Chapter 18: Fine, you make it for me. Once I finish eating, I’ll leave.

Once a person has entered the inner chambers, it is difficult to push them back out.

Gu Yao stood by the door and looked up at Lu Zheng.

The man's words just spoken outside the door stirred a subtle unease deep within her, a premonition that her peaceful life was about to be disrupted.

She turned her head and reached for the switch by the door. The light in the room flickered on, illuminating the floor and slightly easing the tense atmosphere between them.

The irritation she felt inside made Gu Yao lose her composure first. She looked up at Lu Zheng, striving to make the coldness in her voice more pronounced:

“Lu Zheng, you…”

Before she could release the emotions brewing within her, the man opposite interrupted.

“Is there anything to eat?” Lu Zheng asked suddenly.

Gu Yao was momentarily stunned; the words she intended to say got stuck in her throat.

She widened her eyes slightly, looking at Lu Zheng with some incomprehension. The man before her wore an expression of calm as if he were not the one trying to expose some secret.

She swallowed hard, took a few steadying breaths, lowered her gaze, and turned her eyes away.

“No. You should ask the kitchen. I’m not your servant.”

But as soon as the words left her mouth, Gu Yao immediately regretted them!

She could have left out the latter part, yet she said it anyway.

Those words were harmless in any other context, but between them, they were the root of their estrangement.

Silence fell over the room once more.

Gu Yao could feel the heavy gaze of the man above her, dark and oppressive, falling upon her face as if seeing right through her bones, reading the regret in her heart.

Even deeper, it saw the insecurity and timidity beneath that regret.

She clenched her fists, a chill dawning on her expression.

Yet inside, she mocked herself; her regrets and insecurities were likely insignificant, even laughable, in the eyes of this high-and-mighty young master before her.

She avoided looking at his face, hoping to escape any further embarrassment.

“Mr. Lu, if there’s nothing you need, please leave. It’s inconvenient for you to be in my room.”

After Gu Yao spoke those words, all of Lu Zheng’s carefully planned thoughts dissolved.

He had always known she was stubborn.

Stubborn to the point of obstinacy.

He suddenly drew in a deep breath, as if making a decision.

The next moment, his figure moved swiftly, and he suddenly reached out to grab Gu Yao!

Lu Zheng used great strength; Gu Yao had no time to react. She felt a sudden tightness at her waist, and her body crashed heavily into the man’s embrace, the bitter scent of patchouli bursting instantly at her nose.

Her mind went blank for a moment but quickly snapped back, and she struggled fiercely.

“Lu Zheng, what are you doing? What are you doing!”

Gu Yao was flustered but remembered to keep her voice low. She pressed her hands against the man’s broad chest, meeting his eyes in frantic resistance, her gaze full of defiance and anger.

Lu Zheng pursed his thin lips and stared at the woman in his arms.

Those eyes that always appeared in his dreams were now right before him—but there was no tenderness in them, only rejection.

He had no choice but to wrap his other arm around her back to prevent her escape.

Then, his palm slowly moved upward until it rested behind her slender neck, steadying her restless head. He met her gaze and spoke the confession he had harbored for seven years:

“Gu Yao, I like you.”

The woman in his arms instantly stopped struggling.

She looked at him, her long eyelashes trembling, her expression shocked.

There was bewilderment in her eyes, but after a few breaths, she struggled even harder. Lu Zheng frowned deeply and gripped her arms more tightly.

He held her closer.

Lu Zheng lowered his head, his rosy lips just inches from Gu Yao’s eyes. She suddenly turned her head sharply, her voice trembling:

“Lu Zheng!”

Lu Zheng paused his movements; his Adam’s apple moved slightly as he swallowed, then he smiled faintly:

“Don’t be afraid. If you don’t agree, I won’t touch you. But… you have to let me finish.”

Gu Yao nodded hastily.

Her heart trembled at Lu Zheng’s sudden madness.

However, after saying this, Lu Zheng did not release her. He simply refrained from advancing beyond the embrace.

Gu Yao had to tilt her head back, trying to avoid the overwhelming pressure radiating from him.

“You speak, but first, let go of me!”

Lu Zheng neither responded nor moved.

He lowered his head and looked at her. After a month—or rather, seven years—he finally could look at her so carefully once more.

The imposing aura about the man softened suddenly, and his voice became gentler:

“Gu Yao, I’m serious. I like you—from when you were seventeen and I was nineteen.”

He spoke, his gaze locked tightly onto hers, eagerly seeking a response.

But disappointingly, all he saw was avoidance, nothing more.

A nearly imperceptible flicker of disappointment crossed his dark eyes.

Though Gu Yao had long suspected Lu Zheng’s feelings, hearing it confirmed aloud, having it unveiled so directly, still made her heart tremble.

Yet, after the tremble came a sense of ridicule.

Like he liked her?

Even back when she was seventeen?

What, then, was all the humiliation she had suffered?

She lowered her eyes, refusing to meet his gaze, her emotions cooling instantly:

“Mr. Lu, am I supposed to thank you for liking me?”

Lu Zheng was momentarily taken aback.

The woman’s cold voice came again:

“Please let me go. If you like me, shouldn’t you respect my wishes?”

As Gu Yao finished speaking, the man’s arms around her stiffened. Sensing a change, she immediately summoned strength and pulled away from Lu Zheng’s embrace.

He felt a sudden chill as the warmth was withdrawn. He wanted to pursue her, but when he met her cold, wary eyes, his reason returned promptly.

Gu Yao took two steps back, watching the man warily.

Alone together in a closed room, it was undeniably dangerous.

She regretted having pulled him inside, even if it meant being seen just moments ago.

But now, it was too late.

Gu Yao stepped back once more and, meeting Lu Zheng’s intense gaze, rejected him utterly:

“I won’t take your words seriously, and I ask you not to mention this again.”

With that, she stood still, waiting for his response.

Or she wished he would just turn and leave.

However, Lu Zheng did not move.

He neither advanced to do anything nor stormed off in anger at being rejected.

He simply stared at her, and Gu Yao thought she even saw a trace of something premeditated in his eyes.

Her brows furrowed; the fragile calm she had just regained was shattered again.

But then, Lu Zheng moved.

He walked over to the sofa and sat down.

“I’m hungry.”

He turned to look at her, his eyes full of expectation:

“I want to eat noodle soup.”

Gu Yao blinked in confusion.

The sudden change in topic left her momentarily speechless.

His behavior made her wonder if he had been deliberately toying with her just now.

Otherwise, how could his mood shift so abruptly?

But at this moment, none of that mattered.

Gu Yao took a deep breath, brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and looked at Lu Zheng to confirm:

“After you eat, you’ll leave?”

Lu Zheng paused as he reached for grapes on the table. After a moment, he looked up at her, his gaze deep and resolute:

“You make it for me. Once I finish eating, I will leave.”