Chapter 36
To hide the red-rose hickeys on her neck, Cheng Lydia deliberately changed into a high-collared shirt.
Today was still the day she went to work at Shen’s, and although she had deliberately walked into the company with Shen Ron at a distance, one after the other, she still received many speculative stares as she stepped into the company.
With both of them being over an hour late at the same time and entering the office one after the other, you can’t really blame people for thinking too much about it.
LILY glares at her with an annoyed look on her face, then puts the entertainment newspaper with her photo in front of her and says, “Others may not be able to tell, but I can tell the woman in the photo is you, what the hell is going on here?”
Cheng Lydia scanned the paper, vainly.
Before attending the party last night, LILY had more than once admonished her to take care of her image and not to embarrass CEO Shen …NôvelDrama.Org holds © this.
She ended up making a huge scene at the party, but Shen Ron didn’t introduce her to too many guests, so very few people knew that she was Shen Ron’s date. With today’s report, people are even more convinced that she is Gu William’s date and has nothing to do with Shen Ron.
“There was a bit of a mishap at the party, but it didn’t affect CEO Shen much.” Cheng Lydia said somewhat apologetically.
With Gu William taking this fall for Shen Ron, Shen Ron can completely stay out of the way and be one of the many people watching the joke.
Having just watched Shen Ron come in with no unusual emotions, apparently having turned the page on last night, LILY finally lets go a little and throws the newspaper in the trash.
Just as she’s getting ready to work, LILY’s phone rings, and seeing the number three bouncing on it makes her instantly a lot more serious, darting towards the pantry with the phone in hand.
“Old Lady, you wanted to see me?” She asked respectfully.
The old lady on the other end of the phone got right to the point: “To tell you the truth Secretary Yao, Cheng Lydia is my grandson-in-law, the new wife of your CEO Shen.”
“Ah…!” LILY almost drops the phone in her hand in shock.
“Don’t be surprised yet.” The old lady said with a smile, “I placed her next to Ron to create some opportunities for the two to cultivate their relationship, the young couple is very good on the surface, but in fact, their private relationship is poor.”
“Old Lady … why are you telling me this?” LILY was almost in tears, what was she doing just now, yelling at the CEO’s wife, what was she doing yesterday? Telling the president’s wife not to daydream and not to try to seduce the CEO Shen while she was at work.
Oh my God, would the president’s wife hate her for this?
“Of course I’m asking you to do me this favor, just take every opportunity to create opportunities for them to get along during the weekdays, and I’ll give you a raise when their relationship gets better.”
“Really?” LILY rejoiced.
“Of course, you’ve been with me for five or six years now, when have I ever lied to you?” The old lady paused and added, “But Cheng Lydia doesn’t want people to look at her differently, and all don’t want people to know who she really is, and that’s something you’ll have to keep a secret from me.”
“Good grin, old lady, don’t worry, I will do my best.”
“See, it’s my LILY who knows what she’s doing, so that’s it for now, goodbye.” The old lady hung up with a smile.
LILY quietly let go of the phone, her eyes fell through the doorway on Cheng Lydia who was working intently, then folded her hands and prayed secretly that the president’s wife would be generous and not hold a grudge against her.
Luckily, this president’s wife seemed quite gentle and kind, without any stand, so she shouldn’t do anything to her.
After work, Cheng Lydia accompanies Shen Ron to meet a client under LILY’s arrangement. Throughout the dinner time, several clients talk eloquently, blowing off some big words with no edges, while Shen Ron just laughs and listens, occasionally echoing a few words.
Cheng Lydia peeked over at Shen Ron, really admiring how he could still bear to go on in.
She was hard as nails early in the morning and ate very little.
One of the male clients raised his glass to Cheng Lydia with a smile, “Secretary Cheng, you haven’t had a drink tonight, how about one?”
Cheng Lydia was busy raising her hand plus shaking her head in refusal, “Sorry, I really don’t know how to drink, you should toast the CEO Shen instead.”
A drink? Better forget it, she didn’t want to do something ugly like last night again.
She couldn’t help but blush and heat up just thinking about last night, and her eyes couldn’t help but dart to Shen Ron’s large screen phone on the desk, with her racy photos still in it.
“Just one glass, just one glass, just give a face …” The male client was already slightly drunk, and began to speak with a loud tongue, and rose from his chair as he spoke, leaning his upper body hard toward Cheng Lydia.
Cheng Lydia has never been in the workplace, much less encountered this situation, a time to know what to do. If she refused too much, she was afraid of offending the client, but if she drank in, she was afraid that she would make a fool of herself.
Impatient, she had to turn her help to Shen Ron, although she knew deep down that the vicious Shen Ron might not pick up on her.
Perhaps apologizing for leaving her alone at the party last night, Shen Ron didn’t give her a hard time this time, reaching out to take the glass from her hand and smiling at the other party, “Mr. Zhong, don’t give a woman a hard time, I’ll drink for her.”
“It’s not enough for CEO Shen to say that, making it seem like I’m bullying someone.” CEO Zhong put down his glass and grasped Cheng Lydia’s small hand in his palm instead, grinning lamely, “Secretary Cheng is new here, right? Want to work for us at Zhong, I’ll give you double the salary.”
“No need.” Cheng Lydia tried hard to pull her grip back, only to have his grip tighten.
Mr. Zhong turned to Shen Ron: “CEO Shen, let me have her tonight, and I’ll sign the contract immediately.”
It was the first time he had met such a watery and raw secretary, and he wanted to take a bite just looking at her.
As he spoke, Mr. Zhong grabbed the contract that had been laid aside in his hand and raised it in front of Shen Ron.
The contract had indeed been negotiated long enough, and it would be nice if it could be signed right away. Cheng Lydia knew this in her heart, and she looked sideways at Shen Ron, fear lurking in her calm gaze.
With Shen Ron’s character, she was really worried that he would push her across to Mr. Zhong in order to end the negotiations as soon as possible.
Shen Ron looked at her and saw through the trepidation in her eyes, and then looked at her small hand that was being held tightly by Mr. Zhong, picked up the chopsticks in his hand and tapped on Mr. Zhong’s wrist, smiling lightly, “Mr. Zhong, don’t be like this, my secretary can’t afford to play too violently, and her skill in coaxing men is even worse to the extreme, if Mr. Zhong is afraid of being lonely tonight, I will find another one for Mr. Zhong with a body and If you are afraid of being lonely tonight, I will find you another one with better body and skills than her.”
“But I like it when it’s raw like Secretary Cheng.” Chief Zhong played it safe.
“I said no.” Shen Ron’s patience was half worn away and he looked askance sullenly at the two men clutching their palms together.
Being glared at by his ice-like gaze, General Zhong instantly seemed to be struck by electricity and instinctively let go of Cheng Lydia’s palm, and his wine was half awake, so he resentfully withdrew his hand.
As soon as Cheng Lydia got free, she was busy retreating her body as far away from Mr. Zhong as possible.
“I’m sorry CEO Shen, our Chief Zhong is not up to the task of drinking.” The assistant sitting next to CEO Zhong apologized and smiled.
And when Shen Ron saw that Zhong was sensible, his anger retreated quickly, and his charming smile reappeared under his eyes as he said, “It’s okay.”
Although it was a small incident, a common bridge at the table, a small shadow was cast over Cheng Lydia’s heart, and she rose from her chair and left the private room under the pretext of going to the bathroom.
It was a five-star hotel, and Cheng Lydia stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of the corridor looking up at the night view.
It’s not far from Chung Grace’s rented apartment and all day today, Cheng Lydia is thinking about how to explain to Chung Grace what happened last night. If Chung Grace knew that she and Gu William had been drinking by the river last night, she would not be happy, right?
She took out her cell phone and hesitantly dialed Chung Grace’s number, which rang for a long time but was not answered.
As it was, I sent a brief message to Shen Ron instead: Chung Grace lives across the street, I’m going over to see her.
After sending the SMS, Cheng Lydia took the elevator downstairs and was surprised to receive a reply from Shen Ron in the elevator, although it was only a short ‘approved’.
She thought Shen Ron would not allow her to leave, or if he did, he would not return her texts. Was he so uncharacteristically kind tonight?
Cheng Lydia bought two boxes of Chung Grace’s favorite Black Forest cheesecake from the dessert shop on the first floor, arrived at the bottom of the apartment building and used the room card Chung Grace had previously assigned her to make her way to the seventh floor unhindered.
To avoid scaring Chung Grace, she did not use her card to open the door, but knocked on the panel with her hand. There was no answer for half a minute, and as she was about to swipe the door with her card, the door was suddenly pulled open and Chung Grace, dressed in a sexy robe, appeared in front of her.
Seeing Cheng Lydia, Chung Grace took the pastry from her hand with a delighted look on her face while giving her a grateful hug, “Honey, how did you know we were hungry, so thoughtful.”
Her face didn’t show any sign of anger, it was still as joyful as it had been every time I’d seen her before at first.
Wasn’t she angry at all? No suspicion?
“I happened to be eating next door and stopped by to see you.” Cheng Lydia followed her into the house, mentally speculating whether the happiness she was displaying was real or not.
And when she looked at the man sitting on the sofa in the living room, all speculation had seemed superfluous …
Her steps forward braked to a halt at the foyer and she was stunned.
Gu William! What’s he doing here at this late hour? Are the two of them already living together? Has it gone this far?
At this moment, Gu William, dressed in a casual outfit and wearing a couple of cotton slippers paired with Chung Grace on his feet, is holding a rocker in one hand and resting on the back of the sofa chair with the other, lazy and leisurely, handsome and charming.
His eyes fell on Cheng Lydia at the same time, smirking.
“HI,” he snapped at her.
Cheng Lydia, however, remained stunned in place and unable to move.
“Why that look? It’s not like you’ve never met William,” Chung Grace asked with a smile as she pulled her down on the couch across from Gu William and opened the snack box, “Is it the Black Forest I like to eat? It smells like it.”
“Well, yes.” Cheng Lydia responded dryly.
Her mind began to regret why she had come running here, it was so late, she really shouldn’t have come.
Is it too late to leave? But if she leaves now, she’s obviously weak. There’s nothing between her and Gu William, so why should she be weak and avoid him?
At the thought, Cheng Lydia took a light breath, fading the uncomfortable part of her mind out of her body.
“Mmm, yummy, where did you get it?” Chung Grace took a bite and praised, then passed her own bite of the pastry to Gu William’s mouth with a smile, “Try it honey, it tastes really right.”
Gu William opened his mouth to take a bite and Chung Grace followed up with, “How was it? Is it better than the one on the west side of town?”
Gu William nodded, “It’s really good.”
“Where did you buy it?” Chung Grace asked again as she twisted her head around.
“It’s across the street at the Hitchcock Hotel.” Cheng Lydia replied.
Looking at the seemingly intimate duo, Cheng Lydia is not at all happy for Chung Grace. They share a cake and an apartment, but she doesn’t dare to guess how much Gu William really feels for Chung Grace.
She finally understood why Chung Grace hadn’t called all day to ask after where she’d been and what she’d done with Gu William last night; it seemed that Gu William had coaxed her into it early on.
It seems that this man is indeed a veteran in the love business, as he has managed to coax even a stylish and dominant woman like Chung Grace.
“Lydia, why aren’t you eating?” Chung Grace noticed Cheng Lydia sitting motionless and dry and went back to sit beside her to survey her, “By the way, who are you having dinner with at Hotel Hitchcock, Ron?”
“Well, to accompany a client to dinner, I dropped by to check on you in the middle.” Cheng Lydia intended to get up to get a glass of water and was just halfway there when Chung Grace pulled her back to the couch.
“Yikes, such a heated mess with Ron last night.” Chung Grace lifted the collar of her shirt around her neck as soon as she could, and several dark red hickeys were on display.
Cheng Lydia’s little face heated up and she slapped her little hand off of herself without a smile.
This woman, joking around is still so out of place.
“Haha, and shy, what’s there to be ashamed of when you’re an adult.” Chung Grace laughed merrily.
At the moment when Chung Grace pulled Cheng Lydia’s collar straight, Gu William unconsciously squeezed the paper cup in his hand, and the white boiled water spilled over the rim of the cup and slid down his arm to the ground, and the color of his originally unemotional eyes also sank cold at the same time.
The hickey on the nape of Cheng Lydia’s neck pressed into his eyes like sand.
When Shen Ron took Cheng Lydia away from him last night, Cheng Lydia was so drunk she couldn’t find her way around and looked like the same little lamb that would be eaten.
They were a couple, so it was normal to be crazy, right? But he still couldn’t help but spit out a mocking remark at her, “I didn’t expect Ms Cheng to be so crazy in private when she looked like a gentleman.”
His sarcasm might not be heard by Chung Grace, but Cheng Lydia could hear it clearly. She couldn’t help but get angry in her heart and glared at him without moving. If he hadn’t brought her a drink last night, would she have been so drunk that she would have forced herself on Shen Ron without even having any dignity?
Chung Grace didn’t notice the waves between the two and smiled, “As the saying goes, a woman who is a lady in front of people and a wench in bed is the most pleasing to men.”
This kind of talk is really inviting, especially in front of a man who isn’t really familiar with it.
Cheng Lydia got up and walked over to the water fountain to get a glass of water, took two sips and put it on the table, and was about to retreat when her cell phone land rang at that moment.
Chung Grace brought her face over and surveyed the phone screen with a smile, “Speak of the devil, why don’t you pick it up?”
Cheng Lydia picked up the phone and listened for a while and said into the microphone, “It’s at the Marriott Apartments diagonally across from the Hitchcock Hotel, I’ll be right down.”
When she hung up the phone, Chung Grace immediately asked, “Ron he came to pick you up?”
“Yes, I’ll go back first, you get an early night.” She got up from the couch and headed for the door without another glance at Gu William.