Volume One, Chapter 17: Do You Want to See Wan Yan Get Jealous?

After a peaceful night’s sleep, Lu Chaoxi suddenly opened her eyes. The familiar ceiling came into view. She wondered how she had woken up in the Lu family villa, then quickly recalled the memories of last night and suddenly remembered where she was.

Barefoot on the thick, soft carpet, Lu Chaoxi slowly left her room and wandered downstairs in a daze.

At the bottom of the stairs was a large indoor garden, dominated by a cylindrical aquarium nearly as tall as the three-story villa itself.

The layout of the villa seemed designed to incorporate this towering aquarium, with a circular hollowed-out design surrounding it.

The blue coral inside the tank was much larger than Lu Chaoxi herself. She pressed her hands against the glass, mesmerized for a while before reluctantly moving on.

Passing through the softly lit living room, she found Zhi Zheng leisurely mixing drinks at the bar.

Breakfast was already set out on the bar counter. Lu Chaoxi immediately recognized it was prepared for her.

The breakfast was tailored to her tastes, especially the slightly toasted bread slices she had always loved.

“Is your headache still bothering you?” Zhi Zheng asked gently without pausing his movements.

He picked a slice of lime, rubbed it along the rim of a glass, then inverted the glass into a small dish of salt to create a frosted edge.

Lu Chaoxi no longer felt the earlier aversion. She sat down at the bar and began eating breakfast naturally.

“Your medicine worked well. Thank you.”

Zhi Zheng’s gaze always held an inexplicable tenderness and affection.

Yet, that look was ambiguous—unrelated to love, yet intimate and indistinct enough to leave onlookers uncertain.

In a familiar tone, he asked, “Your tastes haven’t changed, right?”

Lu Chaoxi was used to his detailed knowledge of her. She bit into the toast and replied, “Nothing’s changed—neither my tastes nor the person I like.”

Hearing the layered meaning in her words, Zhi Zheng’s eyes curved with a smile. His voice grew more magnetic. “So you still prefer the Margarita cocktail?”

He pushed the freshly made cocktail toward her.

Lu Chaoxi scrutinized him without hiding her gaze. After wiping her mouth, she asked, “Did Luo Ci tell you?”

“No,” Zhi Zheng shook his head lightly. “I don’t know anyone named Luo Ci.”

Lu Chaoxi caught a flaw in his words. “You’ve investigated me so thoroughly; there’s no way you don’t know Luo Ci.”

Unhurried, Zhi Zheng bent down to pick up something and stepped out from behind the bar.

Only then did Lu Chaoxi notice he was holding a pair of women’s slippers.

He knelt and gently slid the slippers onto her feet with a gentleman’s grace that felt neither intrusive nor offensive.

“The first time I saw you, you were four. Three days later, I went abroad. Even if I had heard the name Luo Ci, I wouldn’t remember—just as you don’t remember me.”

With such a reasonable explanation, Lu Chaoxi felt compelled to concede.

Zhi Zheng sat beside her, resting his chin on his hand as he studied her intently.

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Lu Chaoxi leaned back slightly, suspicion flickering across her face. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Unexpectedly, Zhi Zheng said mysteriously, “Chaoxi, you want Wan Yan’s heart, right? I’ll help you.”

“Really?”

Her eyes instantly brightened, then slowly clouded with doubt.

She sized him up and spoke her thoughts aloud. “Although I believe we were close before my amnesia, I can’t trust you now because you harbor a lot of hostility toward Wan Yan.”

Zhi Zheng shrugged casually. “He treats you badly, of course I want to trip him up.”

Lu Chaoxi immediately became alert. “So you want to sabotage my marriage with Wan Yan under the guise of helping me?”

She couldn’t blame herself for thinking this way. When they first met, he spoke only ambiguous words and even claimed she had promised to marry him as a child!

Twenty years of absence, only to reappear shortly after her wedding to Wan Yan.

Suddenly, a fearful thought crossed Lu Chaoxi’s mind. Covering her mouth, she trembled as she whispered, “I wouldn’t...”

An affair? A betrayal?

Had she, after getting engaged to Wan Yan, transferred her affections to Zhi Zheng?

Was that why she allowed him to return before the wedding?

Such a despicable scandal...

“Enough. If you imagine any more, it’s going to get rated R,” Zhi Zheng said with a helpless sigh, pressing his forehead to halt her spiraling thoughts.

No one in their right mind could think like that.

Seeing his resistance, Lu Chaoxi finally put her heart back in its place.

She patted her chest in relief. “Good, it’s good that’s not the case.”

Such a daughter of a financial titan, yet raised without a hint of scheming—no wonder the useless son-in-law could be summoned or dismissed at will.

Zhi Zheng’s expression was subtle but quickly softened again.

To address her doubts, he offered a proposal.

“I’ll help you win Wan Yan’s heart, but you have to do one thing for me.”

As expected, Lu Chaoxi was intrigued. “What is it?”

Zhi Zheng smiled without answering, deliberately leaving her in suspense.

“No rush. I’ll tell you slowly.”

When they were about to leave, Zhi Zheng asked if she wanted to go to Steinway or Lu Corporation.

Without hesitation, Lu Chaoxi said, “Let’s go straight to Lu Corporation! Wan Yan will definitely be at the office this time.”

Mentioning Wan Yan made her anxious to get in the car. She even urged the slow-moving Zhi Zheng to hurry up and get in.

“Do you really know him well?” Zhi Zheng asked after sitting beside her.

Usually so confident about this question, Lu Chaoxi was unusually silent. Having lost the crucial memories from engagement to marriage, she no longer dared to nod easily.

“Wan Yan... he has many secrets. Since I woke up from the hospital, he’s been much colder than before and clearly dislikes me.”

Wan Yan had never liked her before, but he never hated her.

Lu Chaoxi twisted her fingers anxiously, her expression troubled.

Soon, a warm, strong hand covered her head, bringing with it a profound sense of security.

Zhi Zheng asked quietly, “Do you think it’s your fault?”

Lu Chaoxi nodded slowly. Luo Ci had said she had become an irritable, jealous shrew over these past two years.

She didn’t understand why her personality had suddenly turned so extreme, but all the unreasonable quarrels were indeed her doing.

Zhi Zheng stroked her head gently before withdrawing his hand.

Frowning, he spoke slowly, “When I came back to the country, I thought Wan Yan didn’t love you, so I planned to help you get a divorce by any means. But now, it seems only he can truly make you happy.”

Just as he was feeling sentimental, a new idea flashed in his mind. Changing the subject, he asked, “Do you want to see Wan Yan jealous?”

Lu Chaoxi immediately straightened her back, excited. “You have a way?”

Zhi Zheng smiled without a word and told the driver, “Don’t go to Lu Corporation. Turn around.”

Lu Chaoxi’s greatest annoyance with him was his constant love of leaving others guessing.