Deadbolt
Li Yue, who was watching with great interest from a short distance away, turned to Cen Le and asked, "What do you think? Aren't they a good match?"
Cen Le took a sip of champagne and smiled as she chimed in, "President Li, you also ship couples? Isn't that the girl next to President Wen who just came up in the elevator? Who's she?"
"Our CEO Wen's childhood sweetheart—it's been so many years since we last saw each other, of course they'd stick together after such a long separation!"
“Oh—” Cen Le nodded, “No wonder I never see any girlfriends or female companions around when I meet President Wen. It turns out he has a white moonlight.”
Li Yue clicked his tongue: "This moonlight isn't white. Her mother was the subject of headlines back then, she was skinned alive. Want to know why?"
"Why?" Cen Le blinked and leaned closer curiously. "I love listening to gossip!"
Li Yue had watched her live streams a few times, but he never expected her to speak so sweetly offline, making him feel all tingly inside.
He leaned close to her ear, his hot breath sending shivers down Cen Le's spine: "A power-for-sex deal, you're having an affair with someone higher up."
Seeing that Cen Le was motionless, with only her eyelashes fluttering, Li Yue raised his hand and gently touched her earlobe: "So shy?"
"Shy my ass," Cen Le cursed him in his heart.
What a family of heartless, rotten bastards! This illegitimate son is filthy in both his mouth and hands. Cen Le wished she could just throw him into the river to feed the fish.
She was so angry that she was breathing rapidly and her face turned red, but Li Yue thought it was just fear and nervousness.
He reached out and placed his arm on the railing behind her, leaning half his body towards her side, his heart fluttering as he looked at her fair and soft neck.
Because there were fewer people where Cen Le was standing, Tao Chu noticed that she and Li Yue were together, standing very close together, which was not a normal social distance.
Worried that Cen Le might be in danger, she said to Wen Yunsheng, "Go and change your clothes quickly, it's cold."
Seeing that she not only didn't pull her hand away but also cared about him so much, Wen Yunsheng couldn't help but kiss her fingers, then took her hand and got up to leave.
After they left, Li Yue, thinking himself a gentleman, took Cen Le's hand, kissed the back of her hand, left her with the words "Wait for me tonight," and then quickly followed Wen Yunsheng and Tao Chu.
Cen Le immediately messaged Tao Chu, telling her about Li Yue's secret filming and stalking, then took out alcohol wipes from her bag and wiped the back of her hands over and over again.
Xu Lingling, who had secretly followed Tao Chu to the top floor, was stopped at the elevator entrance. After being entangled for more than ten minutes, the bodyguard still did not let her in. However, she happened to run into Tao Chu and Wen Yunsheng, who were about to leave.
Previously, when Tao Guohua wanted to curry favor with Wen Tao, Xu Lingling had met Wen Yunsheng a few times at dinner parties.
She was only fifteen or sixteen years old at the time, the age when a girl's heart begins to flutter.
Because she had heard Tao Guohua mention that Wen Yunsheng and Tao Chu were childhood sweethearts, she thought she was younger and cuter than Tao Chu and had considered replacing him.
But Tao Guohua failed to live up to expectations and didn't latch onto Wen Tao's coattails, so Xu Lingling didn't have many chances to see Wen Yunsheng again.
When she booked the boat ticket, she wondered if she would run into Wen Yunsheng—and now she did, but he was with Tao Chu.
Xu Lingling stared at their tightly clasped hands. Seeing him approaching, she subconsciously adjusted her expression, forcing a sweet smile to greet him: "President Wen—"
Wen Yunsheng didn't even look at Xu Lingling beside him, gave a vague reply that wasn't considered impolite, and led Tao Chu directly into the elevator.
Stepping into the elevator, Wen Yunsheng swiped his card.
Xu Lingling watched as the elevator stopped moving on the 6th floor. Undeterred, she tried to take another elevator to follow, but found that the 6th floor had a gold "Premium Suite" sign, and she couldn't press the floor button without swiping her card.
She returned to the banquet hall, seething with anger, and complained to Tao Guohua.
Xu Jing told Tao Guohua to keep a close eye on Tao Chu, but Tao Guohua didn't take it to heart at all, only happy that his daughter was getting close to Wen Yunsheng.
Xu Jing chuckled: "No wonder she dressed up so specially today. It turns out she was trying to climb the social ladder. Who goes straight to a man's room the moment they meet? Like father, like son."
Xu Lingling couldn't help but add fuel to the fire: "Dad, there were so many people on the top floor just now. They all saw Tao Chu and Wen Yunsheng flirting and leaving together. It'll definitely be all over the ship tonight, and we'll be too ashamed to even hold our heads up!"
Hearing her say that, Tao Guohua began to worry that if this got back to Sui Liyong, he might think that Tao Chu was actually in cahoots with the Wen family, and that he might not trust her either—that would be losing both his wife and his army!
Tao Guohua hurriedly left the banquet hall and called Sui Liyong again to report on the progress, deliberately emphasizing that he had arranged for his daughter to get information out of Wen Yunsheng.
Sui Liyong said that he was confused and did not understand his previous instructions at all—the most important thing now is to ensure Tao Chu's safety.
Whether she knows nothing or not, she should be treated as if she knows crucial information.
The more thorough the protection, the more wary Zhou Bingcheng and Wen Tao will become. If they decide to silence them, this will be the fastest opportunity to seize their weakness.
If something happens to Tao Chu now, it will all be for nothing!
Tao Guohua broke out in a cold sweat, worried that the duck he was about to eat would fly away, and quickly agreed to call Tao Chu back immediately.
After stepping out of the elevator, Tao Chu gently pulled away from Wen Yunsheng's hand.
He stopped and looked at her. Tao Chu took out her phone and waved it: "Xu Lingling will definitely tell my dad. I have to give her a heads-up."
Why bother with their opinions?
Tao Chu muttered a reply, "There's nothing I can do, I'm living under someone else's roof," while clicking on Cen Le's message.
After learning that Li Yue had stopped bothering Cen Le and had followed her, she breathed a sigh of relief, replied to Cen Le, and put away her phone.
Wen Yunsheng opened the door, blocked it, and said to her, "Back then, when you found out about your father and Xu Jing, you came to my house and cried all night, refusing to go back. How can you stand living under the same roof with them now?"
Tao Chu pouted: "The situation is beyond our control. It's already quite difficult to have a place to stay that is relatively safe—I'm not a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl anymore, where someone can comfort me if I cry."
Listening to her complaints, which had a coquettish tone, it felt like we were back in our close childhood days.
What would they be like now if these troubles hadn't happened?
Wen Yunsheng's eyes welled up with tears. He turned away and walked towards the bar: "What would you like to drink?"
Tao Chu was admiring his suite. As soon as he entered, he saw a full-length glass window with the shape of the mountains along the river in the distance. The river view must be beautiful during the day.
The living room alone was two or three times larger than my entire cabin, and it was spacious enough to dance on with a multi-seater sofa.
She rested her hand on the smooth, supple leather sofa and casually replied, "Anything is fine."
Wen Yunsheng reached for the Sprite: "There's no lemon, just ice. Make do with this."
He had witnessed Tao Chu's stubbornness—coming home in the snow, his nose red from the cold, yet still insisting that his Sprite must have ice.
Tao Chu was stunned when she heard his words—she had stopped drinking Sprite a long time ago, but he didn't know that.
But when she took the cup from Wen Yunsheng, she still took a sip. The refreshing and invigorating taste was the same familiar flavor, which made her nostalgic.
"Please sit down first, I'll go change my clothes," Wen Yunsheng said.
He strode into the bedroom, taking off his soaked trousers and socks as he watched the living room closely, vaguely hearing Tao Chu's phone ring.
After wiping the wine stains off his legs with a tissue, Wen Yunsheng took out new trousers to change into, but suddenly heard Tao Chu walking in high heels in the living room.
Wen Yunsheng didn't have time to fasten his belt before he hurriedly opened the bedroom door and saw her already at the door with a small bag in her hand.
"Don't go!"
Tao Chu turned around and saw Wen Yunsheng rushing out in a panic, his bare feet on the carpet.
She looked up and saw a dark green trim peeking out from the top of his black trousers.
"My dad called and told me to go back," Tao Chu explained softly, pointing to his waist.
While Wen Yunsheng was looking down, she quickly left—Tao Guohua was on the phone urging her to hurry, almost as if he was making an announcement to find her.
Wen Yunsheng, who was tidying up, heard her turn the doorknob. He didn't care about anything else and quickly stepped forward to press down on the door, which had just been opened a crack.
The door slammed shut, and Tao Chu was pressed against it by the sudden force, his back pressed tightly against the door's chest.
He was standing too close, and Tao Chu's long dress was extremely form-fitting; the two were pressed tightly together, their curves intertwined.
Tao Chu was pinned between the door and his body, feeling somewhat flustered.
Wen Yunsheng realized he had crossed the line, but as he was about to step back, he noticed that Tao Chu was turning the doorknob again, as if she wanted to escape.
But they haven't seen each other for eight years, how can they just let her leave like that?
Wen Yunsheng raised his left hand high and pressed it against the door, while his right hand went around Tao Chu's waist.
Tao Chu thought he was going to put his arm around her waist, and her heart skipped a beat. She was about to twist his wrist when she heard the door click shut from the inside.
Tao Chu was suddenly stunned. She never thought that Wen Yunsheng, who used to be so obedient, would dare to lock her in her room.
But she remained calm—"Fine, Wen Yunsheng, I'd like to see what you dare do to me."
She suppressed her anger and slowly turned to the side in the cramped space.
Her shoulders and hips would occasionally brush against his body, and even the feathers on her skirt would brush against his feet, making his whole body tense and stiff.
She looked up at Wen Yunsheng, who was standing close to her. The light from above illuminated his face, casting shadows from his slightly trembling eyelashes.
She raised her chin, lifted an eyebrow, and asked him, "What, are you going to use force?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
