Chapter 81: Staying Here Tonight

The light refracted by the crystal chandelier in the living room was soft.

On the soft leather sofa, a woman was kneeling on a man's lap. Her waist was slender and supple, so small it could be held in one hand.

The man's arm slipped beneath the hem of her clothes. With a slight press of his long, slender fingers, the woman instantly went limp in his arms.

An Ling's breath trembled as a strange sensation spread throughout her body, bringing a flush to the corners of her eyes. She pressed down on the man's arm. Her beautiful face looked even more stunning, and she gazed at him with tear-misted eyes. "You can't."

An Ling had an inexplicable premonition that if she allowed Shen Linyan to continue this time, things would truly spiral out of control.

The scent of citrus in the air grew stronger, tightly intertwining with him.

Shen Linyan slowly withdrew his hand, lowered his head, and kissed the corner of her eye.

"Alright, don't be afraid."

Lingling's lower back was very sensitive.

The man's voice was hoarse as he coaxed her in a low whisper, opening his mouth to gently take her lower lip. "Lingling, I'll just kiss you."

An Ling looked at him, panting, her face flushed red. She suddenly bit him, the end of her sentence turning soft. "If you're going to kiss me, then just kiss me. Why do you always just kiss the outside? I don't want to kiss anymore."

Even with the simplest pressing of lips against lips, Shen Linyan could kiss her endlessly.

It was like this every time, teasing her until she wanted to kiss him. An Ling had wanted to bring this up for a long time.

"Shen Linyan, do you not know how to... mm!"

Before she could finish her sentence, the back of her head was cupped, and the crisp scent of cedar enveloped her.

The tip of the man's tongue forcefully pried her teeth apart. His movements lacked their usual restrained gentleness, replaced instead by an almost ferocious plunder.

He nimbly hooked her tongue, their lips and teeth intertwining, their breaths scorching.

The saliva she didn't have time to swallow was swept away by the man. An Ling gripped his clothes tightly, forced to lower her head and open her mouth.

The night wind outside the window was freezing, while the indoor air was damp and hot. Fine beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.

When her lips were finally released, the man lowered his head and rubbed his nose against hers. His dark hair fell loosely over his forehead, and his eyes were deep. A trace of lust tainted his usually aloof and noble face. His voice was husky, carrying more sex appeal than usual. "Do you like it like this?"

An Ling's face was flushed. She pursed her numb lips and secretly glared at him. "No, I don't!"

She had thought Shen Linyan didn't know how to kiss, but how could this man be so good at it!?

Didn't they agree that it was the first time for both of them? Why was she the only one acting like a complete novice?

The man chuckled and leaned in to kiss the corner of her lips again.

An Ling looked up at the clock on the wall. The sticky sweat on her back made her very uncomfortable.

"I need to go home. I'm all sweaty."

The man wrapped his arm around her lower back, his eyes curving into a smile as he spoke softly, "Are you staying here tonight? I had Auntie Cheng tidy up the room."

"?"

An Ling blinked, wearing a little expression that plainly said, "What are you talking about?"

The man smiled and kissed her eyes. "I'm joking. I just feel that it's tiring for my wife to travel back and forth like this."

"Even so, I can't. I have to work tomorrow."

She removed his arm, stood up, and looked down to straighten her clothes. "Besides, I told An Zhou that I was having dinner with Wen Yuche tonight. How could I possibly stay out all night?"

Remembering that Shen Linyan didn't know who Wen Yuche was, she added an explanation, "Wen Yuche is my blind date."

Shen Linyan's expression paused slightly.

His gaze fell on the woman's neck. After a moment of silence, he stood up to help her fix her hair. His long fingers reached around the side of her neck, his fingertips lingering on the bandage.

An Ling looked up in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"You said before that you would only buy things for me..."

The man spoke slowly, "Can I interpret that as you agreeing to remarry me?"

An Ling blinked, saying nothing.

A few seconds later, her eyes curved into a smile as she cupped his face. "Now it is. I thought about it carefully. Our Chairman Shen is handsome and kind. Having a husband like this is pretty nice."

She stood on her tiptoes, kissed him on the cheek, and teased, "So Chairman Shen needs to get those shares quickly. If you drag it out too long, I might just stop liking you."

Shen Linyan's eyes darkened slightly, and he lowered his gaze to hide his emotions. Smiling, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned down to kiss her. "Alright, I'll take my wife home."

...

Afraid of being seen by her family, An Ling asked Shen Linyan to just park the car by the side of the road. She unbuckled her seatbelt.

"I'll get off here. It's only a short walk, I can go the rest of the way myself. You should head back soon."

"Alright, goodbye, my wife."

"Goodbye."

The car door closed. Shen Linyan sat in the car, quietly watching the woman's retreating back.

Halfway down the road, the woman suddenly stopped. She turned around and waved at him. Under the dim yellow streetlights, her hair was dyed gold, and the light and shadows outlined her smiling eyes.

Shen Linyan was momentarily stunned, and then the corners of his lips curled up. He was just about to raise his hand when, in the very next second, his movement abruptly stopped.

A black Mercedes pulled up next to the woman.

The window rolled down, and a man's hand reached out from inside, waving at An Ling with a natural and familiar gesture.

The smile in Shen Linyan's eyes slowly vanished, his lips pressing into a straight line. His pitch-black eyes stared at the distant sedan, a profound emotion swirling in their depths as his long fingertips lightly tapped the steering wheel.

...

"An Ling!! Ha! So you're here, you brat!"

Hearing An Zhou's shout, An Ling covered her ears. "What do you want? This is the way home. If I'm not here, where else would I be?"

An Zhou clamped down on his cigarette and laughed out of sheer frustration. "Unbelievable. I asked you to help me, and you just ran off. Do you have any idea how I suffered through these past few hours?"

"I was just having dinner with someone," An Ling replied casually. "How did your blind date go, anyway?"

She brushed him off while catching a glimpse of Shen Linyan's direction from the corner of her eye. Seeing that his car was still parked there, she hid her hand behind her back and discreetly waved for him to leave.

An Zhou rested his arm on the car window. Noticing her thin clothes, he flicked his cigarette ash. "Did Wen Yuche drop you off? Why are you walking around out here? Get in the car first, I'll tell you about it in a minute."

How could that guy be so clueless? Didn't he know he was supposed to drop her right at the door?

Once she saw Shen Linyan leave, An Ling walked over to the passenger side and got in. "Alright, spill it. How was Miss Qin?"

An Zhou deadpanned two words: "An iceberg."

Who on earth described her as introverted? Was this what people called introverted??

His face was practically cramping from smiling so much, yet that spoiled heiress sitting across from him hadn't cracked a single smile the entire time.

If he weren't such a gentleman, he would have walked out ages ago.

In the end, just to complete his mission, they even went to see a movie. She didn't say a single word the whole time, and he didn't even dare to laugh at the funny parts.

Whatever. Now that this blind date was over, he was finally free.

An Ling caught sight of the bouquet in the backseat. "You didn't give her the flowers?"

"She said she's allergic to pollen."

"Oh." An Ling nodded in realization. "Well, no wonder. You couldn't even get the gift right, how could you expect her to smile at you?"

"..."

A trace of doubt crept into An Zhou's mind as he looked up at the rearview mirror. Was that really why?

He dropped the subject and asked instead, "Anyway, I'm out of the running. But it seems you and that Wen Yuche guy are getting along pretty well? You actually went out for a second dinner with him today. See? I was right to drag you along with me back then."

"..."

An Ling coughed guiltily and stayed quiet.

She looked out the window and asked tentatively, "Brother, let me ask you a question."

"What is it?"

"Why are you so hostile towards Shen Linyan?"

An Zhou slammed on the brakes and stared at her completely deadpan.

"Do you have any idea how many projects that bastard has stolen from us?"

The only reason Shen Linyan was able to firmly secure his position as the chairman of the Shen Group was because of the tens of millions in profits he had brought to the company.

And those profits didn't just come from snatching projects from other companies—even their own family, despite being in-laws, hadn't been spared from his ruthlessness.