Volume One, Chapter 105: To hell with being considerate!

A thunderclap of embarrassment struck her.

She had seen the smiling face of Lou Ye.

She had also seen Rong Jing and Yang Yan, both looking out the window at the very same moment.

In that instant, her cheeks burning hot, Sang Wan wanted nothing more than to find a hole and bury herself in it.

With nimble fingers, she slammed the door-open button. The elevator doors opened again, and Rong Jing and Yang Yan stepped out in perfect understanding.

Lou Ye slipped one arm around Sang Wan’s waist.

With the other, he closed the elevator.

“Elder sister...”

Lowering his head, Lou Ye let the smile in his voice drift to Sang Wan’s ear. “So eager to throw yourself into my arms?”

“I...”

Sang Wan looked up at him. “Lou Ye, thank you.”

The elevator rose slowly.

Outside, the orange-gold setting sun, wrapped in vast banks of evening cloud, spilled across the window.

Lou Ye met Sang Wan’s eyes, deliberately asking the obvious. “Thank me for what?”

“For...” Sang Wan began.

She had wanted to say thank you for foreseeing trouble, for neatly and decisively solving it for her before the threat from Ke Mu’s mother could even arrive.

But as the words reached her lips, Sang Wan thought of more.

His help in the pouring rain.

The long-term guardianship of 2S.

The generous investment in Wanxin Apartments.

From her divorce until today, he had helped her countless times.

A single thank-you was far too insignificant.

And yet she still had to say it.

After all, beyond thank you, she had nothing else to give.

Lou Ye was already standing at the summit of the pyramid; he possessed everything beautiful and powerful in this world.

“Thank you for always rescuing me from danger,” Sang Wan said softly.

“My pleasure.”

Lou Ye answered at once, his handsome eyes shimmering with the reflection of the sunset outside. “And then?”

And then what?

Sang Wan froze.

Lou Ye took a step forward and lowered his forehead to the tip of her nose. “In old times, one offered one’s body in return; in modern times, a heart may stir in secret. Is a mere thank-you all I get?”

Sang Wan wanted to ask what he wanted, and that as long as it was within her power, she would surely...

Before she could finish, Lou Ye abruptly lifted his head and looked behind her.

Turning back, she saw that beyond the bright sightseeing windows, great masses of blazing clouds were unfurling in layers. Half the sky, together with the whole city, had been painted a decadent orange-red.

So beautiful it was almost suffocating.

Sang Wan gazed on, dazed.

Lou Ye embraced her from behind, drawing her into his arms.

“Sang Wan, this is the best gift of all today.”

But this was a gift from heaven.

Not from her.

Sang Wan lifted her eyes.

Lou Ye’s kiss fell.

It was a kiss without the slightest trace of desire, gentle and lingering.

She must be mad, Sang Wan thought.

In the past, even during those years when she had been deeply in love with Lu Jinian, she had only ever accepted hand-holding and embraces in public.

But today, as though she were in the first flush of love, she had actually done something so bold that even if she saw it on television, she would have averted her eyes.

The elevator stopped on the top floor. Sang Wan lowered her head and leaned against Lou Ye’s chest, breathing softly.

She did not even dare glance to see whether anyone was outside the elevator.

Laughter sounded.

Lou Ye lightly bit Sang Wan’s ear. “Sang Wan, why are you so adorable?”

Clearly she was two years older than him.

Clearly she was already a mother.

And yet, after nothing more than a kiss, she grew shy like a little girl.

“I...”

Sang Wan was both flustered and embarrassed.

She wanted to say that words like adorable were meant for little girls.

She also wanted to say more.

But her face was so hot it felt ready to burst.

A soft chime rang from her phone.

The sound came from both her phone and Lou Ye’s.

Sang Wan turned her head to look at her phone as if to conceal her embarrassment.

“Don’t look!”

Lou Ye called sharply.

But Sang Wan had already seen it.

A photograph of Lou Ye seated across from a beautiful woman.

The tabletop was bare, and Lou Ye’s posture was languid.

At a glance, anyone could tell it was a blind date.

Sang Wan’s heart gave a hard jolt.

One calm, composed voice said: This is normal, isn’t it? With Lou Ye’s conditions, so long as he nodded, he could have several such blind dates in a single day.

Yet another voice had grown so sour it could not speak.

Sang Wan did not know what was wrong with her.

Her eyes stared blankly at the rapid chatter flashing across the chat group, while her mind was filled only with that photograph. She almost wished she could lose all reason, leap forward, and tear the image to pieces.

The photo had come from a piece of entertainment news.

A gossip-loving employee had taken a screenshot and posted it in the project design department group.

The sleepy colleagues, trapped in the rush hour traffic of leaving work, seemed to have risen as one.

“Handsome man, beautiful woman — they suit each other perfectly!!!”

“Wuwu, is our handsome boss about to belong to someone? Did this beauty save the galaxy in a past life?”

“With new Chinese style being so trendy, there really is a reason for it. The aesthetics handed down by our ancestors are unbeatable!!”

“So many rich people in this world — why can’t there be one more me?”

“Honestly, Boss’s face is wasted if it doesn’t go crush those pretty boys in the entertainment industry!”

“...”

Some were following the gossip.

Some were admiring the clothes.

Others were lamenting their wretched working lives.

Then someone cried, “Boss seems to be in this group too,” and those who had mentioned the gossip and Lou Ye’s name promptly withdrew their messages.

Only the photograph could not be recalled, because too much time had passed since it was sent.

A brief silence fell over the chat box.

Then, perhaps the gossip instigator had been lending support in various smaller groups elsewhere.

People asked what to eat.

People asked how far they had gone.

People asked for recommendations on nearby tourist attractions.

The message count shot up to 999 plus in an instant.

Unable to see Sang Wan’s expression, Lou Ye frowned. “I can explain.”

What?

Suppressing the sourness in her chest, Sang Wan lifted her head, her expression gentle and composed. “Lou Ye, there’s no need to explain.”

Lou Ye’s brow eased.

Then Sang Wan said softly, “We agreed back then that so long as neither of us had a partner, we would maintain the current relationship.”

“Lou Ye, whether in the past, now, or in the future... I won’t use any reason to bind you.”

“You are free.”

The smile in Lou Ye’s eyes faded, reflected into a deep, dark sheen by the dimming sky outside.

Sang Wan continued, “During this time, you may get to know any woman you wish, or pursue any woman you wish. If you meet someone suitable, and intend to be with her, you...”

“Sang Wan!”

Lou Ye cut her off.

Only moments ago, they had been kissing amidst the gorgeous blaze of sunset clouds.

And now she was telling him he was free, free to go on blind dates, free to meet as many women as he liked.

If he had not stopped her, would she have gone on to say that when he found a woman he liked and wanted to date, he could simply let her know?

Would she be this understanding?

So understanding as to leave?

To hell with understanding.

“Mm...”

Seizing Sang Wan by the chin, Lou Ye kissed her again, the tenderness of moments before swept away.

The kiss was biting, as if venting something, as if punishing her.

For one fleeting instant, Sang Wan tasted blood, as though her lip had been broken by Lou Ye’s teeth.

The elevator descended all the way down, and the first floor was almost reached.

Sang Wan reached up to push Lou Ye away, but he only kissed her more fiercely.

So tense that every drop of blood in her body surged to her face.

Her heart pounded wildly as well, thumping so hard it seemed about to leap straight out of the top of her head.

One second before the elevator doors opened, Lou Ye finally released Sang Wan with a fierce, dark look and strode out.

Basement level one, the underground parking garage.

Sang Wan stood frozen in the elevator for a second.

Just now, Rong Jing and Yang Yan had been following behind Lou Ye; he must have had an engagement to attend.

It would not be right for her to follow.

Then she should go up one floor and leave through the company’s main entrance.

But this was the president’s private elevator. Would it be right for her to step out from inside it a moment later?

While Sang Wan was still dazed, Lou Ye’s cold voice rang out from afar.

“Aren’t you coming?”

Sang Wan hurried after him.