Sober and beautiful, my husband and son begged for my forgiveness on their knees.

Ning Yan's injuries were not serious. After the doctor treated her, he let Lu Jingmo take his men away.

After leaving the hospital, Ning Yan looked at Lu Jingmo with longing eyes.

"Jingmo, can I stay at your place for the next couple of days?"

She covered her face with her hands and saw him looking at her with cold eyes, seemingly displeased, so she quickly explained.

“I’m injured now, and if I go home, my parents will definitely interrogate me again. You know, Yaoyao’s relationship with my parents is already bad, and if I cause further discord, I’ll never have peace of mind for the rest of my life…”

Actually, she wanted to seize the opportunity to regain some visibility because she had seen news reports praising how well Ning Yan and Lu Jingmo were a good match.

Lu Jingmo's coldness softened slightly. Ning Yao rarely mentioned her parents in the Lu family, so he guessed that their relationship wasn't good.

Ning Yao is alone outside now, so it would be good if we could ease the tension between us.

"Okay, then you can stay for two days."

Ning Yan was overjoyed that he agreed so quickly.

For two whole days, she refused to believe she couldn't find an opportunity to win over Lu Jingmo!

Inside the villa.

Ning Yan was assigned to a guest room on the first floor. After she finished showering, she used the excuse of going to see Lu Mingjin to sneak into Lu Jingmo and Ning Yao's bedroom.

But once inside, she found that the bedroom, which should have been cozy, was now cold and chilly.

It seems like there's no human presence at all.

She looked around and found that Lu Jingmo was not there, so she prepared to go to the study to check.

To her surprise, no one was in the study either.

Her heart sank.

So she went to Lu Mingjin's bedroom and saw that he was sleeping peacefully before she gently closed the door.

Full of doubts.

Where did Lu Jingmo go?

……

Ning Yao had just finished showering when there was a knock on her door.

She didn't say anything, but carefully walked to the door and turned on the video call.

Outside the door stood Lu Jingmo, his face grim.

It was getting late, and she didn't want to see him, so she ended the video call.

"Ning Yao".

Unexpectedly, Lu Jingmo called her name directly at the door.

"Open the door, I have something to say to you, or I'll keep knocking until you open it."

It was almost midnight, and Ning Yao didn't want to disturb the neighbors, so she went back behind the door, pressed the video call connection button, and said to him through the screen, "I won't open the door. Speak quickly."

When Lu Jingmo saw her on the screen with her hair wrapped up and wearing pajamas, as if she had just taken a shower, his eyes darkened.

"Are you home alone?"

Ning Yao was amused by his question and deliberately said, "Of course not. The night is long, and I certainly won't spend it alone."

Lu Jingmo's jawline suddenly tightened, but quickly relaxed again. "What are you showing off for? You're home alone."

If there were other men in her family, she wouldn't have the patience to chat with him.

Moreover, Ning Yao doesn't lie; if she does lie, her earlobes will turn pink.

Just like now.

Ning Yao didn't know where his confidence came from, but it didn't matter. "If you have nothing to say, then let's go."

Lu Jingmo glanced at the upper left corner, then said in a deep voice, "Happy birthday."

Ning Yao, who was about to turn off the video call, looked at him in surprise, her face showing both surprise and doubt.

"Is this all you came here for?"

Lu Jingmo ignored her suspicion and instead looked at her with an unusually deep gaze. "Of course not. Ning Yao, turn around and look."

Ning Yao didn't take it seriously, but still turned around.

Just then, a spectacular display of fireworks burst forth in the sky, their colorful lights illuminating the night.

The once quiet night became bustling because of the fireworks.

Cheers erupted from both upstairs and downstairs.

Ning Yao couldn't understand Lu Jingmo's actions and coldly turned to look at the screen.

In the scene, Lu Jingmo also turned his head to watch the fireworks. The light and shadow reflected on his face, giving people a gentle illusion.

Wow! That firework is so bright, it must be from Asia!

"Yeah, I wonder if it will explode and reveal words!"

Ning Yao heard someone shout downstairs, turned around and saw the last firework shoot into the night sky.

It bloomed instantly.

The magnificent light illuminated almost the entire night sky.

"Oh my god! I thought someone was confessing their love to me, but it turned out to be a happy birthday message!"

"How romantic! Is this a perfectly timed blessing?"

"These fireworks must have been expensive. This must be some rich kid confessing his love to a minor celebrity!"

There were many different opinions downstairs.

The upstairs area was quiet and silent.

Lu Jingmo looked at Ning Yao, who was watching the fireworks with her head turned to the side in the camera lens. The colorful lights moved and changed on her face, but they could not melt away the indifference in her eyes.

As the last firework faded, he asked in a low voice, "You don't like fireworks?"

Ning Yao's gaze was indifferent. "Yes, I don't like it."

Back when I was in the orphanage, every time a child was picked up by their adoptive parents, the orphanage would set off fireworks.

And she lost a friend.

Fireworks may be dazzling and beautiful to others.

But for her, it was the worry of parting.

"Then what do you like?" Lu Jingmo asked, his gaze sweeping over her slender wrist. Seeing that there was no watch on it, which his son had mentioned, his expression softened. "I'll give it to you."

Ning Yao said coldly, "I prefer you to stay away from me."

Lu Jingmo's recently softened gaze suddenly turned cold, and his tone unconsciously became questioning, "Then who do you want to be closer to?"

"Anything is fine as long as it's not you." Ning Yao saw that it was past midnight, her fingertip hovering over the end call button, and said to him, "It's getting late, I need to rest, goodbye."

"Wait." Lu Jingmo called out to her, and Ning Yao looked at him again through the screen. "Is there something else?"

Lu Jingmo originally wanted to say that he had reviewed the restaurant's interior on his way here, and that he might have overlooked some details, which is why he said something he shouldn't have.

But Ning Yao hung up the video call before he could even speak.

The blacked-out screen mirrored the depths of his heart.

She didn't know that she had specifically canceled two meetings tonight so she could spend her birthday with her.

She was unaware that she had already booked a restaurant and was preparing to have a late-night snack with her.

She has no idea how much effort she put into preparing for tonight's fireworks display.

Whether it was well-intentioned or targeted, she didn't care.

What is the point of all this running around?

Ning Yao tossed and turned in bed for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

As soon as I closed my eyes, all I could see in my mind was the colorful fireworks from earlier.

She disliked fireworks because they represented parting and sadness in the first half of her life.

But tonight's fireworks weren't real, and the cheers downstairs weren't fake.

She could sense the joy of others.

But she couldn't let herself feel it.

Lu Jingmo's current devotion to her is like this firework display—it came suddenly.

She feared that if her defenses weren't strong enough, she would be taken advantage of by this illusion.

In the end, he suffered the same fate as in his previous life.

When Ning Yao woke up again, it was already broad daylight.

She carried her bag downstairs, and the streets and pedestrians below seemed no different from usual.

If she hadn't heard the commotion last night, she would have thought the magnificent fireworks display was just a dream.