Not until Zhao Hanchen gripped her jaw with the cleft of his thumb and forefinger, and lowered his voice, did he say, "Say you're sorry."
Her jaw ached, reminding Cheng Weiyue that everything happening before her eyes wasn't just her imagination.
She blinked, the sourness around her eyes pricking at her nose.
Cheng Weiyue really wanted to be stronger, to not appear too weak, but this was her first time in love – she had no idea how to hide her emotions.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, she thought she appeared composed, but to anyone else, it looked as if she was on the verge of tears.
She said, "Zhao Hanchen, what is your relationship with that Song Xue?"
Zhao Hanchen's original anger turned into bewilderment in that moment.
In front of him, Cheng Weiyue was always obedient and gentle. This appearance of hers, even invoked a sense of guilt in him.
He let go of her jaw and said hastily, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Am I spouting nonsense?" Cheng Weiyue smiled bitterly, her gaze steady on him: "Then you tell me what your relationship is. Just say it, and I'll believe you."
A faint sense of guilt welled up in Zhao Hanchen's heart. His brows furrowed as he looked down at Cheng Weiyue's pale lips, his tone involuntarily softened, as he uttered with certainty, "She's my secretary. Last night, there was an emergency at Jingxing, and she asked me to handle it."
Cheng Weiyue was stunned.
And Zhao Hanchen, pressing his fingertip against her reddened eyes, said softly, "If you don't believe me, you can ask Ye Cheng if I have a secretary named Song Xue."
Cheng Weiyue had never thought that Zhao Hanchen would lie to her.
It was as if, at that moment, she had no reason not to believe Zhao Hanchen's words.
She looked at him, her eyes now filled with unease, "Then... Did you handle the situation?"
Zhao Hanchen felt as if someone was pressing on his chest, making even breathing difficult.
In the girl's clear gaze, he said word by word in a hoarse voice, "Of course, I handled it all."
Thinking of Zhao Hanchen's hurried departure the night before, Cheng Weiyue couldn't help but feel that he must have been in a real hurry, the company issues must have been very thorny.
Here she was, arguing and getting jealous when she really wasn't being a competent girlfriend.
She hugged Zhao Hanchen tightly and kissed his cheek, her voice coated with a layer of honey, unbearably sweet, "Achen, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you."
For the first time in his life, Zhao Hanchen knew what it felt like to be guilty.
Under Cheng Weiyue's forthright and clear gaze, he was nearly defeated.
All he could do was to cover his real emotions with a smile, and raised a hand to lightly flick Cheng Weiyue's nose, his stunningly handsome features filled with indulgence.
He said, "So Ningning, you have to trust me, right?"
Cheng Weiyue nodded vigorously.
Before leaving, Zhao Hanchen told Cheng Weiyue he had to go on a business trip out of town.
He stroked Cheng Weiyue's hair, caressing the ends with his fingertips, "I might not be able to return until next month, just in time for the National Holiday. I'll take you out to play, alright?"
Cheng Weiyue smiled contentedly, obediently nodding, "I'll wait for you to come back."
Zhao Hanchen laughed, his tone husky, "Such a good girl."
Outside, the fine misty rain continued, and Zhao Hanchen had his driver take Cheng Weiyue back home.
He sat in the car, pinching the space between his eyebrows, betraying a hint of weariness.
It seemed as if he had made a mistake, even feeling a pang of guilt when facing Cheng Weiyue.
This was actually quite laughable, as he had had many girlfriends before, always with a carefree demeanor, never once feeling remorse, even too lazy to disguise it.
Why, of all things, did he lose his composure over the matter of Cheng Weiyue?
Before he could figure it out, his phone next to him began to vibrate.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Hanchen glanced at it—it was a call from Zhou Jingwei, and he picked it up.
"What's the matter?"
"I can no longer participate in Jingxing Group's risk mitigation for the downtown land planning, I will have my assistant send you the penalty fee later."
Zhou Jingwei's voice was as nonchalant as ever, but each word made the veins in Zhao Hanchen's temples throb a bit faster.
Clenching his teeth, he was burning with rage so much that his smile was somewhat ferocious, "Zhou Jingwei, are you playing games with me? I would like to know the reason, what reason would make you use nearly a hundred million in penalty fees to suddenly choose to withdraw?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and without a word, Zhou Jingwei hung up the phone.
Zhao Hanchen, listening to the busy tone on the phone, violently threw his cell phone aside and, with an ashen face, instructed the driver who had just come back, "Head to Lingsheng Law Firm immediately."
The driver didn't know what had happened, but seeing Zhao Hanchen's expression, he wisely didn't ask any questions and floored the accelerator, driving out immediately.
Mr. Zhao's face really looked terrible, as if he had been cheated out of tens of millions.
Lingsheng Law Firm wasn't far from Tinglan Alley; there was a bridge to cross, followed by a 20-minute stretch of city highway.
The firm had not been open for long, but the staff were all elite lawyers who had followed Zhou Jingwei on Wall Street for three years. Anyone picked at random was a well-known figure in the legal and political circles.
Accustomed to weathering storms, the staff showed no reaction to Zhao Hanchen storming in. One middle-aged man, dressed neatly and of scholarly appearance, kindly informed him, "Lawyer Zhou's office is on the fourth floor."
Zhao Hanchen had been seething with anger all the way there.
As he pushed open the office door, he heard classical music playing inside.
Zhou Jingwei stood in front of the record player, clad in a beige trench coat, selecting a record.
He didn't turn around, but apparently hearing footsteps, he spoke slowly, "Would you like to listen to something?"
"Zhou Jingwei, I'm not in the mood to listen," said Zhao Hanchen as he walked in front of him, his gaze heavy as he watched him: "What are you trying to do? Why on earth would you suddenly not want to continue cooperating? Is it because I left early last night?"
"Last night?" Zhou Jingwei put down the record in his hands, adjusted his glasses, his ring finger lightly tracing his eyebrow, and smiled with a cultured elegance, "I don't mind about last night."
"Then why?" Zhao Hanchen's jawline tensed, his index finger tapping heavily on the table, each word pressing, "You should be clear about how significant this project is; Jingxing has been preparing for it for years, it can't fall apart on my watch!"
Zhou Jingwei simply looked at him with a half-smile, "Does it have anything to do with me?"
"At least," Zhao Hanchen focused intently on Zhou Jingwei's face, "you owe me an explanation."
Zhou Jingwei glanced at his watch, "Your flight is at eleven o'clock this afternoon, it will take you an hour to get to the airport from here and you have only ten minutes left to negotiate with me, are you sure you want to discuss this with me?"
Zhao Hanchen's lips turned white as he pressed them together, wishing he could bore holes into Zhou Jingwei with his glare, "Fine, what will it take for you to change your mind?"