“We can be lovers—anything but siblings.”
Shang Heyu’s eyes were deep and dark, his low voice carrying a barely suppressed tension. The look he gave Fang Yinian was filled with an uncontrollable tremor of longing; he was willing to bow his head and pledge allegiance to her.
The scent of woody fir invaded her last shred of sanity. Emotions surged like a tide, and the moment their gazes met, she felt an unprecedented panic.
“You’re insane.”
Fang Yinian could clearly feel something squeezing tightly around her heart, an ache that frightened her.
If Fang Minzhi ever found out about them, what would happen? Would they be forcibly separated?
Shang Heyu’s gaze stayed fixed on her face, not missing a single change in her expression. “I am insane. Why did Xie Jiansheng just hug you? Or do you like men like him?”
He had been watching them from the shadows the whole time. Those two hours felt like enduring an entire lifetime to him. He couldn’t bear watching Fang Yinian go on a blind date with a stranger, and he couldn’t accept her smiling at another man.
So that was it…
Fang Yinian froze. “Whether I like him or not—what does that have to do with you?”
What was he to her, after all?
No proper standing, no rightful claim—destined to never see the light of day.
The corners of Shang Heyu’s eyes reddened. “I get jealous. I hate those men taking your attention away. Back then, we used to—”
Fang Yinian cut him off, her mind briefly regaining clarity. “You know that was back then—”
His gaze was too intense.
She lifted her eyes to meet his, seeing her own reflection in his deep pupils.
He asked, “What if I can make it happen?”
A trace of mockery flickered through her dark pupils. “What do you plan to do? Go straight to my mother and your father and confess our relationship? Or scheme to make them divorce?”
Either way, she thought he had lost his mind.
“Why not?”
Shang Heyu made no effort to hide his fierce possessiveness over her.
Fang Yinian’s face flushed red and pale in turns. She could hardly believe her ears. When had he become like this?
If he wanted to lose his mind, fine—but did he have to drag her down with him?
“Shang Heyu, you—”
Her fingers curled slightly as she stared into his bottomless dark eyes.
Shang Heyu lowered his gaze, glancing at her, and cut her off. “Don’t tell me I’m insane again. I’ve never been more clear-headed.”
The one he loved had always been her.
An invisible hand plucked at Fang Yinian’s heartstrings. She couldn’t put her emotions into words at that moment. She had never meant to tempt him, yet she had drawn in a madman who was trying to drag her into the depths of darkness.
She reached out to push against Shang Heyu’s shoulders, but he caught her hand and pressed it against her ear, interlacing their fingers.
Their gazes collided, sending invisible sparks through the air. Shang Heyu kissed her lips—a gentle brush of lips and teeth like a spark catching flame. As his kiss deepened, their souls seemed to merge in that moment.
The living room was strewn with discarded clothes. Her hands climbed to his neck, her fingertips grazing the skin at his throat as she tried to reclaim her sanity.
Fang Yinian tilted her head back, her voice trembling, the rising inflection like a lover’s whisper. “Shang Heyu…”
His warm palm pressed against her porcelain-white skin as he traced her neck, pressing damp kisses along her collarbone.
His voice dropped lower. “Niannian, I love you.”
Desire surged through the air, as if time itself had stopped.
Suddenly, the phone thrown on the sofa rang with a sharp, urgent tone.
Fang Yinian’s hazy mind suddenly snapped awake. She blocked his movements, drawing Shang Heyu’s displeasure.
His scorching breath brushed against her ear. “Niannian, don’t let irrelevant people disturb us.”
The phone kept ringing without pause.
Fang Yinian couldn’t help but frown. She picked up the phone and glanced at the screen. “It’s my mom.”
It was probably her calling to ask about how tonight’s date went.
Shang Heyu paused for a moment. “Put it on speaker.”
Fang Yinian’s dark eyes widened in disbelief. “What did you say?”
She was supposed to take a call with Ms. Fang in this situation?
How could this madman say something like that with such confidence?
Shang Heyu deliberately tormented her, locking his arms around her waist so she couldn’t move.
He remained composed. “If you don’t answer, Ms. Fang will keep calling.”
The two silently held their standoff for a few seconds before Fang Yinian conceded first, her fingertip swiping across the answer button.
Fang Minzhi asked curiously, “Niannian, why did it take you so long to answer? Are you home already?”
“I just went to take a shower, and my phone was in the bedroom.” She cleared her throat. “Mom, it’s so late. Is something wrong?”
Fang Minzhi got straight to the point. “You met Jiansheng tonight—what do you think of him?”
She had no feelings for Xie Jiansheng. He wasn’t her type.
Fang Yinian said in a flat tone, “He’s quite nice. Easygoing and humorous.”
The moment she finished speaking, the hand on her waist tightened again. He lightly bit her neck with his teeth, forcing her to tilt her head up. There was a hint of punishment in his actions, and what was worse, he deliberately pressed further, nearly making a few soft moans escape her throat.
“Xie Jiansheng also introduced me to a few new projects with good prospects. I’ll bring them to you later.”
She instinctively covered his lips with her hand, but that only gave Shang Heyu more room to mess around. A damp, ticklish sensation spread across her palm—the pressure, neither too light nor too heavy, was even more torturous.
Fang Minzhi laughed. “That’s great, but there’s no rush on that.”
She was more concerned about her daughter’s romantic situation, so she asked again about what the two had talked about during their meeting. Fang Yinian answered patiently.
Fang Minzhi could tell from the conversation that there was potential between the two young people. “Jiansheng is a good kid. You two should spend more time together in your daily life.”
That sentence was like a ticking time bomb. The man before her left ambiguous marks on her body, like a silent provocation.
Fang Yinian’s thoughts grew increasingly chaotic. In her anger, she viciously pinched Shang Heyu’s lips to vent her frustration, his cheeks distorting under her grip.
Shang Heyu really knew how to take advantage of a crisis. He understood exactly when her willpower was at its weakest, and he loved nothing more than to cause trouble at those very moments.
Her sweat-dampened lashes trembled, and her voice shook slightly. “Mom, I think Xie Jiansheng and I don’t have much in common outside of work. He’d make a good business partner, though.”
Those words hit Shang Heyu right where it counted, and the oppressive aura around her eased somewhat.
Fang Minzhi thought for a moment. “That’s true. Marriage is a lifelong matter after all. I was too hasty. It’s just that I saw Wangyue’s child already married for a year, and I wanted to see you married soon too.”
Having experienced betrayal in her own marriage, she didn’t want her daughter to repeat the same mistake. As a parent, she only wanted to see her child happy and fulfilled.
“What kind of man do you like? You can tell me. Beijing is a big city—we’ll find someone who satisfies you eventually.”
Fang Yinian bit her lip and stared at the man before her for a few seconds, wishing she could confess to her mother right now that the man she liked was standing right beside her at this very moment.
Her brow relaxed as she said, “Mom, when I have a guy I like, I’ll bring him home to meet you right away.”
The man’s kiss landed on her brow, as light as a feather.