Fu Shiyan stepped quietly up to the bed and stopped.
On the large, dark-gray bed, Song Tingwan slept soundly. Her thick, silky black hair spilled across the pillow, and her palm-sized face was utterly peaceful.
In the stillness of the night, her soft breathing seemed to set Fu Shiyan’s heart beating, breathing life into his withered soul.
“So you really do show up at my house every night, don’t you?”
He crouched beside the bed, his dark eyes brimming with ten years’ worth of longing and love for her.
Just as Fu Shiyan reached out to touch her cheek, Song Tingwan suddenly rolled over. He froze on the spot, too afraid to move again.
After a long while, once he was sure she wouldn’t wake, he silently let out a breath of relief.
“Song Tingwan.”
He murmured her name.
Suddenly, the necklace around Song Tingwan’s neck caught his attention.
Fu Shiyan stared at it for a while, but in the end, he couldn’t resist. Carefully, he unclasped it.
Then he took a velvet box from the bedside table drawer. Inside was an almost identical necklace.
The only difference was that this one was an MG limited edition. The pearl hanging from it was the rarest South Sea pearl, and there was only one in the entire world.
After quietly putting the one he’d bought around her neck, Fu Shiyan felt content. A smile spread across his lips.
Then he sat down on the floor, right beside the bed, like he used to sit hunched over his desk at school, and watched her with longing.
Morning light slipped through the gap in the curtains. Song Tingwan stretched and sat up in bed—then froze when she saw the room’s decor.
This damnably familiar scene!
She scrambled out of bed, wondering how to slip away without anyone noticing, when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
Oh no, oh no, oh no!
What the hell was going on?
Why had she suddenly appeared in Fu Shiyan’s house?
Would he think she still had feelings for him and had deliberately climbed over the wall in the middle of the night?
Song Tingwan was close to losing it. The footsteps were almost at the bedroom door, so she had a sudden idea, turned around, and dived into the wardrobe.
Forget it. She’d hide for now and figure out the rest later.
Fu Shiyan came in in high spirits, carrying a pair of pink women’s slippers. The smile on his lips vanished the moment he saw the empty bed.
He furrowed his brow, about to check the home security cameras to see whether Song Tingwan had secretly slipped away while he wasn’t looking.
As he turned, he noticed a small piece of clothing caught in the wardrobe door.
In an instant, his furrowed brows relaxed, and a faint smile returned to his face.
He deliberately slowed his pace, making his footsteps louder as he walked toward the wardrobe, one step at a time.
Huddled inside, Song Tingwan caught the pleasant scent of laundry detergent. It was faint and soothing.
Her attention wandered for a moment. She leaned closer and sniffed, wondering if that bastard still hadn’t changed detergent brands in ten years.
Rattle—
The wardrobe door beside her slid open with a sound.
Song Tingwan tensed at once and buried her face in the clothes, repeating to herself, He won’t find me. He won’t find me.
Outside, Fu Shiyan gazed at the corner of fabric caught in the door, smiling. He didn’t open it right away. Instead, he reached out and pinched the fabric, gently rubbing it between his fingers.
Just as Song Tingwan began to think he wouldn’t open the door, Heaven seemed to hear her plea and decided to let her experience true despair.
The next second, light burst in.
Song Tingwan’s heart gave up completely.
Small and helpless, she curled into a corner, clutching clothes from the wardrobe over her face. All she showed Fu Shiyan was her back.
“Is there treasure in my wardrobe?” Fu Shiyan asked, still holding the slippers. He bent down slightly, his voice carrying a hint of tenderness that was hard to detect.
Song Tingwan closed her eyes. She felt like she smelled faintly of a corpse.
Maybe dying wouldn’t be so bad, she thought. At least she wouldn’t have to die of embarrassment.
When she didn’t respond, Fu Shiyan spoke again. “Song Tingwan, are you planning to make a home in my wardrobe?”
Song Tingwan: Damn it!
“What brand is your detergent? I like it. You should recommend it to me.”
Song Tingwan knew she couldn’t hide forever. After taking a deep breath, she turned around and asked, forcing herself to sound calm.
Fu Shiyan froze for a moment, then couldn’t help turning his head to hide a smile.
“What the hell are you laughing at?” After one awkward moment after another, Song Tingwan could no longer keep up the act. Her true colors came out.
After yelling, she awkwardly turned her face away.
Fu Shiyan stifled his smile, set the slippers by her feet, and said softly, “Put these on. The floor’s cold.”
Since things had already come to this, Song Tingwan decided to brazen it out. She stormed out of the wardrobe, shoved her feet into the slippers, and headed for the door.
To ease her embarrassment, she muttered under her breath, “What a terrible bed! It’s so hard I ache all over!”
“And the duvet cover, sheets, and curtains are all gray. Sleeping in there feels like the end of the world!”
“And that ceiling light is ugly, too. What terrible taste!”
Song Tingwan had never been an easygoing person. Fu Shiyan had known that since the first time he met her.
He followed silently behind her. Seeing her so full of life again felt like a dream.
He quietly made a note of everything she’d just complained about.
By the time they reached the living room, Song Tingwan was even more embarrassed. This time, she didn’t even need to call—Song Hanzhou had already come over on his own.
Song Hanzhou sat on the sofa, his face tense. It was hard to tell whether he was angry or simply at a loss.
He was sure his Older Sister still had feelings for this man.
“Let’s go home.” She took the coat from Song Hanzhou’s hands, put it on, and said flatly.
Song Tingwan didn’t want to explain.
The problem was, there was no way to explain it!
Fu Shiyan neither stopped them nor tried to keep them there. After Older Sister and her younger brother left, he went back to the entryway, opened a cabinet, and took out a new pair of women’s slippers.
Then he went upstairs, looked around his bedroom, and called his assistant to tell him to replace the bed and all the room’s decor.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the car was just as strange.
After sitting in silence for a long while, Song Tingwan gritted her teeth and said, “When we get back, replace the lock on my bedroom door!”
“Huh?” Song Hanzhou was confused for a couple of seconds before he understood what his Older Sister meant. “I’ll do it as soon as we get home.”
Song Tingwan refused to believe that just because it had happened once, then twice, it could happen a third time!
Just then, her phone rang.
Song Tingwan glanced at the car’s smart display and saw an incoming call from “Xixi.”
Song Hanzhou gave her a guilty look.
“Why are you looking at me? Answer it.”
Song Hanzhou hesitated for a second, but in the end, he pressed the answer button.
“Hanzhou, could you come see me at the hospital?”
Bai Xiyuan’s soft, tearful voice filled the car.
Song Hanzhou looked flustered for a moment. He quickly pulled over and stopped the car, then asked with concern, “What happened? Why are you in the hospital?”
Bai Xiyuan kept sobbing, sounding deeply aggrieved. “During the shoot this morning, the staff didn’t check that the equipment was safe, and it accidentally fell on me.”
“Hanzhou, could you come see me? Please? Sob…”