Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Half an hour before the engagement banquet began, Tang Shuyi called me to the lounge.

I didn’t want to go at first.

When a love rival initiates a private meeting, eighty percent of the time, it’s nothing good.

However, when I pushed the door open, she was taking off her high heels, revealing a small red patch where the back of her heel had been rubbed raw.

Seeing me enter, she first tossed a box of Band-Aids to me.

“Your shoes must be rubbing too.”

I froze for a moment. Looking down, I realized the skin on my own heels had indeed broken.

She smiled. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not here to mark my territory.”

“Then you’re here to hand out invitations?”

“Haven’t you already received yours?”

She leaned against the dressing table, her tone perfectly flat.

“I’m just curious. Just how hard is the person Qi Zhaoyuan loves to pursue? Hard enough that he hasn’t changed his taste in three years.”

My hand stiffened.

“Miss Tang flatters me.”

“It’s not flattery; it’s a fact.”

She looked up at me, as beautiful as a piece of cold jade.

“Do you know why he’s getting engaged to me?”

I gave a small smile. “It can’t be for true love.”

“Of course not.”

She smiled back.

“It’s because my father holds eight percent of the voting rights on the Qi Group board of directors. Meanwhile, his Third Uncle-oh, I mean Qi Tingshan-is waiting to stage a coup tonight.”

I was stunned.

“What do you mean?”

“It means that this engagement banquet downstairs is half a trap and half a play.”

Tang Shuyi took a USB drive out of her bag and placed it in front of me.

“Someone asked me to give this to you.”

“Who?”

“Anonymous.”

I didn’t move.

She glanced at me, her smile suddenly becoming somewhat meaningful.

“Don’t be nervous. I have no interest in Zhaoyuan.”

“Then why did you agree to this?”

“Because I have an interest in watching the drama unfold.”

She paused, then added another sentence.

“Also, because I owe him a favor.”

I took the USB drive; it felt ice-cold in my palm.

“What’s inside?”

“Supplementary information regarding your father’s car accident back then.”

My head buzzed.

“I suggest you think one thing through before you look at it.”

Tang Shuyi put her shoes back on and stood up straight.

“Once certain things are brought to light, it will be impossible for you and him to keep pretending you don’t care.”

My throat felt dry.

“Why are you helping me?”

She looked at herself in the mirror, her voice very faint.

“Because I can’t quite stand watching two people who clearly love each other to death insist on acting like strangers.”

“And, to be honest.”

She turned and flashed a smile at me.

“If you had truly moved on from him, you wouldn’t have come tonight. The two of you are so pathetic that even I’m getting anxious for you.”

Her words made my face heat up, yet I had no way to refute them.

Just before heading out the door, she suddenly stopped.

“Oh, right.”

“What?”

“If things really get out of hand on stage tonight, don’t panic.”

“Why?”

Tang Shuyi winked.

“Because the first one to go crazy definitely won’t be you.”