**Chapter 16: Your Circle Is Really Chaotic**
While still in Sao Country, Zhou Ming had asked Yang Zhisheng to investigate Adele's family.
With Yang Zhisheng's powerful network intrusion capabilities, he had obtained many secret documents that outsiders could not access.
For example, a past event that had been sealed for many years.
Twenty-seven years ago, Adele's grandfather, Joe Bronses, shot and killed his wife, son, and daughter in one day, then committed suicide. He left behind only his three-year-old youngest son, Dover Bronses, who had escaped because he was being looked after by a nanny and was out playing at the time, not at home.
And Joe's eldest son—Adele's father, Adrian Bronses—did not die after being shot.
After emergency treatment, his injuries healed. Besides leaving some permanent scars on his body, no greater damage was done.
That year, Adrian Bronses was sixteen years old.
Two years later, he married and had his first child, Carl Bronses.
Five more years later, at twenty-three, Adrian had his second child, Adele Bronses.
There were very few records about Joe Bronses shooting his entire family back then, with obvious traces of deliberate record-clearing, as if no one wanted that past to be revisited by later generations.
But Yang Zhisheng had still obtained some information, of unknown veracity, from various channels.
When this matter was exposed, it caused a huge blow to the reputation of the entire Bronses family, and Joe Bronses, who was already mentally unstable, was pushed directly to the brink of collapse.
And then the tragedy of him shooting his entire family occurred.
This information was originally one of several theories about that tragic case found by Yang Zhisheng, but Zhou Ming was now ninety percent certain that this was the truth.
After Adrian Bronses was rescued back then, the entire family's vast assets were inherited by him and his three-year-old younger brother, Dover.
Afterward, Adrian immediately worked to reduce the heat and impact of this matter, confuse the truth, silence those who knew the truth, and gradually dilute, confuse, conceal, and clear up that matter—until now, when almost no one knows about it anymore.
However, a leopard cannot change its spots. Adrian, who had been led astray by his biological father since childhood and then suffered the tragic extermination of his entire family—how normal could his psychology be?
Carl Bronses and Dover Bronses getting together?
Heh heh. Who was the first person to get together with them?
As Zhou Ming spoke, that long-sealed past, like a sharp knife, fiercely pierced Adele's heart, as if splitting her heart open and throwing it into ice water, leaving her completely lost in thought.
After a long while, she finally looked up, her eyes dazed, at Zhou Ming, and murmured, "How is that possible?"
"Don't ask me. I don't know either." Zhou Ming said lightly. "If you want to know the truth, go ask your father."
"Father?" Adele's eyes gradually focused. "Are you trying to make me..."
Zhou Ming smiled. "I can go with you."
...
The Bronses family was in Guinia Country. Unlike small countries like Sao Country, this was a nation whose comprehensive national strength could rank among the top ten in the world, with a land area of 5.3 million square kilometers, a developed economy, and abundant national power.
On the plane from Hemahe Island to Guinia Country, Adele was tense, clutching the hem of her skirt, her expression conflicted and nervous.
"Relax, Young Miss Adele. Looking like this, it's easy for others to misunderstand that you are being coerced by me—although this is true. But you wouldn't want your family's affairs to be known by others, would you?"
Beside Adele, Zhou Ming leaned lazily back in the soft first-class seat, leisurely flipping through a magazine.
After another day of rest on Hemahe Island, Zhou Ming's physical strength and injuries had recovered again. A brief intense battle was no longer an issue.
Upon arriving in Guinia Country, only the last day of the ten-day period remained, and everything was about to be resolved.
Glancing at the leisurely Zhou Ming, Adele stomped her foot in annoyance, then turned her head away, ignoring him.
No words were exchanged throughout the journey.
The plane landed.
With each step she took out of the airport, Adele's heart grew a little more anxious.
This was not only because of the danger she faced, but also because her suspicions were about to be confirmed. She didn't know how to face her family—an unconscious evasion of reality.
With each step closer to home, Zhou Ming's words became more likely to be true, and Adele felt her body go a little weak, her resolve constantly wavering.
"What, getting cold feet as you near home?" Zhou Ming gently supported her weakening body, teasing her in a low voice close to her ear.
The two were arm in arm, heads close together, their actions intimate and ambiguous, like a pair of lovers deeply in love.
"Is that what you say in your country?"
Adele looked at the man beside her with deep eyes, her attitude toward him very complex.
"You could say that." Zhou Ming smiled and nodded his chin in a direction. "Look, your pickup is here."
Adele looked in the direction Zhou Ming indicated and indeed saw several bodyguards led by a middle-aged man walking toward them.
That middle-aged man was Ralph, who had served the Bronses family for nearly ten years and was one of her father's capable assistants.
Adele's face turned somewhat pale.
"You didn't inform anyone you were coming back, and you took the earliest flight immediately after making the decision. In such a short time, someone is already here to pick you up as soon as you get off the plane. Heh heh, the efficiency is really fast."
Zhou Ming's words were like a curse, echoing in her ears, causing her heart to sink uncontrollably.
She bit her lip and asked softly, "Did you... did you bring a gun?"
Zhou Ming feigned surprise. "Wow, young miss, do you think I could bring a gun onto a plane?"
When Zhou Ming had gone to Sao Country, he had relied on Yang Zhisheng and Yu Man and didn't need to worry about weapons. When he returned, he had taken a smuggler's ship, so let alone a gun, it would have been fine to bring a rocket launcher if he had the ability.
This time, on the plane, he truly had no way to carry weapons. But it didn't matter. Guinia was full of weapons, and this country didn't ban guns. Wouldn't it be easy to get one?
"They should have guns. What will you do if you don't?" Adele was a little anxious.
"Don't worry. Don't worry about me." Zhou Ming whispered with a light laugh in Adele's ear. "Go over first. Later, just say I'm your new boyfriend. Hold me tight, don't separate. The closer you are to me, the safer you'll be."
Adele was silent for a moment, then nodded, wrapping her arms around Zhou Ming's arm even tighter.
Soon, those people walked up to the two of them.
"Young Miss." Ralph bowed slightly to Adele, then his gaze shifted to Zhou Ming. "And this gentleman is?"
"He's my boyfriend, Wei—"
"Zhang Wei." Zhou Ming quickly interjected, smiling and shaking Ralph's hand.
Self-introduction was better than Adele calling him "Wei Zhang," right?
Ralph frowned slightly, subtly pulling his hand back.
"Young Miss, the master has ordered me to pick you up and take you home. And also Mr. Zhang..."
"He's coming back with me. I'm about to introduce him to Father."
Adele tightly hugged Zhou Ming's arm, looking as if she was afraid of being separated from him. To outsiders, she looked like a clinging, bird-like young miss, which made the bodyguards behind Ralph exchange strange glances.
They were all private bodyguards who had served the Bronses family for a long time. They weren't just aware of Young Miss Adele's private "peculiarities"—they had personally experienced them, and some even maintained friendly relations with Adele to this day because of her outstanding qualities.
It was precisely because of this that they were particularly surprised: by what means had this black-haired, East Asian man made the battle-hardened Young Miss Adele so dependent?
Several of them even had the idea of privately visiting Zhou Ming to ask him for his "secret."
Meanwhile, their superior, Ralph, subtly frowned again, quickly sizing up Zhou Ming for two or three seconds, then finally stepped aside and bowed slightly.
"Then please, Mr. Zhang, get in the car."
The group walked out of the airport and saw three luxury cars lined up, attracting the attention of passersby.
Adele, holding Zhou Ming's arm, went directly into the back seat of the middle car. Ralph followed closely, getting into the front passenger seat of that car.
The other bodyguards got into the cars in front and behind. The three cars slowly drove out of the airport and headed toward the city.
However, after the car had been driving for less than ten minutes, Adele noticed a problem and exclaimed, looking at the scenery outside the window.
"This isn't the way home. Where are you taking me?"
"I apologize, young miss. This is the master's instruction. Please calm down for a moment. The master is waiting for you."
Ralph's face was expressionless, and his hand reached into his jacket, gripping his gun.
Although sitting in the back, Zhou Ming still saw Ralph's small movement through the car window and immediately winked at Adele.
"No, I don't believe it. Stop the car. Stop it now."
Adele received Zhou Ming's signal and acted according to what Zhou Ming had told her earlier.
"I am not deceiving you, young miss."
Ralph's tone hardened, and he suddenly turned, pulling out his gun and pointing it at Zhou Ming's head.
"I hope you can calm down immediately, otherwise Mr. Zhang's head will be blown open."
Adele's agitated emotions calmed down in a second, and she stared blankly at the dark muzzle of the gun.
At this moment, the car drove into a secluded alley and slowly came to a stop.
"Mr. Zhang, I'm very sorry. The master did not invite you, and he dislikes strangers visiting. So I can only ask you to get out of the car."
Ralph moved the gun, signaling Zhou Ming to open the car door himself and get out.