Chapter 3
A minute later, the door opened again.
Lu Zheng’s mouth curved up. He was back to normal.
“Sorry. Thought I saw a ghost.”
What kind of ghost?
An ex-girlfriend back to claim his life?
He smiled calmly, but his dark eyes studied my face.
As though he were trying to work something out.
I gave him a sweet smile and took out the confirmation letter for him to sign.
The old me would never have smiled at him like that.
Fortunately, although my face resembled my former self at first glance, my manner had long since changed.
Lu Zheng looked away and stepped aside to let me in.
“Don’t smile like that. You look cheap and mercenary.”
For some reason, he sounded irritated. “What’s with the new hair?”
I touched my long hair.
“Really? But my boyfriend says he likes my smile. He thinks my new hairstyle is beautiful, too.”
Lu Zheng seemed allergic to the word boyfriend. His expression soured further.
He sat back on the sofa, glanced over the letter, then turned to look for a pen.
I handed him one. The ends of my hair brushed his palm.
He bristled and abruptly jerked back.
“Are you feeling unwell, Mr. Lu?”
I reached to feel his forehead.
“You—don’t…”
He forced out the words and took a deep breath.
Which sent my scent straight into his lungs.
Unfortunate timing: I’d showered just before coming.
With exactly the same shampoo I’d used when we were dating.
A tickle shivered through Lu Zheng’s throat, followed by a violent fit of coughing.
I moved to pat his back.
Before I could touch him, he raised a hand and pushed me away.
My foot slipped. I landed squarely in his lap.
He grunted.
“Oh! Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean to.”
Lu Zheng went still.
He leaned back against the sofa, watching me through dark, coldly mocking eyes.
“Song Enyi, do you use that trick on Zhou Yuheng, too?”
His voice was cool but seductive, half teasing and half serious.
“It works even better on me.”
“Choose me. Break up with him, all right?”
On the bookcase behind him, a tiny camera blinked a faint red light.
I caught his collar and scolded him.
“My boyfriend treats me so well. How could you do this? Have you no shame?”
Lu Zheng glanced at the hand touching his collar and sighed softly.
“If I were your boyfriend, I wouldn’t get angry.”
My phone rang as soon as he finished speaking.
We both looked over.
Video call: Boyfriend.
Zhou Yuheng had never checked up on me before.
This time, I’d told him my business trip to Hong Kong would mean seeing Lu Zheng.
And now he was calling.
I pushed Lu Zheng away, got off his lap, and hurried into the bathroom to take the call.
“Ah Heng, are you home?”
“Of course I do. I miss you all day long.”
On the other side of the wall, Lu Zheng remained seated, listening to me talk to Zhou Yuheng.
He raised a hand and smoothed the creases in his trousers.
Years ago, I’d said exactly the same words to him, in exactly the same voice.
After I hung up, Lu Zheng asked:
“If nothing’s going on between us, why hide in the bathroom?”
I bent to collect the documents on the table and smiled at him.
“I love my boyfriend very much. But you’re wonderful, too.”
“If I’d met you first, I might have fallen for you.”
“I’ll be going now, Mr. Lu.”
He asked lightly:
“What’s so good about him?”
“The Zhou family isn’t as wonderful as you think. Nobody cared about Zhou Yuheng growing up. He had to fight for everything, and even when he got it, someone could take it away. No one really cares about him. How much can someone that withdrawn really feel for you?”
“What about you?” I asked.
He looked puzzled. “What?”
“Did anyone care about you when you were little?”
My voice was gentle.
“Were you afraid of the dark when you went to bed? Did anyone eat with you? What were you like as a little boy? Will you tell me?”
Lu Zheng froze. Then, catching himself, he gave a cold laugh.
“You should go.”
He saw me into the car. In the rearview mirror, he was still standing there.
On that typhoon night when we were twenty, Lu Zheng had held me and told me so much about his childhood.
He’d said he was afraid of the dark. I was the first person to buy him a night-light.
Unfortunately, that approach no longer worked on him.
After I disappeared, he’d searched for me for three years.
He’d hated me enough to visit even my family’s ancestral graves in the village.
The villagers had told him I was dead.
To hide the fact that my parents had exceeded the birth limit, I’d attended school under my dead sister’s name.
If he discovered I was standing right in front of him, planning to dump him with the same old trick, he’d go mad with anger, wouldn’t he?
But that didn’t matter. I’d already achieved my goal of making Zhou Yuheng feel threatened.
My phone rang. In a rare second check-in, Zhou Yuheng asked:
“How did it feel, seeing Lu Zheng?”
“Not nearly as good as seeing you, of course!”
He laughed softly on the other end.
“When I get back, we’ll register our marriage.”
“Okay.”