It was love at first sight

Mrs. Cheng glanced over at her husband, who was sitting beside her focused on his phone. She was worried at the condition he had set for Fei Huangjin. "You're being mean to the boy. What if it'll take him a year to get her to marry him?"

He pocketed his phone and wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders. "What's so mean about that? I'm set on signing the contract with him anyway. It will only be a matter of when. Besides, I'm not in a rush to give up the company."

She sighed.

"Besides, he should take the contract as my engagement present to them." Cheng Jinyao chuckled.

Mrs. Cheng still wasn't convinced. "What if he only marries her for the contract?"

"The girl doesn't seem that simple." He had been silently observing her during the lunch meeting. He could sense that she wasn't going to be an easy one. It'll take Fei Huangjin more than just his good looks to keep her.

Feeling a bit more reassured, Mrs. Cheng snuggled closer to her husband.

He looked over at his wife. She had aged gracefully over the 40 years that they've been together. When he saw her walk in and sit down for her contract signing at his company, he knew he found the woman he would love for the rest of his life.

It was love at first sight, if there was such a thing.

"You know, Shang-shang, I've always been thankful that you took the gamble of marrying me."

Mrs. Cheng lifted up her head. He hadn't called her that in a long time.

Back when she was known as the rookie actress Li Qinshang, her love story with Cheng Jinyao wasn't as smooth and perfect as what they'd narrated it to be.

She wasn't interested in taking Cheng Jinyao seriously, even if he did everything he could to make her fall in love with him. But one day, one of her male fans decided to stalk her, upset that she was allowing Cheng Jinyao to publicly woo her. He threatened her with a knife. The man was crazy, saying things like she was too much of a goddess to be with anyone, and that she was better off dead than being touched by any man. Cheng Jinyao, who was dropping by at her home unannounced to give her flowers, tackled the man to the ground and was stabbed with the knife. She agreed to marry him out of guilt.

This story was never publicized, and they made it seem like they had always married for love.

But over the years, she had indeed fallen in love with Cheng Jinyao. And the man had stuck with her through the ups and downs of their marriage. He stayed even after they were both devastated to know she was unable to bear a child.

Her eyes dimmed. She had always felt like a failure as a wife for that.

"Did you… did you ever regret marrying me for not giving you children?" She whispered, her eyes tearing up.

Cheng Jinyao pulled back, slightly hurt that she would still ask him that. He searched her eyes, his forehead creasing, and told her, "You are more important to me than anything else and I have no regrets for asking you to be my wife."

His wife -- Li Qinshang -- buried herself in his arms and cried.

***

Fei Huangjin closed the door behind him and sat down without sparing Ying Yue a glance. "To the company, Mr. Yang."

The driver nodded in affirmation and started the car.

"Mr. Fei…"

"Huangjin," he corrected her.

She frowned. Sometimes she really didn't understand how she managed to survive being his secretary for so long. "We're not even in public. I don't need to call you that."

Mr. Yang stole a glance at them through the rearview mirror, confused why they were bickering. They certainly weren't like this on previous days. He started to get worried for Ying Yue. The CEO might fire her if she gave him too much of that attitude.

"Call me Huangjin or I will not converse with you." Fei Huangjin pulled out his phone from his pocket and started ignoring her.

Monster Huangjin. Stupid Huangjin. Bossy Huangjin.

She was calling him all kinds of names in her head. This guy-- she shook her head frustratingly. "Huangjin…" She paused to make a face.

"Yes?" He focused on her and put his phone down, his face icy and unreadable like it usually was -- a stark contrast to the gentle and smiling man he pretended to be at the restaurant.

She took a deep breath. "I think we should set some boundaries on this pretense we're having."

"Boundaries?" Fei Huangjin's mouth twitched. What in the world did she mean?

"Yes. Boundaries…" Ying Yue repeated. "If, and only if, we need to act like we're in a relationship, that's fine, but there should be no physical contact whatsoever. Hugs are fine. Sure. But no kissing, okay? That one needs consent. That… that thing that happened earlier was not okay."

She was referring to the kiss that he was about to give her that ended up on her forehead. A shame it didn't land on her lips, really. He was looking forward to it the entire day. It was the only thing that didn't go as planned.

One of Fei Huangjin's brows rose high up on his forehead. His face was half in disbelief and half in a grimace. "Do you really think I only want to pretend?"

Ying Yue blinked. She didn't understand. "Excuse me?"

"My words aren't rocket science, Miss Ying. Do. You. Really. Think. I. Only. Want to pretend?" He repeated his question word-for-word so she could catch up.

This only confused her even more. Weren't they pretending? "Well, yes," she answered.