I shivered with fear and looked up to see Zhao Mengxi casting a displeased glance at me.
Anyone would feel hostile when the man they fancy asks after another woman.
This guy is really pushing me into the fire pit!
I was so pissed off my teeth itched, but I could only hold it in.
To avoid Zhao Mengxi getting the wrong idea about me, I cozied up to Master Zhao, leaning against him with half of my body.
"Miss Zhao lost her mother early, and Master Zhao, being a man of deep feeling, hasn't remarried since, but I've been with Master Zhao for some time now. Though I haven't got an official title, Master Zhao has never skimped on anything for me. According to seniority, you really should call me 'little mom' in private," I finished with a coquettish turn of my head and a sweet look at Master Zhao, "Master Zhao, you agree, don't you?"
The more successful the man, the more he cares about his reputation. Whether Master Zhao has avoided marrying all these years for fear of women harboring undue ambitions, or genuinely out of sentiment for his wife, I was giving him a lofty title.
As for calling myself "little mom", naturally, I wouldn't dare to claim that in public or with outsiders.
What Master Zhao fears most is for the people around him to have ambition, and that goes for women too.
So when I said those words, I deliberately stressed "in private."
Master Zhao narrowed his eyes at me and smiled, I clearly saw a touch of surprise and admiration in his gaze.
"Not old, but full of sly schemes," he teased, flicking my nose, "Though if we really counted by seniority, you could indeed claim that title."
A sigh of relief escaped me, and when I looked back at Zhao Mengxi, she seemed satisfied with my response, her eyes quickly clearing of hostility, turning to introduce me to the man as Master Zhao's girlfriend.
After finishing, Zhao Mengxi and the others went upstairs.
The villa has four floors; Master Zhao rarely stays overnight, so I'm usually the only one living here. With it being too quiet for my liking, I've always slept on the second floor, while the top two levels have three master bedrooms each.
Zhao Mengxi and the man named Cheng Yu were staying on the third floor.
After preparing Master Zhao's bath water, I went upstairs to deliver his pajamas, only, to my surprise, she and Cheng Yu were actually staying in separate rooms—one on the left and one on the right.
That was quite unexpected!
Whatever Master Zhao might say, it's only meant as a warning; nowadays, it's not unusual for young people to have children before marriage.
But none of this concerned me. I took two sets of pajamas to Zhao Mengxi's room and handed them to her.
"Here are two pajamas, both are new and have been washed. As for Mr. Cheng, how about you deliver them yourself?"
"Fine," Zhao Mengxi agreed readily, leaving me relieved.
While Master Zhao was taking a bath, I went downstairs to cook a pot of sobering soup, a task that Aunt Wu normally handles in the house, except for this one which I always make myself.
It was something I learned especially from the head chef of a five-star restaurant when I was with my last sugar daddy. Wealthy men often entertain, and merely being pretty or good in bed won't get you far—you need your own unique touch to stand out among a throng of lovers.
I cooked for an hour, finally adding some sweet osmanthus honey.
Master Zhao usually doesn't talk much after coming back from drinking. He typically waits for the sobering soup and then heads straight to bed. But this time, he suddenly wrapped his arms around me as he leaned back on the headboard.
"Huanhuan, how long have you been with me?"
I was taken aback for a second, "Just under a year, half a month shy."
"It's been that long already," Master Zhao mused.
There were no lights on in the room, and only the scattered starlight from the window allowed me to barely make out his deep-set eyes in the night, but I couldn't see the expression on his face as he spoke.
I didn't know why he suddenly asked this, but inexplicably, my heart started to race with apprehension.
At that moment, he squeezed my hand, "Do you know what I hate most in life?"
I was startled for a moment, then feigned calmness and asked what he hated most.
"I hate betrayal the most," Master Zhao said halfway through, his grip suddenly tightening, causing me to suck in a breath from the pain, and then I heard the rest of his sentence.
"A woman being smart and a bit ambitious is tolerable, but betrayal, I, Zhao Jihui, can't put up with that in my lifetime. You've been with me for a decent while. Ask for anything you want, and I'll try to satisfy you, but never let me find out you're being disloyal to me."
My mind froze on the spot; instinctively wondering if he had just caught on to something, but even if he had, I couldn't admit it.
Denial leaves room for a turnaround, but admission would mean the end of everything.
My eyes filled with tears from the pain as I shook my head insistently, saying I wouldn't.
Hearing me say this, Master Zhao finally released my hand and then turned over in the darkness.
"Before you, I had a goddaughter I doted on far more than you, but she disobeyed, and when I discovered she was having an affair, I had the man chopped up and fed to dogs in front of her, then gifted her to a group of foreign brutes doing hard labor. It wasn't even dawn yet when they... played her to death,"
Master Zhao spoke softly, but his words, one by one, made my heart tremble with fear.
Suppressing the shivers deep within, I agreed that the woman had brought her fate upon herself, but after that, Master Zhao gave no response, and soft snores faintly filled the room.
It took a couple of seconds for reality to catch up, and only when I dimmed the light on my phone did I realize that Master Zhao had already fallen asleep with his eyes closed.
I was not sure whether his words had been the mumbled nonsense of a drunken man or a true test for me, but my heart couldn't stop pounding uncontrollably as his last statement replayed in my mind, leaving me panic-stricken.
I decided to get out of bed and, taking the empty bowl with me, went downstairs to calm myself.
But what I didn't expect was that as soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs, a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of me.
I got startled, instinctively stepping back, forgetting the stairs behind me. My foot missed the step and I plunged forward.
I regained my senses in horror, only to realize I had crashed right into the man's arms.
His satin pajamas weren't completely buttoned up, and from my angle, I could see the firm, barely concealed chest muscles below his collar.
I was stunned, momentarily forgetting to move, until a low and sexy voice echoed above my head—
"Stumbling down stairs and falling straight into my arms, do you, 'little mom', enjoy playing it risky?"