Chapter 13 Pale Surrender

On life—a desolate gesture...
Short is existence, long is suffering!
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Warm breath slowly seeped into her, tinged with a faint aroma of tobacco, so different from the scent she remembered of Chen Sang. Not every site is the first to publish romance novels; a simple search will tell you.

Splash—
Their entwined bodies rose from the water, sending a shower of petals drifting slowly to the ground on the mist.

"You really did give me a surprise!" Lu Huaining gripped her chin, forcing her to open her eyes. "What? Did you think that clinging to He Min would let you stand against me?"

Xue Zuining only clutched the pitiful fabric before her chest, but saw that he, already stepping out of the wooden tub, suddenly turned and leaned down, his voice magnetic and laced with warning as it brushed her ear, "Believe me, men are all the same at heart. Silly girl, beware of being sold by a man and still counting the money for him..."

She watched his rakish figure push open the door and leave, so furious that she slapped the water’s surface. "Lu! Huai! Ning!"

Sure enough, when she changed her clothes, only a few people remained on the set. The assistant director, seeing her hair still damp, picked up a dry towel and walked over, "Dry off first, don’t catch a cold."

"Thank you." Xue Zuining accepted the towel, and at the sight of the man's hesitant expression, she already guessed the rest. She smiled indifferently, "I understand, Assistant Director. But you’ll have to find someone else for the stand-in role. I’m sorry."

With that, Xue Zuining sensibly left the set. By the time she had walked across half the city to the hospital, her mother had already taken her medicine and was asleep.

She stepped lightly away, closing the door on a room full of moonlight.

Lu Huaining, you win.

Lying in bed, Xue Zuining stared at the "Message Sent" prompt on her phone screen. She could already imagine the contemptuous smile that would curl across the recipient’s face upon reading it. On her phone’s wallpaper, Chen Sang’s smile slowly enlarged. She closed her eyes, fingers intertwined, holding the moment's peace tightly to her chest. A barely audible "I’m sorry..." slipped from deep in her throat.

The next day, Lu Huaining waited in his office as promised. The space, over two hundred square meters, was so quiet that the fall of a pin could be heard. He had instructed the two assistants outside to turn away all visitors, pulled out both phone lines, and turned off his mobile.

This was a game he had no intention of letting a third person join.

Across the table of polished rootwood, Xue Zuining faced him, feeling a vague sense of dread as she looked at this man who never failed to get what he wanted. Silver-grey suit, immaculate white shirt, a blue tie dotted with yellow, fingertips swirling gently around the rim of a teacup—she studied this man’s noble bearing for the first time and inwardly scoffed: all for naught, for a heart as black as pitch.

Lu Huaining stubbed his cigarette out in the crystal ashtray, stood, and walked to the window, turning his back to her aloof presence. Xue Zuining, as if involuntarily, turned to look at his silhouette.

"Have you really thought it through?" These were the first words he spoke.

"Does Young Master Lu ever offer any other choice?" Xue Zuining despised the man’s false benevolence.

Lu Huaining’s fingers traced the condensation on the glass, then he turned, his gaze darkening. "Of course not."

"In that case, since I’ve given you the answer you wanted, I’ll ask you to keep your word from that day." Xue Zuining felt that even a feigned apology was redundant before this man. Perhaps coldness was the only silent resistance left to her.

Lu Huaining circled around her and settled lazily onto the sofa, arms draped across the soft backrest. "In a hurry? But you can’t just summon an expert with a snap of your fingers. You have to give them some time to prepare. Or, if Miss Xue could show me some sincerity, everything would be much simpler."

Her gaze briefly met the predatory excitement in his eyes. The next moment, his voice, like a demonic spell, overwhelmed her.

"Doesn’t Miss Xue enjoy undressing before men? Why not give me a show now, let me see if my money’s buying a ticket worth the price?"

"Lu..."

"Take it off." Lu Huaining’s voice was even colder than his gaze.

Was this what ancient torture felt like—a pain where life was unbearable, yet death unreachable? As Xue Zuining, humiliated, unfastened the first button of her blouse, she knew that the moment she stepped into this suffocating room, she had already knelt and sacrificed her dignity to the man before her.

"Is Miss Xue’s slow-motion performance an invitation for me to join in?" Lu Huaining leisurely appraised her face, flushed with shame and fury. When she, gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes, finally shed every last shred of dignity, her discarded clothes piled like snow at her feet. On her pale ankle, the blue butterfly seemed ready to flutter out of sight at any moment.

His gaze, briefly dimmed.

Xue Zuining stood as rigid as a marble statue, like a faintly luminous Greek maiden, eyes suppressed, watching the man’s casual movements.

A paper airplane brushed her skin, drifting slowly to rest at her feet.

Lu Huaining stood, long fingers lifting her chin, his gaze lingering as he murmured, "Not so different from other women after all, all..."

Before the words of humiliation could finish, a sudden, jarring ring broke the moment. Lu Huaining glanced at the flashing number on the screen, a faint half-smile curling his lips.

"Huaining, I’m near your office. Let’s have lunch together. A friend recommended the salted lamb chops at Shuiyuan Lanting." As the call connected, Mu Chenxi’s gentle voice drifted sweetly into his ear.

Lu Huaining shot a glance at the woman behind him, scrambling in a flurry of relief, then replied with a touch of warmth, "Sure, I was just hoping to discuss your new project."

"What, is President Lu planning to double the investment in my new film?" Mu Chenxi laughed softly.

"For you, money has never been a problem." Lu Huaining’s smile was wicked. "I just want to recommend the perfect leading lady for your new film."