Chapter 4

The butler opened the door, and the Leng crowd of three was greeted warmly by the Lei family in all its glory. They were standing to attention and eager to show their respects. An impressive presence as they crowded into the large opening and strolled inside like they owned the room around them. Each was intimidating in his own handsome way, clearly of the same family, and stood tall and strong despite differing ages.

TangShi was pushed to the rear by her stepmother and harshly elbowed back as they greeted the newcomers and led them in. Her mother enthusiastically greeted them verbally with a swift-moving of bodies like a perfectly synchronized wave. Somehow, she found herself trailing behind like a servant, and no one noticed her in the babble of chatter and greeting.

TangShi could not get a glimpse properly and treated like an unwanted guest in a house she had known as her home. Her parents pawed and fawned over the new arrivals and led them to the sitting room, ignoring her completely, where food and coffee were lavishly laid out for this meeting.

Juefeng was all over one of the men in the group before TangShi, grasping his arm and acting provocatively and demurely. Her shrill voice sounded babyish as she flirted, giggled loudly in a dramatic way at something he said, and her father threw her a cross look which left her scurrying to go sit down. Obviously, this was the betrothed, and her sister was making a play for him to show how much more worthy she was than TangShi. She loved her little games.

TangShi meandered behind, sighing heavily at Juefeng’s obvious shamelessness, never able to behave in the presence of handsome men. Juefeng was a spoiled and selfish brat. Sometimes, her sister disgusted her with her arrogance, but she would never verbalize it.

TangShi’s eyes were trained on the floor as she was accustomed to doing when home and walked into the back of a suddenly halted dark figure by accident. She was distracted with her thoughts and foolishly clumsy to do such a silly thing. Banging her forehead against a solid mass that startled a reaction out of her.

“Ouch!” she muttered under her breath and stepped back in alarm, bowing slightly toward the person she collided with. An apology on her lips as heat overtook her face and shame washed over her. Her cheeks were flushing at her clumsiness and knowing her father would go crazy at her for it.

“Stupid girl, go sit down,” her father cursed her before she had a chance to speak at all, and upon lifting her chin, she was met with the icy cold snarl of her victim. He was turned her way in annoyance and frowning at her with piercing green eyes under furrowed brows.

It was YuZhi Leng, and this close, basking in the pale beauty of his eyes, a scowl formed on his chiseled lips which somehow enhanced his masculinity, she stopped breathing. It felt like the world had stopped turning completely. Rabbit in the headlights or a defenseless small prey caught in the talons of a precise and experienced hunter.

His nearness, his familiar scent from old memories, and how he towered over her in his strong form, scratching at forgotten interludes. Something about him pulled back the night of the dancefloor and cemented a visual of him from eight years ago right there in her head. It had to be him.

This was more than just a similarity, or thinking he shared slight resemblances. His entire presence, the lording aura of a wealthy master of a powerful family she had sensed that night, though never asked him about. His eyes were eating through to her soul, under straight dark brows that had once captured her across a dancefloor in the same way.

That jawline weakened her knees and made her almost sway in reaction back then and now when faced in the flesh this way. She would never forget how she trembled in his presence when he approached her and stole the very breath from her lungs. Much like he was doing now.

“Can you go sit? I don’t like you being too close to me.” His frosty tone and unexpected harsh words made her blink back in shock. The unfriendly command pierced her heart, bumping her back to earth and reality, and she stammered for a second as though she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Par… Pardon?” She acted like a clueless fool who had forgotten how to listen, and it only seemed to pull an angrier expression from him. Turning her blood cold and leaving her stricken with so many mixed emotions.

“Sit down, TangShi. Stop being foolish,” her stepmother snapped, and TangShi was quick to remove herself and hurry to a nearby seat. She could not continue looking him in the face as embarrassment tinted her temples. She was dazed at his words and complete rudeness.

The room became instantly quiet and tense as the butler began to dish out coffee to all those finding a comfy place to sit, and the older man of the three leaned in with a smile. Looking like a king among mortal men, he was used to having great power and command of all those around him.

The Leng family was the number one wealthy family in China, with their fingers in so many enterprises that they had built a formidable empire. Lei family was honored to become a connection in this way, so it was no surprise her father jumped at the chance to strike this bargain with them. TangShi’s family were small fish with hardly any notable wealth compared to them.

“We shouldn’t beat around the bush. We all know why we are here, and this is just the final formality to meeting the young Miss to proceed finally. My grandson and your daughter will be wed, provide an heir to our two families, and bring Leng and Lei under one roof. It is good that we swiftly agreed and came to this outcome.”

The older man, with his greying hair and long distinguished beard, eyes twinkling under thick brows, was just as intimidating as his grandson, and the family resemblance was strong. TangShi glanced at him quickly. She could not stop looking at YuZhi and met an angry frown that made her crumble.

He seemed to sense her wandering gaze his way and had counteracted with an arrogant response of ‘leave me alone.’ She looked back down into her lap, blushing fiercely and unable to ignore YuZhi’s dislike of her. He wasn’t happy about this arrangement and seemingly had already decided he didn’t like her. She was a burden to him and probably the source of many family disagreements behind closed doors before this meeting.

Disappointment flooded her heart that he didn’t even seem to recognize her in the way she had him, or maybe he did. Perhaps he had just toyed with her that night and didn’t want to be bothered by her this way. TangShi wondered if he remembered anything that night, but his cold mood and piercing glare didn’t tell her either way.

“Two years, right? A child to be conceived quickly and born before they can separate?”