Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gosh, now she’s really living in a fancy cage.
“I’ll be heading out for Brother Ting now. My dear sister-in-law, I recommend and beg of you, please stop going against him for the moment!”
And the fanboy left.
Lu Zhaoyang froze on the spot. She was somehow consumed by his words to the point that she only came back to her senses when the maid called her. She then walked upstairs.
Huo Li’s next stop would be the mortuary which was the funeral parlor.
Huo Li sighed in relief as he stared into the scenery quickly fading away from his sight, “All these years—Brother Ting finally let madam rest in peace for good…” He muttered, “The news gets covered up and so is Lu Zhaoyang. So, Brother Ting’s family at the Capital knows nothing about this. There must be a reason behind this…”
But Huo Li knew he should not ask.
Hours later, the sky was cloudy, grim as Yunting’s expression as he stood before the tomb in his formal wear. Her mother was smiling with former dignity in black and white as embedded in a golden frame adorned with scarlet words of her identity. It took Huo Yunting a while to search for a sound portrait for the woman he loved the most. It had been that long since she was admitted to the mental hospital. It was also still unbelievable to Yunting that such a solemn and gorgeous lady was already a pot of ashes buried underground by then.
Qiu Ran, her own world, the one who probably still cared about him the most, his sole bond in this world—gone.
There were soft rumblings among the clouds as if rage was brewing. Then there was a drizzle of rain. Huo Li opened up the umbrella for Brother Ting as the big man stood still with his head lowered in silence for the next hour.
——
Meanwhile, Lu Zhaoyang was watching the rain by the window. Her soulless eyes gazed upon the growing rainfall as they splattered onto the window drumming like Huo Yunting’s call. During a nightfall like that, it was supposed to be calming yet Lu Zhaoyang’s eyes were appearingly bewitched by the rain, staying wide open over the window.
A slumbering spell only fell upon her when the clock struck midnight.
The second morning came yet she was still casting Belle, locked up in the high tower by the beast, without a single contact to the outside, not even an application leave at Ge Yu Corp.
“How was the master?” The maid shook her head.
“Has the master called?” The butler shook his head and scurried away.
Nobody knew about Huo Yunting whenever she asked. The third morning came as she was alarmed by the intruding footsteps in her room. They were familiar, that Zhaoyang immediately tumbled and sat up to see Huo Yunting coming in.
“What—happened to you?” She flipped her blanket away and asked. There was silence between for the next few seconds before she asked again, “How was Madam Qiu?”
“She’s been interred,” mumbled Huo Yunting as he walked over to her side, fondling her tousled hair, her pretty face, “Do you remember what day today is?”
“Was there an occasion?” Lu Zhaoyang pondered for a moment before her eyes went large, “It’s the anniversary between mommy and …”
“Yeah, your mommy and that accursed father are throwing an extravaganza and we are invited,” he smiled as his fingers slid through her face lovingly.
“Did you accept it? And what? An extravaganza? Don’t they know what happened to Madam Qiu? I mean she’s—she’s—umm…” Zhaoyang did not know the appropriate word to use.
“Well, that no longer matters. I accepted the invitation regardless,” he then grabbed her by her waist as he led her outside, “It’s an important occasion. Get yourself properly dressed, don’t embarrass them, okay?”
“…” In the midst of Zhaoyang’s confusion, she was escorted to the side building where—”There’s a makeup team here?!” Her jaws fell upon seeing the highly professional-looking stylists holding their brushes and combs in their black uniforms.
“Please be seated,” invited one of them. Zhaoyang sat down obediently like a pupil, as the makeup artists worked their magic. “Okay, we need some basic skincare before foundation, get me the moisturizer.” Her hair had also conditioner applied with a round of fine massage from the assistant and before she knew it, she had already transformed into Her Highness. She lifted her head and was surprised, not sure because of her transformation or her man in the mirror, who was dressed in full black, gravely solemn.
Yunting was still that suave, charming prince as she remembered the first time they met. But it was also that untamed rebellion in his eyes that attracted her. The wild animal in a suit, the gentle beast, such contradiction…
He has always been that fancy bad boy, Lu Zhaoyang thought.
She remained confused though about how her man still had the interest to join the party.
Something was not right.
She was convinced the more she thought about it.