Volume One, Chapter Ninety-Nine: Soothing or Threatening

It was eight o’clock, and the moonless night wind was already fierce when they left the hot spring estate.

The Maybach glided away slowly.

The center partition rose with unhurried grace.

Remembering the shock of seeing Yang Yan at the foot of the stairs, as if thunder had struck her from a clear sky, and then that reverent glance he had thrown her with eyes averted, Sang Wan felt rather complicated.

“What are you thinking about?”

An arm hooked around her, and in one tug she was lifted and drawn into Lou Ye’s embrace.

Lou Ye bit down lightly on Sang Wan’s ear in dissatisfaction. “Sis, you’re not thinking of quitting again, or running off to some faraway place, are you?”

“I am not.”

Sang Wan denied it, shifting uncomfortably.

He gathered her back into his arms, pressing her even closer.

Overnight, their relationship had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Though they had shared far more intimate contact than a mere inch or two of distance, such a tender embrace still made Sang Wan blush to the roots of her ears.

“Sis, whether as a bedmate or a lover, I’m already swallowing my pride this much for you. If you still have any crooked little schemes, then I’ll…”

A cool kiss brushed her ear.

Warm breath slipped into the shell of it.

Lou Ye’s voice suddenly turned fierce. “Then I’ll drag you back, strip you, and not let you wear a stitch. I’ll lock you in the CEO’s lounge during the day and at home at night, so you won’t be able to go anywhere!”

The image was far too vivid.

Just picturing herself wandering around the house in the nude made Sang Wan feel utterly miserable.

With nowhere to vent her embarrassment, she could only curse him bitterly. “Lou Ye, are you a dog or something?”

“Yeah…”

Lou Ye showed no anger at all. Instead, he smoothly pulled open Sang Wan’s knit cardigan and bit hard at the side of her neck.

“Hiss…”

Sang Wan frowned and turned to glare at him.

She met Lou Ye’s bright, star-like gaze.

Sang Wan froze.

Lou Ye cupped the back of her head and kissed her.

A searing, frenzied kiss, as if the end of the world were just about to arrive.

Just when Sang Wan was nearly out of breath, his kiss slowly turned gentle.

Like a waterfall plunging from a great height, merging into a brook, and along the way flowing tenderly and lingeringly into the deep, tranquil sea.

Then it sank into the very bottom of her heart.

By the time the car stopped, Sang Wan was leaning against Lou Ye’s chest, breathing softly.

When she looked back, they had already arrived.

The time she spent with Lou Ye always seemed to be measured by a different unit than everyone else’s.

Sang Wan: !!!

“Thanks for your hard work!”

Lou Ye took Sang Wan’s hand as they got out of the car, and before leaving, he did not forget to thank Yang Yan.

Yang Yan nodded, gaze fixed straight ahead. “Good night, Mr. Lou, Madam.”

???

Sang Wan lurched, and Lou Ye steadied her at once, drawing her safely into his arms.

When she looked back again, Yang Yan had already driven off.

The elevator stopped on the nineteenth floor. Sang Wan stepped out and sternly stopped Lou Ye. “It’s late. I’m going to bed early tonight, so you can go home now!”

“Did you ask 2S about that?”

Sang Wan blinked.

Lou Ye’s expression was perfectly innocent. “You can sleep with me and then run, and I won’t blame you. But I haven’t seen 2S in two days. Doesn’t it miss me? Don’t I need to maintain my bond with it?”

Uh...

While Sang Wan hesitated, Lou Ye stepped out of the elevator, took her wrist, and led her forward. He lowered his head, let the facial recognition scan him, and entered.

2S sprang up.

Lou Ye reached out and caught it.

The whole motion was as smooth as flowing water.

Sang Wan: ...

That rainy day, when it had still been called Orange, it had revealed only a tiny cat head.

Then Lou Ye had pinched it by the scruff of destiny.

Her path with 2S had probably gone off course from that day onward.

Sang Wan was lost in thought.

Lou Ye busied himself on his own, first changing his shoes, then adding cat food, changing the water, and cleaning the litter box.

He did it with such practiced ease that it was as if this were his home.

When Lou Ye came over with his hands carrying the scent of lemon, Sang Wan subconsciously turned to open the door.

Her wrist was seized again.

The whole of her body was pressed against the back of the door by Lou Ye.

“Sis...”

Lou Ye pecked lightly at Sang Wan’s lips. “I’ve already endured so much. Aren’t you going to make it up to me a little?”

His eyes held scattered flecks of light, like a hunter luring prey into a cage.

And yet, from the corners of his eyes to the arches of his brows, where did he look even slightly wronged?

Sang Wan pushed him in annoyance. “Last night, and today... I’ve already made it up to you plenty. Don’t be so greedy!”

“I’m greedy?”

Lou Ye bit her in anger. “If we count one time as five thousand, then a hundred thousand is enough for you to make it up to me twenty times. Where are the twenty times?”

Sang Wan’s eyes widened, her flushed cheeks silently condemning his shamelessness.

Lou Ye did not care at all. He kissed her lips tenderly. “Either I stay, or you come home with me. Pick one.”

She would pick neither!

She had been kissed by Lou Ye all the way here.

And now his kisses were even fiercer.

Sang Wan felt her legs go weak, as if she could no longer stand, a sense of weightlessness washing over her.

Only the last shred of reason still held the upper hand. “Aye, stop fooling around!”

Lou Ye paused, his voice hoarse. “Then comfort me properly.”

Sang Wan had comforted children before.

She had never comforted a man.

When she had been with Lu Jinian, all she needed to do was cook, knock on the study door, and say, “Dinner’s ready!”

Or soften her voice and say, “All right, stop being angry.”

Then she would hold Lu Xiaomu, take his little hand, and tell Lu Jinian, “Dad with the black face isn’t handsome at all.”

And Lu Jinian would calm down.

If that counted as comforting, then perhaps she knew a little.

“Aye...”

Sang Wan lifted her head and, copying his manner, gently pecked his lips. “You still have to get up early for work tomorrow. You don’t want me to be late, do you? If I’m late, they’ll dock my pay, and then I won’t have any money left to keep you.”

Lou Ye’s gaze deepened.

Sang Wan went on, “Besides, there are so many marks on my neck. They need time to fade a little. If someone sees them tomorrow and I’m humiliated, I’ll only be able to quit in a rage and go far away. By then, we’ll just...”

Her lips were bitten by Lou Ye.

Sang Wan fell silent.

Lou Ye seemed even angrier now, gritting out, “Is that comforting me, or threatening me?”

???

She really was comforting him!

Sang Wan looked utterly baffled.

Lou Ye’s voice dropped. “But I’m hungry.”

“Then what do you want to eat...”

“I want to eat you!”

Only after a belated moment did she realize that this was hunger of one sort, not the other.

Sang Wan: ...

“Meow...”

Both of them lowered their heads and saw 2S sitting gracefully by their feet, its round eyes quietly fixed on them.

At the thought that the entire scene of their lingering had been watched by it, Sang Wan felt ashamed beyond measure, even if it could not speak.

She could not help but glare at Lou Ye.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about?” Lou Ye laughed. “Isn’t there a saying that loving parents are the best education for a child? We’re setting an example for it!”

Sang Wan was speechless. She opened the door and pushed Lou Ye outside. “Good night!”

Lou Ye did not pester her. He walked backward all the way toward the elevator, but his eyes seemed to carry hooks, clinging to her face.

As though, if Sang Wan showed even the slightest hesitation or reluctance to let him go, he would come running to her at once.

The cold corridor somehow grew hot.

Sang Wan hardened her heart and shut the door.

In her mind was the look of grievance in Lou Ye’s eyes when he realized she meant to close the door, like a little dog abandoned by its owner.

Before her eyes lay the spacious yet empty living room, and the 2S that had already vanished from beside her feet.

A faint sense of loss rose abruptly in Sang Wan’s heart.

Then her phone chimed.

A message from Lou Ye.