Shen Chen looked at the nasty gazes the women were giving her and clenched her fists under the table.

'How did that idiot figured this out?!' Shen Chen thought. Then she looked at Madam Lu and her face changed.

'They seem almost harmonious, it must be her! Or else how this idiot would ever figure this out?! All my effort to get this big bit*h out of the equation are wasted!'

Shen Chen said in an accusatory tone as tears stream down her face, "Lu Xinyi, why are you saying that? You know I would never do that to you…"

Lei Xinyi said as a tear went down on her left cheek, "Please, Shen Chen I trusted you with my fiancé and this is what you do to me.."

"Enough!" Madam Li shouted successfully shutting them both up "Enough of this nonsense! Lu Xinyi you eloped with a random man so you are the last person who should talk about trust! Chenchen is young and naïve if she made some mistake you should be magnanimous enough to forgive her."

Lei Xinyi eyed Madam Li with hidden disgust in her eyes. The woman was biased beyond words, if she wasn't the mother of that beast, she would have clawed her eyes out.

No wonder Li Yuan is like that, savage and unreasonable. This is where it comes from.

The stupid conversation was giving her a headache. Taking a deep breath she leaned back on her chair.

Lei Xinyi calmly replied, "I didn't elope with anybody. I ran away but I ran away alone….. All I wanted was to run away from a loveless life."

Madam Li threw her hand on the desk and shouted, "Nonsense…"

"My fiancé seems to have too many complaints from me." A deep and raspy male voice resonated through the room.

Everyone, who recognized the voice or not, they efficiently recognized the owner of the voice.

As Li Yuan entered the room with his Emperor like demeanor, the room was shunned to silence.

Every woman looked at the tall handsome man with awe; they regretted not bringing their daughters with them. Maybe the young Master would take a liking to them.

Shen Chen literally had stars gleaming in her eyes, like all the woman she also stood up to greet his presence.

Unlike all the other women Lei Xinyi felt a wave of fear creep up her spine and the hairs on her heck rise by his presence. Today unlike other days he was giving off a dormant dangerous vibe off his aura.

Madam Li looked at him with a mixture of happiness and surprise. She did hear the Housekeeper tell her that he would visit the Li Mansion today but he always said things like that but never showed up.

As Madam Li looked up at him with a wide smile, she stood up to greet him and said, "Ahhh….. Li Yuan. You remembered you had a mother."

Li Yuan gave Madam Li a side hug with a subtle smile, "Mom, I have been planning to come by for many days now."

Then his eyes went down on Lei Xinyi, who was still sitting when everyone was standing to greet him looking at him in shock as if he was a mythological creature out of a myth.

Madam Li looked at the direction of his gaze and clenched her fist and glared at Lei Xinyi in anger. It hardly took her seconds to put two and two together.

So he came here for this tramp….

When did he even come here last time? On Master Li's Birthday and only stayed for twenty minutes before leaving, saying he was 'busy'.

Since he left the Li Mansion when he turned 18, he hardly ever visited without an occasion.

And to add to her rage Lei Xinyi was still sitting and staring as if she was watching TV, before she could say anything Li Yuan stepped forward in Lei Xinyi's direction.

Everybody held their breaths in antic.i.p.ation…

When Lei Xinyi saw Li Yuan nearing, she finally got out of the initial shock and stood up to greet him.

Shen Chen and other women saw how estranged they were and finally relaxed, turns out rumors are just that, rumors…..

But what happened next shocked them….

Li Yuan saw the sharp and wild woman from a while ago looking caution like a scared cat. Like… She was testing the waters.

Li Yuan smirked, standing in front of Lei Xinyi, who was looking up at him with her unique set of doe eyes and biting those luscious lips of her.

To everyone surprise Li Yuan leaned forward and took her lips in a deep kiss, Lei Xinyi stood there frozen on the spot for a while with her eyes wide but she knew better than to push him away and responded immediately.

Li Yuan smirked on her lips and let her lips go when she was almost out of breath.

Holding her by her nape Li Yuan looked in her eyes like looking for something. She was only a breath away from him but the distance between them could be measured in miles.

He knew better than anyone how hard his hold was, but the girl didn't wince or strayed away like it was a war of ego, of who will wither first.

She was the only woman who would ever manage such intense eye contact with him. Her cheeks were flushed. He could tell the kiss had affected her.

A loud sound of clearing throat broke them from the daze they were in. Lei Xinyi saw it was Madam LI and was giving her the most murderous gaze until now.

Taking the chair that was recently brought by the maids Li Yuan sat beside Lei Xinyi. Seeing he was seated all the woman sat down too.

Lei Xinyi sat down too, awkwardly in all kind of gazes.

Li Yuan looked at Lei Xinyi discomfort and smirked bringing his arm to rest on her chair, already the distance between the chairs were less, with this it was now almost negligible.

Li Yuan said in his deep voice, "So my fiancé has been back biting me behind my back..."

Before anybody could say anything Shen Chen spoke in her sweet honey voice, "It wasn't like that. She was just telling us about her experience in Li Cor…"

She tried to play the role of a good friend hiding the mistake of her dear friend in a way it was obvious.

Before she could end her speech Li Yuan cut her off, "Aren't you the Shen's girl?"

Shen Chen eyes sparkled at being recognized and she immediately put on her best smile and said in a shy manner, "Ye..Yes, I am Shen Chen. We met in …"

Li Yuan looked at Lei Xinyi and cut her again and asked Lei Xinyi, "Is she your friend?"

Before Lei Xinyi could open her mouth to say anything Madam Lu spoke for the first time on the table, "Friend?! More like a love rival!" in a sarcastic manner.

Li Yuan frowned his brows and repeated, "Love Rival?" Then he looked at Shen Chen with a scrutinizing gaze.

Looking at Li Yuan eyeing her with his intense dark orbs Shen Chen shyly slid a strand of her hairs behind her ear giving out a bashful smile.

Observing her for a while Li Yuan turned toward Lei Xinyi and picked her chin up with the tips of his finger and said with a grin, "You don't have to be wary of this one."

Shen Chen smile was immediately stripped off her face, as other women looked at her with pursed smirks and mock pity.

His comment clearly meant that she wasn't beautiful enough to be a threat to her so she doesn't need to be wary of her.