Chapter 18: What Would You Like Tonight?

Jingwan wanted to empty her mind and let something new fill it.

The terrace breeze wasn’t cool enough to keep perspiration from her skin. Reclining in the soft chair, one foot on Congli’s shoulder, she breathed unevenly.

He looked up at her, desire in his eyes. He deliberately touched his tongue to his lips, watching her intently. Before she could feel embarrassed, he lifted her into his arms.

“Sweetheart, what would you like tonight?” He set her on the bed and knelt, holding her ankle and kissing his way up her calf.

She pressed her foot to his chest, her face hot. “…There are body chains and things in the wardrobe.”

With a body like his, it would be a shame not to enjoy it.

He always indulged her. “All right. I’ll get them.”

What a waste it would be not to play with a man like him! She rewarded him with a kiss at the corner of his mouth. “At tomorrow’s meeting, no one will know what’s hidden beneath Mr. Huo’s respectable suit—all those marks he can’t even cover…”

His breathing grew heavy. “…Your happiness matters more than anything.”

The night was long. Their shadows moved across the wall for a very long time.

* * *

The next morning, Congli went to work refreshed after their long night. Before leaving, he fed Jingwan some porridge, always afraid that skipping meals would upset her stomach.

She was grumpy when woken, particularly after so little sleep. Seeing him impeccably dressed, she pulled off his carefully tied tie with an aching arm.

“That color is ugly,” she said hoarsely. “You can’t wear a tie today.”

He undid a collar button instead, exposing a red mark on his neck, Jingwan’s handiwork.

“All right.” He kissed her cheek. “Wanwan, I’d like to come home for lunch.”

She nodded vaguely. “Come whenever you want. You don’t have to ask in advance. This is our home.”

“Really?” His cautious tone was one outsiders had never heard.

She opened her eyes. He was covered in marks while her skin was clear. Jingwan cared about her appearance and didn’t want marks limiting what she could wear, so she never allowed him to kiss too hard. He still secretly left them where she couldn’t see, such as between her thighs.

“You’ll be late.” She pushed him. “I want cake from the shop downstairs from your office for lunch.”

He kissed her hand twice. “I’ll bring it home for you.”

* * *

Assistant Li had noticed the change in his employer’s mood. The smile Congli had worn when leaving home remained on his lips. What had Madam done to make him this way?

At the morning meeting, an executive sitting nearby spotted a suggestive bite mark beneath Congli’s open collar and drew a sharp breath.

Congli glanced over and tapped the table. “Something to say?”

“N-no.”

“I do.” Congli pushed a data analysis report toward him. “Are you satisfied with the latest test results for the S-type household robot?”

The executive gripped the report. Clearly, the boss wasn’t satisfied. “Understood. I’ll go back and refine it.”

Li pressed his lips together. He’d seen the mark that morning and hadn’t dared look twice. Who but Madam would dare leave one on Congli?

By lunch, Huo Group employees had a new topic: who had bitten the boss’s neck?

“Who else? His wife!”

“Are we sure he has one?”

“If he doesn’t, where did the young master come from? A crack in a rock?”

“I mean, he could have had the boy with another woman. We’ve worked here for years. Has anyone ever seen Mrs. Huo?”

“She’s never appeared in public. Even if she stood in front of us, we wouldn’t know her.”

“It would make sense for him to have an heir. The plane crash took Old Master Huo and the chairman. The company was in danger, with enemies outside and rot within. Mr. Huo saved it from the brink.”

“Who wouldn’t want to marry a man so capable, rich, and handsome?”

“Mrs. Huo must be something. She dared bite him! I wonder who she is.”

“What if the young master did it?”

“Come on, can we discuss something entertaining? We were talking about grown-ups, and suddenly you’ve brought in a children’s show.”

* * *

While they gossiped, their subject had already returned home to cling to his wife. Jingwan wore a silk dress that shimmered as she moved; every strand of hair looked beautiful in the sun. Leaning against the sofa, she yawned in boredom.

Congli sat beside her and fed her the ice-cream mousse she’d requested.

“I’ve tried so many shops, but the cake downstairs from your office tastes most like Mangcheng.” She ate contentedly.

Mangcheng was her hometown, a small city far from the capital. She and Ji Huaizhi had both come from there to university, which was why she’d felt an inexplicable familiarity with him when they first arrived.

Congli touched the cake box and smiled where she couldn’t see. Jingwan didn’t know that this was the very shop she’d loved in Mangcheng. He’d hired its owner at a generous salary to teach others the craft behind the scenes and open the shop below Huo Group, hoping she might drop by his office on a whim when buying cake, even once.

Seeing her happy made him happy too.

“Wanwan, do you need me to accompany you when you see Leyin this afternoon?”

She waved lazily. “No. This is between her and me. Don’t get involved. Besides, I have a feeling…” She looked up at him, her voice unreadable. “Luo Leyin seems to have her eye on you.”