A Revelation of the Past

There was no time to stay for the speeches to come, so Fang Lingyi supported all of Qiao Zeyan's weight as they maveuvered through the crowd, her dress making the task even more difficult.

Gingerly, she pulled both herself and Qiao Zeyan through the door where a few people still lingered, staring pointedly at the two of them before resuming their conversation, prim and reserved. The night had become cooler and she felt goosebumps crawl slowly up her skin. Qiao Zeyan shivered a little against her and she tugged at his huge overcoat, drawing it tighter around his trembling, muscled body. His soft pink lips moved, but no noise whatsoever came out. Lingyi faced the near-empty front garden, blowing out a deep sigh.

It was seeing the other cars parked in the drive that finally gave Lingyi the idea, fishing through the CEO's pockets before his phone came in contact with her hand. Phone was so advanced nowadays, but with a simple face ID, she unlocked it, scrolling through all his recent contacts. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the second name on the list.

Han Qian.

She thought she'd heard that name somewhere before but she couldn't pinpoint exactly when or where. With a light shrug, she tapped on the name beneath, triggering a muffled vibration to echo in the yard. And a single, prolonged minute later, Jiang Quan's voice answered from the other end.

"Hello? President Qiao, is everything alright?" He sounded out of breath, breathing erratically and unevenly.

Lingyi paused, unsure on how to respond at first. Then, she straightened her back, careful to hold Qiao Zeyan to her side. "Hello, Jiang Quan, this is Lingyi. President Qiao is a little drunk and I was wondering if you could come take him home?"

There was static on the other side, but a second later, a high-pitched scream that sounded much too familiar to Lingyi's ears replied in return to her request. Her eyebrows turned downward. "Anqing?" she called down the phone. "What are you doing there?"

But her voice was drowned out by another series of shrieks.

Anqing had said she was going to tutor a student, so what on earth was her best friend doing at the house of Qiao Zeyan's assisstant?

"Jiang Quan, get over here and help me!" the woman Lingyi thought sounded far too close to Anqing commanded, a thump and grunt of pain following afterward.

Then the line went dead.

Lingyi yanked the phone from her ear, bewildered, before dialing Jiang Quan's number again. No one answered this time and she felt her heart race as Qiao Zeyan stirred in his state of unconsciousness, his breath brushing like feathers along her skin. She shuddered, but it wasn't from the cold this time.

When she dialed the same number for the fifth time and there was still no answer, she groaned and shoved the phone back into Zeyan's pocket, only to retrieve her own a moment later, summoning an uber taxi with a last scan of the parking lot. The wind nipped at her cheeks, leaving her face and ears bright pink from the cold.

The sky seemed to have darkened when she looked up again, spotting thousands of stars scattered across that blanket of dark, dark blue. The moon hung hollowly in the sky, surrounded in light brighter than the light it gave of itself and Lingyi suddenly felt a pang of emotion stab her in the chest. The silky tresses of Qiao Zeyan's hair grazed her skin and she gently, cautiously, pushed the strands aside and away from his face, fingertips dancing along his jaw, then down the side of his neck, which pulsed with every steady beat of his heart, which she felt, too, pounding into her own chest like a symphony of drums. A slow, sad smile slithered its way onto her lips, everything breaking away as she cupped Zeyan's cheek in her small, slender hand.

How could anyone look so cold and domineering, yet so delicate and vulnerable all at once?

But suddenly, the loud, disruptive screech of car tires and the amplified honk of a horn resonated around the yard, stealing Fang Lingyi back into reailty. She whirled her head in the direction of the noise, her gaze settling on the silver car that stopped a couple of feet away, the distant form of the driver stepping out to help her guide Qiao Zeyan into the back. She slid inside with him, glad for the warmth of the car as Longting Villa disappeared into a curtain of trees behind them.

Qiao Zeyan still had his head resting against Lingyi's shoulder, and as she peered outside the window at the blur of lights and the roll of the rural surroundings, his hand gradually slipped into her, his long fingers tangling with hers. She whipped around as soon as his hand held hers, her pulse growing faster and faster. Qiao Zeyan's eyelids had fluttered open, but only barely, the distant lights reflecting in his dark eyes. She tried to extract her hand from his grip but he wouldn't let her.

"Lingyi," he muttered, sounding as if he was in great agony.

"I'm here?" she breathed back, giving up on freeing herself from him.

He blinked weakly, tucking himself further into her. "I'm sorry," he said feebly, though she could hear beneath all that drunken distraction a sliver of sincerity.

"There's no need to be sorry," she replied, stroking his hair again. Reflexively, he moved into her hand, letting the palm of her hand touch his flushed skin.

"I'm sorry," he said again, swallowing while Lingyi watched as a single tear streaked down his face, heartbreaking and grieving.

Something terribly painful wrenched at her heart at that and acting on instinct, she raised a hand to brush away the tear, listening to the once-indifferent CEO sigh in bliss.

"I should've told you before," he continued, his jaw hardening.

"Told me what?" she pursued, letting her hand settle back down in her lap.

He buried his face into her neck once more and she inhaled sharply, hot tears that didn't belong to her running down her collarbone to the curve of her chest. "I shouldn't have lied, I'm sorry. Lingyi, I'm sorry-"

Lingyi placed a finger on Zeyan's lips before he could go on and before she even knew what exactly she was doing. He wasn't speaking to her at all, she thought with a sorrowful expression. He was dreaming, and whatever he was dreaming of was making his heart slowly tear in two.

"Shh," she hushed tenderly. "It's okay now. I right here, Zeyan. Everything's going to be fine. Just sleep."

She hoped that if he was even half-awake that he wouldn't be able to hear the lie in her tone.

Qiao Zeyan quietened down seconds later, eyes blinking shut as he fell back into his deep slumber. Lingyi watched him until the grip he had on her slackened, though she didn't pull away.

Maybe just for tonight she would stay by his side like she did six years ago.