Chapter 3: Accomplice or Victim

“Now you’re worried about that? Don’t you think it’s a bit late for regrets?”

I choked on my words. I opened my mouth to argue, but the more I thought about it… he actually had a point.

While we were in Hong Kong, Huo Qisheng had never asked about my marital status, but I hadn’t exactly volunteered that I was a married woman, either. To put it plainly, the two of us were less like victim and perpetrator, and more like partners in crime.

“I’m sorry…” All I could do was hang my head and apologize again, my voice trembling slightly as sheer embarrassment kept me from meeting his gaze.

“I assume you’ve already picked up on the nature of my relationship with Qiao Lu.”

I gave a faint nod. No matter how you looked at them, they hardly seemed like a conventional couple. To be precise… they felt like two corporate investors who had pooled their capital into a romance, yet kept their personal lives completely separate. Huo Qisheng didn’t seem to give a damn about Qiao Lu entertaining other men.

“Which means you don’t need to worry about causing me any trouble where Qiao Lu is concerned.”

Before I could even sigh in relief, he slowly continued:

“However, Xu Nian…”

Huo Qisheng stood up, his towering frame closing the distance step by deliberate step. The sheer weight of his presence was so overwhelming that I instinctively took a step back.

I barely managed half a step before his hand gently caught my wrist:

“The fact that you’re Zhou Jisheng’s wife… that, I mind very much.”

I froze. “Mr. Huo…”

When Huo Qisheng wasn’t smiling, his eyes were terrifyingly cold. His long fingers slowly slid up from my wrist, reaching up to cup my chin in a light pinch.

A shudder ran through me. Even Zhou Jisheng, a man who usually walked around with his nose in the air, had to tread lightly around him. I didn’t even dare to imagine just how terrifying this man’s true background really was.

And here I was, having slept with him while conveniently omitting my marriage. I had literally dug my own grave and jumped right in.

“I’m sorry…” I apologized yet again.

Huo Qisheng studied my face, his tone flat:

“Besides an apology… is there nothing else you have to say to me?”

His grip on my chin stung slightly. I turned my face away, feeling a prickle of tears burning at the back of my nose.

The very next second… Huo Qisheng abruptly bent his head and captured my lips.

I gasped, my hands instinctively pushing against his chest, but he easily swept both of my wrists behind my back, locking them in place.

“Xu Nian.” His kiss wasn’t overly aggressive; if anything, it was dangerously gentle. “Open up.”

He nipped lightly at my bottom lip:

“Kiss me back. Do that, and this entire situation is still open for negotiation.”

I had no idea what level of cooperation it would take to satisfy him, nor could I recall how long he held me in that kiss. All I vaguely remembered was that by the end of it… my legs were so weak I could barely stand.

The heat in the room mounted degree by degree, pushing both of us to the very edge of losing control.

Yet right at that critical moment, Huo Qisheng suddenly let me go.

I stumbled back onto the chair, my dress so rumpled that a single glance was enough to tell how intense the “battle” had just been.

Huo Qisheng calmly adjusted his cufflinks, taking his time before finally speaking:

“Let’s go. I’ll drive you home.”

When we got to the car, Qiao Lu was already sitting in the front passenger seat. I didn’t look at her, but I could feel her throwing several sharp glances my way in the rearview mirror.

The car eventually pulled up to the gates of our villa. I offered a quiet thank-you and stepped out. The vehicle sped away without a moment’s hesitation, as fleeting and detached as a affair that had only lasted three days and three nights.

Zhou Jisheng still hadn’t come home. I headed upstairs to take a shower first.

As I was blow-drying my hair, my phone buzzed. His voice on the other end sounded utterly exhausted:

“I’m sorry, Niannian. Something urgent came up at the company. I probably won’t be able to make it back tonight.”

I offered a soft “Mhm” and didn’t bother pressing for details. After all, when it came to a man’s excuses… truth and lies were so tangled together that believing them only made you the fool.

I sank into the bed, my mind completely blank. I had no desire to verify whether Zhou Jisheng was genuinely tied up with work or tied up with another woman.

Surprisingly, this time… he wasn’t lying. For an entire week after that, Zhou Jisheng never stepped foot inside the house. Meanwhile, Huo Qisheng’s side was equally silent.

What I had no way of knowing was that at this very moment, Zhou Jisheng was standing inside Huo Qisheng’s office, his face as pale as a sheet.

A stack of photographs was laid out across the sleek desk. Every single one of them captured private meetings between him and Qiao Lu, some so razor-sharp that if you zoomed in, you could probably count their pores.

“Mr. Huo…” The back of Zhou Jisheng’s shirt was completely drenched in a cold sweat. For the first time in his life, he understood what it felt like to pay the price for sheer, reckless stupidity.

He regretted it. He regretted letting Qiao Lu blind him with her charms, regretted his inflated ego, and regretted making a mess right in Huo Qisheng’s backyard even more. Before he could even enjoy the thrill, he was already watching his own life flash before his eyes.

Even if Huo Qisheng and Qiao Lu operated on a open-relationship basis, keeping things low-key was one thing; having photos leaked was a whole different story. More importantly… this pile of photos had been bought up by Huo Qisheng himself for a massive sum.

The message was crystal clear: I might not love the woman, but my reputation isn’t something anyone gets to step on.

“Mr. Zhou.” Huo Qisheng leaned back in his leather chair, his voice deceptively smooth yet brimming with oppressive power. “Now that things have reached this point… how do you plan to handle it?”

“I…” Zhou Jisheng wiped the sweat pouring from his forehead. “I was careless…”

Did he still not get it by now? The sudden wave of crises hitting his company over the past week was all Huo Qisheng’s doing. Yet he didn’t dare utter a single word of complaint, because he had brought every bit of this self-destruction upon himself.

“Mr. Zhou. We’re both businessmen. And in business… no one takes a loss for nothing.”

Hearing this, Zhou Jisheng’s eyes instantly lit up:

“Whatever you want, Mr. Huo, as long as it’s within my power…”

Huo Qisheng raised his gaze, his eyes terrifyingly serene:

“How has Xu Nian been lately?”

Zhou Jisheng froze as if struck by lightning, a sharp surge of electricity zapping through his brain.

Huo Qisheng… was interested in Xu Nian?

But last time, he had explicitly stated he had zero interest in another man’s wife.

“I’ve been so tied up with the company these past few days that I haven’t been home. I haven’t seen her either,” Zhou Jisheng answered, cautiously reading Huo Qisheng’s face for any sign of emotion.

Huo Qisheng offered nothing away, replying with a cool detachment:

“Give Mrs. Zhou my regards.”

“Yes… of course.”

Seeing Huo Qisheng stand up to leave, panic seized Zhou Jisheng once more. If he couldn’t settle this matter today, his company wouldn’t survive much longer.

He gritted his teeth and blurted out:

“Mr. Huo, are you free tonight? I’d love to take you out for dinner.”

“Not interested.”

“Ah… I was planning on asking Niannian to join us…”

Huo Qisheng suddenly let out a soft laugh — a chuckle so faint it was almost imperceptible:

“Mrs. Zhou is coming?”

He leisurely rebuttoned his suit jacket:

“In that case… I’m naturally free.”