"Ruby, please believe ." He pleaded.
Ruby was rendered speechless by this man’s audacity. He expected anyone to believe him?
Seeing that she was not budging, he sighed helplessly. "Give a chance to prove it to you. Just one week. If I ss up in the slightest, you can ignore forever."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "One week...isn’t that the longest ti your relationships can last?"
His eyes drooped. One week sounded like he would simply date her for show and then ditch her on the seventh day, which would still be enough for him to satisfy his thrill. However, that was not what he had in mind. "Four days. Give four days then."
"Three." She said with a tone that did not allow any space for negotiation. While it didn’t sound like there was any difference between the forr and the latter, Lin Jian took the mission seriously. He only had three days to prove that he loved her.
Though he couldn’t help but wonder, before three days ended, what would their relationship be?
"May I go now?" She looked down at her wrist that was still in his grip.
"Sure."
He was still holding her hand despite saying so, so she was confused.
"Can I hug you?" He closed in on her. Before she could react, she was suddenly pulled onto his chest. The hug lasted a re second and he pulled away imdiately after. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." She turned away to flee. Why did she suddenly think this conservatve side of him was harder to resist than his flirtatious side? How dangerous! She had to get away before he chard her into getting into getting into a relationship she might regret.
___
The next morning.
Lin Jian was the first to wake up. He paced the living room with thoughts flooding his mind. On one hand, he wondered whether Lanni was done writing the article while on the other hand, he couldn’t think of ways to earn Ruby’s trust no matter how hard he thought about it. If he used any of his past tricks, it would only make her flee farther away from him.
Just when he thought he was about to have a ntal breakdown, he finally caught sight of Ruby descending the stairs. He gathered himself and tried not to be too excited before he smiled and stepped forward to et her. "Ruby, good morning."
"Morning." She noticed the dark circles beneath his eyes, which was sothing she had never seen before. She also realized that he was still wearing the clothes from the night before. It was as if he had not slept a wink.
Even so, she didn’t ask and decided to mind her own business.
Lin Jian was overjoyed that she had not ignored him. "Are you hungry? I will go and make breakfast."
"Ah no! Stay away from the kitchen!" Jiang Xingyu, who had just arrived, freaked out. He was not in the mood to get a stomach upset.
Lin Jian was unhappy. "What’s with your overreaction? Ruby just woke up, so I’m going to cook her a nutritious breakfast."
"At least we know that you are doing it out of love. Those who didn’t know will think you are seeking revenge!"
Ruby chuckled at the side. "Is he that bad at cooking?"
Xingyu didn’t know where to start. "If we didn’t secretly help him out the last ti, we would have to eat salty lumps of coal in place of vegetables. In fact, the whole kitchen might have exploded."
Ruby cringed awkwardly. "Uh... No thanks."
Lin Jian glared at Xingyu. Were they really friends?!
Noticing his hostile look, Xingyu stretched his limbs lazily. "Why are you glaring at ? I’m only helping you out."
Lin Jian finally understood. That was right. If he claid to cook for Ruby and ended up ruining her appetite, she might be unhappy.
"Never mind. I’ll order takeout." He took out his phone.
"You don’t need to. I was going to make breakfast." Xingyu made his way. No wonder he had woken up early and co down before Luna did. He never left her side lately, acting like the perfect shadow. He decisively followed his friend so he would learn how to cook and prepare at least one al for Ruby.
Ruby watched them with a smile and turned on the television. Just as she settled down, her phone lit up with an incoming call. She slid her thumb across the screen. "Dad?"
"Where are you?" Neil sounded anxious.
"Uhm at the beach...?" Didn’t she already tell him that she was going with Lin Jian?
"Not possible. You are lying to . I saw you in B City last night, and you were at the entrance of Erald Bar." Neil’s tone sounded strict. He was not the kind of dad to prevent his daughter from doing what she wanted, but it would still upset him if she lied to him.
"What? What in the world...Are you sure you were not hallucinating?" She was alard.
"You are the one who is hallucinating."
Helplessly, she switched to a video call and went out. Then, she made her phone face the ocean in the distance. She then turned it to see her confused father. "Do you see it now? We are still at the beach."
"But I saw... Never mind. It must be soone who looks like you."
"Soone who looks like ..." Xiaoshi?
That was the closest person she could think of. The last ti they t, they realized that they looked so much alike that they almost concluded themselves to be sisters. But since they were cousins, it still made sense. The main point was, her dad saw Xiaoshi enter a nightclub?
She suddenly had a headache. She didn’t have anything against anyone entering a club, but as a girl, how could Xiaoshi go to such a place on her own? Erald Bar was B City’s gathering of ruffians and even a few mafia gangs had been spotted there. What if she was bullied by those brainless hooligans?
She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Luna.
She finally understood it. The last ti they had t at the banquet, she had realized that Xiaoshi was in love with Xingyu. Was it because she was heartbroken about her love being engaged that she went to get herself drunk?
Luna raised her eyebrow at the woman who was studying her intently. "Is there anything wrong?"
Ruby shook her head. She couldn’t bla Luna for Xiaoshi’s heartbreak. It wasn’t like she had broken up a couple. It was just the latter’s one-sided feelings after all. Even so, she wished she was close enough to her cousin so she would comfort her.
Luna shrugged at Ruby’s peculiarity and sat in the living room where Cheng Yu had just arrived. She sat down and held her chin against her palm.
"I have a bad feeling about your gaze." Cheng Yu felt goosebumps rise on her skin.
As expected, Luna winked. "It’s the second night you guys slept together. Did sothing happen this ti?"
"Ugh... IfIf you keep being this gossipy, my godchild will turn out into a gossipy baby." She groaned.
"That’s okay! She can just follow her aunt to beco a news reporter."
Cheng Yu knew that she would never win this round so she changed the topic. "I was analysing the user statistics for XYC last night and realized that we really need a marketing director. Coincidentally, Cedric has soone in mind and is going to recomnd her."
"Soone that Cedric recomnded? Who is that?" Luna’s attention was finally diverted.
...
The guys soon finished cooking breakfast and set the table.
When they were done, a servant walked in with a small stack of newspapers and magazines.
Lin Jian went over to check them out and saw one from Tian Yu dia.
It imdiately piqued his interest. "Huh, let’s see the standards of this agency that a certain friend-in-law insisted on working for."
On the top page was a few headlines, each one more shocking than the last. However, he was not surprised by any of them since he had seen most of those revelations in the articles he received the night before.
However, when he saw the hot topic of the entertainnt news section, his blood ran cold. He blinked and read it again.
[DEVIL IN DISGUISE: The cringe worthy truth about Qian Yan Ran.(Page 14)]
There was no doubting it. He had a bad feeling at the pit of his stomach as he flipped to page 14. Then he saw it. It was an article explaining why the said superstar had changed so much in recent months. In fact, her style had undergone a huge transformation too, and fans had been questioning it for a while. Finally, the truth had been discovered. The current Qian Yan Ran was an impostor. She was a rival artist who had retired when her talent ran out. Later, she went under the knife to look like Qian Yan Ran, and eliminated the forr so she would take her place. Simply put, it was not that Qian Yan Ran had changed. The true Qian Yan Ran was dead.
But the main point was... how could Lanni do this? "Li Lanni! Get down here right now!"
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