The moment Jiang Wanxing's pen came down on that thirty-million–dollar cooperation agreement, Lu Chen distinctly "heard" a breath of unburdened relief escape from the depths of her soul—along with a flutter of emotion she herself had never noticed before: shy and breathless like a girl's first love, yet charged with endless hope and secret longing.
"Is it really over?"
"No…perhaps everything is only just beginning…"
"This man…he's seen through every one of my masks, every bit of my pride, every shadow of my loneliness."
"In his presence, I feel utterly powerless to resist."
"When he calls me 'my woman'—why does my heart race so wildly, so sweetly…yet with a tinge of shame?"
"What is happening to me? After twenty years conquering the business world, what kind of men haven't I met? Why, of all men, would I feel this bewildering pull toward someone a decade younger, someone so unremarkable…?"
"Could this be fate's design?"
All these tangled, utterly genuine thoughts echoed clearly in Lu Chen's mind. A slow, devilish smile curved his lips—dark as the midnight devil, yet touched with a hint of a savior's compassion.
He knew that this queen of serpents, this ice-cold empress of the boardroom, had at last had her frozen heart pried open by his insistently commanding tenderness. What remained was for him to widen that crack—gently but relentlessly—until it split her defenses entirely, and then, with all the world as his witness, claim her soul as his own.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Wanxing." Lu Chen extended a steady hand, his voice calm yet charged with unmistakable authority.
Jiang Wanxing's poised frame trembled. The tears that had reddened and swollen her eyes had washed away every last shard of her icy façade, leaving only pure vulnerability and confusion in her phoenix-bright gaze. Tentatively, yet with a longing she hadn't realized was there, she lifted her eyes to meet his.
"Wanxing…"
The single word drifted from his lips like a mine detonating in her tumultuous thoughts. Her heart pounded so fiercely she felt it would burst from her chest; warmth flooded her cheeks, and a shame-tinged thrill surged from her core, weakening the long-darkened strength in her legs.
She parted her lips, as if to speak, but only a broken, tune-less sound escaped. Under Lu Chen's satisfied gaze, she raised her hand in a tremor, resolutely and irrevocably clasping his strong, articulate fingers.
Their hands intertwined—a silent vow that two souls, once destined to remain in separate worlds, were now bound together by an inscrutable fate.
"Pleasure doing business, Tianyi…" her voice was husky, each syllable dredged up by her very will.
But Lu Chen "heard" the volcano of emotion beneath her words:
"Tianyi…he really said Tianyi…"
"How intimate, how commanding—that name…"
"His hand is so big, so warm, so strong…"
"Why do mine shake so uncontrollably, why does my heart race?"
"Is this what it feels like to be moved? No—it can't be. I, Jiang Wanxing, can't be moved by a man so…so young and insignificant!"
"Yet why is my body burning, aching to be closer to him…?"
That familiar, triumphant curve returned to Lu Chen's lips. This S-class beauty, this lethal siren, was now ensnared in the vast, invisible net woven by his Heart-Hunting Symphony. Next, like the most patient of tamers, he would dismantle her defenses—gently, unyieldingly—until she surrendered everything: body, soul, and the vast empire she commanded.
"To celebrate the formal conclusion of our…special partnership," he said, releasing her hand and leaning close enough for only her to hear, his voice low and teasing at her earlobe, "I trust you wouldn't mind treating your little achiever to a more…private celebration dinner?"
"A private celebration dinner?" Jiang Wanxing's body shivered once more. Her phoenix eyes, still tender with confusion and need, lifted to him.
Lu Chen "heard" the storm in her heart:
"He wants to treat me to a 'private' dinner?"
"Is he hinting at something?"
"Could he truly feel…for me?"
"But I'm ten years his senior, president of Wanxing International! He's just an unremarkable salesperson…"
"Could there really be anything between us?"
"Yet why does my heart beat so fast, why do I feel…fear and anticipation?"
A confident, all-controlling magic glinted in Lu Chen's smile. He knew the moment had come: her once-impenetrable heart lay in shards at his feet. Now, all he needed was to claim the pieces.
"Of course, if it's inconvenient…" he feigned understanding, a hint of regret crossing his face as he turned toward the ebony rosewood door.
"Wa…wait!"
Just as his foot crossed the threshold, Jiang Wanxing's husky, urgent voice called from behind.
Lu Chen paused, his lips curving with that familiar triumph, and turned to gaze at her—curious, expectant.
"Well…what I mean is…" Her red lips trembled as she summoned a few halting, breathy syllables. Her phoenix eyes darted away from his intense stare, her voice barely more than a whisper, yet heavy with deadly allure: "Tonight at seven… I'll be waiting for you at the private lounge atop the Celestial Palace. It's quieter… and safer."
Having uttered those words, Jiang Wanxing felt her very soul leak away; her legs went weak, and she collapsed like a lifeless marionette into the plush leather chair behind her. Too overwhelmed to meet his gaze, she buried her blazing face in her cool, delicate palms, as though only this could soothe the queen's heart pounding out of control.
Lu Chen watched, rapture coursing through him like the finest wine. He knew that from this moment on, Jiang Wanxing—marked in his Heart-Hunting Symphony as the ultimate prize—was irrevocably his.
And this, his boundless fortune in love, was only just beginning its most glorious, pulse-quickening overture.