Cen Wangyue emerged from the restroom and unhurriedly accepted her best friend’s invitation to hit the dance floor.
The bar’s lighting was dim, and the man’s deep, inscrutable expression was hidden in the darkness.
He approached the booth step by step, but didn’t see Cen Wangyue’s figure.
Sheng Tangzhou carried the aura of one born to power; within dozens of meters around him, no one dared to approach.
Everyone knew better than to linger—what else could Mr. Sheng be here for besides picking up his wife and taking her home?
His cold gaze swept across the dance floor, and he unexpectedly caught sight of something amusing.
His wife was dancing intimately with her best friend, and a young male model was trying to get close. The lights hit the dance floor, and her graceful figure kept drawing attention.
The rich second-generation clubbers on the dance floor only felt a chill permeating the air around them and wisely averted their eyes.
Someone was getting anxious.
Sheng Tangzhou’s expression instantly turned cold, his desire to kill intensifying.
His gaze lingered for a few seconds, then his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Sorry, I’m taking her and leaving first.”
“Mm, go ahead.”
Almost all the rich heirs spending money here were sharp-witted. The moment Sheng Tangzhou and Shang Heyu arrived, people recognized them.
They watched as Sheng Tangzhou walked into the dance floor, grabbed the young male model by the collar, and yanked him backward, separating the two by a wide distance.
Before Cen Wangyue could react, she only caught a glimpse of Shang Heyu’s silhouette and was about to enjoy watching her best friend’s drama unfold when the next second, an overcoat descended from above and wrapped her up snugly.
Fang Yinian was just about to speak up to warn her when Shang Heyu forcefully covered her mouth.
Shang Heyu’s cold voice pressed against her ear. “My dear sister, don’t stir up trouble at a time like this.”
The deafening music drowned out Fang Yinian’s curses, her beautiful eyes full of defiance.
Shang Heyu gave her no chance to resist and simply took her away.
No one dared to make a sound, afraid the flames of war would spread to them, wishing they could pretend they’d seen nothing at all.
Cen Wangyue saw her sham of a husband at the bar, and the pulse at her temples throbbed even faster. She hadn’t expected her jinx of a mouth to work so quickly.
Her cheap husband had actually come home out of nowhere!
Just as Zhou Bingxu had said, he’d called Sheng Tangzhou to the bar to catch her in the act.
Cen Wangyue looked up with an innocent expression, her face betraying no change. “Sir, who are you?”
His wife of one year couldn’t even recognize him—and he’d rushed home from London overnight because he’d heard she was sick.
His cold, ascetic face couldn’t hide his anger toward her. His gaze landed on her fair neck and her overly provocative outfit.
He reached out and helped her put the coat on properly.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.
Sheng Tangzhou let out a light scoff. “What, you can’t even recognize your own husband? Mrs. Sheng, you’re quite something.”
He bit out those last three words with particular force, as if he wanted to devour Cen Wangyue whole.
Cen Wangyue met his gaze at eye level and read the look in her sham husband’s eyes in an instant—she knew it all too well.
During their first three days of marriage, in bed, Sheng Tangzhou had looked at her exactly like this.
His pitch-black eyes carried a hint of danger, looking especially terrifying.
Alarms blared in Cen Wangyue’s mind, but unfortunately, the only person who could save her—her best friend—had already been taken away by her brother.
She cursed Sheng Tangzhou inwardly, but the next second, he gripped her waist and effortlessly pulled her into his arms.
Her body trembled, and her tone softened considerably. “Honey, why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?”
“Did I not tell you?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Sheng Tangzhou’s tone carried a dangerous edge as he narrowed his eyes, carefully scrutinizing his own wife.
He had sent her a message well in advance that he was coming home, even before she fell ill—she had probably set him to Do Not Disturb long ago.
Cen Wangyue froze on the spot. She had indeed set Sheng Tangzhou to Do Not Disturb, and his messages always took her ages to reply to.
Had she known he was coming back today, she would never have agreed to meet Fang Yinian. Once she got home, Sheng Tangzhou would surely devise some sinister scheme to deal with her.
This sham husband of hers was pure evil!
Cen Wangyue instinctively averted her gaze. “Maybe I was too delirious from the illness to… to see your messages.”
That was her telltale sign of guilt.
“Going home, or staying out?” he asked unhurriedly.
Cen Wangyue mumbled, “Home. Let’s go home.”
Afraid that Sheng Tangzhou might be twisted enough to do something to her right there, she reluctantly chose the latter despite every fiber of her being protesting.
Sheng Tangzhou let out a light scoff and released her waist.
Sure enough, she was just a paper tiger.
Outside the bar, snow fell in thick, fluttering flakes. The moment Cen Wangyue stepped through the door, she instinctively pulled her coat tighter around herself.
She had worn a pair of sky-high heels today, and with the heavy snow outside, she had to take each step especially slowly. Yet this damn man had no sense of romance whatsoever—he didn’t even think to come over and carry her.
She cursed him out again in her mind. Before she even reached the car, she tripped over something and nearly fell.
Just as she was about to faceplant and ruin her looks, her waist was suddenly caught by a pair of solid, powerful hands, and she was pulled directly into a warm embrace.
Their lips pressed together, creating a romantic first-snow kiss.
For a fleeting moment, she caught a glimpse of a surging darkness in Sheng Tangzhou’s eyes—darker than the night itself.
The scent of sandalwood and vetiver lingered around the tip of her nose, the rich woody fragrance leaving her momentarily dazed.
Cen Wangyue, still shaken, stared blankly at Sheng Tangzhou for a few seconds.
Then, with a “boom” in her head, thousands of tiny fireworks exploded.
His cool, low voice landed, striking straight at her heart. “Standing there in a daze—are you planning to make tomorrow’s headline news?”
She wanted nothing more than to kick him right there on the street, but with her limited mobility today, she had no choice but to let it go.
Cen Wangyue reached out her hand in a coquettish manner. “It’s hard for me to walk. Carry me.”
Sheng Tangzhou didn’t reply. He simply gazed at her for three seconds, then scooped her up horizontally and carried her into the car.
Instantly, the atmosphere inside the car turned icy.
The driver promptly raised the partition, leaving the couple some privacy to whisper to each other.
A long gap stretched between the husband and wife, with a dead, stagnant silence hanging between them.
They hadn’t seen each other for a year, and Cen Wangyue truly had no idea what to catch up on with this sham husband of hers.
A warm palm pressed against Cen Wangyue’s left hand, and long, slender fingers brushed over her ring finger—where there was no ring.
Sheng Tangzhou’s gaze fell heavily upon her, the furrow between his brows deepening a notch further as he demanded, “Where’s your ring?”
Cen Wangyue snorted coldly, deeply dissatisfied with his attitude.
What kind of husband acted like this?!
His wife was sick, and the first thing he cared about wasn’t how she was feeling—it was whether she was wearing her wedding ring.
Who wears a wedding ring when going out to have fun? What a stick-in-the-mud!
Cen Wangyue replied in a sour tone, “I put it away. It’s too much of a hassle.”
The tension between them cooled once more. Sheng Tangzhou emphasized his words with heavy weight, “You’re a married woman now. Going out without your wedding ring—what exactly are you planning?”
Cen Wangyue grew even angrier upon hearing this and retorted, “What right do you have to question me?!”
In an instant, within the sealed back seat, a dangerous aura swept over once more.
The man seized her hands and pressed her into the corner, pulling her abruptly into his embrace.
This extremely ambiguous position startled Cen Wangyue. The more she struggled, the more Sheng Tangzhou felt a faint thrill stir within him.
“You want to play car sex with me?”