I honestly thought he’d be fully committed to playing hide-and-seek to the bitter end.

Who would have guessed that the second I set foot inside the bar, Ha Shichen appeared like my personal shadow?

Without saying a word, he scooped me straight up into his arms and carried me out to the car.

I put on a petulant, annoyed front: “What do you think you’re doing?!”

Getting into the driver’s seat, he tilted his head to look at me, his voice eerily calm: “Whether you want a divorce or anything else, I’ll agree to it.”

“But I’ll keep pursuing you… until you fall for me.”

“Qiao Sheng, I love you.”

The corners of my lips almost curled up, but I caught myself just in time.

His harmless little mind games? I didn’t give a damn about them.

But… he had to win my voluntary consent first.

And Ha Shichen had clearly pulled it off.

Even knowing full well this was a self-pity ploy, I was more than willing to walk right into his trap.

This morning, Lin Zhao sent a text:

I handed the phone over for Ha Shichen to read.

His face darkened instantly, his gaze turning so stormy he looked like he was mentally calculating how to keep those two miserable for the rest of their natural lives.

Looking at him, I thought… he is so damn adorable.

Clearing my throat softly, I asked in a deadpan tone: “Do you know why I’m showing you this?”

He faltered for a second. “Why?”

I raised an eyebrow: “Because Lin Zhao makes me nauseous.”

“Which means tonight… don’t even dream about getting a single second of sleep!”

His eyes went blank with shock. I grabbed his chin, leaned down, and kissed him square on the lips.

The comments blew up immediately:

【They’re finally sailing on the same ship! I actually thought we were headed for a Bad Ending!】

【The person above is way too slow, I’ve been on this ship since second 0.0001!】

【Classic “making up with hands”… wait, no… making up with lips couple!】

【Are we skipping straight to morning now? I bought VIP, play the scene already!】

【Good lord, this sports car is driving straight onto the high-speed lane…】

From the car to the living room, and finally into the bedroom, we were tangled up together until the very first rays of dawn broke across the sky before finally stopping.

Utterly exhausted, I lay in his arms, not missing the chance to needle him: “If you had just accepted my confession back then, how would Lu Tsewei have ever entered the picture?”

“Now do you realize how stupidly overly-dramatic you were, huh?”

Ha Shichen listened, his eyes freezing for a long moment.

A second later, he blurted out a blunt, dirty curse—completely out of character for his usual cold-CEO persona.

Gritting his teeth, he muttered: “I was an idiot. I admit it.”

【Welcome to the special documentary: No matter how smart you are, you still fail the test of love!】

【Shocking! CEO Ha—the mastermind who calculates every move in business—fails Love 101 miserably!】

【Spread the word: CEO Ha can’t get his shit together!】

Glancing at the comment section, I curled my lips in a smile before remembering something important: “Ha Shichen, when did you actually start liking me?”

He tilted his head to look at me, keeping quiet.

I frowned slightly: “I mean, I know I’m gorgeous and talented enough to make anyone swoon, but I really hope your reason isn’t that cliché.”

Ha Shichen let out a low chuckle: “Honestly, the reason I fell for you… might actually be just that cliché.”

“Huh?”

“Back in high school, I had severe depression and had to take a leave of absence to be hospitalized. Every day, looking out the window, the world was just a single, dull shade of gray, with nothing to look forward to…”

“Until one day, a girl wearing the brightest clothes walked right into my line of sight. She was like the only patch of vibrant color in the entire world, pulling my gaze completely.”

“After that, she walked past every single day. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—never repeating a color. She’d even stop in front of the glass wall, doing a little spin to admire herself.”

Me: “…”

Oh. I remembered.

Back then, my health was a bit weak, so I chose to walk to school for exercise. And that was also the era when I personally felt I was at my absolute peak beauty—it would’ve been a sin against nature not to show it off.

Who knew my narcissistic vanity… would end up catching someone’s eye!

Ha Shichen continued softly: “Back then, I thought: How could someone be so radiantly bright? She was like a little butterfly, lighting up every space she stepped into. So, I wanted to find her, follow her… and hold onto her.”

He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against the back of my hand.

He told the story casually, but I knew how utterly hopeless he must have felt back then.

Thinking about it made my eyes sting slightly.

Turning my head away, I let out a soft hmph: “Don’t think a few sweet words get you off the hook! Back then, I pursued you for two whole months—now it’s your turn to pursue me back. It’s only over when I’m satisfied!”

Ha Shichen remained silent for a long moment, his voice carrying a hint of aggrieved helplessness: “But back then, you didn’t even bring me a single bottle of water.”

Well… fair point. I really didn’t.

Back then, my pursuit was so low-key that nobody even noticed. I was always a girl who cared deeply about saving face—letting people know the popular goddess got rejected would’ve been embarrassingly fatal!

Under his gentle accusation, my conscience twinged with a guilty spark.

Still, being unreasonably stubborn was my specialty: “I didn’t have experience back then. Now that I do, it’s your turn.”

Ha Shichen’s silence was deafening.

I flipped my back to him and covered my ears: “Go to sleep, stop bugging me.”

A few seconds later, his low, helpless chuckle echoed quietly behind me.

A tender kiss fell gently upon my cheek.

“Goodnight, wife.”

I pressed my lips together in a hidden smile, replying in a soft whisper: “Goodnight.”