Honey, Open The Door. I Want To Give You The Room Key - Chapter 13

“Miss Lou, this is a talisman that can accelerate the severing of ill-fated relationships. Please keep it with you.” A female Taoist priest handed the wrapped talisman to Lou Qingshuang.

“Thank you.”

With porcelain-white fingertips, Lou Qingshuang took the talisman and tucked it away securely inside her clothes.

“How long will it take to see results?” Bai Wan asked somewhat impatiently. It would be best if everything was resolved by tomorrow morning!

“Three months at the latest, one month at the earliest,” the female priest replied with a calm, smiling expression.

“Is it that slow? Can it be faster? We can pay more,” Bai Wan said, blinking her eyes with hopeful expectation.

The female priest smiled slightly. “The severing of an ill-fated bond is a process, Patron. The Ancestral Master will bless you. Infinite Blessings.” Having said her peace, the priest departed. “Bye-bye, Priestess,” Bai Wan could only wave goodbye.

“Shuangshuang, we even performed a ritual today. Rest assured, the ill fate on your body will soon be severed.” Bai Wan pulled Lou Qingshuang toward the exit; they had to rush back to work.

Having stayed in a hotel for the night without receiving a single phone call, Shen Yue’s expression was very unsightly. She squinted at Lou Qingshuang’s profile picture and finally gave a light, mocking scoff.

In the end, she called Lou Qingshuang herself.

“Shuangshuang, I’m returning to Beijing. I’ll come to see you again next time,” Shen Yue said as soon as the call connected.

Lou Qingshuang listened to her voice without speaking. Shen Yue was evading things again. Listening to her breathing, Shen Yue’s gaze darkened with impatience, but she forced herself to remain patient. “Shuangshuang, I’m sorry. I was just too worried about you. So much has happened recently, and my heart aches for you. We’ll get married sooner or later, and I will share your burdens.”

Lou Qingshuang hung up immediately. Not a single word was what she wanted to hear.

Before Shen Yue could finish speaking, Lou Qingshuang had already ended the call with cold eyes. Her eyes were filled with disappointment; how had Shen Yue become like this? It was as if her apple had rotted through without her noticing.

Lou Qingshuang leaned back in the passenger seat; her face covered in frost. After tossing and turning all night, she was already exhausted, and now Shen Yue’s words made her head throb with anger. From the corner of her eye, Bai Wan saw that the disappointment in her friend’s eyes was as piercing as shards of ice.

Shen Yue’s attempt to downplay the situation infuriated Lou Qingshuang. Shen Yue should have been the person who understood her best, yet she had become like this. Lou Qingshuang closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings, stained with crystalline teardrops.

Seeing her best friend in such a state, Bai Wan remained silent. The current situation was as tangled and messy as a ball of yarn.

Hopefully, after severing that ill fate with Liu Yu, the bad luck will be severed too. Ideally, it’ll sever Shen Yue as well. What a piece of work—not only does she not understand Shuangshuang, but she’s also trying to undermine me, Bai Wan thought indignantly.

When Liu Yu arrived at the group headquarters and sat in her spacious, luxurious office, she looked at the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Her fingers unconsciously touched her lips. The kiss last night had been soft; she hoped she could kiss Lou Qingshuang again. Liu Yu’s gaze deepened.

The current pace was still too slow. She needed to add fuel to the fire to help Lou Qingshuang see the true faces of those around her sooner.

“Zhu Yan, come in for a moment.” Liu Yu pressed the intercom to call her assistant.

A few minutes later, Zhu Yan arrived, awaiting orders. “Chairman Liu.”

“Go and inform Lou Qingshuang of the details regarding Shen Yue’s mother,” Liu Yu said, looking at Zhu Yan. She wanted to win over Lou Qingshuang as quickly as possible.

“This… might make Miss Lou very sad, won’t it?” Zhu Yan asked tentatively.

“If we wait until Shen Yue has squeezed every bit of value out of her before the identity is revealed, she will simply wither away.” Liu Yu looked steadily at Zhu Yan. She did not want her rose to wither and lose the ability to love.

“Understood.” Zhu Yan grasped Liu Yu’s meaning. The Chairman wanted to mitigate some of Lou Qingshuang’s eventual pain. At the very least, removing the stumbling block that was Shen Yue would make it easier for Liu Yu to make her move.

Once Lou Qingshuang returned to the company, she threw herself into the day-and-night research and development of a new product, fueled by suppressed frustration.

She remembered Liu Yu’s words: use the new product as bait to catch the fish.

Lou Qingshuang adjusted the formula for the emulsion and placed it in the centrifugal sedimentation. As she waited for the machine’s test results, she stood to the side, lost in thought.

If it really was someone close to her who had betrayed her, Lou Qingshuang would be devastated. These people had followed her for years; they had been there since the company was first founded.

One week later, the new product Lou Qingshuang was developing began to take its initial shape. She and Xinyu Group coordinated to use this to lure out the traitor.

“Miss Lou is truly young and promising. The new product fits Xinyu’s consistent development line perfectly while retaining Wanshuang’s unique characteristics. Once this product hits the market, it will surely attract many people,” remarked Zhen Ran, the cooperation lead from Xinyu Group.

She had a sharp, sophisticated short haircut and wore a pearl-white shirt with loose, well-tailored suit pants. Her makeup was bold and intellectual, perfectly matching her personality.

The two women stood up and shook hands, possessing a mutual sense of admiration. The cooperation between Xinyu and Wanshuang had finally taken its first major step.

Lou Qingshuang also began following the method Liu Yu had taught her to investigate exactly who the traitor was. Bai Wan started monitoring the surveillance footage of Lou Qingshuang’s laboratory day and night; not a single person even walked past the place where the secret documents were kept.

Everyone knew how important this file was. If it were taken by Lan Dai, Wanshuang would have absolutely no chance of recovery.

Lou Qingshuang rested her chin on her hand, feeling extremely tense. The court date for the two companies was approaching, yet the traitor had not surfaced.

“Shuangshuang, is this person just too patient?” Bai Wan grumbled in frustration.

“The fact that we are launching a new product with Xinyu hasn’t been publicized yet. Only our core personnel know. That person should be getting restless by now,” Lou Qingshuang analyzed.

Could it be that Liu Yu’s tactic isn’t going to work? Lou Qingshuang felt apprehensive.

Just then, Shen Yue called her. “Shuangshuang, I’m coming back next Monday. I can take several days off this time to stay home and accompany you. I’ll apologize properly; I’ve reflected on my actions,” Shen Yue said, deliberately softening her voice to sound pitiful.

Hearing her plea for forgiveness, Lou Qingshuang felt her heart soften slightly. She kept her voice taut. “We’ll see how you behave, then.”

Shen Yue laughed softly, and the two chatted for a while longer before hanging up.

The tension on Lou Qingshuang’s face eased significantly. Seeing this, Bai Wan also let out a sigh of relief. Ever since the last incident, Lou Qingshuang had been working overtime, obsessing and agonizing over things, which had made the atmosphere in the company very heavy.

“What did Shen Yue say?” Bai Wan asked curiously.

A faint smile appeared on Lou Qingshuang’s face. “She said she’s coming back to apologize to me. She’s reflected on things and wants to stay with me for a few days.”

“At least she has some sense.” Bai Wan looked at her friend’s face, not knowing what to say. She always felt that Shen Yue didn’t seem like the type of person who reflected on her mistakes easily.

But if she said that now, Shuangshuang would be very sad.

Forget it, I’ll wait until this matter is over and Shuangshuang is in a better mood before having a real talk with her.

Lou Qingshuang returned to her office and opened her email to check for messages, only to see one from an anonymous sender.

She opened the page, which contained a single sentence: Shen Yue’s original name is Zhu Yue; she is the second illegitimate daughter of Zhu Rui.

The moment she saw those words, all the blood in Lou Qingshuang’s body turned ice-cold. Her entire body trembled with a chilling shiver. She stared deathly at those few words for several seconds before she finally regained her composure.

Shen Yue is the illegitimate daughter of the Chairman of Lan Dai Group?

Lou Qingshuang immediately called Liu Yu, because who else but Liu Yu would tell her this news?

“Did you send the email?” Lou Qingshuang asked, her voice eerily calm.

“Yes,” Liu Yu hummed deeply in response.

Lou Qingshuang gripped the phone, her breathing heavy. She didn’t know how she should question Liu Yu. Or rather, what right did she even have to question her? If she had doubts, she could go and ask Shen Yue, but Lou Qingshuang didn’t dare to.

“If you’re afraid it’s true, then come and question me. Use the method I taught you to test her. She should be coming back soon, right?” Liu Yu put down her fountain pen and spoke to Lou Qingshuang.

Lou Qingshuang clenched the phone and hung up without a word. Tears began to fall. If Liu Yu dared to send it to her, then it must have been verified.

It was evidence that could be used to destroy her relationship with Shen Yue. This evidence shattered Lou Qingshuang into pieces. What could be more hurtful than being betrayed by your closest lover, whom you were about to marry?

It was the realization that her current predicament had been orchestrated by that very person.

Lou Qingshuang suddenly bolted upright, pushing her desk so hard it wobbled. The water cup on the desk tipped over, spilling water everywhere before rolling across the surface and hitting the floor with a loud thud.

Lou Qingshuang looked at the water on the desk, her face covered in frost and tears. Her fingernails dug into her own flesh, drawing small beads of blood.

Three days later, Shen Yue returned.

Lou Qingshuang waited for her at home. She had also managed to squeeze out some time to take a day off to be with Shen Yue.

Lou Qingshuang watched Shen Yue get off the plane. She was wearing a white qipao under a coat, her eyes glowing with a deep, undulating light. Every movement exuded the charm of a mature woman.

When Shen Yue saw her, her eyes lit up. She hurried over, pulling her suitcase behind her. Lou Qingshuang scrutinized her every expression and every movement with meticulous detail.

But beneath this joy was nothing but deception. Just thinking about it made Lou Qingshuang’s scalp tingle.