Duan Yiheng had merely been joking with Lin Xi, but he hadn't expected to startle her into silence for such a long time. He knocked on the door again: "Lin Xi?"
Still receiving no response, Duan Yiheng pushed the door open; stepping inside, he found the bedroom empty. Her phone lay on the bedside table, suggesting she had gone to take a shower. Duan Yiheng waited for a while, and soon Lin Xi emerged from the bathroom, her long hair wrapped in a towel and clad in a nightgown.
Her soft features were flushed from the steam—a rosy glow against her fair skin. "Did you make the call?" Lin Xi walked up to him. "Did you go off to investigate Lin Xiaoying?" Duan Yiheng drew her close and guided her back toward the bathroom: "I'll dry your hair for you."
Lin Xi was gently seated on a tall, cushioned stool inside the bathroom. She tilted her head back and asked, "You still haven't answered my question: did you go investigate Lin Xiaoying?" Duan Yiheng began to unwrap the towel from her hair just as his phone vibrated in the pocket of his dress trousers. "Hand me your phone."
Duan Yiheng shifted his body slightly. "I had the butler at 'North District No. 1' send over a short clip of the surveillance footage; take a look at it first." Lin Xi reached into his trouser pocket and retrieved the phone.
Duan Yiheng recited the passcode, and Lin Xi tapped to open the video file. It showed footage from the billiard room on the day of the shoot. Lin Xi watched it through three times before she finally spotted the discrepancy.
Lin Xiaoying's shoes had very sharp, pointed toes—the kind that could easily snag or lift a loose wire. In contrast, the other girl who appeared in the same frame instinctively lowered her head and stepped around the wire as she passed it. Lin Xi held up the phone, replaying the video for Duan Yiheng, and asked, "Do you think she did it on purpose?"
Duan Yiheng could only reply, "I wouldn't rule out that possibility." A woman's intuition in matters of the heart is often remarkably accurate; since Lin Xi had voiced such a suspicion, it wouldn't take him much effort to look into it while he was at it. "She hasn't actually fallen for you, has she?"
Lin Xi recalled the three times she had interacted with Lin Xiaoying. "Her behavior and mannerisms didn't really suggest that." Duan Yiheng turned off the hairdryer and said, "The 'honey trap' tactic has always existed; it's just a matter of how sophisticatedly it's executed. Lin Xiaoying's approach isn't exactly amateurish—an average guy might very well take the bait."
Lin Xi suddenly let out a chuckle. "Are you in Class 2?" Duan Yiheng ignored her lame joke, flicked her forehead, and asked, "Business is concluded; shall we talk about personal matters now?"
"Aren't you going home?" Lin Xi asked. Duan Yiheng braced his hands against the vanity counter, lowering his head to meet her eyes.
"You're trying to kick me out right after I finished drying your hair?" Lin Xi assumed he was leaning in for a goodbye kiss, so she grabbed his collar and kissed him first. Duan Yiheng was taken aback for a split second before quickly taking the lead.
Compared to Duan Yiheng, Lin Xi was rather inhibited when it came to kissing; every time, it was Duan Yiheng who had to gently pry her teeth apart. At first, Duan Yiheng had been slightly annoyed by her reluctance to open her mouth, but eventually, he began to find a certain pleasure in it.
Pressing his lips against Lin Xi's, he would slowly grind and suck, until she could no longer resist and would part her lips in surrender. That was the perfect moment to go in for the attack. It was no different this time; Lin Xi had craned her neck back until it ached, yet Duan Yiheng continued to tease her relentlessly, never tiring of the game.
He would grant her a brief gulp of fresh air, only to devour it completely moments later. Growing annoyed, Lin Xi frowned and gave him a sharp bite. Duan Yiheng flinched in pain and pulled away, yet he didn't seem the least bit upset. "Why'd you bite me?" Lin Xi turned her head away. "You know exactly why."
The air around them was filled with Lin Xi's scent. Duan Yiheng lifted her onto the vanity counter and planted a soft kiss on the side of her neck. Lin Xi pursed her lips but made no move to push him away. Duan Yiheng pressed his lips against hers once more. "Help me... take off my clothes."
Lin Xi's fingers, which had been gripping the marble countertop, tightened their hold; for a long moment, she didn't lift a hand.
Duan Yiheng untied his necktie himself, freeing his neck from its constriction, then gently cupped her slender neck with his palm... Lin Xi—who had originally intended to get an early night's sleep—once again found herself overwhelmed by Duan Yiheng's sheer intensity. She curled herself into a tight ball, drifting into a drowsy stupor. The freshly changed sheets were a gentle shade of light blue. Lin Xi cracked open one eye and asked in a muffled voice, "Why haven't you left yet?" Duan Yiheng replied, "...I wonder who it was that cried the last time she woke up and found I wasn't there?" Lin Xi gave a soft little huff:
"Just go. You can't spend the night here just yet; we need to keep a low profile." "Do you think I care what *they* think?" Duan Yiheng sat on the edge of the bed and planted a kiss on her brow. "It's only because *you* won't let me stay here." Lin Xi wrapped her arms around his neck and said in a gentle, tender voice:
"Success lies in the details." Duan Yiheng surrendered; he kissed her wrist and said, "Alright. I can go into the office a little later tomorrow morning. I'm off now." Lin Xi murmured her acknowledgment, and not long after Duan Yiheng had left, she drifted off to sleep.
The next day, she went to the office at her usual scheduled time. Fortunately, it was Friday—not only could she leave work early, but she also had the weekend off. Lin Xi had been keeping a close watch on Tan Qi's movements these past couple of days; Duan Yiheng had predicted that within three days, Tan Qi's assistant would place a call to the secretarial office.
But three days came and went, and by the time get off work ended on Monday afternoon, she still hadn't received a single call. Lin Xi was heading to the villa after work to have dinner with the old patriarch when Duan Yiheng called to say he wouldn't be able to make it back in time and asked her to pass his apologies on to Grandpa.
Lin Xi drove herself back to the villa. This time, she saw neither Duan Zheng nor Chen Baiwei; the only person she encountered was Duan Mingxuan. Lin Xi gave him a brief nod. Just as she was about to walk past him, Duan Mingxuan suddenly grabbed her by the wrist. Lin Xi instinctively yanked her arm free, her gaze instantly turning wary.
Duan Mingxuan's usual arrogance crumbled completely in Lin Xi's presence: "Are you really unwilling to say even a single word to me now?" Lin Xi replied, "I don't know what else there is for me to say to you." Duan Mingxuan parted his lips and slowly exhaled, attempting to ease the suffocating tightness in his chest.
"I had no idea that Zhang Mo was going to drug you. You were indirectly harmed because of me. I'm sorry. Perhaps you're right—in many ways, I really do fall short compared to Duan Yiheng."
Lin Xi frowned slightly; this was the very first time Duan Mingxuan had ever calmly and openly admitted that he was inferior to Duan Yiheng. She looked up at him, but Duan Mingxuan had already averted his gaze, concealing the startling intensity that had flashed within his eyes. Watching Lin Xi's retreating figure—a figure that showed not a hint of lingering hesitation—Duan Mingxuan's expression remained inscrutable.
After standing there for a long while, he took out his phone and placed a call to Chen Liangyi. Lin Xi had dined with the Old Master, and after the meal, she stayed to keep him company and chat. The Old Master eventually asked, "Why didn't Yiheng come back with you?" Lin Xi replied, "It seems something came up at the company; I mentioned it to you before dinner."
"Oh?" The Old Master looked at Lin Xi. "Is that what he told you?" Lin Xi felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of nervousness. "He said he wouldn't be able to make it back in time for dinner and asked me to let you know." The Old Master smiled faintly. "Chances are, he went to see his maternal grandmother." "His grandmother?"
Lin Xi was taken aback, unable to fathom how the Old Master could possibly know that. The Old Master observed Lin Xi's expression; seeing that she truly appeared unaware, his demeanor softened slightly. He said, "The old lady came to visit me, and we ended up having a row—she certainly hasn't lost any of her vigor." Lin Xi asked, "…What did you two argue about?"
The Old Master cast a sidelong glance at her. "What do you think?" Lin Xi's breath caught in her throat; the fact that her grandmother had come over surely meant that Duan Yiheng had summoned her. Lin Xi simply shook her head, choosing to play dumb.
"Your eldest brother didn't get back until one o'clock in the morning last night. I asked him about it, and he claimed he was working overtime—is that really the case?"