Fell Deeply In Love With My Ex-Husband's Fiancé - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Law of Apology (1)

“Can I try painting you too?”

Lance watched Lu Feiran at his leisure.

Today, Lu Feiran was no longer wearing the cute, eccentric outfits. Every part of his ensemble had been carefully considered.

The pure black suit wrapped around his thin figure, making his long legs appear even straighter beneath the neat trousers. His demeanor was like a freshly polished, sharp dagger, yet it softened the moment he saw Lance.

What is he here for? Lance was very curious.

The elevator descended smoothly to the B1 level. Lu Feiran hadn’t managed to formulate his words yet, so he just stared blankly at the constantly changing floor numbers.

“Not talking?” Lance frowned slightly, feigning annoyance at being interrupted from important business.

The elevator arrived. The metal doors opened and closed. Since no one pressed the buttons, the two of them remained on the B1 level.

“I came looking for you,” Lu Feiran had learned to lie.

“I want to apologize to you!” Lu Feiran said solemnly. This time, he didn’t evade Lance’s gaze. His dark, bright eyes still held the excitement of a battle winner, and he stared straight at Lance, causing Lance’s heart to tremble.

Lance had seen the pitiful Lu Feiran, the fragile Lu Feiran, and the uneasy Lu Feiran, but he had never seen such an exuberant and unrestrained Lu Feiran.

He must have successfully snatched something from Zhai Qiance. Without a doubt, he won.

Consequently, all the previous gloom was swept away, and the dying seed broke through the soil, blooming into a charming flower bud.

Lu Feiran’s state was contrary to Lance’s initial expectations. He should have been dissatisfied, but for some reason, Lance was delighted by the unexpected outcome.

“Apologize for what? What did you do wrong?” Lance asked with a smile.

Lu Fei hadn’t expected Lance to be completely ungrudging.

“I shouldn’t have left so suddenly that day. You made something for me, but I didn’t stay to eat it with you…” Lu Feiran stammered a little. “I thought you had company, and I didn’t want to intrude, so I left in such a hurry. I’m sorry for disappointing your good intentions; I was wrong.”

The apology was very sudden. If it weren’t to help Lance avoid Lu Xingli, Lu Feiran had intended to specifically treat him to a meal and apologize more formally, not converse hastily in the B1 level elevator.

Lance pressed the elevator door button and led Lu Feiran out: “You wanted to know who the person at my house was that day. Why didn’t you ask?”

Lance’s words instantly exposed Lu Feiran’s hidden intentions, making him blush. Asking who someone has at their house always felt impolite and offensive.

“Is it okay to ask?” Lu Feiran asked.

“Do you think I would lie to you? Or get angry because you asked that question?”

Lance’s rhetorical question left Lu Feiran speechless, his fair, small face completely flushed.

He had indeed thought that way, but such a thought was perhaps too dark.

“I will tell you, Feiran,” Lance brought Lu Feiran to the car and leaned over to fasten his seatbelt. “It was a relative visiting me that day. He was in the bathroom, and he left soon after you did.”

“Oh, oh, oh, okay, that’s good…” Just a relative.

Lu Feiran vaguely felt strange. There was no need for Lance to explain so much to him.

It was like a wife questioning a suspicious husband, and the husband explaining himself to prevent his wife from misunderstanding.

Watching Lance start the car, Lu Feiran sat up straight and exclaimed, “Weren’t you here for a meeting? Where are we going?”

Lance paused a phone call he was about to make and told Lu Feiran: “The investment project has been agreed upon. Today was just for the final stamping, and my personal presence isn’t strictly necessary. I have something more important than that.”

“What is it?”

Lance turned his face to look at Lu Feiran. The slightly long, pale gold strands of hair across his forehead rested on his cheekbone, giving his whole aura a very gentle quality.

Lance said, “Just a verbal apology? Do you expect me to forgive you? Feiran, I don’t have that good a temper.”

Lu Feiran also smiled. He knew that while Lance said he wouldn’t easily forgive him, his attitude towards him was incredibly good. He was even willing to skip an important meeting just to be with him.

“I will make proper amends. Don’t be angry, Norn.”

Lu Feiran changed his address for Lance, wanting to shorten the distance between them. Calling him by his surname always felt too distant.

His heart fluttered with excitement over the closer relationship between the two, and he didn’t notice that Lance’s hands gripping the steering wheel tightened, and a vein on the back of his hand twitched.

Lance didn’t respond to Lu Feiran’s change in address but continued the previous topic: “Are you modeling for someone now?”

All of Jin Zhan’s paintings using Lu Feiran as a model had been posted by the model himself on his social media.

“Yes,” Lu Feiran admitted frankly.

“Can I try painting you too?”

“Hmm?”

On the way to the Qiong Zhu Gallery for the first time, Lance had mentioned that his grandmother was a painter and that he had learned to paint from her in his childhood.

Being a model was fine. Lu Feiran had modeled for Jin Zhan several times, and with Jin Zhan’s direction, he now had some experience.

“But I didn’t dedicate myself to it later, so my technique isn’t great. Feiran, please don’t mind,” Lance’s tone conveyed a sense of unease, as if he worried that painting a perfect model like Lu Feiran badly would be a waste.

“No way! You can paint whatever you like!” Lu Feiran quickly reassured him.

“That’s good.”

Lance’s inner thoughts were not as relaxed as his outer demeanor. He didn’t frequently use chat apps and only saw Lu Feiran’s photos this morning.

Is Lu Feiran this easy to approach with everyone? If Jin Zhan were to approach Lu Feiran with other intentions, taking his place, would Lu Feiran happily accept?

Jin Zhan, an ordinary painter who had nothing and relied entirely on Zhai Qiance’s assistance, could become friends with Lu Feiran more easily than he could.

He had worked hard to break through Lu Feiran’s defenses, while Jin Zhan did nothing and was purely sought out by Lu Feiran.

Lance’s eyes were dark and complex. He stepped on the accelerator.

Lu Feiran reclined his seat, half-lying and playing on his phone, reporting the latest developments to Zhou Zihua.

Zhou Zihua immediately called back. Lu Feiran, caught off guard, almost dropped his phone. He frantically turned the volume down to the minimum and turned his back to answer the call.

Zhou Zihua said that the lead on Ms. Du was lost. Since she arrived in Germany, she had completely disappeared. He had tried many channels but failed to contact her. He would ask his cousin to find some local connections to help, which might take a lot more time.

Lu Feiran urged him to be careful. Because he was in Lance’s car, he didn’t elaborate on the conversation.

After hanging up, Lu Feiran quietly looked up to observe Lance. Seeing that his posture had barely changed, he let out a sigh of relief.

He put the back of his hand under his head and looked drowsily at the wide road outside the windshield, feeling calm and relaxed. He slowly asked, “Norn, where did you put the little bird I gave you?”

“At home.”

“Hmm… can you keep it in the car?”

The traffic light stopped the car smoothly. Lance leaned over and brushed away the long strands of hair covering Lu Feiran’s eyes, saying, “Then you’ll have to give me a few more.”

Lu Feiran laughed, saying he was showing off. Remembering his driver’s license, which had been revoked on the grounds of a mental illness, he felt a little angry. He buried his head in his hands for a while. After calming down, he asked, “Why did you suddenly cut your hair? Long hair suits you; it was very handsome.”

Lance pondered for a moment before saying, “I’ll grow it out later. Whenever I plan to start a new life, I cut my hair.”

Lu Feiran’s eyes dimmed. He changed his lying position, facing the window on the right, remaining silent, but biting his lip tightly.

What kind of new life is that…

He took off his jacket, covered his face with it, and soon fell into a daze on the gently swaying seat.

Lance glanced at him, drove to a large supermarket near his apartment, and parked the car steadily. He gently pulled down Lu Feiran’s suit jacket a little, looking at his peaceful sleeping face. His phone vibrated at an inappropriate time.

Norn had forwarded all the messages Zhai Qiance sent him to Lance and texted him about the investment.

Norn: [Does Grandpa know about this? Are we really investing? Where do we get 20 billion from?!]

Lance: [That’s not your concern. Also, you don’t have money, we do.]

Norn: [If I wasn’t short on money, my mom wouldn’t make me prostitute myself! My concern about money is my concern about my butt!]

Lance looked at the contact name for his nephew. The glaring words “Norn” were extremely distracting.

He glanced at Lu Feiran, who was sleeping beside him. His long, jade-like fingers couldn’t resist gently stroking the fluffy hair at the back of Lu Feiran’s head. Feeling his mood improve slightly, he pardoned his nephew from the doom of being permanently blocked.

After changing “Norn” to an emoji with no clear meaning, Lance briefly comforted Norn a few times to prevent him from disrupting his own rhythm due to anxiety.

Zhai Qiance and the DeWitt family were both trying to cling to each other, intending to use the other’s deep pockets to fill their own financial holes, which would ultimately lead to both their bankruptcies.

This was the future Lance was manipulating, but before that, he wanted to make Zhai Qiance even more miserable.

No matter who “Little Hua” went through to contact local people in Germany, it was no match for a simple tap of Lance’s finger.

Lance quickly arranged for someone who would very cleverly satisfy “Little Hua’s” request within three days.

Having arranged everything, Lance also reclined his seat. He interlaced his fingers over his abdomen, lying down solemnly and reverently in his snow-white suit, like a handsome vampire lying in a coffin.

Lance admitted he had played around a little too much, inevitably paying extra attention to his phone to see if there was a missed call from Lu Feiran.

But there was no call, no message. Lu Feiran’s return had been a bit later than he had expected.

Fortunately, all the anxiety and unease disappeared the moment Lu Feiran appeared. And when Lu Feiran was sleeping quietly beside him, Lance felt that the distracting noises of the world that had bothered him for over twenty years had vanished.

So peaceful, like death.

Yet his heart was still beating, steadily and powerfully, pumping blood to all his limbs and organs.

Not only that, there was also Lu Feiran’s faint breathing beside him.

Lance had once thought that death was also peaceful and beautiful. When the world was no longer interesting, he would embrace death.

But, can I still hear Lu Feiran’s breathing in hell?

The black-haired sleeping beauty reflected in the emerald lake stirred, waking up abruptly to a semi-sitting position.

How could I have fallen asleep? It was such a short drive, and yet he managed to sleep?

Lu Feiran was speechless about his tendency to sleep anywhere, but he didn’t know that when a person suddenly enters a safe and relaxing environment from an extremely tense one, they will feel exhausted.

He looked around. His misty black pupils flickered, his eyelashes trembling like startled butterflies.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Lu Feiran asked.

“How could I bear to disturb you, my princess?”

The elegant voice, like the sound of a lute, flowed over Lance’s tongue, uttering a genuine, cherished whisper. The words seemed to still linger between Lance’s lips and tongue before drilling into Lu Feiran’s ears.

Starting from his earlobes, a blush spread across his cheeks. Lu Feiran sighed that foreigners just loved to make ambiguous jokes. He put on his jacket, got out of the car first, and plunged into the cool air to cool himself down.