The mall corridor was colder now. Or maybe it was just her skin.
Xu Meilin's heels clicked softly against the polished floor as she walked out of Averie. She didn't turn around. Didn't wait for him.
Her fingers trembled slightly at her side, not from fear. From fury. From humiliation. From holding back too much.
The coat she wanted still hung in the store, untouched. Not because she couldn't afford it. But because she didn't want anything that came after them.
She reached into her bag to call the driver.
She didn't get the chance.
A hand gripped her wrist.
Tight.
Too tight.
She gasped and spun, heart jumping to her throat—
Li Zeyan.
Expression unreadable. Jaw sharp. Eyes like polished steel.
Before she could say a word, he dragged her back, fast, silent into a narrow corridor between two luxury boutiques. Hidden. Quiet. The world muffled around them.
> "What are you...?" she started, breath short.
He didn't let her finish.
His mouth slammed into hers.
Hard. Unforgiving. Heat laced with ice.
She staggered back, her spine hitting the wall. His hands didn't touch her skin, not directly, but the force of him was everywhere. In the way his lips crushed hers. In the way his body boxed her in. In the way he demanded something without asking.
Not tenderness.
Not passion.
Control.
Meilin gasped into the kiss, shocked still. Her hands pushed weakly against his chest, but he didn't stop.
The sound of the mall faded. Her world shrank into one: him.
The taste of anger. Of power. Of the man who protected her in one breath and punished her in the next.
Then, just as suddenly, he pulled away.
Breathless. Silent. Staring.
She could still feel his breath against her lips.
His eyes scanned her face, flushed cheeks, wide eyes, lips red and swollen.
Then he stepped back a pace.
Reached into his pocket.
And wiped his mouth. With calm disgust. Like she had dirtied him.
> "We're husband and wife," he said coolly. "I don't need a reason."
Meilin's heart cracked, not from the kiss.
But from the aftertaste.
From the quiet horror of how coldly he could touch her, then pretend it never mattered.
She didn't say a word.
She couldn't.
She just stood there, breath ragged, hands still trembling at her sides.
He looked at her like she was a business mistake.
> "You've made enough of a scene," he said. "Get in the car."
He turned without waiting.
Left her there, back against the wall, heart caving in, lips that still burned.
And for a moment, Xu Meilin stood there completely still.
Then it hit her.
The kiss wasn't about her.
It never was.
It was about control.
Power. Ownership.
A reminder.
A cruel, brutal way of saying: I can do this to you… and you can't do anything about it.
Her eyes stung. Not with tears. But with heat.
With betrayal.
Because some foolish, broken part of her still thought, maybe, that moment on the balcony meant something. That when he looked at her and said "You smiled at me…" it wasn't just convenience speaking.
But this?
This was him reminding her who held the leash.
---
The car ride back to the Moon Pavilion was dead silent.
Zeyan didn't glance at her once. He sat with perfect posture, jaw locked, arms crossed, as if nothing had happened.
As if he hadn't just stolen her breath, broken her dignity, and then wiped her from his lips.
Meilin stared out the window.
Her reflection stared back.
Tired. Flushed. Eyes dark.
Her fingers pressed gently to her mouth.
She hated herself for how deeply it still burned.
When the car pulled up to the estate, he opened the door for himself and walked ahead.
No word.
No glance.
She didn't follow him.
Not immediately.
She sat there in the back seat for a long time, heart screaming in a voice her mouth wouldn't use.