Chapter 104 Are you spying on me?
Jiang Tangtang's breath caught in her throat for a moment.
Military grade...something you can't get on the market.
She looked up abruptly, her eyes, which always held a playful smile, now filled with shock and disbelief.
Ruan Yao was still carefully wiping the watch with her head down, completely unaware of the shock that had drained all color from her best friend's face.
"Yaoyao, who gave you this watch?"
“Who else could it be?” Ruan Yao asked, puzzled, and answered instinctively, “It was given to me by Huo Yanzhi.”
Jiang Tangtang's face turned even paler.
Without saying a word, she turned her phone screen directly towards Ruan Yao's face.
Those few lines of glaring chat history clearly came into Ruan Yao's view.
The blush that had risen on Ruan Yao's cheeks from heartache instantly froze.
Positioner.
The melodious music in the coffee shop and the laughter at the next table all became distant and indistinct background noise.
Her mind went blank for a brief moment.
"impossible."
Ruan Yao spoke subconsciously, her voice very soft, as if trying to convince herself.
"Impossible what?" Jiang Tangtang was exasperated and furious, her voice rising, "Ruan Yao, wake up! Look at this! It's a locator! Do you understand what this means?"
Jiang Tangtang was almost driven mad with anger. She lowered her voice, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.
"This isn't love, it's surveillance, it's control! He put a locator in the watch you wear every day, so he knows where you are anytime, anywhere, Ruan Yao. This isn't normal, this is something only a psychopath would do!"
Her best friend's excited and angry words struck Ruan Yao's heart like heavy hammer blows.
Those details that had once puzzled her were now being re-encoded and replayed wildly in her mind.
Why is it that every time she encounters a little trouble, he always seems to "coincidentally" appear?
Why was he so terrified last time in the office, just because her phone was off and she was half an hour late, that he looked so close to a breakdown?
Is this the answer?
Ruan Yao slowly raised her head and looked at Jiang Tangtang, whose face was full of worry.
Without saying a word, she silently picked up a napkin from the table and carefully wrapped up the black part, which was smaller than a grain of rice, along with the popped-out metal back cover.
Then, she put the expensive watch back into the deepest zippered compartment of her bag.
"Yaoyao?" Jiang Tangtang felt uneasy at her reaction.
"I'm fine." Ruan Yao finally spoke, her voice calm and without a trace of emotion. "Tangtang, let's go home."
She stood up and picked up her bag.
"My mom is waiting for me to celebrate her birthday."
*
Inside the Ruan family villa, the lights were on, and a harmonious and joyful scene unfolded.
Su Wanqing was wearing an elegant cheongsam, with a happy smile on her face.
Ruan Minghui and Ruan Sheng surrounded her, making funny remarks.
Huo Yanzhi, as the prospective son-in-law, arrived early. He was dressed in a casual gray wool sweater, shedding his usual aloofness and perfectly blending into the warm atmosphere of the home.
When Ruan Yao walked into the house, everyone's eyes fell on her.
"Why are you only getting back now? Was there traffic on the way?" Su Wanqing greeted her and took her daughter's hand.
"Yes, a little." Ruan Yao smiled and handed over the gift. "Happy birthday, Mom."
Huo Yanzhi walked over and naturally took the bag from her hand.
His gaze lingered for a moment on the faint smile on her face, then he asked casually, "Did you have a good time shopping today? Why didn't you ask me to pick you up?"
Ruan Yao shook her head and forced a smile: "I was out shopping with Tangtang until late, so I came back by myself."
The atmosphere at the dinner table was lively.
Ruan Minghui was in a great mood. He talked about how the recent troubles at the company had finally subsided and praised Lin Weiwei for being a capable girl.
"This time, we owe a great debt to Weiwei. If she hadn't been secretly helping Yaoyao and keeping an eye on Su Mingyuan, the company would have suffered a huge loss."
He remarked with emotion, "I've promoted her to team leader, doubled her salary, and even let her bring her mother from the countryside to live with us. This girl is truly remarkable."
Ruan Sheng chimed in from the side, "Dad, this is all just small stuff. Shouldn't the biggest joy in our family be someone's life-long happiness?"
As he spoke, he winked mischievously at Ruan Yao and Huo Yanzhi.
Su Wanqing was immediately steered away from the topic. She looked at her daughter, then at Huo Yanzhi sitting next to her, and became more and more satisfied, smiling from ear to ear.
"When are you two planning to get married? I'm really looking forward to seeing Yaoyao in her wedding dress."
“That’s right, that’s right,” Ruan Sheng chimed in from the side, “Hurry up, I’m still waiting to be an uncle and hold my nephew!”
Huo Yanzhi handled everything with impeccable manners, a perfectly timed smile playing on his lips, flawlessly accepting all the elders' expectations and teasing.
However, most of his attention was like an invisible net, tightly enveloping the absent-minded Ruan Yao beside him.
Something's wrong with her.
He sensed it the moment he received her call that evening, saying she had arrived home.
She speaks very little and is always absent-minded.
His gaze inadvertently drifted over her slender, fair wrist.
It was completely empty.
Normally, the watch he had personally put on her should rest comfortably on her fair and delicate skin.
But now, there's nothing there.
Huo Yanzhi paused almost imperceptibly in the hand holding the wine glass.
A strong sense of unease, like vines, silently spread from the deepest part of his heart.
After the family dinner, the two bid farewell to the hospitable Ruan family.
The black Bentley drove smoothly through the night.
The atmosphere inside the carriage was eerily silent.
Ruan Yao kept turning her head to look at the neon lights rushing past outside the window, without saying a word.
Huo Yanzhi did not speak either.
He gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force, and the air pressure inside the car was so low it was hard to breathe.
The car slowly came to a stop in front of the villa.
The two got out of the car one after the other.
A cool night breeze blew by, and Ruan Yao felt a chill on her bare wrists.
Before stepping into the doorway that symbolized warmth and belonging, she suddenly stopped.
Huo Yanzhi also stopped, standing half a step behind her. His tall figure cast a deep shadow in the cold moonlight.
Ruan Yao turned around.
The cool moonlight shone on her plain little face, and her doe eyes, which were always full of love and dependence, were now as calm as a deep pool.
She looked up at the tall man in front of her.
"Huo Yanzhi,"
She asked, "Are you spying on me?"
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