Said Not to Fall in Love - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After that, our lives started to feel… off.

Off in a way that was sweet.

So sweet it scared me.

Before I left in the morning, Zhou Yubai would ask, “Are you coming back for dinner tonight?”

At first, I said I wasn’t sure.

Later, it slowly became, “What are you making?”

He would leave a light on for me.

And when I worked overtime, he would send me a message.

Not to rush me.

Just to ask: Do you want me to pick you up?

I would say no.

Half an hour later, when I went downstairs, I would still see his car parked by the curb.

He never explained.

And I never called him out on it.

One time, Wen Corporation had to submit additional roadshow materials on short notice.

I stayed in the conference room revising until dawn, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get the costs down in the financial model.

Zhou Yubai sat across from me, his cuffs rolled up to his elbows, helping me break down the material quotes line by line.

“You can’t cut this.”

He tapped the screen with the tip of his pen.

“If you lower the insulation layer standard, the later maintenance costs will double. Your father’s people are waiting for you to make exactly that mistake.”

I rubbed my temples.

“Then where do you suggest I cut?”

He pushed his own proposal over to me.

“Cut from my side.”

I looked up.

His expression was perfectly calm.

“Split the facade restoration into two phases. For the first phase, I’ll give up four points of profit. You don’t have to compromise on quality.”

I stared at the proposal.

“Zhou Yubai, you do realize you’ve already lost two clients, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“And you’re still giving up more?”

He looked at me, a faint trace of exhaustion in his eyes.

“You can’t trade safety for appearances.”

That night, we argued until three in the morning.

In the end, I didn’t follow his plan completely.

And he didn’t keep insisting that I back down.

Together, we broke the numbers down again on the whiteboard and came up with a third version of the quote.

By daybreak, a gray-blue light had appeared outside the conference room windows.

I sent out the final file.

Leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, Zhou Yubai said, “President Wen, a pleasure doing business with you.”

I threw a pen at him.

“Engineer Zhou, try not to be so heroic next time.”

He opened his eyes and looked at me.

Then he smiled, very faintly.

Later, even our arguments started to feel real.

I complained that he had pinned my design drafts under the coffee table.

He complained that I had left my coffee mug on the bookshelf.

I said, “You meddle too much.”

He said, “Your agreement didn’t say you couldn’t be managed.”

Furious, I grabbed a throw pillow and hurled it at him.

He caught it, then caught my wrist in the same motion.

It happened too fast.

We both froze.

He lowered his head and looked at me.

I was trapped between the sofa and his arm.

My heart was pounding for no good reason.

“Wen Yi.”

His voice was very low.

“Don’t mess around.”

I should have pulled away.

But that day, I didn’t.

I looked at him and said, “What are you afraid of?”

His gaze darkened.

“Breaching the agreement.”

I gave a small laugh.

“Zhou Yubai, so you’re that strict about the agreement?”

He looked at me for a long time.

Then he let go.

“Yes.”

He turned and went into the study.

Before the door closed, I heard him say, “So don’t tempt me.”

I sat on the sofa as heat slowly climbed into my face.

That night, for the first time, I didn’t go back to the guest bedroom.

I held my laptop in the living room and stayed up working on the proposal.

In the middle of the night, Zhou Yubai came out for water. When he saw me, he didn’t say anything.

He simply took a blanket and draped it over my shoulders.

I pretended to be asleep.

He pretended not to know.

When I woke up the next day, I was lying on the bed in the master bedroom.

There was no one beside me.

A sticky note had been left on the nightstand.

You fell asleep.

I looked at those three words and reached for my phone.

There had originally been a reminder on my calendar.

Thirty days before the agreement expires, prepare divorce documents.

I stared at that line for a long time.

In the end, I didn’t delete it.

I only changed the reminder to something else.

Go home for dinner.

After I changed it, I set my phone facedown beside my pillow, my heartbeat slow and heavy.