She Became The Black Lotus’s Pure, Untouchable Love - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“Fourth Miss, you couldn’t possibly… you couldn’t possibly like me, could you?”

Hearing Ning Xiangxiang’s sudden question, Huo Xingyu’s breath hitched. Her heart began to thud violently, matching the rhythmic beats of the arcade machines around them.

What did she mean, she liked her?

She made it sound as if—as if she were the one chasing after her.

Huo Xingyu turned her head slightly, attempting to hide the crimson flush spreading across her face from the inexplicable heat rising within her. She coughed twice, feigning composure as she denied it: “Do I look like I’ve lost my mind to you?”

“Then why did you say—”

Huo Xingyu’s chest tightened. She instinctively knew Ning Xiangxiang was referring to the “fiancée” comment she’d made in front of Chi Jing. She turned around, pretending to fiddle with a game console to cut her off.

“I said that for your own good. Chi Jing is corrupt; getting mixed up with her will only bring you trouble. I’m just a kind-hearted person…” Huo Xingyu argued awkwardly, her voice strained.

“Besides, do you think me liking you is realistic? Surely you aren’t naive enough to believe in Cinderella fairytales? Do your family background, education, and taste have even a tenth of the compatibility required to match mine?”

Huo Xingyu continued to deny it. She did not like Ning Xiangxiang. She swore she absolutely did not like Ning Xiangxiang before Ning Xiangxiang liked her.

What was with that suspicious look in Ning Xiangxiang’s eyes? That hesitant tone? Did she look like the type to actively like someone? Where had she even shown signs of it? It was clearly Ning Xiangxiang who liked her—liked her so much she couldn’t live without her!

With that thought, Huo Xingyu hurriedly let go of the hand she had been gripping.

Though… although the way Ning Xiangxiang had stood up to Chi Jing and drawn a clear line just now did make her like her a little bit. But definitely not a lot! Huo Xingyu fought with all her might to suppress the corners of her lips that wanted to curl upward.

Actually, she’d had her doubts before—back when Ning Xiangxiang didn’t run to her side when she was angry, and when she was secretly “beating her chicken.” She had wondered… could it be that Ning Xiangxiang didn’t like her anymore? Did she like her less because she got angry and halted the production? Was Ning Xiangxiang scared of her temper and afraid to get close?

But after beating her chicken, Ning Xiangxiang had obediently come to find her, saying she missed her and wanted to meet. Huo Xingyu’s anger had vanished instantly!

And today, when Chi Jing was being sarcastic and saying no one liked her, Ning Xiangxiang had immediately jumped in to refute it. That brave, fierce look with her furrowed brows—where was the reserved “Little Wife” persona she used to have?

See? See! This silly Ning Xiangxiang just liked her a lot. Even more than she had imagined or predicted!

This is great.

She tried her best to restrain herself, making sure her expression wasn’t too obvious. If she were too transparent, this possessive Ning Xiangxiang would surely cling to her and act spoiled non-stop. Huo Xingyu thought that if Ning Xiangxiang was a bit more courageous and obedient, it wouldn’t be impossible to date her before they got married.

She stole a glance at Ning Xiangxiang through her peripheral vision. The girl was hanging her head, long, soft black hair falling past her face, hiding her expression.

Huo Xingyu hesitated. Had she been too harsh just now? She knew that no matter how incompatible they seemed, they would end up married in the end. But Ning Xiangxiang didn’t know that.

Clearing her throat, Huo Xingyu turned her back and pretended to look at the Chun-Li character on the screen. She toyed with the joystick and said softly: “But… if you really li—”

Ning Xiangxiang suddenly sighed, cutting her off. She looked up, her round, deer-like eyes fixed on her. “Fourth Miss, why do you keep coming to find me? As you said, we are absolutely, absolutely not from the same world. I know there are many people more beautiful, more cultured, and a thousand times better than me for you to choose from. You and I… we definitely won’t have a future.”

Huo Xingyu froze.

What do you mean, “definitely won’t have a future”? Was she telling her to stop looking for her? She looked into Ning Xiangxiang’s eyes and saw nothing but sincerity.

In Huo Xingyu’s memory, she had rarely shared such an earnest gaze with Ning Xiangxiang. In her past life, she had been too lazy to look. Intimacy and emotions were boring concepts to her. Reports, meetings, and new projects were endless. Even if the person at home was beautiful, they were just a decoration.

But now, when Ning Xiangxiang said “we aren’t from the same world” and “we have no future,” Huo Xingyu was stunned. In an instant, all the lingering romance was swept away. The cold air of the room felt sharper.

Her logic told her Ning Xiangxiang was right. She should find another woman—one who matched her taste and status. It’s correct. Even if she died for you in the past life, don’t overthink it. She’s telling you to find someone else. Find a family that matches the Huo Group. This is a second chance; don’t you want to build a bigger empire?

But her emotions were screaming in dissent.

Why? Ning Xiangxiang was hers! Why should she find someone else? If she found someone else, then what? Would Ning Xiangxiang be with someone else too? Would she like someone else the way she liked her?

The moment her thoughts reached that point, the thread of “logic” in Huo Xingyu’s mind snapped.

She looked at Ning Xiangxiang—at that seemingly indifferent expression—and a surge of fury erupted from her chest, threatening to consume the slender girl before her.

“I keep coming to find you, and you don’t know why?”

Huo Xingyu’s expression turned icy. Those sharp eyes locked onto her. “You say I look like your dead ex-girlfriend, you’re seen hugging a male actor, and when you see me angry, you only ask when filming starts. You act gentle and polite on the surface but secretly beat my chicken behind my back, and just now, you were playing happily with Chi Jing—the person I hate most.”

Huo Xingyu grew angrier as she spoke.

What “not from the same world”? What “no future”? Ning Xiangxiang was standing right in front of her, yet her words made her feel miles away. It felt as if the Ning Xiangxiang who used to follow her obediently was about to wave goodbye and walk right out of the Huo family gates. It felt as if everything was becoming different from the past life.

Broken flickers of neon light fell across Ning Xiangxiang’s face. Huo Xingyu saw her own reflection in those deer-like eyes.

“But then you say you miss me, you want to see me, you send me that damn rabbit emoji, and you even argue with Chi Jing for my sake. Ning Xiangxiang…” She called her name in a low voice.

“You ask why I come to find you? Because when you aren’t in front of me, I’m thinking about you. I’ve watched your terrible movies—which honestly insulted my taste in cinema—twice over. I’ve scrolled through your boring, empty Weibo posts repeatedly. I even had someone track down your WeChat just so I could add you in secret…” She spoke through gritted teeth.

“I come to find you because you make me feel like I’ve lost control of my reason. I admit it—I am that person who has lost her mind.”

Seeing the panic, disbelief, and shock flowing through Ning Xiangxiang’s beautiful eyes, the fierce emotions in Huo Xingyu’s heart—like a flood that had breached a steel dam—slowly began to level out into a calm.

Outside, the birds chirped and the wind rustled the leaves. On the screen, Chun-Li continued her mechanical jumping.

Silence reigned.

“Ning Xiangxiang, do you have nothing to say to me?” she asked the panicked girl who seemed lost for words.

…

Secretary Song bowed respectfully and placed a file on the table. “This is the Fourth Miss’s itinerary for today. Please have a look, Madam.”

Lin Xian, sitting on a broad, custom-made sofa, opened the brown envelope. This was how she “cared” for Huo Xingyu. Children like Xingyu didn’t like to talk or vent; they were like her paintings—silent but full of intense emotion. She had to maintain constant observation to ensure her “masterpiece” didn’t gather dust or become corroded by outside substances.

If a child veered off track, a parent had to correct them. Besides, rumors of Huo Xingyu’s strange behavior at the office had reached her ears. Every time Xingyu slipped up, Yang Pei was the first to run to her and complain.

A workaholic leaving early? Leaving in the middle of a strategy meeting?

At first, Lin Xian found it unbelievable. These were things Huo Xingyu would never do. But looking at the photos, she had no choice but to believe.

Lin Xian’s brow furrowed as she gripped the photos of Huo Xingyu. In that strange Film City. Speeding through traffic. And… in that game center.

A game center? Lin Xian found it both ridiculous and impossible. If the photo didn’t clearly show her back as she walked inside, she never would have believed Huo Xingyu would go to such a place for the sake of “immature, boring love.”

In every single photo, that little starlet was by her side. In a yellow sundress, with the bright summer sun making her skin look almost translucent. Her delicate collarbones and the slight curve of her chest under the straps of the dress all screamed “shallow, calculated heart.”

Lin Xian’s fingertips turned white from the force of her grip on the photos. According to her standards, she could not allow her work to have a single flaw. A girl from that kind of family, who couldn’t make her own money and just wanted to crawl into a rich person’s bed…

How interesting.