All day, Yu Ni stayed in the attic without stepping out even once.
Even her meals were brought to her door by the butler.
It wasn’t until evening, when the sound of a car engine came from outside, that Yu Ni finally changed her clothes.
The dress fit her perfectly, making her skin look even fairer. The lace fabric gave off a hint of sexiness, while the puff-sleeve design added a touch of playfulness.
She was extremely slender, with a delicate bone structure that seemed almost too fragile to hold, yet not at all scrawny—flesh in exactly the right places.
Yu Ni had just put on her necklace when Yu Jingxi walked in.
One second he had been worried sick about Yu Rou’s affairs; the moment he saw Yu Ni, the gloom in his eyes vanished completely.
Yu Ni was stunningly beautiful.
The kind of breathtaking beauty that seared itself into memory at a single glance.
Even when she had previously worn a cheongsam that didn’t suit her temperament, it couldn’t hide her dazzling radiance.
She looked obedient.
Docile.
Yet beneath it all ran a stubbornness that refused to admit defeat.
Otherwise, all these years, she could never have remained so indifferent to his affection.
“Ni Ni, you’re so beautiful!”
Yu Jingxi couldn’t hide the tenderness in his eyes, gazing at Yu Ni with aggressive intensity.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and unable to control himself, he strode forward and pulled her into his arms.
“Father is back,” Yu Ni reminded him.
Having spent over a decade in the attic, she was used to solitude and had developed exceptionally sharp hearing.
There was movement downstairs, and she could hear every bit of it clearly.
Yu Jingxi reluctantly released her. “Get ready and come down. I’ll be waiting.”
The restless longing for what he couldn’t have, combined with the double displeasure of his younger sister being beaten and hospitalized, made his expression quite a sight.
Not long after Yu Jingxi left, arguing erupted from downstairs.
The fire had been lit.
But it wasn’t blazing hot enough yet.
Yu Ni applied simple makeup and walked downstairs amid the quarreling.
In her white dress and light makeup, her hem swayed with every step, unable to conceal her exquisite, snow-white calves.
The arguing suddenly subsided.
Two pairs of eyes turned toward her at once.
One pair filled with infatuated adoration.
One pair bloodshot with rage.
Then came a thunderous roar, “Who allowed you to dress like this?”
Yu Ni stopped at the top of the stairs, her limpid eyes full of innocence. “Big Brother sent me the dress.”
With the sharp edge pointed at Yu Jingxi, Yu Shengnian tore off his mask of composure. “I won’t allow her to dress like this. Change out of it.”
Yu Ni obediently turned to go back upstairs, but her steps were deliberately slow.
Yu Jingxi panicked and rushed forward to grab her hand. “Don’t change.”
“Yu Jingxi.”
Yu Shengnian was clearly suppressing his anger, a fierce glint flashing beneath his gold-rimmed glasses. “I’m not dead yet. I’m still the one who runs this family.”
Yu Jingxi clenched his fists. The fury brought on by Yu Rou’s ordeal hadn’t subsided, and it all burst out of him in a moment of lost control. “Tonight’s bidding is of utmost importance. Surely you’re not going to make her wear those ill-fitting clothes?”
“I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
Yu Shengnian refused to back down.
Yu Jingxi sneered. “A young lady of society wearing a cheongsam that doesn’t match her age, with so many people present—how do you expect everyone to view Ni Ni, to view our Yu family?”
The rift between father and son finally broke into the open.
The two stood face to face, their eyes burning with stubbornness as neither would yield.
Yu Ni stood to the side, looking demure on the surface, but smiling inwardly.
Fight.
Quarrel.
Best if your relationship shattered completely, and the whole world heard about it.
“Mr. Yu, the bidding conference is about to begin,” Yu Jingxi’s assistant, Si Nian, came in to remind them.
Yu Jingxi applied pressure openly. “Whether you keep arguing about the dress or lose this bidding opportunity—weigh the pros and cons yourself.”
Yu Shengnian couldn’t let go of his obsession, yet couldn’t bear to part with the project either. His face turned frighteningly dark.
In the end, gritting his teeth, he yielded to self-interest. “I’ll go too.”
His daughter was still in the hospital, her condition unknown.
Yet the two men had torn off all pretense of civility for their own selfish desires.
How laughable, really!
Because Yu Shengnian was attending as well, the seat that should have belonged to Yu Jingxi had to be given up to him, and Yu Jingxi sat in the front passenger seat.
The atmosphere inside the car was suffocating.
Two pairs of eyes kept landing on Yu Ni, deliberately or otherwise.
Yu Ni pretended not to notice and turned to look at the scenery outside.
Suddenly, Yu Shengnian grabbed her hand, his emotions surging. “Where did the marks on your neck come from?”
Yu Ni clenched the hem of her dress.
She had been entangled with that man for hours last night—the marks must be the kiss marks he’d left behind.
The collar of a cheongsam could cover them up.
But now that she’d changed into an evening gown, they were plainly visible.
“I ate seafood last night and had an allergic reaction.” The entire Yu family knew about her seafood allergy.
Yu Shengnian was only half convinced. “Be more careful in the future.”
An hour later, the car arrived at the bidding venue.
Luanxing Bay was a fat piece of meat. Besides all the major listed companies in the country, even foreign investors had come, drawn by its reputation.
By the time Yu Ni and the others arrived, the venue was already packed.
As the foremost family in Yungang, the Yu Corporation was the object of everyone’s eager fawning in these circles.
The moment Yu Jingxi and Yu Shengnian stepped in, numerous business partners came over to toast and flatter them.
Yu Shengnian leaned close to Yu Ni’s ear and lowered his voice. “Find a quiet place to rest. Don’t make contact with strangers.”
The so-called strangers.
Were, in fact, men.
Yu Shengnian was possessive to the extreme, and hardly any man who got close to her ever came to a good end.
Yu Ni still remembered her school years—any boy who liked her or approached her was never spared by Yu Shengnian.
Either he forced them to drop out.
Or he drove them into bankruptcy.
His methods were ruthlessly appalling.
“Okay.” She obediently walked away, heading toward a less crowded area.
In the second-floor lounge, Mu Nan knocked and entered.
“Crown Prince, the father and son of the Yu family have arrived, and they’ve brought a woman along with them.”
Mu Qianjue stood with his back to the room by the window, a glass of red wine in hand, his air of mystery tinged with a cold, predatory depth.
“According to people at the venue, she’s the Second Miss of the Yu family. She’s been in poor health since childhood and was raised pampered in the Yu household. The Yu family guards her like a treasure and rarely lets her attend occasions like this.”
Mu Nan kept talking, then sighed, “Who knows what’s gotten into the Yu family today, bringing her along.”
Mu Qianjue had no interest in any of this. He tapped the windowsill. “The matter I asked you to investigate—any results?”
“Though that hairpin is exquisitely crafted and quite valuable, it’s not a one-of-a-kind piece. Investigating it will take time.”
He had already had people search every jewelry store in Yungang. Even with one store pinpointed, finding the target among all the customers would be difficult in less than three to five days.
Mu Qianjue grew a little impatient and waved Mu Nan off. “Forget it. Deal with the Yu family matter first.”
“Yes, I’ll bring them in right away.”
As soon as Mu Nan left, Mu Qianjue tilted his head back and drained the red wine in his glass, then took out the hairpin and examined it carefully.
Hah.
A hairpin for a cheongsam updo.
What peculiar taste!