Honey, Open The Door. I Want To Give You The Room Key - Chapter 15

Lou Qingshuang opened the door with a frozen expression. Her silhouette, hidden from Shen Yue’s sight, became desolate and lost. With a heavy thud, she slammed the door shut.

Gripping the document bag in her hand, Lou Qingshuang’s right hand exerted more and more force until the folder began to creak and groan under the pressure. Tears blurred her vision, falling drop by drop, as the biting wind outside made her entire body tremble.

Why did it turn out like this? Shen Yue, why!

Lou Qingshuang dragged her grieving steps, walking one pace at a time toward her car, moving forward through the drenching rain.

She sat in the car, soaked to the bone. The heater and the cold draft blasted her simultaneously, causing her to shudder instinctively. Rain and tears continued to stream down from her eyelashes. With a hollow expression, she started the engine and glided into the heavy downpour.

The rain pattered violently against the glass; the windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the deluge, much like her own heart, which remained bone-chillingly cold no matter how she tried to warm it.

Lou Qingshuang watched as the rain poured off the roof like buckets of water. Her car came to a stop on the Xiangjiang Bridge; the rain had completely obscured her vision, making it impossible to move forward. She was stuck, and she couldn’t find a way out of her predicament, either.

Her body trembled with cold. Looking at the document bag on the passenger seat, she reached out and opened it, enduring the heartache and the fear of confirmation. Closing her eyes, her tears fell. A minute later, she finally pulled out two sheets of paper. Under a specialized light, two fingerprints appeared. At that moment, her heart died.

With eyes brimming with tears, she opened her phone and clicked on the surveillance icon, dragging the timeline back. She watched with her own eyes as Shen Yue took out her phone to take photos. Lou Qingshuang closed her eyes and set the phone down. Crystal tears could no longer be restrained, rolling in large beads from her lashes.

She had clearly been psychologically prepared for this, so why did it still hurt this much? It hurt so much that she couldn’t help but curl her body into a ball. Her hurried breathing betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

What should she do next? Should she send Shen Yue to prison? The lawsuit between them and Lan Dai still had to be fought regardless.

Lou Qingshuang bit her lower lip hard, staring mournfully at the overwhelming rain. The damp air made both her heart and her body turn frigid.

Knock, knock—

Hearing the sound of someone tapping on the glass, she pulled out a tissue to tidy her face before cracking the window open slightly to look out.

“Miss Lou, is there a problem with your car?” Zhu Yan stood in the rain holding an umbrella, looking at Lou Qingshuang with concern.

“No, the rain is just too heavy to see the road,” Lou Qingshuang replied, her voice carrying a double meaning, her eyelashes trembling with unshed tears.

Zhu Yan looked at her cold, elegant face. She looked like a piece of colored glass submerged in water—fragile, as if she might shatter at any moment—evoking both pity and a sense of attraction.

“Where is your Chairman Liu?” Lou Qingshuang noted the flash of admiration in Zhu Yan’s eyes and let out a mocking, meaningful smile.

“The Chairman is in the car.” Zhu Yan sensed that Lou Qingshuang might suspect they were stalking her and paused to explain, “This is the road back to Chairman Liu’s residence.”

“I know. Chairman Liu surely lives in the most prime residential area in Lushi, doesn’t she?” Lou Qingshuang’s words were laced with a cold, mocking edge, though a smile remained hooked on her face.

“It seems I have caused you a great deal of dissatisfaction.” Liu Yu stood behind Zhu Yan, holding an umbrella. Behind her, the rain poured down and the mist swirled, nearly obscuring her figure.

Lou Qingshuang looked at the person holding the umbrella in the rain. She was noble and cold, her hair pinned up, wearing a black suit and rimless glasses. Her aura was so powerful it felt as if the torrential rain existed merely as her backdrop. Lou Qingshuang’s breath hitched for a moment; in this instant, Liu Yu was brimming with charisma.

“What are you here for? To see me make a fool of myself?” Lou Qingshuang looked away and asked crossly.

The corner of Liu Yu’s mouth quirked up—she was naturally here to see if she could take advantage of the situation. She gave a slight nod to Zhu Yan, who immediately understood and turned to go back to the car.

Liu Yu’s car slowly glided to the front of Lou Qingshuang’s vehicle, stopping with its hazard lights blinking quietly.

Holding her umbrella, Liu Yu walked around the front of the car and stood by the passenger door. Lou Qingshuang sat inside, watching her. She didn’t want to drive and waited for Liu Yu to leave on her own.

Liu Yu simply stood there in the heavy rain for a full minute. Suddenly, the locks on the passenger door flashed. Liu Yu’s thin lips curled upward as she pulled the door open and slid inside.

As soon as the door opened, the roar of the rain flooded the car, bringing the wind and wetness with it.

Liu Yu folded her umbrella and placed it by the door, closing it softly. She turned to look at Lou Qingshuang, her low, melodic voice resonating, “Have you been crying?”

Lou Qingshuang closed her eyes, unwilling to speak. On her phone, several missed calls from Shen Yue appeared, all of which she had ignored. Bai Wan had sent a message on Feixin asking after her, but Lou Qingshuang only replied that she was on her way.

The scent on Liu Yu was very pleasant—a faint woody incense, like the smell of wood after it had burned. Like the woman herself, it possessed a hidden intensity beneath the ashes, exceptionally crisp and fragrant.

Lou Qingshuang opened her eyes to look at Liu Yu. In the past, Liu Yu’s scent was always a deep sandalwood—heavy and calculating, just like her personality. Today, however, it was completely different, as if she were a different person.

There was even a faint scent of roses. Lou Qingshuang’s brow furrowed as she crossed her arm’s, assuming Liu Yu was intentionally using her pheromone scent as a fragrance.

“Please leave, Chairman Liu.”

Liu Yu leaned back lazily against the seat; her long legs cramped in the tight space. “It’s a bit narrow. Adjust it for me.”

Looking at those long legs with nowhere to go, Lou Qingshuang took a deep breath. She truly wanted to squash her right there and then, but in reality, she reached out to adjust the seat for her.

“What did you come up here for?” Lou Qingshuang asked irritably.

She was already in a terrible mood, and yet this woman had forced her way in.

“Are you here to mock me?” Lou Qingshuang asked coldly.

“I am here to see a beauty,” Liu Yu replied. Her long legs could finally stretch out, and she looked satisfied.

“Heh.” Lou Qingshuang let out a soft, mocking laugh. She looked out at the heavy rain. The sky was dark and hazy, with black clouds still accumulating. This rain wasn’t going to end, and the rain in her heart wasn’t going to end either.

“It seems you’ve found your answer.” Liu Yu could tell just by looking at her expression. She withdrew her gaze and looked around the car; it was clean and devoid of clutter, much like Lou Qingshuang herself.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?” Lou Qingshuang leaned back against the headrest and took a deep breath.

Liu Yu’s gaze fell upon Lou Qingshuang’s exposed swan-like neck. Her breathing tightened; she wanted to kiss it.

She swallowed hard, her eyes deepening like a predator staring at its prey, ready at any moment to bite the neck and devour the prize whole. But she had to wait a little longer. Liu Yu suppressed her inner impulses.

“Do you need me to step in?” Liu Yu asked in a calm, steady voice, showing concern without the arrogance of unsolicited interference.

“Thank you, but I can handle it,” Lou Qingshuang replied, her voice sounding exhausted and disappointed.

“Then shall I have someone drive you back?” Liu Yu asked thoughtfully once more.

“Is that okay? Just take me to the office.” Lou Qingshuang opened her eyes, her watery gaze meeting Liu Yu’s.

“Of course.”

Liu Yu made a call, and the driver in the car ahead immediately stepped out. She and Lou Qingshuang moved to the back seat together.

The two of them sat in the back, very close—so close that Liu Yu caught the scent of roses again.

Her rose was drooping, lacking spirit, just like its owner.

Liu Yu almost released her own pheromones to comfort her, but she held back. If she did that now, Lou Qingshuang would likely push her far away.

“Still too slow,” Liu Yu murmured softly.

“What?” Lou Qingshuang happened to be daydreaming and didn’t hear clearly. She looked at Liu Yu, thinking she was speaking to her.

“Nothing. I just said the rain is heavy today, so the driver will go a bit slower,” Liu Yu said patiently.

“Thank you for today. I’m not in a hurry,” Lou Qingshuang said, lowering her gaze in thanks.

“You’re welcome. I quite enjoy helping you.” Liu Yu’s secretive gaze swept over Lou Qingshuang’s cheek before turning away.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the foot of Lou Qingshuang’s office building. A bodyguard with an umbrella came to receive them.

Liu Yu stood in the rain, watching as Lou Qingshuang drove her car into the underground garage. She didn’t follow.

Lou Qingshuang watched the figure in her rearview mirror. That tall, slender silhouette standing quietly in the rain had such a powerful presence—there was even a hint of something borderline obsessive about it.

Lou Qingshuang gripped the steering wheel, her heart tightening. This person was far more difficult to deal with than Shen Yue.

As soon as she returned to her office, Lou Qingshuang held a private meeting with Bai Wan.

“I can’t believe it was really her! How could she do this to you? Taking your formula just to please that old woman who won’t even acknowledge her!” Bai Wan was so angry she nearly called Shen Yue to curse her out, but Lou Qingshuang held her hand back.

“Wanshuang, how do you want to handle this?” Bai Wan asked indignantly.

“I plan to go back and talk to her, to bring this matter to a final end,” Lou Qingshuang said.

“Fine. I’ll go back with you.” Bai Wan called the security department and took two bodyguards with them as she and Lou Qingshuang returned to the Lou residence.

At this time, Shen Yue was still cooking. She was wearing loungewear, looking both rational and gentle.

When Lou Qingshuang opened the door, Shen Yue looked at the people entering behind her and the furious Bai Wan. Shen Yue’s heart skipped a beat; she had been found out.

“We need to talk.” Lou Qingshuang looked at her, the affection of the past gone from her eyes as she spoke directly.

Shen Yue gripped her apron. She lowered her eyelids, a pang of pain flashing through her heart. Hadn’t she known this would happen? So why did she still want to cry? And how should she proceed with the rest of the plan?

“Okay.” The two went to Lou Qingshuang’s room. Amidst the nervous tension felt by Shen Qiao and Aunt Wu, Shen Yue emerged five minutes later, changed into different clothes, carrying a suitcase, and left.

“Go back and tell Lan Dai to withdraw the lawsuit and admit they stole the formula. If you do, I won’t hand you over to the police.”

“Zhu Rui won’t listen to me.”

“Then go to prison.”

After those three short sentences were spoken, Lou Qingshuang’s heart ached beyond measure. Her breathing hitched; her love had been personally buried by her own fiancée.

Shen Yue said nothing. She left.

Lou Qingshuang sat in her room staring blankly at a white chair. Tears splashed against her lips—they tasted so bitter.

When Bai Wan walked in and saw Lou Qingshuang’s grief and pain, she felt so distressed that she hugged her. She knew how much Lou Qingshuang had liked Shen Yue; even though she hadn’t wanted to get married yet, she had agreed to the engagement request.