Chapter 288: A Day in the Life of CEO Qiao (Part 4)

"Your current state—no one would find it lovable."

A cold voice sounded from the palace entrance not far away.

Sang Yan looked up and saw Zongfang standing there, nearly blending into the shadows of the corridor.

His hair had been cut to shoulder length, all tied low at the nape of his neck today, making his face appear even more exquisite. He wore brand-new clothes, looking much more spirited than when he had last seen him; clearly, he had dressed up specifically for today.

Zongfang walked in with long strides, staring at Laiboli's disheveled state with no emotion, and said, "Pathetic."

Laiboli gave a bitter laugh, raising his eyes, his gloomy gaze shooting toward him. "And you? How are you any better? Haven't you already gone into a rampage five or six times while she was away? And that's just what I know of. When we didn't know, where did you hide, locking yourself away in some dark corner?"

He had clearly also noticed Zongfang's attire today, which differed from his usual decadence. He laughed out loud, mocking, "You don't still think she's coming today, do you?"

Zongfang's gaze faltered. He appeared to have no emotional fluctuations, but his hanging fingertips trembled slightly.

Sang Yan let out a long sigh, his tone filled with helplessness: "Stop arguing. The more you act like this, the less willing Sui Sui will be to come." He said to Laiboli, "Last time she returned, did you keep grabbing her and refusing to let go, interrogating her about what she did and who she saw during the time she was gone?"

Laiboli's eyelids twitched, and he fell silent.

Zongfang walked over, looking at the cake smashed on the floor by Laiboli, his eyes unreadable.

Over these years, his edge had become increasingly restrained, but the feeling he gave off had become even more unfathomable.

No one in the hall spoke again. Zongfang simply crouched down, using his finger to dab a bit of cream from a clean spot on the cake and putting it into his mouth.

"Last month was her birthday. She didn't come that day either. I wonder if anyone helped her celebrate." That day, he had held the cake and waited until the horizon turned the color of a fish belly, but he never waited for her.

Anubis heard his self-talk, turned his head away in desolation, and was the first to leave.

Sang Yan saw that Laiboli's state wasn't suitable for discussing official business, so he also left.

He originally intended to return straight to the Freedom Alliance, but as he passed Qiao Suisui's palace, he stopped in his tracks on a whim.

He pushed the door open and entered. The palace was pitch black and exceptionally cold.

Sang Yan looked up and breathed, but he could no longer smell a trace of her scent in the air. She had been gone for too long.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard movement from the inner chamber.

Sang Yan was overjoyed, thinking Sui Sui had returned. But as he walked into the inner chamber, he saw a tall figure curled up on her bed.

He saw Luka with his legs bent, holding her quilt, burying his head deep into it.

Sang Yan paused and called out "Xikesaisi," but the man gave no reaction.

He thought he was in a bad mood and didn't want to be bothered, so he wanted to leave quietly, but he heard the man's low, delirious muttering.

Sang Yan walked up and turned his curled body over, seeing Luka's forehead covered in cold sweat, his whole body burning hot.

"Xikesaisi, you have a fever."

Beastmen rarely got sick, especially male beastmen. And this was the "Sword of the Empire" known for his coldness—the Luka Xikesaisi who could work 24 hours a day without showing a hint of fatigue.

Luka, however, couldn't hear his words at all, his lips moving continuously.

Sang Yan leaned down to listen—

A faint voice, hoarse and fragile, was saying: "Use the medal to make a wish for you to return..."

Sang Yan didn't understand what he was talking about, but his intuition told him it must have to do with Sui Sui. He helped Luka cover himself with the quilt and called the medical team. By the time he was busy until the second half of the night, Sang Yan was sitting on the steps outside Qiao Suisui's palace looking at the stars, when he suddenly discovered the scene before him was slightly doubled.

He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but looking again, there were still two overlapping scenes.

He stood up and walked over, reaching out to touch it. To his surprise, he found his arm being "eaten" into something like an invisible wall. "This is..."

Sang Yan walked into the "wall." Dazzling skyscrapers, reinforced concrete, and the endless flow of traffic made his brain explode with a buzz.

He immediately retreated, took a moment to steady his mind, and then, as if remembering something, walked into the "wall" again decisively.

At first, he flew aimlessly over the city, but as he passed a certain building, a familiar scent was captured by him. Relying on a beastman's keen five senses, he found Qiao Suisui's residence. His wings flapped continuously, and he finally stopped outside the window on the eleventh floor.

This was it; it couldn't be wrong.

Sang Yan tentatively pressed his dragon claw against the glass, but a magical thing happened again: the glass was like a melting water curtain, allowing him to pass through unimpeded.

The next second, a muscular man, completely naked, appeared in the living room.

He grabbed a shawl from the sofa, wrapped it around his waist, and walked toward the bedroom with a keen sense of direction, because the scent of lily of the valley had been leading him.

Sang Yan opened the door lightly and saw that person deeply sunken into the bed in the dim bedroom. His eye sockets couldn't help but heat up, and the muscles on both sides of his throat tightened.

Qiao Suisui was sleeping very soundly, her fingers slightly curled beside her face, the silk slip falling to her waist.

Sang Yan's hand trembled as he gently stroked her cheek, his eyes filled with unmelting tenderness.

He just watched her like this, not knowing how much time had passed, only feeling the light coming through the curtains and becoming a bit piercing.

8:45 AM.

The phone rang.

Qiao Suisui was woken up and turned over, ignoring it.

The ringtone rang persistently. She got up irritably to turn it off and sat on the bed in a daze.

Her hair was slightly messy, her eyes still dazed and sleepy, her camisole slip hanging loosely off her shoulder.

Suddenly, she felt a heat on her neck, causing a tremor to ripple across her skin. She raised her hand to touch it, but there was nothing there.

"Strange..."

She looked around; there was no one, not even an insect.

Qiao Suisui thought she was hallucinating; just now, she had thought someone was hugging her from behind, their breath spraying onto her neck.

She picked up her phone and turned off Airplane Mode, and the phone immediately rang continuously. First were two missed calls from Guan Weizhi—one from 11:00 PM last night and one from 8:00 AM this morning. She thought to herself, does this person not need to sleep?

Then she saw the red dot on WeChat. Opening it, she saw Han Chen had sent a pile of documents at 3:00 AM, and half an hour later, sent a message that had nothing to do with anything: "When are you coming to headquarters? I want to talk to you."

Then, seven minutes later, he sent: "I'll come over. I should be at your place by tomorrow morning."

*Crazy. * Qiao Suisui evaluated in her heart.

Scrolling down the page, there were only work group messages and the secretary's schedule reminders. Qiao Jiming, on the other hand, was as quiet as the dead.

Among a pile of work messages, Qiao Suisui discovered a verification message from Gu Mengze, showing the addition method was through a friend card recommendation.

She didn't need to ask to know that Lin Xixi had pushed her WeChat to Gu Mengze.

At the class reunion that day, Gu Mengze had asked to add her in person, but she had brushed him off with the excuse that her phone was out of battery. She had thought that after one absurd night, they would just continue to be strangers, but she had guarded against everything except Lin Xixi, that gossip.

(End of Chapter)