Chapter 72 What Else Do You Want?

Even Lu Jinyuan, who is usually meticulous and vigilant, has his moments of oversight.

He only realized his ring was missing before leaving the hotel. He searched the room but couldn't find it. After a moment's thought, he remembered taking it off to wash it in the bathroom the night before, which was probably when he lost it. He immediately contacted the club's staff.

Of course, it was fruitless.

He was in a hurry to board the plane, so he instructed his men to conduct a thorough investigation.

That's why the ring ended up in Jiang Qingying's hands. As for why, now is not the time to dwell on that question.

"Sir, the meal is ready."

Aunt Mei came over to call him for dinner.

Lu Jinyuan had no appetite at all. He first put the wedding ring on his ring finger, then walked upstairs to the bedroom. When he reached the closed door, he stood there with his head down for half an hour.

I'm mentally drafting a plan.

Even someone as experienced as Xiao, who has witnessed countless grand occasions, still has moments when she feels helpless.

This is much bigger than signing a contract worth hundreds of millions.

Lu Jinyuan gripped the doorknob in his palm and gently turned it down, only to find the door locked from the inside. His heart sank.

He knocked on the door a few times and called inside, "Qingying, open the door first. I need a chance to explain."

As expected, there was complete silence.

Lu Jinyuan took a deep breath, his mood extremely bad, and tried hard to control his emotions. "Last night, one of the women the partner called was malicious. She splashed red wine on me. When I was cleaning up in the bathroom, I took off my ring and put it on the sink. Later, I carelessly forgot to take it with me. As soon as I found it this morning, I immediately sent people to look for it. They couldn't find it in the club. I was in a hurry to board my flight, so I could only ask people to investigate. I came back as soon as I got off the plane, and that's when I saw my ring again, but I still don't know why it's in your hands."

"I can explain it to you again after I've investigated the matter thoroughly."

After speaking, she waited for half a minute and heard footsteps inside. After a while, Jiang Qingying's voice came through the door.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier? Why did you have to answer each question one by one?"

She was referring to the fact that when he entered the room, he only mentioned why there were female companions at the dinner party.

“I thought it was a small matter. Finding a ring is an easy thing for me, so I didn’t say anything.”

"Heh, a small matter." Jiang Qingying sneered, and said sarcastically, "That's right, it's just a ring. President Lu can buy a new one with some money. So if the marriage certificate is lost one day, will he just find someone else to marry?"

“That’s not what I meant.” Lu Jinyuan was exhausted and didn’t know how a single sentence had turned into this. “What I meant was that a ring doesn’t represent everything, and losing the ring doesn’t mean I don’t care about the marriage. I didn’t want you to overthink it. Of course, I will still apologize for my carelessness.”

He paused for two seconds, then said in an extremely polite manner, "I'm sorry, I lost the ring. I promise it won't happen again."

After a long silence, the air seemed to freeze, and a complex mix of emotions surged beneath the surface.

"Have you apologized?" Jiang Qingying asked.

Lu Jinyuan hummed in agreement, not daring to say another word, afraid that he might make a mistake if he said too much.

Jiang Qingying: "Then you can leave."

A very cold statement.

There was no talk of forgiveness, not even a hint of leniency.

Lu Jinyuan sighed helplessly, carefully choosing his words: "I don't know what else to say to make you forgive me."

His intention was to get Jiang Qingying to tell him what to do. But he had no experience and didn't understand the intricacies of marital arguments.

Actually, this is similar to the phrase "What else do you want?"

Jiang Qingying stood in front of the door, swallowing the bitterness in her throat, and said weakly, "Please put yourself in my shoes. How would you feel if a man came to you with my personal belongings?"

How do you feel?

Lu Jinyuan thought he would probably tear that man to pieces.

He stood still, and with his excellent observation skills, he noticed the key words in her words. He asked somewhat anxiously, "Did Shen Shuyun or that woman named Zhang something give you the ring?"

Who do you hope it is?

Jiang Qingying threw the question back at him, her sense of rejection was very strong.

Lu Jinyuan frowned, closed his eyes helplessly, and ran his hands through the back of his head. He regretted asking the question; no matter how he answered, it would be wrong.

One is Shen Shuyun, who once held the title of "fiancée," and the other is a woman of the night.

Silence fell again, this time as if I had fallen into an endless abyss, not knowing how to save myself, and having no chance to struggle.

Lu Jinyuan composed himself, trying not to let the pressure from his bad mood show, and comforted her, "You should rest first, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

Jiang Qingying remained silent.

Lu Jinyuan said in a hoarse, pleading tone, "Unlock it. It's not safe like this. I promise I won't come in."

About ten seconds later, the unlocking sound came from inside.

He added again, "If you need anything, just let me know. I'll be sleeping next door tonight."

Jiang Qingying responded with a soft "hmm," followed by the sound of footsteps inside the bedroom. Afterward, he stood in the hallway outside the bedroom for a while, only leaving when he saw the light from the crack under the door dimming.

-

Midnight.

A floor lamp was lit on the guest bedroom balcony. On the retro European-style round table, there was a bottle of red wine and a wine glass. The wine glass was constantly being filled, the wine was being drunk, and then it was being filled again. The same action was repeated several times, like an assembly line.

Lu Jinyuan sat in the chair, leaning back with his long legs spread wide open. His eyes stared aimlessly at one spot, gradually losing focus. The wind from the balcony made his hair messy, but he didn't care to fix it. He didn't even care about the open black bathrobe, letting the cold night wind penetrate his clothes and envelop his body without any barrier.

He seemed to want to stay clear-headed in this cold way, to drive away the turmoil in his mind.

His mind was filled with Jiang Qingying's words, "How would you feel if you were in her shoes?" He tried to put himself in her shoes, but as a man, he couldn't truly understand a woman's feelings.

All he knew was that if he were in that situation, he would be angry, furious, and go crazy.

He has an extremely strong possessive desire, so strong that he would want to possess even a single strand of Jiang Qingying's hair. Therefore, he would probably use every means to torture that person.

He wouldn't hold a grudge against Jiang Qingying.

But Jiang Qingying understood why he was being blamed for everything, and he felt that she wasn't even willing to vent her anger on him, not even giving him a chance to address the problem properly.

At the same time, in another room separated by a wall, Jiang Qingying lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, expressionless, her eyes lifeless.

My feelings were so complicated that I couldn't quite put my finger on what emotion it was; it took me a long time to figure it out.

It means anger.

But more than anything, I felt sad.

A sour feeling welled up in my chest, something I couldn't swallow or spit out.

What she needs most right now is peace and quiet.

Exhausted and worried about the baby in her womb, she sighed heavily, closed her eyes, turned over, and forced herself to sleep.