Su Qiao couldn't hold back her disbelieving laughter.
"Wait, let me try and understand this," she said, cocking her head as she regarded Lin Zizhou with open disdain. His proximity made her uncomfortable but she refused to let it show. "You've spent months playing personal chauffeur to my stepsister, made special arrangements to sign her to your family's entertainment company, and even paid Su Yongshen visits with her whilst I was not in the house. And now you're…asking me when I started betraying you?"
Lin Zizhou's face turned uglier and uglier with each example Su Qiao listed but she couldn't see a hint of guilt or remorse in the sharp angles of his features, which were as aggressive as ever.
"You're not even going to deny it then?" Lin Zizhou demanded.
How Lin Zizhou even found out that she'd gone for dinner with his brother, Su Qiao didn't know. Perhaps he had people watching her every move, that was very likely given how much of a controlling bastard he was. The tyrannical CEO was a trope that Su Qiao could appreciate as much as the next person insofar as it was romanticised in a novel. But now that she was a character in said novel and the antagonist to boot, it was rapidly losing its charm.
Not to mention that it was coming from a man, the sight of whom disgusted her.
If Li Zizhou was going to spy on her, then he had to bear any and all consequences that went along with it, such as misunderstanding that she had made him wear a green hat (1) and the resulting impact that might have on, say, his blood pressure. As the saying went, if you don't want to hear bad news, don't eavesdrop.
She blinked her lashes in faux innocence. "Deny what?" she asked. "You don't need any of my excuses, Lin Zizhou, you need professional help."
It felt like playing with fire, to mouth off to a man who looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit. But ever since the acid incident, Manager Yu and Peng Lili had convinced her to wear a necklace with a hidden camera in it, the latest range in safety technology that could do long recordings and high-quality audio. Lin Zizhou didn't know his brutish actions and their conversation were all being captured by the nondescript opal pendant nestled in the crook of her neck.
If Lin Zizhou gave her a reason to use it against him, she wouldn't hesitate to take him to court.
"When did you start cheating on me?" he gritted out. "Was it before the engagement? Did the both of you meet up in secret to make a fool out of me? That time at the lifts…" The grip that he had on her arm was going to leave bruises behind. Su Qiao leaned as far away from him as she could and put her weight on her left foot. If he came any closer or became any more violent, she wasn't going to let him hit her with no retaliation.
She raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at him. "Since you're so big on explanations, why don't you begin with when you started seeing sweet little Bai Meixin behind my back?"
Lin Zizhou let out a heavy sigh like he was struggling to cling to the last vestiges of his patience. "I already told you, I only assisted Ms Bai on your father's request—"
"Please don't call that man my father," she interrupted sweetly, "I have a dinner date later and would hate to lose my appetite." She didn't, of course, but why give up on the chance to irritate him further?
"Listen," he gritted out. "I didn't cheat on you, I view Ms Bai as an employee and nothing else." He sucked in a deep breath and tried his best to gentle his expression. But he evidently wasn't as good an actor as he thought he was because Su Qiao didn't miss the flicker of dislike in his eyes as he tried to stare soulfully into her own. "Qiao, how did we end up like this? I understand that you were jealous but instead of acting up, why couldn't you just have talked to me about it?"
He was using his cajoling voice again, the one he brought out every time Su Qiao had felt a bit too neglected in the past.
She wasn't going to fall for it, of course. But that didn't mean she couldn't have a bit of fun.
Biting her lower lip, her eyes filled up with tears as she reached out a trembling hand to clutch hesitantly at the lapel of his jacket. "But you never listen," she mumbled, retreating into her shell like she was letting go of her false bravado to expose her vulnerable side to her boyfriend again. "She's my stepsister and yet you were paying her so much attention, how could I not feel bitter about that? I'm sorry I misbehaved and caused so much trouble for our families by breaking off the engagement, Laogong, I really regret saying all that to you, but you know how spoilt I am, it was so hard for me to swallow my pride and beg you to take me back after…"
She glanced up sharply to meet his eyes, the mockery in her gaze so strong that it stumped him.
"Is that what Little CEO Lin hoped that I would say?" Her smile was laced with antifreeze. "I'd advise a good night's rest, then, in dreams, anything can happen."
Wet streaks ran down Su Qiao's cheeks but there was no sadness in her expression, just an amusement that made Lin Zizhou's hackles raise.
"You—" Lin Zizhou's face, which had been thunderous earlier, was absolutely livid now. "You were faking it?"
A cruel fake. That was what he'd called her in the past after word got around that she'd pushed Bai Meixin down the stairs after an argument. Su Qiao hadn't been able to defend herself back then. Yes, they'd fought after Bai Meixin had approached her on the stair landing to 'apologise' for any misunderstandings Su Qiao might have had about 'Big Brother Lin' and her. Su Qiao hadn't accepted it, had refused to forgive. But she'd also been weaker back then, too sensitive towards others' feelings and unwilling to cause a huge fuss. As such, she'd tried to end the conversation with a cold dismissal.
But how was she supposed to know that Bai Meixin could conduct a whole Shakespearean monologue on her own without even requiring a script? In that regard, she did have a talent for the industry.
Bai Meixin had gone on and on about how Su Qiao had hurt her feelings, finally working herself up into such a fit that she'd become lightheaded and swooned in the direction of the stairs.
Su Qiao hadn't even been close enough to touch her. And yet, no one had believed her no matter how many times she'd repeated that. Evidently, Bai Meixin's weak protests of, "Please don't blame Big Sister, she didn't mean to…" held so much more weight in the eyes of all of Su Qiao's loved ones than Su Qiao's words did.
"Lin Zizhou," she said now, loudly and clearly. "You're right. That innocent girl was all an act." It wasn't, but whatever. She was never going back there anymore. "But so what? Don't look so betrayed, you know better than anyone that if Bai Meixin's surname was Su Meixin, you wouldn't even be here now."
She recognised the moment he lost his cool. His eyes were bloodshot and his fingers tightened so hard around her arm the pain became unbearable. She reached up and shoved him back with all her strength. He didn't budge by much, of course, but the suddenness of her lashing out gave her the advantage of surprise and she managed to get enough space to bring her knee up as violently as she could.
This was the closest she would ever come to his dick and watching him crumble like a house of cards, she was very satisfied with the results.
"You bitch—"
But Su Qiao could hear footsteps approaching on the corridor. She'd suspected that Lin Zizhou had gone to great lengths to have it cleared so that he could catch her alone and unawares for this conversation. But now that she had a new audience, she wasn't going to let go of the chance to make a scene.
"Lin Zong!" she cried out, her voice the perfect blend of fear and indignation. "What do you think you're doing?!"
She heard the footsteps pause and then quicken.
Lin Zizhou must have picked up on them too as he struggled to prop himself back up. No doubt, it would be too much for his pride to bear if anyone else saw him like this.
"What's going on?" The speaker had a voice that reminded Su Qiao of the first snow of winter, cold but with a beautiful musical clarity that was suited to singing. It was also familiar.
Their heads turned in tandem just in time to see Yun Zhou round the corner, the perpetual frown on his aloof face deepening as he glanced between Su Qiao and Lin Zizhou.
After a long while, he seemed to come to a particular conclusion because his eyes stopped on Su Qiao and he asked, "Do you need me to call security?"
For the second time since Lin Zizhou stopped her, Su Qiao burst into laughter. "No, it's fine," she said. "Thank you but Little Lin Zong will be on his way now, no need for a personal escort, am I right?"