The air froze for a moment.

Lu Huaicheng’s body stiffened, and he quickly bent down to pick up the towel that had fallen at his feet, hastily covering his waist.

He then straightened up with a slightly awkward expression, glancing at the even more flustered Xia Liyang.

In a low, hoarse voice, he struggled to maintain calm as he asked, “Miss Xia, weren’t you already asleep?”

“I…” Xia Liyang’s face turned bright red as she bit her lip, unsure where to look.

Although he had used the white towel to cover the crucial parts, the damp hair hanging down over his forehead, the tightly gripped towel at his waist, and the muscles glistening with remnants of water all somehow exuded an even more alluring charm.

Moreover, although it wasn’t intentional, she had inadvertently seen everything just now.

Inevitably, her mind wandered back to those inappropriate scenes.

Her heart raced uncontrollably.

There was no longer any mood to confess to him. She hurriedly found an excuse to go to the bathroom, lowering her long lashes, bypassed his tall figure, and fled downstairs with a flushed face.

Lu Huaicheng turned to glance at her slender back as she fled in a panic, exhaling heavily.

He genuinely thought she had fallen asleep, which was why he had been too lazy to go upstairs to get his pajamas and had gone straight to the bathroom to take a shower.

However, seeing her blush so deeply, one might think it was her towel that had fallen off.

Besides, she had seen him without clothes before; why was she so nervous now?

Could it be that she was worried he would do something to her because of this?

While contemplating this, Lu Huaicheng hung his head and re-tied the towel around his waist.

Just as he leisurely lifted his head, preparing to return to his room, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the book and letter she had thrown onto her bed through her slightly open door.

So she had already read his love letter.

He had thought she would have put the gift box away, and he might not have the chance to see her read it until after returning to Jiangcheng.

He wondered what her thoughts on his love letter were, whether she would accept his apology, and if there was even a slight chance she might think about getting back together with him.

But from her current demeanor, it seemed she had no intention of discussing it with him.

Maybe it was because his love letter was too straightforward, not romantic enough.

If he had known earlier, he should have asked Wen Yucheng for some advice.

Wen Yucheng’s romantic experience was far richer than his own, and he had plenty of experience pursuing girls.

Lu Huaicheng’s eyes dimmed slightly as he silently returned to his room.

Xia Liyang rushed into the bathroom, where the lingering steam and fragrance from his shower made her cheeks heat up even more. After washing her face with cold water for a long time, she finally cooled down.

She also calmed her racing heart.

Earlier, she had been so moved by his letter that her mind had gotten heated, leading her to dash out of her room and want to confess to him.

But she hadn’t actually thought about how to confess.

So many lies, so much deception.

Now that she thought about it, she felt at a loss for words.

Moreover, she had no way to predict how he would react.

Anger was definitely a given.

If she pushed the situation to its worst outcome, he might deeply despise her for being a complete liar and not want to see her again.

But she was still staying at his villa tonight.

The thought of being trapped in such a situation made her feel suffocated.

After analyzing everything, Xia Liyang began to feel relieved that she had accidentally knocked his towel off.

She should take some time to think about how to confess clearly and sincerely.

It would be better to write a draft in advance, practice it a few times, and organize her words.

Otherwise, if he frowned and his expression darkened, she might become so nervous and scared that she would end up mumbling incoherently.

That would only make things worse.

However, to prevent herself from avoiding this issue, Xia Liyang decided to arrange a dinner with Lu Huaicheng for the confession.

She walked up to the second floor and hesitated at his door.

After what had just happened, she felt it would be awkward and strange to knock on his door in the middle of the night.

Besides, she had been in the bathroom for so long; he might have already gone to bed.

Maybe she should just message him on WeChat.

Xia Liyang retracted her hand that was poised to knock and walked back to her room. She picked up her phone from the bedside and removed him from her blacklist.

But what reason could she give for sending him a friend request to make it seem natural?

Xia Liyang stared at her phone screen, feeling conflicted. After thinking for a while, she couldn’t find a suitable excuse.

Forget it; at this point, why should she care about appearances?

If she couldn’t even add him back on WeChat, how could she later confess to him?

Xia Liyang bit her lip, steeling her resolve, and sent the request without leaving a single word in the message.

She had thought he might take a while to see it, or perhaps he wouldn’t notice until the next morning.

To her surprise, just as she placed her phone on the bedside, a message notification popped up saying he had already accepted her friend request.

Xia Liyang was slightly taken aback, quickly picking up her phone again to open their WeChat chat.

Just as her finger hovered, hesitating on how to start the conversation, Lu Huaicheng’s message arrived before hers.

However, he didn’t ask her why she suddenly added him back, nor did he tease her.

He simply asked with concern, “Is there something you need?”

Xia Liyang felt a complex wave of emotions and replied with her fingers lightly tapping, “No, I just wanted to ask if you’re free next Saturday night.”

She watched as the “typing…” indicator in the chat box appeared and disappeared repeatedly, and after quite a while, his message finally came through: “Yes.”

She wasn’t sure why he took so long to decide on this single word.

But since he said he was free, she decided to set the date for her confession with him on that day.

One week was enough time for her to think about how to organize her words.

With some nervousness, she typed, “I’d like to have a meal with you.”

He replied almost instantly with a “Sure.”

He didn’t ask for the reason, or where to go, or what to eat.

It was as if he were afraid that if he delayed or asked too many questions, she might change her mind.

The explanations she had prepared suddenly became unnecessary.

So she simply sent him the details of the restaurant and time.

“Let’s meet at the restaurant on Saturday at 7 pm?”

Lu: “Sounds good.”

Finally setting this up, Xia Liyang felt a sigh of relief but also grew more anxious.

…..

Once back in Jiangcheng, she began drafting her confession.

However, she had barely started when Zhang Qing, the head of the film company that recently signed her novel, unexpectedly contacted her, saying he wanted to meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss adaptation matters.

Reluctantly, she put her draft aside and asked where they would meet.

To her surprise, Zhang Qing sent her a familiar address.

When she looked it up, she found it was actually in the Junlan Group building, which gave her an uneasy feeling. She asked, “Is your company affiliated with Junlan Group?”

Zhang Qing: “Junlan Entertainment is our major shareholder.”

???

Xia Liyang was stunned; she never expected that, after being so selective, she would end up signing with a film company controlled by Lu Huaicheng.

Feeling guilty, she quickly asked if they could meet somewhere else.

Zhang Qing: “Sorry, Ms. Xia, but it’s more convenient to meet at the company since it won’t just be me meeting with you.”

Xia Liyang bit her lip lightly and looked at the office floor Zhang Qing had sent her—it was quite far from Lu Huaicheng’s office on the top floor.

Besides, given that her project was relatively small, it was unlikely that Lu Huaicheng would pay it any attention.

Although he had indeed read her mystery novels, that was limited to her previously published detective stories.

She doubted he’d care about a romance novel that hadn’t even been released yet.

With that thought, there really wasn’t much to worry about.

So she finally agreed.

However, on Tuesday, worried she might run into Lu Huaicheng in the elevator, Xia Liyang opted to take the freight elevator.

She went up to the 15th floor along with a delivery.

Entering the scheduled meeting room, she found Zhang Qing already waiting inside.

Surprised by Xia Liyang’s appearance, Zhang Qing glanced at her, seemingly not expecting her to be so beautiful, and teased, “With your looks, Ms. Xia, you could play the female lead in your own novel.”

“Ms. Zhang, you’re too funny.” Xia Liyang laughed shyly and took a seat at the conference table, opening her laptop.

When the screenwriter, director, and other relevant people arrived, Zhang Qing glanced at her watch and said, “Let’s begin today’s discussion, and aim to finalize the key issues all at once.”

Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Junlan Group headquarters.

Lu Huaicheng sat in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, impeccably dressed in a suit. He furrowed his brows slightly as he reviewed a real estate project document that Lin Shen had brought over.

“Is Li Yuan acting as the middleman again?” He looked up slightly and glanced at Lin Shen standing in front of his desk.

“Yes, and Mr. Wen also found a transfer record in Li Yuan’s account from twenty years ago, indicating he was helping Zhou Yuling with her university fees,” Lin Shen reported.

“So they do know each other.” Lu Huaicheng nodded thoughtfully and asked, “Did you reschedule my flight?”

“It’s rescheduled,” Lin Shen paused, “but there aren’t any suitable flights to Beicheng on Sunday. Would you like to cancel your meeting with Mr. Chen?”

“Let’s cancel for now,” Lu Huaicheng said.

“Understood.” Lin Shen nodded.

“Anything else to report?” Lu Huaicheng continued.

“Um…” Lin Shen hesitated before saying, “Apparently, the author Wujin Xia is coming downstairs today to discuss the film adaptation of their new novel.”

Lu Huaicheng paused and looked up. “The author released a new book?”

Lin Shen: “Yes, but it’s a contemporary romance.”

“Oh.” Lu Huaicheng’s interest waned as he lowered his gaze. “Since when did Wujin Xia start writing romance novels?”

“Perhaps because online comments said the romantic plots in previous novels were poorly written, so maybe the author wanted to prove a point,” Lin Shen speculated.

“So how’s this romance novel?” Lu Huaicheng asked casually.

“It’s quite well-received, but I didn’t follow it much since it’s from the female lead’s perspective. Now many online are speculating again that the author might actually be a woman,” Lin Shen replied.

“I see.” Lu Huaicheng closed the project document and handed it back to Lin Shen. “Make a copy for me, and then send the project file back to Beicheng.”

“Yes, Mr. Lu.”

After Lin Shen left his office, Lu Huaicheng wearily rubbed his temples.

He had originally planned to return to Beicheng tomorrow for a two-week stay to handle recent business matters.

But since Xia Liyang had taken the rare initiative to ask him to dinner, he didn’t want to miss it.

So he decided to delay his trip to Beicheng.

Sipping some tea, he moved his mouse, intending to casually browse the internet and relax for a bit.

After scrolling through a few uninteresting news articles, he recalled what Lin Shen had mentioned about Wujin Xia’s new romance novel.

Curious, he opened Wenyu Novel Network and saw the author’s latest novel, Cinderella of the CEO’s House, at the top of the bestseller list.

Just seeing that title, he already didn’t want to click on it.

Lu Huaicheng’s mouth twitched slightly, feeling regret that Wujin Xia had switched from writing mysteries to this kind of brainless romance novel.

But as he was about to close the page, his eye caught the female lead’s name in the novel’s summary—Meng Yuan.

Meng Yuan…

Which “Yuan”?

The “Yuan” from “fulfilling dreams.”

Lu Huaicheng froze, suddenly recalling the fake name Xia Liyang had used when she accidentally hit his car.

Could this be just a coincidence?

He frowned, moving his mouse back to open the novel and read a few chapters.

The male lead’s character felt strangely familiar.

Some scenes even seemed to resemble the layout of his own home.

The more Lu Huaicheng read, the deeper his frown grew.

When he got to the part where the male lead, who never adds sugar to his coffee, found the cake the female lead had baked half as sweet as he would prefer, he abruptly stood up, dialing Lin Shen as he walked out of his office.

“Which floor and meeting room is Wujin Xia on?” His voice was deep, with an undertone of barely restrained tension.

“One moment, I’ll check for you.” Lin Shen quickly called the reception, then replied, “15th floor, room 1506.”

With that answer, Lu Huaicheng hung up immediately and strode toward the elevator.

Although he found his thoughts at the moment somewhat absurd, the more he recalled the little details of his interactions with Xia Liyang, the more he felt that this might not be impossible.

Her constant use of her phone’s notes app, her frequent excuse of needing to write a paper, her familiarity with flying despite claiming it was her first time, her claim that she was only close to him for money, yet having little interest in the luxury gifts he gave her…

Plus, she was friends with Song Jinhe, Chen Zhen called her “Ms. Xia,” and Wujin Xia’s gender wasn’t actually the male he had assumed.

He desperately needed proof that his assumptions were wrong.

That she hadn’t deceived him.

She couldn’t have deceived him.

How could he bear it if she had lied to him?

Lu Huaicheng took a deep breath, not even bothering to knock as he twisted the meeting room’s handle and pushed the door open.

Seeing the familiar, pure face behind the laptop screen—one that had haunted his dreams—his heart sank, as if plunging into an abyss.