? That disease is also genetic, right? You are nothing but a runt!"

Danny also added, "you know even i felt it was odd that he came out of nowhere after ten years of no contact after Zhan got rich."

Jessie gave me a disgusted look, "he is nothing but a gold digger, nothing more, following and manipulating Zhan."

"That's enough." Zhan's uncle said, "Zhan is not a kid, he can make his own decisions."

Zhan's grandfather spoke, "Shut up William, I will never accept him! You tell me, will you even allow your child to date a drug addict? What's the guarantee that he won't go back to drugs? that he won't use Zhan's money for a bad purpose! tell me, William, will you be happy if your child dated such a person?"

I looked at him and he was quiet, I got my answer, my heart clenched and tears slipped through my eyes, I wiped them before I tried to speak, "I am clean and I no longer-"

"Oh please." Jessie said, "people like you are very good at pretending, I am sure you are with him just for his money."

Danny clicked his tongue, "serves Zhan, right, pathetic."

"Stop it Danny." Yanli spoke as she stood in front of Jessie, "Say one word more and I will slap you."

Lucy defended her boyfriend, "he is not wrong, Yanli, this guy has a shady past and it will dishonor the family! He can be a threat to Zhan as well, I mean his own father disowned him."

Cheng spoke, "You are the last one to talk about family, you are dating a thief yourself, and Jessie, you want to dig past huh? You think you are some big deal? you are a fuckung bully, a damn stalker and a thief and you are still same creepy fuck, still obsessed with Zhan.

Yibo is far better than you, at least he is working on himself."

Suddenly a fight ensued, some were defending me, some were criticising me, I blocked out everything, tears slipped through my eyes, and I felt my chest tighten, I can't stay here anymore, so I decided to leave.

It was my fault, Zhan's family was fighting because of me, Zhan might get away from his family just like my father was distanced by his family because if my mother I didn't want that, I don't want Zhan to fight with his family because of me and then hate me in future.

 I won't be able to take it, I was crying by the time I came out of the house.