The Wife From the Contract Marriage Does Not Want to Get Divorced - Chapter 15

As the cool night breeze drifted through the cut-out sections of her evening gown and brushed against her lower back, Xie Siyu realized the impact injury was more severe than she had imagined.

She had no need for Xie Zhiyao’s insincere apology. As the crowd of onlookers in the corridor grew and many began taking photos with their phones, she gently tugged on Lu Yanqing’s sleeve. Her gentle voice rose: “Let’s head into the banquet hall first.”

Lu Yanqing, having clearly seen through Xie Zhiyao’s perfunctory display, lightly wrapped an arm around Xie Siyu’s waist to lead her toward the main hall. She didn’t grant the other woman so much as a glance, let alone acknowledge her plea.

“Yanqing… President Lu, it really was Xie Siyu who intentionally provoked me just now. If you don’t believe me, you can check the surveillance footage.”

Xie Zhiyao was truly panicking now. If she botched the task her father had assigned her, there would be no good outcome waiting for her at home. Seeing Lu Yanqing about to leave, she rushed forward to block their path. In her frantic state, she spotted a surveillance camera not far down the hallway, and her eyes lit up as if she had found her backbone.

“So what if there is surveillance?”

Lu Yanqing suddenly let out a soft chuckle, looking at Xie Zhiyao as if she were a jumping clown. Where did she get the confidence to think that Lu Yanqing would side with her?

Her thumb pressed against the thin fabric over Xie Siyu’s waist. Feeling the slight tremor in Siyu’s body, Lu Yanqing looked curiously toward her lower back. In the next instant, her gaze froze on the hollowed-out portion of the dress.

Upon that porcelain-white skin sat a stark bruise of green and purple. It must have hit a hard object; the edges were already flushing with dark red streaks of blood.

Three minutes later.

The restroom at the end of the corridor.

Under the cold white overhead lights, the injury on Xie Siyu’s lower back finally came into clear focus. Lu Yanqing crouched down, her fingertips hovering half an inch above the bruise. She asked in a heavy voice, “Xie Zhiyao did this?”

The warm breath brushed against her skin. Xie Siyu suppressed a shiver and turned her body slightly to avoid Lu Yanqing’s gaze. “I just accidentally bumped into something.”

Lu Yanqing let out a heavy sigh and took out her phone to message Liu Yao, who was waiting outside: Bring my cashmere blazer from the car to the banquet hall.

Xie Siyu gazed at their partially overlapping shadows on the floor, looking like intimately intertwined vines. She couldn’t help but drift into memory.

Three years ago, when Lu Yanqing disappeared, Grandpa Lu insisted that Siyu take over as the CEO of the Lu Group. At the press conference, someone intentionally spilled red wine on her white dress. Back then, the entire room watched to see her make a fool of herself. How she had wished Lu Yanqing would appear but even by the end of the conference, she hadn’t shown up.

But today, she was right here by her side.

It felt good.

“Doesn’t it hurt? Why are you still smiling?”

The sharp sound of someone’s voice reached Xie Siyu’s ear. The cashmere blazer was already wrapped around her waist, carrying a faint scent of cedar Lu Yanqing’s scent.

As Lu Yanqing unfolded the jacket, the cufflink on her sleeve accidentally caught a strand of Xie Siyu’s hair. Afraid of hurting her, she stepped half a pace closer. Looking down, she glimpsed the slight curve at the corner of Siyu’s mouth and was truly exasperated into a laugh.

Xie Siyu pursed her cherry-pink lips, a gentle smile rippling in her eyes as she thanked her. She shifted the topic seamlessly: “What did President Yang of ‘Yun Shang’ say? Does she agree to the hidden-line compensation we offered?”

“Mhm. During the mall’s renovation, ‘Yun Shang’ will relocate to the second floor next to the Children’s Paradise. We’ve customized a #Parent-Child Tea Art Class# exclusive event. The foot traffic will increase rather than decrease; she has no reason to refuse.”

Lu Yanqing explained the negotiation process with Yang Shan in a few words. If she remembered correctly, was there a pharmacy across from the Junyue Hotel?

She unlocked her phone screen again, messaging while saying: “We’ve already visited the Yangs. Let’s head back. That bruise on your waist needs to be treated.”

B1 Parking Garage.

In the back of the Bentley, the overhead light had been adjusted to a warm glow.

“Take off the blazer. I’ll help you apply the Safflower oil.”

Liu Yao was highly efficient. As soon as they returned to the car, she had returned with the oil and some ice from a milk tea shop.

Lu Yanqing took off the wedding ring on her right hand and placed it in the center console. She wrapped the plastic cup containing the ice in a silk scarf; the triple-layered silk buffered the chill. She tested the temperature against her palm.

In the narrow, quiet cabin, the sound of ice clinking made Xie Siyu’s heart skip a beat. Her hands trembled as she removed the blazer, feeling flustered and cramped. “Just let Liu Yao do it.”

However, her shrinking shoulder was pressed down by a warm palm. “Don’t move.”

Lu Yanqing seemed not to notice Xie Siyu’s tension. Her left hand lightly supported Siyu’s side while she pressed the chilled cup against the bruise. “You can’t rub a fresh injury immediately. Cold compresses reduce swelling. I’ll apply the medicine for you in a moment.”

The moment the ice touched her skin, a burst of aching soreness exploded. Xie Siyu gripped the cashmere blazer in her arms tightly, her forehead leaning against the car window. Her long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.

The scent of cedar mixed with white camellia on Lu Yanqing’s body drifted into her nose a light, cold fragrance. Xie Siyu closed her eyes, counting the frequency of the other woman’s breathing, only to find it gradually synchronizing with her own heartbeat.

She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination.

Lu Yanqing was indeed a bit unsettled. As Xie Siyu lowered her head, the nape of her neck curved like a piece of fine glazed porcelain. Her dark, smooth hair slid over her chest, revealing a vast, undefended expanse of snowy skin.

Suddenly, Lu Yanqing felt a bit hot, and her breathing grew uneven. She quickly lowered her gaze and silently counted down twenty seconds in her mind.

Time was up. She removed the cup.

Looking at the purple bruise, Lu Yanqing sighed and warned softly, “This might hurt a little.”

She took a cotton swab, dipped it into the glass bottle of medicinal oil, and began applying it from the center of the worst congestion, swirling the swab to rub the medicine in.

Even though her movements were extremely light, she could still feel Xie Siyu’s body trembling slightly. She spoke soft words of comfort while blowing gently on the bruise: “Hang in there, it’ll be over soon.”

“Is it done?”

After a few more minutes, Xie Siyu turned her head to ask. The ears hidden beneath her hair were burning. Such “intimate” contact was something she hadn’t dared to even dream of, yet the thumping heart in her chest told her this was all real.

“Mhm.”

Lu Yanqing tossed the cotton swab into a bag. “Put your clothes on.” Only after ensuring Xie Siyu was covered did she roll down the window to let Liu Yao back into the car.

By the time they arrived downstairs at the Jianghai Lanyuan apartments, it was nearly 10:00 PM.

Lu Yanqing didn’t hurry to get out because Xie Siyu, leaning against her shoulder, seemed to have fallen asleep. The sound of light, even breathing echoed in her ear.

The drive back from Junyue Hotel had only taken thirty minutes. If Xie Siyu could fall asleep that quickly, perhaps it was exhaustion or perhaps a chronic lack of sleep?

Indeed. They had lived under the same roof for nearly two weeks. She had noticed that Xie Siyu seemed to suffer from insomnia. Occasionally, when Lu Yanqing got up in the middle of the night, she would see the lights on in the master bedroom. At first, she thought Siyu had simply forgotten to turn them off, until she heard the sound of laptop keys clicking from inside.

“President Lu, should I wake President Xie?” Liu Yao asked in a low voice from the driver’s seat.

Lu Yanqing leaned her back against the seat, tilting her body toward Xie Siyu as if only to make her shoulder a more comfortable pillow.

She shook her head gently. The streetlights spilled through the right window, casting shadows like raven feathers over her eyelids.

“Send out the notice: shut down the two Elis stores in D-City and H-City.”

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