Airport VIP Lounge.
“You take the next flight. I’m leaving first.”
Su Lingyu had just been immersed in the joy of seeing her boyfriend—her Separation Anxiety Disorder was finally manageable. Her face regained color, her hands stopped trembling, her heart calmed, and she felt revitalized.
The next moment, her boyfriend was abandoning her to return first?
Why?
Shen Qiao tossed the ticket toward her. “Su Lingyu, I came here for work. It’s only three days apart, yet you flew thousands of miles to track me down. You made me the laughingstock of my colleagues—they’re saying I’ve become henpecked before even getting married.”
Su Lingyu couldn’t comprehend. “They don’t understand. You’re my boyfriend—you know I have a disorder.”
At six years old, she’d been kidnapped and locked in a pitch-black room for three full days, with only minimal food and water passed through a small opening. No human contact, not a sliver of light.
After being rescued, she developed severe Separation Anxiety Disorder.
She used to cling to her older brother, but last year he got married.
So she found a boyfriend.
She needed intimate connection.
Shen Qiao had been her childhood friend and always knew about her condition.
When they first got together, he said he loved how she clung to him.
Yet in less than a year, he was already looking down on her.
“Disorder! Disorder! If you’re sick, go get treatment! Why come to me? Am I a doctor?”
Shen Qiao shouted, discarding all decorum. “Su Lingyu, even married couples need personal space, let alone us—we’re not even married!”
“Why are you yelling?” Su Lingyu frowned.
He leaned in abruptly, his voice dropping to a cold, warning whisper near her ear: “Consider this a minor punishment. Stop stalking me like a creep, monitoring me 24/7. That kind of behavior only repels people, drives them away.”
Su Lingyu’s lips twitched. So in Shen Qiao’s eyes, she was a creep?
Shen Qiao turned and walked out.
Su Lingyu stared at his retreating back, her voice soft yet clear: “Shen Qiao, are you sure about this?”
Without stopping or looking back, Shen Qiao declared firmly: “Absolutely! You’re too clingy. Consider today a lesson in boundaries and personal space!”
Just then, a tall figure appeared at the doorway.
Jiang Yuli entered, his hair meticulously styled in a swept-back manner, dressed in a tailored black outfit. Behind his frameless glasses, his deep-set eyes were cool and detached, emitting an intimidating aura—especially when his sharp gaze swept casually across the room.
Old Master Shen and Shen Qiao’s father both disapproved of this younger uncle.
Jiang Yuli had even taken his mother’s surname “Jiang”—a woman he’d never met—and lived abroad for years, only returning to the country recently.
Since they were only two years apart in age, Shen Qiao had never been intimidated by him.
Shen Qiao instantly plastered on a polite smile. “Uncle, heading back to the capital?”
“Mm.”
Jiang Yuli responded indifferently.
“My girlfriend is on your flight—look after her for me.” Shen Qiao patted Jiang Yuli’s shoulder. “Thanks, Uncle.”
Jiang Yuli’s deep gaze traveled past Shen Qiao to Su Lingyu, who sat pale-faced on the sofa. “Fine.”
Leave her to me. You go ahead and don’t worry.
Shen Qiao disappeared through the door without a backward glance.
Jiang Yuli chuckled softly. Tsk.
Handing your beautiful, gentle, lovely girlfriend over to an uncle who’s practically a stranger.
Did Shen Qiao get his brain smashed by a door?
After handling the luggage check-in, Secretary Hu Kexin came to pick up Shen Qiao and found him standing dazedly at the entrance of the VIP lounge.
“President Shen, it’s time to board.”
“Was it inappropriate for me to do this?” Shen Qiao murmured.
His voice was soft, as if he were asking Hu Kexin, yet also questioning himself.
Hu Kexin spoke with certainty, “President Shen, you did the right thing. This is a critical moment in your power struggle with Jiang Yuli. If you were to fly back just because Miss Su misses you, it would inevitably affect Chairman Shen’s impression of you. Besides, Miss Su is already 22 years old—she’s not a child anymore and can return to Beijing independently.”
Hu Kexin hadn’t seen Jiang Yuli enter.
She thought Su Lingyu was alone in the VIP lounge.
“President Shen, always prioritize the bigger picture. Miss Su will understand you.”
Shen Qiao suppressed his budding reluctance. Grandfather’s health is deteriorating day by day. I must prove myself, or the Hundred Rivers Group may not be handed over to me. And besides… her condition isn’t that serious anyway.
Shen Qiao refused to believe that Su Lingyu would suffer unbearably without him by her side.
Inside the VIP lounge, Su Lingyu and Jiang Yuli sat facing each other on opposite ends of the sofa.
In the small lounge, they kept a considerable distance, like an insurmountable chasm separating them.
After an unknown length of time, Jiang Yuli spoke leisurely, “What’s so great about a man who abandons his girlfriend and leaves on his own?”
He casually crossed his long legs, a tablet resting on his lap displaying dense English text.
Yet his gaze lingered on Su Lingyu.
Hearing this, Su Lingyu slowly looked up.
Almost instantly, Jiang Yuli averted his eyes, as if his remark had been nothing more than an offhand comment and he had never glanced her way.
Her usually gentle boyfriend had suddenly changed, abandoning his girlfriend.
Either Shen Qiao had fallen out of love, or he was cheating.
Perhaps both.
Since that was the case…
Su Lingyu boldly walked over to Jiang Yuli. “Uncle, my Separation Anxiety Disorder is acting up. I feel awful. Can I sit next to you?”
“Hmm.”
Jiang Yuli’s expression remained neutral, but he could no longer focus on the words on his tablet.
A faint, fresh scent of white tea drifted into his senses.
Through the large floor-to-ceiling window, the airport outside was visible—airplanes taxiing, staff directing, shuttle buses moving, passengers boarding.
The airport remained bustling even late at night.
Yet the VIP lounge was exceptionally quiet.
Until a hand covered his tablet, a warm body leaned close, and a soft, alluring voice murmured, “Uncle, your big nephew asked you to take care of me~”
Jiang Yili turned to look at her. “What do you need?”
In the enclosed, silent space, their eyes met.
Jiang Yuli had been sent abroad by the Shen family for schooling when he was just eight years old.
He rarely returned to Beijing and only moved back permanently two years ago.
They had met a few times but were not close.
Tonight was the first time she had observed Jiang Yuli from such a close distance.
His features were sharp—deep-set eyes, a straight, sculpted line from his brows to the bridge of his nose, and a bone structure that was both severe and three-dimensional. His handsomeness was aggressive, like the most perfectly designed character model in an otome game.
Coupled with his tall, slender frame, broad shoulders, and narrow waist, Jiang Yuli’s appearance far surpassed Shen Qiao’s.
Jiang Yuli was also famously aloof and reserved, keeping strangers at a distance.
She guessed…
Jiang Yuli was probably still a pure, untouched virgin.
That bastard Shen Qiao actually left her alone at the airport.
She couldn’t swallow this insult.
As his girlfriend, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to care about my boyfriend’s health and put a green hat on Shen Qiao, right?
Su Lingyu lightly tapped Jiang Yuli’s arm with her fingertips. “I need… a kiss.”
“Su Lingyu, you have Separation Anxiety Disorder, not skin hunger. Or perhaps…” Jiang Yuli threw aside his tablet and suddenly leaned close to her.
His broad chest and powerful arms pinned her against the sofa as he approached with scorching breath.
Su Lingyu didn’t retreat at all. Her captivating eyes curved into crescents, and the corners of her lips lifted in a provocative arc. “What? That I want to cheat? That I want to put a green hat on Shen Qiao?”
“I’m his biological uncle. Does he know you’re playing such wild games?”
Jiang Yuli’s gaze was unfathomable as he allowed her fair, flushed fingertips to wander from his shoulders to his chest.
Even through the black dress shirt, the temperature of her fingertips remained scalding, sending tingling sensations through him.
Just like his rapidly beating heart at this moment.
“Who told him to abandon me? He clearly knows I have this condition…”
Su Lingyu had been spoiled by the Su family since childhood—no one had ever dared treat her like that.
Shen Qiao was the first.
“Sounds thrilling, but…” Jiang Yili pressed closer to her, “Will you take responsibility after kissing me?”
“What responsibility?”
“Heh, so you plan to use me—kiss me, then go back and reconcile with him, all lovey-dovey?” Jiang Yuli let out a short, cold laugh before leaning close to her sensitive ear. His warm breath sprayed against it as he whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, filled with temptation: “Break up with him and date me instead. Then I’ll let you do whatever you want. How about that?”