The obedient girl glances up, and the tyrannical tycoon kneels down to pamper her.

"Xiao Huai!" Pei Yuanzhou stood up and asked with concern, "A lot has happened to the Xing family these past two days. Are you alright?"

Luo Huai is very good.

On the contrary, Pei Yuanzhou looked very unwell.

Even with his hair perfectly combed, his suit impeccably pressed, and the perfect upward curve of his smile, he still couldn't hide the hint of fatigue in his eyes and the faint dark circles under his eyes.

It seems that even successful collaborations on overseas projects still cause him a lot of headaches.

Luo Huai thought to himself.

Seeing that she didn't reply immediately, Pei Yuanzhou continued, "Xing Yanzhao grew up in a bad environment, and his words and actions inevitably embarrass the Xing family. You'll definitely suffer as a result... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Luo Huai looked at him with disbelief, as if he were looking at a stranger, someone he couldn't understand even after all these years.

"What did he do to embarrass the Xing family? I don't even know what he did to embarrass the Xing family, so how do you know? Is it just some random rumor or someone whispering something in your ear?"

Pei Yuanzhou frowned: "Are you speaking up for him?"

"If I don't speak up for him, am I supposed to speak up for you?" Luo Huai couldn't help but retort loudly.

Pei Yuanzhou immediately became angry, grabbed her wrist and said, "Did you learn to talk back from him? I'm talking to you nicely, why are you being so fierce?"

"I'll be stern with you." Luo Huai had wanted to be stern with him for a long time. "I'm no longer in the Pei family. You have no right to lecture me or teach me how to speak and act."

"Luo Huai!"

Luo Huai looked at him without fear, her gaze defiant.

The two glared at each other until the middleman rushed in, smiling obsequiously, and asked if they hadn't reached an agreement on the price.

Luo Huai then remembered the important matter and, in the instant Pei Yuanzhou slightly loosened his grip, seized the opportunity to pull his hand away and said, "You're the one who wants to buy it?"

“Yes…” Pei Yuanzhou only wanted to see Luo Huai. He had asked Luo Huai at the Xing family’s house last time, but he still hadn’t answered the question he asked.

The Xing family has been involved in a series of incidents in the past two days. Although it hasn't become common knowledge, it has already spread throughout the industry.

Luo Huai was inevitably implicated because of Xing Yanzhao.

His well-intentioned concern only resulted in Luo Huai criticizing him.

"Since you're buying, no bargaining, just transfer the money to my card." Luo Huai finished speaking cleanly and decisively, then turned to leave.

Pei Yuanzhou strode ahead of her and blocked the door, saying, "I have something else I want to tell you."

Seeing that things were not going well and that he couldn't afford to offend either of them, the middleman quietly slipped away.

As they went outside, they suddenly bumped into someone even more dangerous and formidable-looking.

Luo Huai was afraid that Pei Yuanzhou would ask another question she couldn't answer, such as "Do you like me too?", so she looked away and said directly, "I don't have anything to hear."

"Xiao Huai..." Pei Yuanzhou had finally found a chance to meet, and this time he was determined to say what he had been keeping in his heart, "I like you."

Luo Huai was taken aback.

She turned her head to look at him incredulously.

"What...what are you saying..."

“I said I like you. I’ve always liked you, I just didn’t know it before.” Pei Yuanzhou walked over, took Luo Huai’s hand, and looked at her tenderly. “I know now, I’m sure of it. I like you, Xiao Huai.”

Luo Huai's eyes instantly reddened.

A single tear, like a pearl, rolled down her cheek.

These are the words she has waited so many years for.

Now, she's finally waited for this moment; the person she's secretly loved for so many years has confessed his feelings for her.

but……

late.

It's already too late.

Just as the familiar fingers were about to reach up to wipe her tears, Luo Huai snapped back to reality and quickly retreated.

He bumped into the glass door of the meeting room.

"Did it hurt?" Pei Yuanzhou hurriedly stepped forward, reached out and touched the back of her head, his heartache clearly visible in his eyes.

Luo Huai had nowhere left to retreat, and with red eyes, she looked up.

"Brother Yuanzhou..."

"You've finally called me that." Pei Yuanzhou smiled, reaching out to touch her cheek, saying with obvious affection, "I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have let you marry in place of Youyou, and I shouldn't have conspired with my family to deceive you. I know..."

His voice also became choked with emotion.

"I know that on your wedding day, you wanted me to take you away."

Another tear rolled down Luo Huai's cheek.

It keeps rolling and growing.

It turns out he knew everything, but failed to do it.

Why bring this up now?

Luo Huai smiled bitterly: "Brother Yuanzhou, I don't like you."

“You’re talking nonsense.” Pei Yuanzhou didn’t become hysterical, but said with certainty, “I know you like me. Even without reading those diaries or looking at your paintings, I know it.”

After hearing from his bed partner that he always called out Luo Huai's name in bed, he not only recalled everything, but also relived every moment he had spent with Luo Huai.

People around him also said that everyone could see that Luo Huai liked him.

But why couldn't he see it?

Is it that they can't see it, or that they're afraid to?

I don't dare.

Luo Huai was raised in the Pei family; she was like his younger sister. He was worried that he couldn't reciprocate her feelings, so he chose to ignore her.

You can blind your eyes, but you can't blind your heart.

He still liked Luo Huai.

The thought that Luo Huai had already married someone else, and that he was the one who had brought it upon himself, filled him with immense regret, and he couldn't help but stay up all night.

Especially when he thought about the kiss he shared with Luo Huai.

"Xiao Huai, that time I was drunk, I kissed you, and I've liked you ever since..."

"Stop talking." Luo Huai raised her hand to wipe away her tears. "Don't bring up the past anymore. I admit, I used to like you..."

Pei Yuanzhou suddenly pulled her into his arms and hugged her, laughing, "I know, I know you like me."

“But that was before!” Luo Huai struggled with all her might. She had not forgotten her married status, nor the pain of being forced into marriage, nor the fact that she and Pei Yuanzhou had never been on the same path.

On the contrary, it was Brother Zhao...

She and Brother Zhao are the real similarities.

She had already promised to use the money from selling her dowry to support Zhao Ge, although she didn't really need to support him...

"Let go." Luo Huai struggled with all her might, but couldn't break free at all. In desperation, she shouted, "I'm married! Have you forgotten? I'm married. Last time you asked me if I liked you too, I was forced to stand in the corner for hours. Brother Yuanzhou, please let me go."

Pei Yuanzhou was taken aback, and loosened his grip. "Youyou said you're alright."

“You listen to everything she says.” Luo Huai bent down, stepped out from under his arm, and stood aside.

Pei Yuanzhou was about to move closer again, but then he stopped, remembering that he had already caused her to be punished. He said in a slightly humble tone, "Okay, I won't go over. Don't avoid me, Xiao Huai. I know we're sorry. Can you give me a chance to make amends? You want cash for the dowry, don't you? I can give you double. You can keep the dowry."

"I don't plan to keep it." Luo Huai sniffed and smiled. "Let's leave it at that, Brother Yuanzhou."

"Xiao Huai, we..."

“It’s impossible.” Luo Huai said with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, “Not to mention that I’m already married, from the day I rushed back to the Pei family in the pouring rain, when you and the others persuaded me to repay the debt of gratitude and marry someone in place of Pei Youyou, from the day Pei Youyou was hospitalized with a low fever while I was hospitalized with a high fever and you didn’t care at all, there’s no possibility between us.”

She still feels resentful whenever she thinks about that day.

“I can’t let it go. That day I had a high fever and had to go to get medicine by myself. If a kind person hadn’t caught me, I might have broken my head… My life may not be as precious as yours, but it was given to me by my parents with their lives.”

"I'm sorry, Xiao Huai..."

"I don't accept it." Luo Huai shook his head, then repeated that he didn't accept it. "I don't like you anymore."

"Then who do you like?" Pei Yuanzhou pressed, his eyes red. "Xing Yanzhao? You've only known each other for a short time, and you've only been married for a short time! Why would you like him?"

He couldn't believe that Luo Huai would fall for someone else, especially the utterly useless Xing Yanzhao.

"Why isn't it possible?"

"It can't be him. Even if you've held a grudge against me since that day, you shouldn't like him. If you're going to like someone, it should be the person who caught you in the hospital!" In short, he just wouldn't admit that Luo Huai didn't want him to like Xing Yanzhao.

With a bang, someone pushed the door open and came in.

Xing Yanzhao said coldly and in a deep voice, "It's me."

"I was the one who picked up Luo Huai that day."