Huo Li was feeling wronged, as his heart was wailing in discontent. He was used and like a tool he was kept away once the task was accomplished. No money, no smile, not even a thank-you! Poor Huo Li, poor Huo Li.
But it was that hug between the two lovebirds that had added up to his comprehension, as he gave a smile—a really, really broad smile, that it creeped Lu out before he left.
After Huo Li had left the office, Huo Yunting pulled his woman to his desk, as he invited her to have his seat, while pushing the insulation lunchbox to her.
"Enjoy."
"...T-thank you."
Lu opened the barrel promptly. Looking at the porridge and light dishes inside, she smiled slightly.
Huo Yunting sat on the table, with one arm holding the surface, and his body slightly tilted backwards. Occasional gazes upon her yet most of his gazes landed somewhere else ahead.
After the meal, Lu replaced the lid and got up, as she was going to give case a rinse, but before she could make a turn, she was caught again.
The man wrapped around her waist using one hand, and fiddled with her hair on one ear with the other.
"You haven't told me what you want for a reward."
Her eyes turned, as the grip on the insulation barrel tightened, likely mustering all her courage, she gulped, "Father is celebrating his birthday in a few days—Could we attend the banquet by then?"
Huo Yunting laughed.
That's the reward she wanted?
His alluring face inched towards Lu, as his lips approached her ears, caressing her earlobe.
She quivered—she could not fight back, not just yet. It took her days to muster the courage to ask the very question and she must not let go till she got the reply she wanted.
But the sense of violation was disturbing her.
"Alright, I'll go."
Just when she was helplessly bewildered, the devil had spoken.
Lu's eyes went wide, as she smiled joyfully, "Thank you so much!"
Unlike Lu, Huo did not smile, but he decided to land a kiss upon her dimple, "A happy ending for all of us, isn't it?" Said he as he lifted his arm away from her waist.
The heck he meant?
The smile froze.
All of us? Does that mean he knew it was my mother's plan all along?
She knew the purpose of Madam Xue's little request, though she was also aware that the banquet would not help fix their relationship, as the reality of that would be quite the contrary.
But it was a different story from Huo Zhenning's perspective. He would be more than pleased for Madam Xue's sociable, selfless move which put his pride ahead of hers.
Both Lu and Huo looked at each other silently for the next few seconds. She coughed when it started to get awkward and quickly changed the topic, "Sooo…I also heard Huang Dong was reporting to somebody else on phone. Probably there's someone leading a plot."
"Hmph," snickered Huo as he flipped his fringe, "An apple always rots to the core. I'll handle this. There's nothing else to worry in Thunderbolt for the moment, I'll send you home."
"I can go home by myself, thank you," she declined promptly.
"Honey, are you inviting me to carry you all the way to the reception? I really do not mind."
Huo Yunting was prepared in his stance.
Lu backed a few steps away from this lunatic immediately while a few veins on her hands bloated while holding the barrel.
He only knows how to threaten people into his way. Everything is about being a mafia. Seriously why do I even smile at him in the first place?
"Could you give me a better reason than this? It's always the same I-am-a-mafia-listen-or-else plot, do you really feel contented by threatening people?"
She was getting real annoyed by his act.
Huo Yunting's eyes skimmed through her pale arms, while changing into two gentle curves, "Why would I change the plot if it works every single time?"