After Shen Yuechuan and Mu Sijue had left, Lu Boyan was left alone in the s.p.a.cious office.

Despite the mountainous pile of doc.u.ments on his desk, waiting for him to go through, he was standing in front of the window, holding a half-finished cigarette between his fingers; flakes of ashes had deposited on the floor all around his feet.

There was a time when he had been a heavy smoker. It was also during that time that he had accidentally discovered Su Yicheng’s attempts to quit smoking. Back then, whenever they saw each other, Su Yicheng always had a pained look on his face and the first thing he did was ask Lu Boyan for a cigarette.

“Where are your cigarettes?” He had asked Su Yicheng.

“Ask that sister of mine. Yeah, that’s right. The same one who had followed you around and called you ‘Brother Boyan’ when you were younger.” Su Yicheng sighed, though there was a happy smile on his lips. “She could spend the whole day nagging me about the harmful effects of cigarettes. She forced me to quit. Even confiscated my cigarette pack and lighter.”

Lu Boyan had tossed his cigarette pack and lighter to Su Yicheng. “Here. All yours.”

Back then, although he had not been the one forced to quit smoking, he somehow found himself resisting the lure of nicotine and enduring the pain that came with it; he quit smoking cold turkey. After that, he never really touched cigarettes anymore even if he did touch one at some point like right now, he would most likely just light it and then let it burn to ashes without taking a single drag from it.

Shen Yuechuan had poked fun at his lack of courage when it came to revealing the whole truth to Su Jianan. Indeed, whenever things involved Su Jianan, he would become somewhat of a coward. He would be super cautious and vigilant in everything he did, and he would watch his front and back before taking any step. It was like he would turn into a different man, one that was unfamiliar even to himself.

He had once decided to bring Su Jianan into his world and then give her the right to choose whether or not she would still want to be with him.

But Su Jianan was so innocent and naive. The moment she knew everything, she would not hesitate in her choice to divorce him to be with that man she liked.

The habit was truly a scary thing; they had only been married for half a year, and yet he was now unable to imagine his life without her if they were to get a divorce.

His rational mind told him that starting from today; he should slowly settle back into his old life, the life without her.

When he was about to get off work, Su Jianan called him. “Lu Boyan, I have to do overtime today. I’m getting off work around 11. What about you?”

“… I’m not going back tonight.” Lu Boyan closed his eyes. “Uncle Qian will pick you up.”

Then, as if she had some kind of premonition that Lu Boyan was going to hang up on her, Su Jianan shouted, “Wait!” A pause ensued. Then she asked him, “Why aren’t you going home?”

Lu Boyan refused to picture what Su Jianan’s face must look like right now. He steeled his heart, sealing it up with a layer of ice. “I’ve got work to do,” he said in a cold and hard voice.

Su Jianan was stunned by the coldness of his voice. “Oh,” she said after a while. “Keep working, then.”

Su Jianan’s mind was miles away during their ongoing chemical tests; she never reacted despite Jiang Shaokai’s several attempts to get her attention.

She had no idea if she was oversensitive about everything, but just now, Lu Boyan seemed so… cold.

That coldness had thrown her into some illusion. It was as if all the sweet gestures, the hugs, the kisses, and the laughter they had shared after their marriage never actually occurred. It was as if those things were all just part of a dream, and the reality was that their married life was exactly like the first day of their wedding in which neither of them truly cared about the other. They were like two strangers who somehow ended up staying together under the same roof, and he knew that she would soon be leaving.

But at noon, he had kissed her so ardently, and he had told her that he had known about the necktie.

“Jianan, what’s on your mind? Time’s up.” Jiang Shaokai shut the instrument. “Is there something troubling you?”

Su Jianan snapped out of her trance and shook her head. Then she refocused her attention on work.

“I shouldn’t think too much about it,” she told herself. “Maybe Lu Boyan is just busy?”

Still, as a woman, Su Jianan remained deeply unsettled due to her niggling sixth’s sense. She finished work at around nine o’clock. After a long moment of hesitation, she decided to call Lu Boyan.

The phone rang for about 40 seconds. Just when Su Jianan thought Lu Boyan would not pick up, his voice came through from the speaker. “What is it?”

“I’m getting off work now,” Su Jianan said. Scratching the surface of her desk, she summoned her courage. “I… I don’t feel like going home just yet. Can I go to your company?”

“…” There was a long silence before Lu Boyan found his voice. “Jianan, you’ll only be a bother if you come here. Listen to me and go home to bed.”

A wave of disappointment hit Su Jianan right in the heart. “… Okay, then.”

“I told Uncle Qian to fetch you at 10. He should be there soon,” Lu Boyan said. “Check the front entrance.”

Su Jianan retrieved her bag and went to the front entrance just in time to see Uncle Qian parking the car. She pressed her lips together and said, “Uncle Qian’s here.”

“Then you should go home and rest early,” Lu Boyan said. “That’s all.”

Lu Boyan hung up before Su Jianan could say anything else.

Su Jianan stared at her phone in a stupor. She was now certain that something was going on with Lu Boyan.

Was it a work thing? Had something gone wrong at work?

“Maybe I can ask him about it tomorrow,” she thought.

“Young Madam.” Uncle Qian opened the door for Su Jianan. “Hop on. I’ll take you home.”

The black sedan cruised along the road. Since it was already late, the number of pedestrians were scarce. The dazzling city lights revealed the emptiness of the streets, causing the feeling of loneliness in Su Jianan’s heart to intensify.

Uncle Qian had noticed Su Jianan’s uncharacteristic silence. Smiling, he said, “Can’t believe I get a chance to drive you home from work today. I sort of just a.s.sumed that the young master had it all covered.”

Su Jianan forced the corners of her lips upwards in a smile. “Something came up today. He’s not coming home.”

“Before you two got married, he wouldn’t even bother with going to the apartment. If he were working late, he would spend the night at the lounge in his office. Then, he’d go straight to work the second day when he woke up,” Uncle Qian said. “But after you two got married, he’s been coming home frequently, and he no longer uses the lounge even if he has to work overtime. I’m guessing he’s really busy this time, that’s why he’s spending the night at the company.”

“I see,” Su Jianan raised her chin. “Maybe I am overthinking this,” she thought. Lu Boyan must be exhausted enough as he was, and yet she had called him to pester him… Ugh. No more next time.

Uncle Qian’s word had temporarily rea.s.sured Su Jianan. She took a shower and went to bed early when she arrived home.

Downstairs, in the living room, Uncle Qian dialed Lu Boyan’s number. “The Young Madam is in bed,” Uncle Qian reported.

“Mm,” Lu Boyan said. “Did you notice anything strange about her behavior?”

“She didn’t seem happy during the car ride.” Uncle Qian chuckled. “I guess she’s no longer used to me being the one to pick her up.” “After that, I told her about how you used to spend your nights in the company, and she seemed to return to normal again. If there’s nothing else, I shall call it a night and rest early.”

Lu Boyan hung up. All of a sudden, he found himself losing interest in the stacks doc.u.ments before his eyes. He stood up and went to make himself a cup of coffee. His hands stilled just as he was about to reach for some ice. He withdrew his hand.

Su Jianan had forbidden him from drinking anything with ice in it, claiming that it would worsen his stomach problems. She had even given out that directive to his secretary. He had never taken a sip of iced-coffee since then. Every time she prepared their dinner, the chef would always tell him, “The madam has prepared another stomach-nouris.h.i.+ng soup tonight.”

Even though Su Jianan had never said it to his face, he could vaguely feel that she cared about him. He could feel it ever since he saw her cry when he was hospitalized due to his stomach problems.

Then again, the way she cared for him was probably no different than the way she cared for Su Yicheng.

He finished his coffee and then went back to work. He wrapped up work around 2:00 am and, just like he had done many times in the past, headed to the lounge to get some sleep. The problem was that he suddenly felt unaccustomed to it.

It was as if the villa in the suburbs suddenly felt more like a complete home ever since he married Su Jianan. Also, the concept of “sleeping at home” had now become a natural part of his life, just like how “eating three meals a day” was.

All that was because back at home, there was Su Jianan, his wife. Su Jianan’s presence had turned his home into a place where respite could be found after a long day of work, a place where he could see her smiling face the first thing he woke up.

In contrast, before he married Su Jianan, he had often settled for the lounge to save time. He did not feel anything lacking with the lounge either.

In other words, all his habits had crumbled because of Su Jianan.

In the end, he managed to fall asleep, though he woke up very early the next morning. When he checked the time, it was still 6:00 am.

If he went home, he could probably have breakfast with Su Jianan.

His rational mind told him that since he had already kicked his plans into motion, he should not go back. Still, he found himself grabbing his car keys and leaving the office.

It seemed like his habits were not the only things that had crumbled because of Su Jianan; his rationality was pretty close to crumbling too.

Villa.

The alarm clock had already gone off twice. When it went off again, Su Jianan finally crawled out of bed while sporting a decidedly messy bed head. After was.h.i.+ng up and going through her morning routine, she rushed out of the room. Then she remembered that Lu Boyan never came home last night.

Which meant that she would be having breakfast all alone.

Sighing, she lowered her head listlessly and slowly descended the stairs. Halfway down the staircase, she felt something amiss.

Raising her head, she saw Lu Boyan standing at the bottom of the staircase, glancing up at her.

“You’re back!” It was like she was a tiny balloon that was once again inflated and filled with air. She flew down the stairs and stood before Lu Boyan in surprise. “Didn’t you say you won’t be back today?”

“I said I wouldn’t be back last night.”

The truth was that Lu Boyan himself had no clue about the reason for his return. Well, it allowed him to enjoy breakfast with her. This was similar to the time when he was struggling with the relapse of his stomach problems, where he would come home early to see her.

Dissatisfied with his actions, he looked for an excuse to leave. “I’m going upstairs to get changed.”

“But you’ve already changed, haven’t you?” Su Jianan looked at him suspiciously. “You aren’t wearing the same clothes as yesterday.”

A crease formed between Lu Boyan’s brows. “I don’t like these clothes.”

After that, he walked up to the stairs without so much as a backward glance. Su Jianan pouted. “So picky.”

Still, he came home, and for that, she was very happy.

The kitchen had long since served up breakfast. Seeing that Lu Boyan had returned, Aunt Liu served up another portion and laid out another set of cutleries. Around the same time, Lu Boyan was walking down the stairs.

Su Jianan thought he would have at least changed into a nice looking suit or something. However… he was still wearing the same clothes like the ones he had worn when he just got home.

Perhaps he had noticed the confusion in her eyes, so when Lu Boyan sat down, he calmly told her, “I suddenly found that I like the clothes when I was in the bedroom.”

“Fickle-minded,” Su Jianan grumbled, poking at the center of the sunny side up egg and dipping her bread into the yolk. “Unstable.”

Lu Boyan narrowed his eyes. “Who are you talking about?”

Su Jianan cleared her throat and put on a fake smile. “I was talking about the egg.”

After breakfast, Lu Boyan suddenly arranged for Uncle Qian to drive Su Jianan to work while having Shen Yuechuan to pick him up.

Su Jianan found herself unable to grasp what was going on. “Lu Boyan, you… aren’t you heading to the company?” If he were, then they would be heading in the same direction. What was the point in asking Shen Yuechuan to come to pick him up?

Shen Yuechuan knew what was going through Su Jianan’s mind, so he quickly came up with an excuse for Lu Boyan. “Yep. We aren’t heading to the company. We need to be elsewhere this morning. And it just so happen to be in the opposite direction as the police station.”

“Oh,” Su Jianan said, noticing the cold look on Lu Boyan’s face. She walked over and stopped in front of Lu Boyan. It was obvious that Su Jianan had things she wanted to say to Lu Boyan in private, so Shen Yuechuan took the cue and got inside the car.

“Let me explain about yesterday,” Su Jianan got out after pepping herself up.

“What is it?”

“When I called last night, you were busy, weren’t you?” This was the first time Su Jianan had to explain this kind of stuff to someone, so she could not help the slight blush of embarra.s.sment which had colored her cheeks right then. “It wasn’t that I was trying to nag you to come home or anything. I was just… not used to having Uncle Qian fetch me from work suddenly. If you have to work overtime in the future, I won’t disturb you again.”

“Very good,” Lu Boyan said.

“What?” Su Jianan raised her head and stared at Lu Boyan with a dumbfounded expression. “You… What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re more self-aware than I thought,” Lu Boyan said. The way his eyes were gazing at her right now was bordering on aloofness. “Is there anything else? If there isn’t, then I’ll leave first.”

Su Jianan had yet to recover from her shock even after Shen Yuechuan had driven off.

In the past, she enjoyed visiting Lu Boyan’s office whenever she got off work early. So all this while, her presence had been a bother to him?

Then he must have a pretty darn good temper since he had even played with her hair and asked her to hang out with his secretary back then. She had thought that he was happy with her presence.

“Fine! Then I won’t ever visit him again!” She thought. She would not ever set foot in Lu Boyan’s company again, even if she got off work at noon!