Chapter 2: Under the Table

Even Qiao Lu had settled down, sitting surprisingly meek and subdued.

I kept my eyes glued to the table, my fingers gripping the strap of my handbag so tightly my knuckles throbbed.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this. The man I had been entangled with in Hong Kong until dawn just days ago… was Qiao Lu’s fiancé.

“Mr. Huo, this is my wife, Xu Nian.”

When Zhou Jisheng led me over to introduce us, his voice was laced with a faint tremble. I couldn’t tell if it was guilt… or pure terror that I might snap and flip the table.

Surprisingly, I was far calmer than expected. We were all adults here; everyone knew the rules of the game they were playing.

I curved my lips into a polite smile and extended my hand:

“Mr. Huo, a pleasure to meet you.”

Huo Qisheng looked up, his expression completely unreadable, as though this were truly our very first meeting:

“Mrs. Zhou, the pleasure is mine.”

If he hadn’t nipped at my earlobe until it burned crimson just two nights ago… I might have actually bought his clean, honorable act.

My assigned seat was directly beside Huo Qisheng, while Zhou Jisheng sat next to Qiao Lu. The atmosphere at the table was suffocatingly bizarre.

Halfway through dinner, after a few glasses of wine, Qiao Lu began to perk up again:

“Qisheng, what do you think of Mrs. Zhou? Didn’t I tell you she’s gorgeous? She’s just a bit too thin.”

“Though, don’t you usually prefer women who are pale and slender?”

I quietly ate the small pastry on my plate, pretending to be nothing more than an innocent bystander accidentally dropped into a trashy melodrama.

Until… a scorching hand unexpectedly settled onto my exposed knee beneath my dress.

Clank.

The fork in my hand trembled, sending the delicate dessert crashing onto the floor in shattered pieces.

I came terrifyingly close to shattering right along with it.

“Niannian, what’s wrong?” Zhou Jisheng immediately turned his eyes toward me.

I lowered my head, forcing my voice to remain steady:

“It’s nothing. My hand slipped.”

Yet the back of my neck was burning, and my ears felt as if they were on fire. I had noticed my cartilage piercing was slightly inflamed this morning, and now it was throbbing with a dull, prickling ache.

My fingers instinctively rose to brush against my ear, instantly bringing that night flooding back. Huo Qisheng holding me in the dark, murmuring low, soothing words before slowly, deliberately biting my earlobe.

And now… beneath the crisp white tablecloth, his long, slender fingers were lazily tracing a path up the inner curve of my thigh.

Calm. Unhurried. Outrageously arrogant.

My entire body went rigid. I practically forgot how to breathe.

Yet Huo Qisheng sat there looking entirely unfazed, coolly delivering his line:

“Apologies. I have zero interest in another man’s wife.”

His tone was detached and indifferent. I couldn’t resist stealing a fleeting glance at him. The man who had held me so fiercely that night, as if driven mad by desire… looked nothing like the cold, celibate saint sitting here now.

Qiao Lu forced a awkward laugh, while Zhou Jisheng visibly exhaled in relief. He offered a chuckle:

“Well, that’s a shame.”

I lowered my gaze and secretly reached beneath the table, intending to push away the hand making trouble. But the moment my fingers made contact, Huo Qisheng seamlessly flipped his palm and entwined his fingers with mine.

A sharp gasp nearly escaped my throat.

“Niannian?” Zhou Jisheng made a move to stand up.

I braced myself and stammered out an excuse:

“Just… bumped my leg against the table.”

A thin coat of sweat had broken out across my back. Huo Qisheng gave my hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze before leisurely letting go.

I let out a silent breath of relief, feeling as though I had just narrowly cheated death.

After dinner, Zhou Jisheng originally intended to drive me home, but right on cue, an urgent work call came through. His face instantly darkened:

“Niannian, something came up at the company. How about I call a driver for you?”

Qiao Lu suddenly chimed in:

“Why don’t Qisheng and I drop Mrs. Zhou off?”

Zhou Jisheng immediately shot a glance toward Huo Qisheng, his eyes cautious, as if seeking approval from a superior. Huo Qisheng said nothing, but he didn’t refuse either.

Qiao Lu quickly smiled:

“It’s no trouble at all. Mr. Zhou, go ahead and handle your work.”

Zhou Jisheng rattled off a few more fretful instructions, promising he’d be home early before hurrying off.

The moment his figure vanished, Qiao Lu stood up as well:

“I need to slip to the powder room for a moment.”

In an instant, only Huo Qisheng and I were left in the room. The silence was deafening.

A vague sense of unease washed over me, and my instincts screamed at me to leave. But the second I grabbed my bag, a hand clamped down around my wrist.

“The red dress looks stunning on you.”

My eyelashes fluttered. I turned my head away:

“I just grabbed something at random.”

Yet my face was burning up. Because while picking out the dress earlier, the words he had once whispered had echoed in my mind: “Red suits you so well. With skin this fair, you look impossibly sweet in it.”

Huo Qisheng let out a low, breathless laugh, his fingers tightening slightly on my wrist. The next second, I was pulled directly into his lap.

My whole body locked up. The muscle of his thighs felt solid and searing beneath me. I tried to push myself up immediately, but Huo Qisheng’s arm locked firmly around my waist:

“Running from me?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath.

To be honest, if I had known he had a fiancée, I would have never stepped foot into that hotel with him that night. I had asked him back then, and he told me he wasn’t married and didn’t have a girlfriend.

Technically, he hadn’t lied. He just conveniently omitted the part about having a fiancée.

I kept my voice low and quiet:

“Mr. Huo, I’m truly sorry.”

“For what?”

“First, I didn’t know you were engaged. Second… I knew Qiao Lu’s fiancé shared the surname Huo, but I didn’t put two and two together and showed up to this dinner anyway. I’ve caused an awkward situation for you.”

I gently pried his hand off my waist, stood up, and offered a formal, sincere apology.

Huo Qisheng leaned back against his chair. The overhead lighting cast sharp shadows across his face, accentuating his cold, distant features. High nose bridge, razor-sharp jawline. Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs.

And the most infuriating part… fully dressed, this man looked like a cold-hearted ascetic, but stripped down, he was an entirely different story.

I knew I had provoked someone I had no business messing with. Right now, aside from swallowing my pride and keeping my head down, I had no other play. I could only hope he’d treat the whole thing as a harmless mistake.

I looked him straight in the eyes:

“You just said… you have no interest in another man’s wife. Which is why I was worried about becoming a burden or causing you trouble.”