Even when Lan Jinyao had arrived home, she still looked as cheerful as before, and she would subconsciously hum a song from time to time. The dark cloud that had been hovering over her head for many days seemed to have disappeared and was instantly replaced with a ray of brilliant suns.h.i.+ne.

While on the contrary, Jiang Cheng's expression looked somewhat gloomy. He sat down on the sofa and coldly asked, "You sure look happy. Is it because I took you out? Or, is it because you saw a certain person who you've longed to see for a long time?"

Lan Jinyao played down her excitement and playfully answered with a question, "Hmm, what do you think? Am I happy because of the former or the latter?"

"I believe it's the former!" Jiang Cheng finally said after a long moment of silence, a smile resurfacing on his face.

Lan Jinyao inwardly sneered and thought: You must be kidding! You're merely deceiving yourself.

Jiang Cheng then turned on the TV and started watching the news. Lan Jinyao glanced at the TV for a moment, seemingly disinterested, before she turned around and walked towards her bedroom. The moment she tried to open the door, she realised that her door had been locked. She turned the doork.n.o.b several times, but all to no avail.

The door must've been locked by someone when she went out!

Lan Jinyao frowned, and then returned to the living room. She stood in front of Jiang Cheng and stared at him with a condescending look as she asked, "Were you the one who locked the door of my bedroom?"

If it couldn't be opened from the outside, then there were only two possibilities. One option was that there was someone in her room, and the door was locked from the inside. The other one was that someone had locked the door with a key from the outside. She didn't believe that it was the first possibility.

Jiang Cheng looked up at her and answered, "Yes, I was the one who locked it."

"Then, where am I supposed to stay tonight?" Lan Jinyao asked angrily before a thought suddenly flashed in her mind. Her eyes instantly lit up, and she asked, "Could it be that you…you've decided to set me free?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she thought that that likelihood was out of the question. Jiang Cheng had threatened her to stay with him for so long already, so how could he possibly let her go so easily?

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked again.

Jiang Cheng's lips slightly curled up as he replied, "You're staying in my room, of course. Meimei, don't forget; there's always a limit to someone's patience, and I don't want to continue waiting for you for an indefinite time."

Lan Jinyao's eyes instantly widened and she exclaimed, "What did you say? You want me to stay with you?!"

At this moment, Lan Jinyao felt fear clutching at her heart. If Jiang Cheng wanted to use force, she was no match for him at all.

"Don't look at me like that. In fact, did it never cross your mind that I'd make such a request one day? Meimei, I've been feeling restless lately. I feel that I'm about to lose you, and this feeling is growing stronger by the minute. I really don't want to lose you as you're my only warmth in this world."

Then, suddenly, Lan Jinyao exclaimed excitedly, "You're right. I've actually never considered this issue. I've never belonged to you, so I've never contemplated you losing me or vice versa."

Jiang Cheng's expression instantly darkened after hearing all that.

Seeing that he was on the verge of exploding, Lan Jinyao hurriedly said, "Jiang Cheng, consider it as doing me a favour. If you really want to spend your whole life with me, then you have to give me time to forget the wounds of my past. You might not know this, but every time I see you, I'm reminded of my child, and my heart hurts. Do you know how sad I am? Sniff…"

Her shoulders shook as she sobbed; she looked extremely aggrieved.

However, Jiang Cheng didn't fall for her act this time.

"I know you're upset, but what can I do? What's done is done, and I have never regretted my decision. You asked me to give you time, but I know that even if I gave you a lifetime, you would never fall in love with me. So, why waste any more time? I'm afraid that if I delay any longer, Fu Bainian will come and take you away from me."

Jiang Cheng stood up and grabbed her arm before picking her up horizontally.

"Tonight, you'll sleep in my room!"

This time, Lan Jinyao shed genuine tears, and her tears stained Jiang Cheng's s.h.i.+rt on their way back to his room. Seeing her like this, Jiang Cheng tightly furrowed his eyebrows and gently said, "Don't cry anymore, I won't touch you."

Lan Jinyao immediately stopped crying and stared at him with teary eyes. "Really?"

Jiang Cheng nodded with a solemn expression.

Lan Jinyao immediately said, "Then, quickly put me down, and I'll go back to my room and sleep!"

However, Jiang Cheng refused to let go, and said, "We'll sleep together tonight."

A minute later, Lan Jinyao was dumped in Jiang Cheng's bedroom, which was situated next to hers. Lan Jinyao then saw that there was a ma.s.sive monitor in Jiang Cheng's room. On the monitor, there were split screens showing live feeds from several cameras aimed at every nook and cranny of the manor.

After noticing this, Lan Jinyao glared at the gla.s.s door of the bathroom and yelled, "Jiang Cheng, are you crazy? I can't believe that you'd put the surveillance monitor in your bedroom."

The last time she'd entered this room, she hadn't seen this surveillance monitor at all. Jiang Cheng must've installed it afterwards. So, Jiang Cheng was probably aware of the fact that she'd wanted to make a move that night.

Yet, the next day, he'd pretended as if nothing had happened. How ridiculous…when it came to putting on an act, she would never to able to beat this man.

The bathroom door was hazy with steam as Jiang Cheng was taking a shower. When he heard her yelling at him, he turned off the water and smilingly said, "Don't be so anxious, I'll be right out."

Lan Jinyao sat down in a chair and stared at the bed with a frown. She'd furrowed her brows so tightly that her expression matched that of a granny's.

She definitely didn't want to sleep with that man tonight. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back, and would end up strangling this man to death in the middle of the night.

The sky gradually darkened, and Lan Jinyao couldn't sit still any longer. She took advantage of the fact that Jiang Cheng was in the shower to quietly walk back to her bedroom, and attempt to unlock the door again. However, the lock didn't budge, no matter how she tried twisting the doork.n.o.b. She'd exerted all her strength, but it was futile.

And, at this time, a dark figure suddenly appeared on top of the windowsill. Lan Jinyao's eyes widened upon seeing that it was Fu Bainian, and she hurriedly ran towards him.

"You came to take me away?" she joyously asked.

Fu Bainian extended his hand to her, and said, "That's right, I'm here to take you home. Jinyao, quickly take my hand."

Lan Jinyao then obediently placed her hand on top of Fu Bainian's. However, she'd just stepped on the windowsill when Jiang Cheng came out of the bathroom.

Jiang Cheng was wearing a white bathrobe while his hair was dripping wet.

"Meimei-"

Jiang Cheng called out to her.

But, his expression instantly darkened when he looked up and saw the scene in front of him.