“You can rest here tonight. If you need anything in the future, you can call me anytime,” Liu Yu said, placing a clean pair of pajamas and new underwear on the sofa.
Lou Qingshuang sat cross legged on the couch, looking dazed and drowsy. Being drunk seemed to have emboldened her.
Reaching out, Lou Qingshuang grabbed Liu Yu’s hand. With hazy, sorrowful eyes, she looked up like a shivering kitten soaked by rain and asked faintly, “If I sleep with you… will you spare Wanshuang?”
Liu Yu froze, her sharp gaze cutting through the air. She flipped her palm to grasp Lou Qingshuang’s hand and pressed her down against the sofa, letting her hair spill across the cushions.
Looking at the person hovering over her, Lou Qingshuang instinctively closed her eyes, her body trembling. Liu Yu leaned down, her breath brushing against the tip of Lou Qingshuang’s nose. Her eyes flickered with dark, surging desire. Yet, in the end, she merely leaned in and lightly brushed her lips against the corner of Lou Qingshuang’s mouth before pulling away.
She remained hovering above Lou Qingshuang, keeping a slight distance between their bodies without scaring her any further. Strands of hair fell onto Lou Qingshuang’s face, tickling her skin and forcing her to open her eyes.
Liu Yu looked into Lou Qingshuang’s eyes, her voice low and raspy. “The one targeting Wanshuang has never been me.”
Lou Qingshuang stared at Liu Yu in shock. It really wasn’t her?
Sensing the pressure radiating from Liu Yu and their suffocating proximity, Lou Qingshuang felt uncomfortable and tried to sit up, but Liu Yu kept her pinned. After a long, silent gaze, Liu Yu finally reined in her desires and let go of her hands.
“Ask me again when you’re sober.”
Liu Yu stood up and walked away, giving Lou Qingshuang space to gather herself.
Lying on the couch, Lou Qingshuang stared blankly at the bright lights overhead. She still hadn’t fully recovered from the intensity of Liu Yu’s presence moments ago. At the very least, she closed her eyes at least Liu Yu hadn’t pushed things any further. A single tear slipped from the corner of her eye, disappearing into her hair.
Her coat lay crumpled on the sofa, thoroughly infused with Liu Yu’s scent. Just like that, Lou Qingshuang drifted off to sleep.
When Liu Yu finished taking a shower and stepped out, she looked at the completely defenseless woman sleeping on the couch. After a long silence, she picked up a blanket and gently draped it over Lou Qingshuang.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Shen Yue left the Lou residence with an exceptionally grim expression.
“What did Xinyu Company say?” The demanding voice on the other end of the line caused Shen Yue to scowl, her eyes glinting with malice.
“I only just got back today. How could she possibly tell me anything yet?” Shen Yue snapped back coldly.
Two sharp beeps signaled the end of the call.
Shen Yue sat inside her car, lost in thought for a long time, before ultimately deciding to stay at a hotel for the night.
When Lou Qingshuang woke up, daylight had already broken.
Suffering from a hangover, her head throbbed painfully, and the strong stench of alcohol clung to her body.
Lou Qingshuang rarely allowed herself to lose control, let alone drink to the point of clouding her mind. Sitting up on the sofa, her memories of last night slowly began to resurface. She raised a hand to touch the corner of her mouth, last night, Liu Yu had left two kisses there.
She covered her face with her hands, overwhelmed with embarrassment and regret.
Last night, after arguing with Shen Yue, she had gone to a bar to drown her anger and anxiety in booze. Drunk and desperate, she had called Liu Yu, hoping to beg for her mercy.
Holding her pounding head, Lou Qingshuang looked down at her rumpled clothes, the exact same outfit she had worn out last night. She breathed a sigh of relief as she remembered her own desperate question: “If I sleep with you, will you spare Wanshuang?”
She buried her face in her hands, mortified. Thank goodness Liu Yu hadn’t actually taken advantage of her; otherwise, she wouldn’t even be able to face the world today.
Watching the monitoring feed of Lou Qingshuang distressingly burying her face, Liu Yu let out a soft laugh. Quite cute, she thought.
Anxious to escape, Lou Qingshuang hurriedly put on her shoes. She sent Liu Yu a quick text message and quietly slipped out the door.
When Liu Yu stepped out of the study, she caught the faint sound of the front door closing.
Dressed in soft loungewear, she looked toward the shut door, her gaze falling on the neatly folded cashmere blanket on the couch.
“You’re welcome to come a second time,” Liu Yu murmured softly to the blanket.
Once there was a first time, there would be countless times to follow. Eventually, there would come a day when she would stay willingly.
After rushing out of Liu Yu’s apartment, Lou Qingshuang hailed a taxi straight to Bai Wan’s house.
Pound! Pound! Pound!
Bai Wan opened the door angrily, only to be stunned by the sight of her exhausted, booze scented best friend. “Shuangshuang?” she gasped in shock.
Lou Qingshuang pushed past her, her voice heavy with fatigue. “Let me in to catch my breath.”
She collapsed onto Bai Wan’s large sofa, looking thoroughly drained.
“Were you being chased by someone?” Bai Wan poked her head out the door to check, seeing no one around.
“I stayed the night at Liu Yu’s place,” Lou Qingshuang dropped a bombshell.
“WHAT?!” Bai Wan shrieked, scuttling over in her slippers to stare at her. “What did you just say?”
“I got drunk last night and called Liu Yu to pick me up. She took me back to her place,” Lou Qingshuang groaned, rubbing her temples weakly.
Bai Wan grabbed her hand and shook it frantically. “Girl, do you even realize what you’re saying?!”
“Shen Yue wants me to step down from Wanshuang and go back to being her full time housewife,” Lou Qingshuang said softly, eyes closed.
“WHAT?! That absolute scum! She used to act so high and mighty, and now she’s pulling the rug out from under us?! Doesn’t she know right now is Wanshuang’s most critical moment?!” Bai Wan exploded in rage.
Everyone knew that Lou Qingshuang was the core of Wanshuang, her product research and development were the very foundation of the company.
Asking Lou Qingshuang to step down with a single sentence would completely ruin Wanshuang. What would become of all their hard work? What were they struggling so desperately for right now?!
No wonder Lou Qingshuang had felt driven to beg Liu Yu.
Once her initial rage cooled down, Bai Wan asked nervously, “You didn’t go to Liu Yu just because of that, did you?”
“Shuangshuang, it’s not worth it!” Trembling, Bai Wan began inspecting her best friend’s body, tears welling up in her eyes.
Seeing Bai Wan holding back tears while frantically checking her, Lou Qingshuang couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Liu Yu didn’t do anything to me. She just talked to me.”
“She managed to resist?” Bai Wan looked deeply skeptical, in her mind, Liu Yu was no different from a pervert.
She carefully checked the back of Lou Qingshuang’s neck. Seeing no marks, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“I actually offered myself to her so she would spare us, but Liu Yu said she was never the one targeting Wanshuang. Wanwan, I don’t know what’s going on, but I have a bad feeling about this,” Lou Qingshuang said, clutching her racing heart, feeling lost.
“Don’t be scared, Shuangshuang. We’ll go to the Taoist temple today to pray and get rid of this bad luck. If push comes to shove, I’ll just go home and agree to the arranged marriage! I won’t let you sell yourself out for this,” Bai Wan threw her arms around Lou Qingshuang, tears bursting out.
“It really isn’t worth it! Who knows what kind of weird fetishes an old, single pervert like Liu Yu has in secret? And Shen Yue is no good either, seizing the opportunity to pull a move like this, she sure knows how to strike at the worst time!”
Having bottled up her stress for so long, Bai Wan finally broke down into loud sobs.
The two friends held each other tightly and cried. Lou Qingshuang’s eyelashes fluttered as tears streamed down her face, while Bai Wan wailed loudly, filling the villa with her cries.
Listening through the wiretap she had placed on Lou Qingshuang, Liu Yu curled her lips into a faint, amused smile as she heard their sobbing.
Hearing Lou Qingshuang’s faint whimpers, Liu Yu could almost picture her little rose wilting. Lou Qingshuang cried very softly and delicately, her quiet, aggrieved sobs tugging at Liu Yu’s heartstrings.
Liu Yu raised a hand to her chest. It felt as though a needle had lightly, ever so faintly, pricked her heart.
“Chairman, you didn’t… do anything to Miss Lou last night, did you?” Zhu Yan, having received news early in the morning, asked nervously as she watched Liu Yu touch her chest.
Liu Yu flicked her gaze over to her. “What do you think I did?”
Hearing the Chairman’s counter question, Zhu Yan instantly breathed a sigh of relief and said tentatively, “I was just worried you couldn’t control yourself and ended up ruining Miss Lou’s impression of you again.”
Inside her office, Liu Yu heard through the receiver that the two were heading out to the temple. The moment the front door closed, Liu Yu used her phone to remotely demagnetize the wiretap, causing it to fall off and self-destruct as it rolled across the floor.
Suppressing the possessiveness swirling inside her, Liu Yu quietly bided her time.
The tracker she had placed on Lou Qingshuang was merely to ensure she arrived home safely. Now that she was safe, it was no longer needed.
Inside the main hall of the Taoist temple, Bai Wan and Lou Qingshuang knelt devoutly before the altar, praying earnestly. “Deities above, please sever the bad karma surrounding Shuangshuang.”
Lou Qingshuang prayed for her company’s safety, for her mother’s good health, and for her and Bai Wan to overcome this trial.
Gazing up at the solemn yet benevolent eyes of the divine statue, Lou Qingshuang bowed respectfully. May the gods sever my bad karma soon and restore peace to my life.