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Hou Lin stared at him and then at Hou Luli. "Threatening someone…is not supposed to be right…"

Hou Cai chimed in his brother\'s favor. "Yes, yes! Da Shang certainly has bad news! She couldn\'t handle rejection so she played dirty by targeting you! Why should bro date such a selfish girl?"

"Because that\'s how the world works Cai! Do you think there are all kind and selfless people in the world? If we have to survive, we have to play their game. Da Pei is at a very senior position and I cannot fight him no matter how hard I try."

Hou Luli added. "Yeah and we are not saying that Lin has to date her seriously. Just pretend to go out with her for sometime until things will naturally fall out. Dating and actually getting married in the future are two very different things."

"Pretend…?" Hou Lin asked, "But that would mean that I am not serious about the relationship."

"That\'s exactly what pretending means, Lin," Hou Fa said, "You say yes to her, Da Pei will get happy and I get my job back and then later, and things will eventually come to an end for you two. I know you are a very serious boy, Lin but you can just purposely act like a bad boyfriend. That way, she will herself break it off with you and nobody will get offended."

He quietly listened to each and every word of theirs, but something in his heart didn\'t feel right to him. "Pretending to have feelings for her…will hurt her."

Hou Luli snorted. "Only if she knows. Pretending means not telling the other person that you are pretending. That\'s the whole point. And she kinda deserves it for using her father\'s position for her own benefit like this. You don\'t have to feel any sympathy for her."

Hou Cai, at this point, felt confused. He was angry at Da Shang and certainly felt she deserved this tit for tat treatment, but he knew his brother all too well. A serious person like Hou Lin would never agree to this.

"I cannot do this…" Hou Lin slowly said while thinking at the same time, "I won\'t pretend to date Da Shang. I have broken up with her and it will remain that way."

"Nonsense Lin!" Hou Fa banged his palm on the table, his face reddening with fury. "Do you realize this is the only way for me to get back my job? And you say you won\'t do it? It\'s because of you that I lost my job, so now you have to take responsibility!"

Hou Lin slightly jolted. His breaths became shallow, finding it difficult to challenge his parents.

Hou Luli sighed in exasperation. "This is the only way for us, Lin. Please try to understand us. Even if Fa tries to find a new job, the stain of getting fired from his previous company won\'t let him get any opportunities. Nobody would understand his situation. So if there is a way out of this mess, we should do everything we can to sort it out."

Hou Lin pressed his lips, trembling. He felt many things were wrong with this solution but he couldn\'t voice them out.

Hou Cai jumped to his rescue. "Dad, you shouldn\'t force Bro into doing all this pretending stuff if he isn\'t comfortable. Instead, shouldn\'t you admonish that director for using his personal grudges to fire you? That is definitely unprofessional and illegal!"

"And I should destroy that tiny chance I might have of getting back?" Hou Fa was speechless. "I am not nuts in wagering that! I can shout all I want of his unethical behavior but without evidence, it\'s all just empty words. It will only make me look like an idiotic and desperate person who doesn\'t hesitate to make false accusations to get what he wants!"

\'Think about it yourself, Lin. I cannot be there to help you anymore.\'

Hou Lin took a deep breath and said with his lips quivering, "...But you are not hesitating to make me pretend in dating Da Shang to get what you want. Doesn\'t that make you look desperate too?"

*SLAP*

A crushing and loud sound of a slap sharply resounded in the room. Hou Lin stared at the floor, the stinging feeling of the slap burning on his cheek.

"Bro!"

"Fa!" Hou Luli exclaimed. "What are you doing!?"

"I am doing what he exactly needs! How dare he talks back to me so disrespectfully? We are in this mess because of him in the first place and he has the audacity to lecture me!?" Hou Fa\'s angry voice roared in the room.

"Bro!" Hou Cai tearfully looked at his brother, not knowing what to do in this situation. Things had escalated to a point where he felt helpless, yet he braved to show resistance. "Dad don\'t…d-don\'t hit my brother!"

"Shut up Cai or you will get a slap too! Stay out of it when your parents are talking!"

He stiffened, his eyes growing wetter.

Hou Lin tremblingly stood straight and stared at Hou Fa and Hou Luli. The burning tingling of a slap was the first time he had ever felt. And for what reason?

For something that he felt from the bottom of the heart was wrong? For planning to fool Da Shang and play with her heart which he couldn\'t agree to?

"Why…why did you slap me?"

"Because you are acting foolish! I am telling you to do a simple thing and just for a few months at the most and even for that, you are disregarding me!?"

Hou Lin\'s breaths grew heavier and shaky and so did his voice. "I-If Mom…if Mom would have lied to you about her fe-feelings…if she would have pretended to love you and then l-leave you…how would you have felt?"

After a brief spell of silence, Hou Fa stared at his son and said with finality, "You will go to meet Da Shang tomorrow and say that you want to get back with her. No more debate on this, do you get it?" He then left the house without saying a further word.

Hou Luli quickly said, "I will bring some ointment for you, Lin. Listen to Fa, Lin. It\'s for the best for all of us," she left to fetch the medicine box.

Hou Lin stood still in the room, staring at the vacant space ahead. His father\'s anger, the slap, the cruel words - all made him feel numb. He lowered his gaze, his eyelashes flickering.

I don\'t know what to do, Yahui. I don\'t know…anything anymore…