Chapter 9

Cheng Qianyi had been spoiled growing up, so she was so frightened by this that she burst into tears.

The other project managers who had come along kept apologizing repeatedly.

“This account will be settled with Cheng Cheng.”

Xu Qingye left this remark behind, the warning in his tone unmistakable.

He carried me out at a brisk pace.

In the elevator, Assistant Fan asked, “Mr. Xu, should I call a doct-”

The sentence abruptly trailed off.

Moments later, on a certain floor, Assistant Fan exited the elevator.

Silence fell in the elevator, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The arm that had been cradling the back of my knees withdrew, and a sensation of falling washed over me.

Almost instinctively, I opened my eyes and clung tightly to Xu Qingye’s neck.

“Ah! Xu Qing-”

His palm gripped my waist firmly, the other hand supporting me as the way he held me shifted from carrying me in his arms to having me cling to him.

Perhaps my reaction amused him; there was a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Wrap your legs around me. Be good.”

He knew I was pretending.

My little tricks-he’d seen them many times before.

The posture was embarrassing, but after all, I needed his help, so I did as told.

Xu Qingye chuckled, “Not pretending anymore?”

“Weren’t we just strangers?”

“And what are we now? Are you toying with me?”

His palm pressed against the back of my neck.

Fierce, yet not entirely so.

“Lin Tingwan! Answer me!”

The elevator’s smooth walls reflected our entwined figures.

Every encounter since our reunion had been unpleasant.

For a moment, a wave of sorrow hit me, and I buried my face in the crook of his neck.

“President Xu, give me a chance, please.”

Xu Qingye paused, his deep, seductive voice resonating in the elevator:

“Should I say yes, or should I say that depends on your own abilities?”

He hadn’t spelled it out, but I understood.

Lin Tingwan, do you want a chance at love?

Or do you only want an opportunity in business?

My voice caught, memories resurfacing.

At twenty, emboldened by alcohol, I had tried my hardest to flirt with him.

The veins on Xu Qingye’s neck bulged as he pinned my hands down.

“Wanwan, can you really tell the difference?”

“Do you truly love me, or is it just fear of losing me?”

I couldn’t deny it.

The latter, in truth, outweighed the former.

Before coming here, I had spoken to the woman who gave birth to me in the lavish Cheng Family villa.

“Wanwan, before you have any real skills, don’t try to defy your Uncle Cheng.”

She knew that Cheng Cheng had secretly installed a camera in my room and said nothing for over half a year.

“You can barely manage to keep your own bodyguard. What can you rely on? Money? You don’t have it. Beauty? Your body?”

Every word was a dagger, waking me from my delusions.

No matter how much Xu Qingye indulged me, he didn’t want a relationship with ulterior motives.

All the charms in the world, when tainted with purpose, would never win him over-not even once.