Volume One, Chapter 114: You Said You’d Stay with Me!

The car stopped at the entrance of the apartment building. Sang Wan glanced back and saw Lou Ye asleep in the passenger seat.

She hesitated, torn between waking him up to go home or letting him nap in the car for a while.

Her phone chimed.

Lou Ye stirred and woke.

“Brother, you really drove fast. Are you that eager for the wedding night?” Jiang Huai’s teasing voice leaked from the phone’s receiver.

Lou Ye looked up. As expected, Sang Wan quickly averted her eyes, pretending she hadn’t heard anything. Yet her ears inexplicably flushed red.

“Do you need something from Dad?” Switching hands, Lou Ye got out of the car.

He circled the front of the car and took Sang Wan’s hand, interlacing their fingers. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t shake him off; he pulled her along into the elevator.

In the bright mirrored walls of the elevator, they looked like a pair of lovers madly in love.

Sang Wan glanced once and quickly looked away.

Lou Ye continued to scold Jiang Huai, “You can play however you want on any other weekend, but do you realize what day it is today?”

“Jiang Huai…” Lou Ye’s voice deepened, “Either fight for everything—what’s yours and what’s not, hold onto it all. Or resign yourself, lie flat, and become just another rich heir living off the family. Either way, whether the Jiang family ends up with your eldest brother, your second brother, or you, you’ll always have your wealth and privilege. Isn’t that right?”

The elevator stopped at the nineteenth floor.

Silence reigned on the other end.

Sang Wan waited so long she thought there was no signal in the elevator, but finally Jiang Huai answered, listless, “I got it.”

“Good.” Lou Ye followed Sang Wan into the apartment and called out, “Don’t embarrass your father!”

“Get lost! Lou, I’m not done with you yet!” Jiang Huai’s booming voice came through the receiver, but his mood had clearly improved.

Lou Ye hung up laughing.

“What’s wrong with Young Master Jiang?” Sang Wan asked casually.

Lou Ye stroked 2S’s fur and explained, “He wants to keep running his little company, but his dad and grandfather aren’t on board.”

Ordinary families fight over mere scraps, let alone a family like the Jiangs.

“If he wins, the whole Jiang family is his, and he calls the shots.”

He patted the dog’s head and scratched its chin. Watching 2S squint in comfort, Lou Ye flicked its head lightly, waking it up. “If he loses, whether he can even keep his life—and for how long—is anyone’s guess.”

Sang Wan paused and looked back at Lou Ye. “What about you?”

Lou Ye arched his brow, slowly meeting Sang Wan’s gaze.

After all this time, it was the first time she’d ever asked about the Lou family, about him.

So… was she finally showing some interest?

Letting go of 2S, Lou Ye walked up to Sang Wan and bent down to kiss her. “What about me?”

Sang Wan had so many questions.

She wanted to ask why he lived alone in a villa halfway up the mountain.

And why, when he was in a bad mood, he liked to eat cake.

The Lou family was vast, with many children. Yet all this time, she’d only ever met Jiang Ke’er.

The others, not even mentioned in Lou Ye’s phone calls.

He’d moved from the mountain villa to Wanxin Apartments for quite a while now, but no one visited or asked about him.

As if where he lived didn’t matter.

As if whether he was alive wasn’t that important.

Sang Wan had so much she wanted to ask.

But as the words reached her lips, Lu Jin’nian’s warning echoed in her mind.

She hadn’t taken Lu Jin’nian’s words to heart.

But that phrase—hopeless delusion—like a scalding brand, had already been burned into her chest long before Lu Jin’nian said it aloud.

Maybe it was when Lou Ye first brought her to the mountain villa.

Or perhaps, back at Imperial University, when she realized that the Lou in Lou Ye was the Lou family of the capital.

Sang Wan felt she had neither the standing nor the right to ask Lou Ye about the Lou family.

“It’s nothing…” Sang Wan shook her head, turning away from his kiss. “I just don’t want you to end up like Young Master Jiang.”

Lou Ye’s heart paused. “And… what if I do?”

“What do you mean?”

“If I end up in Jiang Huai’s situation—either fight, or die… do you want me to fight, or not?”

His lips hovered near hers, brushing lightly as he spoke, like a feather.

He watched her eyes intently, their depths cloaked in the darkness from the window.

Sang Wan’s heart was gripped tightly by his words, by the danger hidden within.

Fight, and with Lou Ye’s abilities, he could win.

But the path was riddled with peril; one misstep could mean death.

If he didn’t fight, he’d have peace for a while, but in the long run, the outcome wouldn’t be much better.

After all, this surname meant glory, inheritance—and danger.

Fight?

Or not?

Staring at the distant Lou Tower, Sang Wan’s gaze was dazed.

If she hadn’t fought, when her mother was in trouble, when the Imperial University forum was in chaos, she would have dropped out and vanished.

If she hadn’t fought, on countless dusky evenings in childhood, she wouldn’t have forced herself to stay awake solving problems.

Or perhaps, when her biological father gambled her away, she would have smashed her head against the casino door.

For the past twenty-eight years, she’d only given up once—at death’s door in the hospital.

But fate gave her another chance.

A chance to start again.

She fought, she strove, and that’s why she was here now.

Otherwise, she might not even be alive, let alone have become Lou Ye’s lover—a man perched atop the pyramid.

It wasn’t exactly a reversal against all odds, but it was remarkable enough.

“Of course you should fight.”

Sang Wan raised her head and kissed Lou Ye. “You’re so good. The capital, the Lou family—everything best should belong to you!”

He’d thought her silence meant indecision.

Or perhaps, she couldn’t shoulder the responsibility, and dared not speak carelessly.

He’d waited patiently for so long, and she gave him the right answer.

Lou Ye pulled Sang Wan tightly into his arms, his eyes sparkling. “Will you stay by my side?”

She wanted to say, We’re doomed never to last, but I’m willing to walk this stretch with you.

And, You deserve better, but that person will never be me.

Sang Wan hesitated.

Lou Ye kissed her fiercely.

“Sister…”

With the scent of champagne on his breath, Lou Ye nibbled at Sang Wan’s lips. “Say you’ll stay by my side!”

“Lou Ye, I…”

But Lou Ye wasn’t letting her go. “Sister…”

Sang Wan kept retreating.

Lou Ye’s husky voice carried relentless pressure. “Sang Wan…”

Her eyes reddened at the corners. “Ah Ye…”

“Say you’ll stay by my side!”

“I… I will stay by your side!”

Lou Ye was satisfied.

Moonlight spilled softly through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The curtains fluttered in the breeze, filling the room with spring’s warmth.

The gentle wind brushed past their ears, accompanied by the rustling, like the best white noise.

Just before her mind faded into darkness, a ridiculous thought popped into Sang Wan’s head.

Lou Ye was so well-trained, thanks to his ex-girlfriends.

Did that mean her own taste was pretty good?

“What are you giggling about?”

His lips pressed a gentle kiss to hers, but Sang Wan had no time to answer before sinking into deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, a sudden phone call startled her awake.

Two rings.

Two phones.

Sang Wan glanced at Lou Ye and answered, “Hello, Yi Yi…”

“Sang Wan, something’s happened!”

On the other end, Xu Yi Yi’s voice was urgent.