Love Trap: Time Tells No Lies

"Breaking news: We report to you live from the airport, where international model Tasha Su and her five-year-old son have just arrived moments before.

Tasha Su's homecoming has immediately courted controversy. In an ambush interview with reporters earlier, she confirmed that the father of her child was none other than the founding CEO of the Dragon Group, John Gong. This validated suspicions by eagle-eyed observers who had noted that the apparently illegitimate child bore a striking resemblance to John Gong.

This revelation, however, is expected to cause difficulties for John Gong, who is set to marry Helen An, eldest daughter of the An family, in three days.

Would Tasha Su's homecoming drive a wrench in the wedding of the season? How would John Gong react to this news? Stay tuned for further updates!"

There would be no further updates, however.

The news was suppressed by the Dragon Group in less than five minutes after it was aired, with articles online immediately taken down or blocked, a clear testament to the company's power.

As this happened, a gleaming Benz sped through the highway.

Inside the car, Tasha, wearing a long black windbreaker and a pair of sunglasses, and Edison Su, playing with his video games, lounged in the backseat. Tasha looked the very picture of a fashionista even in her casual wear and with the sunglasses covering her sultry eyes.

At the moment, however, a frown marred her exquisite features as she browsed around on entertainment websites on her phone. She glowered as she checked one showbiz website after another, finding absolutely no reports on her juicy tell-all this morning.

The internet should be on fire with the news by now!

She huffed irritably.

She knew, of course, that the Dragon Group had a firm hold over Z City. With just one word, John Gong could silence any information he wanted.

She sighed and leaned back in her seat. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Edison playing on his laptop. A light bulb went off in her head.

She sidled up to the child and rested her chin on his hair, pouting. "Edison, mommy is sad. Your daddy has blocked news of our arrival," she whined.

"Blocked?" Edison turned to look up at her, blinking his big, round eyes innocently.

Then, with a sweet smile, he patted his chest. "Not to worry, Mommy. I'll take care of it."

He turned his attention back to his laptop, exiting his video game and entering a web page. Then he started cracking. Edison's little fingers raced over the keyboard, the rapid-fire clacking sounds filling the car.

A minute later, he turned the screen of the laptop to his mother. "I'm done, Mommy, look! Stop being sad now. Okay?"

The screen showed news about their arrival and Edison's paternity at the top of search lists, the articles up and accessible again on entertainment and news websites. Tasha's eyes danced in delight.

Tasha knew her son wouldn't fail her on this, having witnessed him hack into no less than the defense network of the Security Bureau a year ago. A smug smile tugged on her lips.

The internet was abuzz now. Even the Dragon Group wouldn't be able to tamp it down. She pinched Edison's cheek. "My amazing baby! You make mommy so proud.

I'm so happy," Tasha cooed. She leaned back in her seat and smirked. "Your daddy must be very angry."

Edison huffed irritably, "Daddy is mean. I don't care if he is angry!" he yelled. He had no affection for John at all.

He put his laptop aside and rested his small head on Tasha's chest, pouting.

"That's right. Daddy is a bad, bad man," she purred. She gave her child a quick squeeze and stroked his hair absentmindedly as she looked out the window.

Tasha smiled with satisfaction. She could just imagine John's face now.

The imagination in Tasha's head, in fact, wasn't far from reality.

At that exact moment, at the twelfth floor of the magnificent building of the Dragon Group, John was at his desk, his mouth drawn in a harsh, tight line.

His sharp black eyes stared coldly at his computer screen, which currently displayed the news that was gripping the internet.

John furrowed his brows. The news claimed that he apparently had an illegitimate five-year-old son.

But over the last decade or so, he had only ever touched one woman: Kate An. And she had died five years ago. It was impossible that any woman could have given birth to a child of his over the last five years.

Who was this Tasha and why was she claiming that the boy was his son?

John turned to look at his assistant, Felix Gu, who was standing attentively to one side. "Bring that woman to me!" he snapped.

She must be taught a lesson. No one dared cross John and got away with it.

"Yes, sir!" Felix promptly answered.

The Benz stopped at the door of a luxurious apartment building. Tasha gracefully stepped out of the car, followed by Edison.

Just then, Edison noticed that the watch on his mother's hand had changed color. He pouted and called his mother's attention to it.

"Mommy, the S Group's bothering you again."

Tasha knew that her son disliked the S Group. She sighed and smiled tightly, leaning over to squeeze Edison's cheek to reassure him.

"Don't be mad, honey. It's my job."

The S Group, short for the Spy Group, was a secret organization trading in business intelligence.

Tasha had joined the S Group five years ago. Her identity as a supermodel, of course, was just a cover for this job.

The luxurious apartment building in front of her was owned by the S Group. At present, Luna Mu, who was also a member of the S Group, had taken temporary residence there. Since Tasha and Luna were friends, headquarters had allowed Tasha and Edison to temporarily live with Luna while they were in Z City.

Hearing his mother mention work again, Edison's pout just grew deeper. He crossed his arms grumpily. "It's your job but you always end up asking for my help."

Even at five years old, Edison understood how dangerous his mother's work was. This was why every time she was on a mission, he was always assisting with computers, trying to make sure no harm came to her and that she didn't get caught. This was also why after each mission, he always felt more tired than his mother.

Tasha felt her heart squeeze painfully at her son's words. She felt embarrassed as a mother. A young child shouldn't have to be worrying like this. Indeed, if it weren't for her son, she would have already been caught or killed by now. She gave Edison a tight hug before straightening up to read the S Group's message.

Tasha placed her fingers at the apartment building's fingerprint scanner. The S Group had already recorded her fingerprints in the building's security system, so the doors opened readily for her. Edison made a beeline for the sofa to continue to play video games. Finally in a private space, Tasha raised her hand at eye level and pressed her watch.

A projection screen popped up with a brief message.

"A strict reminder: From the day you entered the S Group for protection, you ceased to become Kate An."

Upon reading it, Tasha scoffed, shaking her head bitterly. "Not that I need the reminder," she muttered to herself.

Five years ago, she had been pushed into the sea by Helen An.

It was a clear murder attempt which she only survived by a twist of fate.

She knew, however, that for her own safety, everyone had to think Kate was dead. She had to become another person. Hence, she was Tasha now.

Later that evening, Tasha stepped out of the shower to see her son had already dozed off in bed. She climbed in next to him and lay on one side, cradling him in her arms.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her back, followed by a numb feeling all over. Before she knew what was happening, Tasha fell into unconsciousness.

Two men in black then emerged from a dark corner of the room and walked to the bed, carrying a tranquilizer gun.

"What do we do with the child?" one of them asked.

They also put Edison to sleep using the tranquilizer gun just now to make sure he didn't get in the way.

"Leave him," the other man in black answered, shrugging. He hoisted Tasha over on his shoulder. "Our boss only asked us to get this woman."

The two men then walked out of the apartment, bringing Tasha with them. They never realized the whole incident had been captured clearly by hidden cameras.

Luna had come back from work to find the fingerprint scanner at the door tampered with. She rushed into the apartment, alert and ready to fight.

She headed straight to the bedroom, finding Edison unconscious. After hurriedly checking that he was okay, she pressed her fingerprint on a hidden scanner on one of the walls. Several red light beams shot out across the room, which shortly turned into projected surveillance screens.

Luna scanned the footages and saw Tasha being abducted by the two men. Without hesitation, she whipped out her phone to call Mike Tuoba.

"Mike, I need your help to rescue someone. Do this and I promise to go out with you," Luna said, her enchanting red lips pursed slyly.

In the dim and damp basement, an incandescent lamp shone a cold, feeble light amidst this quiet night.

John leaned his broad back against the back of his chair, his muscled legs crossed on the table before him. While he might've looked like he was lazing around, there was a hint of viciousness in his eyes.

Flicking the ash off his cigarette, he took another long drag and slowly blew out a smoke ring.

After a while, he glanced impatiently at the unconscious woman lying on the ground with her hands bound by an iron chain. "Wake her up," he barked.

He wasn't about to sit and wait for her to wake up by herself.

Felix, who was standing to the side, didn't say anything. Instead, he signaled the men behind him to fetch a bucket of cold water and pour it on Tasha's face.

In the middle of the freezing night, the icy winds would've been enough to send people shivering, let alone a bucket of cold water. Tasha woke up immediately to the freezing sensation that quickly enveloped her body.

Dazed, she curled up and shivered on the cold, wet floor. With a frown, she slowly reached up to touch her aching forehead. She struggled to open her eyes, wondering what was going on. Why did it feel like she had fallen asleep in an igloo?

Clank!

As she raised her hand, she heard the sound of metal clanking. To her, it sounded like an iron chain...

Iron chain?

Tasha's eyes popped open in an instant. Craning her neck, she turned to look at her wrists. She was stunned at the sight of the heavy iron chain.

No wonder it felt like her hands weighed a thousand pounds...

Her mind raced as she struggled to recall her memories from the night. She remembered the light that flashed before her eyes right before passing out. "Damn it!" she cursed. "I was anaesthetized."

"Are you awake yet?"

a cold, masculine voice sounded.

Tasha instantly froze and she felt all color drain from her face. Even after five years, she still remembered this unique, penetrating voice.

Finally, they had come face to face.

After five long years.

Watching the corpse-like figure on the ground made John smile coldly. "Since you're awake, there's no use pretending to be dead."

Tossing out his cigarette, John reached down and wrapped his thick fingers around the iron chain that restrained Tasha. All of a sudden, he yanked at it violently, causing Tasha to slide across the cold, wet concrete floor towards him.

Once he had yanked her close enough to where he was seated, he relaxed and propped his legs onto the table once more. "A model should act like a model. She should know the repercussions of getting famous by using scandals."

Tasha's back had been chafed by the rough floor just now and burned terribly. Biting her bottom lip, she refused to cry out in pain.

She struggled to get up from the ground and looked up to face the man's cold, expressionless face. "Mr. Gong, this is not a scandal... it's the truth."

She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly provoking him.

"What did you say?" In the blink of an eye, his hand reached out and grabbed her by the chin.

His grip was so tight that Tasha felt as though her chin was going to be crushed. She struggled to keep her anger at bay and replied flatly, "I said, it's true."

"How dare you?" This was the last straw for John. His hand moved lower until his fingers were wrapped around her delicate neck.

'Ouch!

He's really strangling me!' Tasha's eyes watered from the suffocation.

Albeit being extremely angry, Tasha kept her cool and just looked back at him with her defiant, beautiful eyes as the man choked her.

Even after five years, the man was still handsome, and she felt herself drowning in his coldness.

Before, she had always averted her gaze from him. She was afraid that all her courage would evaporate if she looked him in the eye.

Five years ago, she never dared to look straight at him. But now, a strong sense of hatred filled her heart. As Tasha, she stared him straight in the eye.