Chapter 8 I'll Sleep over Tonight

Sang Qi was caught off guard by my ambush before he quickly gathered and regained his former regality. As I straightened my posture, he looked down at me in a condescending manner, his hands resting in his trousers’ pockets to emphasize his nonchalance. Jin looked at me, confused, before she explained, “Ms. Xia, this gentleman said he was your friend and so I let him in.” “He is. But don’t do it again. Don’t let anyone in without my permission.” Jin nodded in understanding and excused herself. “I’ll serve tea,” she remarked and went into the kitchen. At her leave, I threw the phone in my collar again, just like what I had done in the mall. Sang Qi watched my movements with an amused glint in his eyes and smiled, “The chief editor was right. You were the most shameless woman back in the magazine office.” I shrugged, indifferent. The sudden pregnancy, my husband’s betrayal, and living here in this villa as someone’s mistress were drastic changes in my life that had nearly torn me apart. I had reached the rock bottom, so why would I not be shameless? I dismissed my thoughts and changed the subject to have control over the conversation, “Mr. Sang, since you have found me here, I would assume that you were either stalking me or you knew from the start where I already lived.” He regarded me calmly. His eyes sparkled like rare jewels that outshone the luxurious crystal lamps that decorated the house. "Don't you know that cell phones have a function called GPS?" he asked, rhetorically. I blinked, stupefied. I forgot about that. My ignorance may as well be due to me being accustomed to the cheap phones that I had always used. It did not have much functions except for a high-resolution camera, compared to the ones the elites had. Regardless, I took a step back and glared at him with arms crossed, “Mr. Sang, I said I would give it back to you tomorrow. Why are you in a hurry? Does this mean that you don’t want to keep your promise?” Sang Qi waved a hand while shaking his head in disagreement, "I have a very important call that I have to answer this evening." I opened my mouth to answer when I felt the phone buzzing at my chest. It rang loudly and vibrated inside my shirt. "Give it to me," he commanded while holding out his hand. I paused, my brain going a mile a minute. If I gave it to him, my leverage in this negotiation was gone. “I can take the message for you,” The moment the words slipped past my mouth, a flicker of anger in his eyes told me that I had crossed a boundary. Sang Qi was a renowned master of coolness and detachment. He could easily put up facades to mask his?emotions as needed, so if I could see his fury now, I must have bitten off more than I could chew. However, I had no way out. If I gave up this opportunity, it would mean that I would have to cease my search for clues concerning my predicament. I refused to give birth to someone else's child just to get kicked out of here after without knowing the truth. I would not stand by and wait for my impending doom. With that in mind, I ran back to my room with the phone in hand and closed the door shut. I fumbled with the lock, hoping fervently that I would stop him from following suit when Sang Qi kicked it open. Fortunately for me, I had moved quickly aside to evade being smashed by the falling door. Stunned, I stared at the broken plank lying on the ground. Sang Qi took advantage of my speechless state to grab the mobile phone in my hand. He connected the call just as the ringtone was about to stop ringing, then quickly headed for the patio for some privacy. I sat on the sofa beside the entrance of the room and watched as Mr. Sang paced around. His coffee-colored windbreaker blended into the dark of the night, the moonlight highlighting the outline of his body softly. He talked on the phone for more than ten minutes, before he went back to where I was with his silhouette brooding with unleashed wrath from my previous actions. “You almost ruined my business. I don’t think you could make any amends even if you were torn apart as a result of your meddling,” His voice was solemn and was slightly less harsh than before. I was taken aback, not expecting his tone to betray the furious aura he exhibited. I looked up at him, slightly intimidated by the height?difference that was intensified with me sitting down and him towering over me. After a brief silence, I suddenly smiled, saying, “Mr. Sang, you seem to know the layout of this villa well. You even entered the patio without any struggle.” Indeed, I had felt that something was wrong with the scenario. I had sat there waiting for his call to end for ten minutes, and it was not until he turned around that I figured out what was strange. When he answered the phone, he walked straight to the patio door and opened it with ease. The door knob had a weird design, and was unlike the common clockwise-spinning mechanisms of the usual knobs around most manors. One had to turn it the opposite way to enter the balcony. I had struggled with it for a long time after I came here, but Sang Qi had succeeded with it on his first try. It was a detail that I was careful not to miss. With my honed perceptiveness as a journalist, it would have been disappointing if I had not taken notice of that distinctive fact. He levelled me with a calculating gaze, before his pressed lips lifted upwards to mimic a smile, “Interesting,” he said. I cocked a brow at his comment, pointing out its irrelevance. He was probably trying to change the subject. Ignoring his attempt to veer away from the topic, I reached out to him. "Give me back my phone." He asked incredulously, “Your phone?” “I haven’t given it back to you, so it’s mine for the time being.” He smirked, and in a teasing manner, he tossed the phone high before catching it with his raised arm. He was clearly taunting me to steal it again. His mocking behavior was cut short as another mobile phone of his rang again, the other gadget in his hand falling limply by his side. He took the device out of his windbreaker pocket. Taking a quick look at it, he answered with a frown, "Hello?" “Darling Sang!” A woman’s voice shrieked from the other end of the line with a frequency so loud that it became enough for me to hear it. Its superficiality and coquettish tone gave me goosebumps all over, prompting me to roll my eyes in annoyance at the needy articulation of her endearment. Judging by the familiar intonation, a face immediately came to my mind in recognition. Her supposed pretty features consisting of botoxed cheeks, and overdone European-style double-fold eyelids formed a picture in my head, Without a doubt, it was the Ms. Yao who strutted in the 19,998’s worth of a dress. “Darling Sang, where are you? I called your house, but your maid said you weren’t in.” “I’m outside, go back home,” he spared a glance at me as he said. My presence was probably making his conversation difficult, but I had no plans of shying away. Thus, I stood up straight in front of him. “Darling Sang, where are you at in this late hour? I’ll be very anxious if you won’t let me see you. I’m going to lose sleep tonight because of worry!” “Gotta go,” he curtly stated before hanging up. He appraised me once more before he turned to leave the room. I trailed after him, matching the urgency in his pace, "You just broke the door, and to be honest, this isn’t my property. You have to compensate the owner in my stead." He trotted down the stairs, taking a series of swift steps in a somehow elegant manner. It was beyond me, how he could maintain such sophistication even in the face of an emergency. I pursued him as he landed on the ground floor, halting in time upon hearing the roar of an engine outside. Although I had never driven a sports car before, the sound of its engine was a rarity that one would be amazed to see in the busy streets of the city. It was not too hard to conclude that a vehicle of that caliber was probably the ride waiting for him outdoors. However, the car did not belong to the owner of this villa. For the past a few days I lived here, I had never heard any sound of sports cars in the garage, let alone one that was parked so close to the entrance. I looked through the peephole to see the new guest, and turned to him with a smile, “Your Ms. Yao is outside. You have to think it over before walking out, or else you'll get in a lot of trouble.” Hearing my words, Sang Qi looked out of the peephole, too. He paled significantly upon realizing that I had not lied to him. She had probably located Sang Qi's mobile phone the same way he had told me he tracked it. Sighing, I almost felt bad for him to have such an annoying girlfriend who lusted over his attention twenty-four hours a day. His hesitation was apparent when he drew back the hand he had placed on the doorknob. He was smart, of course, and knew that going out right now would only result in everyone knowing about my unwanted presence. And, he was a person who cherished his reputation. He turned and leaned towards me. As he drew near, I smelled the scent of tobacco again. The dizzying fragrance embraced me and clouded my head with its aroma. It was faint but unique, and was one that had etched deeply into my memory. “I’ll sleep over tonight,” he mumbled in defeat. I shook out of my trance at his declaration, "You can sleep in my bed." A disdainful frown crossed his lips at my comment, “You seem to be an easy woman.” “Well, you’re not bad looking, and I don’t have anything to lose.” I supposed that there were too many women offering free intercourse with him, as was previously assumed, so upon hearing my words, he regarded me with a cold look, "If you still want to work for Dayu, stay away from me tonight." “Okay,” I replied obediently, a smile dancing its way to my face.