"Tonight, I'm getting engaged, at Junyue Grand Hotel, seven o'clock. Dress smart."
This was the message Fu Boyu sent her in the morning.
Yun Xiao held her mobile phone, standing at the hotel entrance for over twenty minutes, and saw the always punctual Fu Boyu appear on time in her line of sight.
Today, he was neatly dressed in a suit, his usual tousled hair now shiny with gel, exuding an imposing and distinguished aura, as if he was walking with light.
Such a formal dressing was for his engagement with another woman.
Yun Xiao bit her lip, feeling a twinge of pain in her heart.
Fu Boyu, however, walked up to her with a smile, then reached out to pinch her chin. "Don't bite. After spending so much time on makeup, it would be a shame if you ruin it. It's been more than half a month, my little darling is still as sweet and charming as ever."
She stood there astounded, then understood.
Yes, she had an important role to play tonight.
'Little darling' was his private nickname for her. Tonight is his engagement dinner, yet he didn’t care at all.
"Come, I'm taking you to meet my father."
Fu Boyu walked particularly fast tonight. By the time she caught up with him, he was already waiting for the elevator.
Meeting his family with a lover on his engagement day was indeed an extremely thrilling event, but Yun Xiao was neither excited nor moved.
She waited in silence until the elevator door opened with a 'ding’.
Yun Xiao saw Fu Boyu slightly close his eyes, and suddenly, his smiling lips carried a hint of coldness.
"Hmm?"
A slightly unruly male voice suddenly emanated from within the elevator.
Upon recovering her senses, Yun Xiao instinctively turned her head to look inside the elevator, where she saw a handsome man leaning against the wall with an elusive smirk on his face.
He seemed slightly taller than Fu Boyu, carrying a mixed aroma of men's perfume and liquor.
Despite this, the man exuded a casual air rather than the composed stability of Fu Boyu.
A flash of cunning flickered at the bottom of Yun Xiao's eyes, then she dropped her gaze, no longer looking at him.
She knew who this man was!
Fu Yixing! Fu Boyu's elder brother! A notorious playboy known throughout B City and even the whole country.
"Big brother!" Fu Boyu greeted courteously.
Fu Yixing seemed to have no intention of continuing the conversation, he gave a dismissive "heh" and exited the elevator. The brothers' cold and bitter relationship was clear.
Fu Boyu escorted her into the elevator, turned his head, and gently straightened her hair that had become slightly disordered when she rushed.
Yun Xiao lowered her eyes, feeling a wave of chilly pain from his intimate touch.
Fu Boyu didn't notice her unusual behavior, "Ru Zhi is waiting for you inside!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the elevator "Ding!" opened.
Just before leaving, he squeezed her hand and murmured reassuringly, "No need to worry."
Once he finished speaking, he led her to the entrance of a presidential suite, and then pushed her inside.
Stumbling a few steps forward, a soft slender hand steadied her.
"XiaoXiao, you're finally here," Shen Ruzhi's face bloomed with a smile as she hugged her with an intimate gesture. Bypassing the entrance, she went straight to a very dignified middle-aged man.
The face bore a striking resemblance to Fu Boyu’s, so naturally, she knew it was Fu Boyu's father, Fu Heng.
"Uncle, isn't our XiaoXiao beautiful?" Shen Ruzhi asked cheerfully in her triumph, "She's my best girlfriend. We promised each other long ago that we would never be separated even after marriage. You've got to help us choose a good match."
Yun Xiao bit her lip, trying hard to hold back her pain and embarrassment.
"Oh, don’t be shy. Our XiaoXiao is so adorable," Shen Ruzhi teased as she playfully pinched her face then winked and jokingly reminded, "Shouldn't you greet Uncle?”
Yun Xiao finally raised her head, with her melancholic eyes moistened by the pain in her heart. She respectfully greeted Fu Heng.
The man didn't respond immediately; he only stared at her deeply. Then he picked up a smile very similar to Fu Boyu and calmly said, "Since you're Ruzhi's friend, come over to play when you are free."
It was the look a man gives to a woman.
Yun Xiao knew the initial part of her plan was a success, yet her nose suddenly stung, and she almost burst into tears.
Only she knew how heartbreaking the sacrifices she had made for this plan were.
She could not remember how she left the suite, only knowing that when she left, Fu Boyu was already gone.
Being alone with Shen Ruzhi in the elevator, there was no more smile on the latter's face when they stepped out.
"Yun Xiao, next time don't stand like a wooden stick." Shen Ruzhi's eyes were somewhat icy, and she continued to speak, "Boyut is an illegitimate child. He has an elder brother who is keeping a close, wary eye on him. Although his brother is just a spendthrift who knows nothing but indulgence and will never amount to anything, he has failed to win his father's affection."
"After all, he is the eldest son of the Fu family, the sole heir on the surface, and his relationship with Bo Yu isn't amicable. He has spent so much on you, and given your brother's illness — surely you wouldn't let Bo Yu, penniless, be driven away by people, would you? Yun Xiao, we need to have a conscience in life."
With that, her speech came to an end, just as the elevator arrived.
The person resumed her mild smile and stepped onto the banquet scene.
Yun Xiao glanced at her, arm in arm with Fu Bo Yu, looking happy. That glimpse for a second, was enough to pierce her heart.
Almost running in a panic, as soon as the elevator doors opened again, she blindly dashed off.
However, fate was against her. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she bumped into someone, and at the same time, a familiar scent assaulted her senses.
"Did you fall right into my arms?" A frivolous voice came from above.
Yun Xiao hastened to step back, more than a little embarrassed, ready to apologize. But the other just raised her chin, and with an inscrutable smile, said,
"You look very much like someone I know. Would you say that's fate?"
Reacting, Yun Xiao didn't pull away from his grip.
"It is said that Young Master Fu is the top playboy in the capital, a womanizer. But this pickup line, isn’t it a bit too...low?" She looked up at him, neither humble nor arrogant.
Fu Yixing laughed at that, seemingly rather pleased.
"My pickup line is low? Why don't you mention that your move to throw yourself at me was too low?”
The conversation ended as the woman in Fu Yixing's arms angrily pushed her back into the elevator.
"Who do you think you are? Shameless! You throw yourself at him and dare to be this arrogant!" The woman was angry, leaning weakly on Fu Yixing, "Young Master Fu, some women truly lack proper upbringing. They are so manipulative."
The elevator doors, having been open for a while, were closing on their own. But at the moment they were about to shut tight, Yun Xiao suddenly reached out and pressed the door-open button. The elevator doors paused, then opened again.
First, she stared at the two people with an impassive face, and then suddenly curled up a smile.
The woman's disrespectful remarks truly stung her heart.
She was originally unwilling to fight back, but at this moment, she decided to advance her plans.
“Who am I?" she tilted her head, radiating a touch of innocence, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Fu Yixing.
The woman was intimidated by her posture, and leaned towards Fu Yixing, "Fu Shao…"
Yun Xiao contemptuously glanced at the woman, then lifted her head proudly and said coldly, "I am his future mother!"
Having said that, she left with great momentum.
The woman was stunned! When she had gotten quite a distance away, she started twitching and yelling,
"Damn it! She must be crazy!"
