Shang Wu lowered her eyes and calmly settled into the passenger seat. As usual, she opened the restaurant’s profile and looked over its signature dishes.
Along the way, Zhou Yanci seemed distracted. He kept checking his watch, and whenever they stopped at a red light, he would impatiently tug at his tie.
It was as if he were afraid someone inside the restaurant might get away.
Shang Wu knew perfectly well that Zhou Yanci was using her as a tool to provoke his white moonlight.
But…
Who said she had to be the one being used?
The corners of Shang Wu’s lips curved faintly. She logged into her alternate account and sent a private message to the paparazzo in Lincheng most fond of manufacturing hype.
【There’s a huge scoop at Changqing Hotel. Come quickly.】
“Who are you chatting with? You look so happy.”
Zhou Yanci asked with a smile.
Shang Wu exited the chat and replied in a carefree tone, “A classmate.”
When she saw the sign for Changqing Hotel, she gestured for Zhou Yanci to stop the car properly and got out first.
While Zhou Yanci backed the car into a parking space, Shang Wu took another photograph of the license plate and sent it to the paparazzo.
The Alte Karman belonging to the president of Chengzhou Group was one of only ten in the world. No one could possibly fail to recognize it.
At last, the chat box displayed the words: “typing…”
The other party replied instantly: 【Thanks. I’m on my way.】
Shang Wu slipped her phone into her pocket. When she looked up, she saw Zhou Yanci standing beside the car, staring motionlessly into the restaurant.
She followed Zhou Yanci’s gaze and finally saw the legendary Miss Shen.
The woman had a sweet, beautiful face. If not for the more mature way she dressed and carried herself, she could easily have passed for someone in her early twenties.
She was sitting alone by the window, eating, her movements graceful and gentle.
Zhou Yanci stared fixedly at her. His eyes held unwillingness and anger, but even more than that, they held love and possessiveness.
Over the past few years, Shang Wu had seen plenty of Zhou Yanci’s gentle, devoted act. She had believed him to be a courteous, considerate gentleman who knew how to conduct himself.
Only now, seeing Zhou Yanci face the person he truly loved, did she realize how affected and hypocritical he had been in front of her.
When faced with the person he loved, he was an uncontrollable wild wolf.
Just as he had plotted step by step to take the Shang family for himself, he had also been scheming to use her to lure his white moonlight into taking the bait.
How utterly… disgusting.
Shang Wu curved her red lips. “Yanci, what are you looking at? Aren’t we going in?”
Zhou Yanci came back to himself. He gripped her hand tightly and led her into the restaurant.
When the door opened, it struck the wind chime, producing a bright, tinkling clatter.
Miss Shen, who was sitting at a table, turned her head. The moment she saw him, she could no longer look away.
She put down her knife and fork in a daze and hurried over in a few unsteady steps.
“A-A-Ci!”
Zhou Yanci stopped in his tracks. He turned toward her voice and looked at Miss Shen with cold detachment.
“Miss Shen. Long time no see.”
His grip on Shang Wu’s hand hurt so much that she nearly cried out.
She pinched the back of Zhou Yanci’s hand in retaliation.
Only then did Zhou Yanci loosen his grip.
Shen Mian’s eyes were already brimming with tears. She looked at Shang Wu. “Is she the person you’re about to marry?”
Shang Wu feigned confusion. “You are…?”
Zhou Yanci’s expression tensed. “A stranger.”
Shen Mian seemed to have suffered a tremendous blow. She swayed as if she were about to collapse.
Zhou Yanci tightened his hold on Shang Wu’s hand again. “Let’s go. We’re here to eat.”
“A-Ci!” Shen Mian lost control and grabbed his sleeve. “We haven’t seen each other in so long. Are you really going to be this heartless? You won’t even let us reminisce?”
The diners around them had already turned to look, their gazes full of gossip.
Shang Wu could not be bothered to get involved. She pulled her hand free of Zhou Yanci’s. “It seems you two need to talk privately. I’ll go upstairs first.”
She turned and walked away.
Zhou Yanci frowned slightly and instinctively looked at Shang Wu’s back.
At a time like this, his mind should have been entirely occupied with figuring out how to anger Shen Mian, yet his feet wanted to follow Shang Wu.
It seemed that after pretending to be deeply devoted for three years, the act had become instinctive.
Zhou Yanci restrained himself and clenched his fists. He shot Shen Mian a cold look. “Stop pestering me. You were the one who abandoned me without a word back then. Who are you trying to fool by putting on this pitiful act now?”
Without looking at Shen Mian again, he followed Shang Wu upstairs.
Shen Mian’s face was pale. She bit her lip and stood awkwardly in place, a trace of resentment flashing through her eyes.
No.
If Zhou Yanci was still angry that she had disappeared without saying goodbye, that meant he still had her in his heart.
She would not lose!
Shen Mian picked up the untouched wine and followed them upstairs.
Inside the private room, Shang Wu sat beside the table playing with her phone. When she heard the commotion, she did not even look up.
“Finished reminiscing with your ex-girlfriend?”
Zhou Yanci stiffened. He had not expected her to know Shen Mian existed.
Then again, Shen Mian was indeed the only person he had ever dated.
Zhou Yanci smiled. He bent down and lightly rubbed his chin against the crown of her head. “Don’t be angry. Shen Mian and I are nothing. It’s all in the past.”
Shang Wu raised her eyes toward the figure outside the private-room door and pushed Zhou Yanci away.
“It had better be.”
When Zhou Yanci saw Shen Mian, he stood up.
“How did you end up following us?”
There was a trace of pleasure in his voice that was difficult to detect.
Shen Mian gave a bitter smile, her eyes reddening. “We haven’t seen each other for three years. We’re old acquaintances, after all. Seeing that you and Miss Shang are so loving and that your wedding is approaching, I’m happy for you. I came to offer you a toast.”
Zhou Yanci’s expression gradually darkened.
“Are you sincere when you say those things?”
Shen Mian forced herself to remain calm. “If not, what else would I be?”
“Fine.” Zhou Yanci laughed in anger and poured himself a glass of wine. “Then I’ll accept your good wishes.”
Shen Mian looked at Miss Shang. “Miss Shang, why don’t you drink with us too?”
Zhou Yanci said nothing, which amounted to agreement.
Shang Wu had no choice but to raise her glass and clink it against Shen Mian’s.
Just as the two glasses were about to touch, Shen Mian’s hand shifted slightly.
Shang Wu’s glass missed hers, and the entire glassful splashed over Shen Mian, with some of it landing on Shang Wu as well.
Shen Mian cried out. The clothes over her chest were soaked through, revealing a hint of spring beneath.
Zhou Yanci’s breathing hitched when he saw it. Without hesitation, he took off his jacket and draped it over her. “Come on. I’ll take you to clean up.”
He pulled Shen Mian away in a hurry, as if he had forgotten that Shang Wu even existed.
Shang Wu’s expression remained impassive. Only after they had left did she calmly go downstairs to fetch tissues from the car.
Downstairs, the paparazzo was looking around, unable to find any sign of Zhou Yanci.
Shang Wu sent him a reminder on her phone: 【The restroom.】
The paparazzo hurried upstairs while she leisurely settled back into the car.
After a while, Zhou Yanci and Shen Mian came out.
They stood not far from the car, while the paparazzo secretly hid behind the restaurant door.
Shen Mian vaguely noticed the figure inside the car. A flicker passed through her eyes, and she directly grabbed Zhou Yanci’s sleeve.
Zhou Yanci paused, then pushed her away.
“Let’s add each other on WeChat. Once you buy some new clothes, I’ll transfer the money to you. Your dress was dirtied by my fiancée, so I should be the one to compensate you.”
Shen Mian’s eyes reddened. “A-Ci, do you really love her?”
“Of course,” Zhou Yanci replied without hesitation.
“You’re lying! If you loved her, you wouldn’t have focused only on me when you saw that both our clothes had wine on them.”
Shen Mian began to sob. “You obviously like me more.”
Zhou Yanci paused and frowned.
Shang Wu’s clothes were wet too?
He had not even noticed.
Shen Mian wiped away her tears. “Looks like you didn’t know. Your attention was focused entirely on me, and you still claim you don’t love me?”
Shang Wu listened quietly, her eyes filled with mockery and coldness.
Go on. The more you say, the more there will be to expose.
It was time for the image of Zhou Yanci as a devoted, good man to start showing cracks.
Zhou Yanci’s mind was filled with the fact that Shang Wu’s clothes were wet, yet she was nowhere to be seen.
He grew irritated and pushed Shen Mian away again. “Enough! You disappeared for three years. Don’t think you can rekindle our old relationship so easily! Shen Mian, I want you to regret what you did and beg me to come back with your own mouth!”
Zhou Yanci turned and walked toward the car.
Shang Wu slid down in her seat and turned her head toward the window, preparing to pretend to be asleep.
But as she gazed out through narrowed eyes, she unexpectedly saw someone else enjoying the same good show.
The window of the Lexus was half-open.
A man in a black shirt sat lazily in the driver’s seat. His features were deep and sharply defined, carrying a certain innate, untamed wildness.
If Zhou Yanci was a wolf, then this man was a mysterious lion. He had witnessed the entanglement between the man and woman without the slightest change in expression.
As if sensing Shang Wu’s gaze, he glanced over. Then he slowly raised the window, his distinct-knuckled hand tightening around the steering wheel, and drove away.
Shang Wu’s heart tightened.
It was bad enough to be caught watching the gossip surrounding her fiancé.
Shang Wu grew anxious and tried to memorize the Lexus’s license plate number, but the car door was suddenly pulled open.