Tang Yueru couldn't sleep.
Not after that kiss.
Not after the way Lu Shenyan had looked at her — as if she were the only real thing left in his carefully constructed world.
She lay in bed staring at the ceiling, her lips still tingling with the memory. It had been gentle… hesitant, even. Not the way a ruthless CEO kissed. Not the way a man kissed a woman he didn't care for.
But he hadn't said anything afterward.
Not "I'm sorry."
Not "I meant it."
Not "This changes things."
Just silence.
---
The next morning, he was gone again.
No note this time.
Only a delivery on the nightstand: a small black box with a silver ribbon.
Inside — a necklace.
Thin, elegant. A single diamond in the shape of a teardrop.
And a card.
> Wear this to the shareholders' banquet tonight. It suits you.
—L.
Yueru stared at it for a long time, her fingers tightening around the card.
Was this his way of acknowledging the kiss?
Or burying it?
---
Later – Shareholders' Banquet, Lu Corporation Hotel
The ballroom sparkled with chandeliers and false laughter. Reporters, executives, and socialites moved in perfect rhythm — smiling sharks in silk and suits.
Tang Yueru entered in a black velvet dress, the diamond teardrop at her throat gleaming under the lights.
Lu Shenyan was already there.
Standing at the center of it all like a king.
When he saw her, he didn't smile.
But he walked straight to her, offered his arm, and leaned in close.
"You came," he said softly.
"I didn't have a choice."
"You always have a choice."
His voice was low… intimate.
But just then, a voice cut through the crowd like a knife.
"Shenyan."
The ex-fiancée.
Again.
This time, she wasn't smiling.
---
"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon," she said, ignoring Yueru entirely.
"And I wasn't expecting you to show up uninvited," Lu Shenyan said coldly.
Yueru turned to leave, not wanting to be a pawn in someone else's power game.
But his hand caught her wrist.
"She stays," he said.
The other woman's lips tightened.
"You used to be better at pretending," she whispered. "Careful, Shenyan. Even you have a heart. And that's your greatest weakness."
She walked away without waiting for a reply.
Yueru pulled her hand back. "She's right."
Lu Shenyan didn't respond.
But when he looked at her, his voice was quieter than she'd ever heard.
> "That kiss… wasn't a mistake."
---
She blinked.
"I'm still your contract wife."
He nodded. "I know."
"Then don't confuse me."
"I'm confused, too."
That shook her more than any lie ever could.
Because Lu Shenyan never admitted weakness.
Never admitted fear.
And now he was admitting both — for her.
---
That night, he didn't touch her.
Didn't force her to talk.
But he sat outside her room. All night.
As if her silence was safer than the truth inside his own heart.
---