A Twisted Love Affair
Chapter 54: A Side of Indulgence in Sensory Pleasures (2)_1

Chapter 54: A Side of Indulgence in Sensory Pleasures (2)_1

The next day, Shen Jing had just finished work when the gift Zhou Luchen had mentioned arrived. A white Bentley was delivered to her apartment parking lot. Its driving mode was customized for women. Even without Zhou Luchen saying a word, Shen Jing understood his unspoken message: he wanted her to drive herself to Shanghai to find him. For this directionally challenged woman, even the navigation had been preselected. This "blind box" gift was indeed beautiful, and large.

Shen Jing leaned against a nearby pillar, looking down at the floor in a daze. After a moment of silence, she took out her phone and typed, "I’m coming to see you."

Minutes later, Zhou Luchen replied with an address: Room A22.

Shen Jing drove onto the expressway to Shanghai. The address led to an old Western-style building, tucked away behind bustling streets, in an extremely quiet area. Just as she was about to enter, security guards at the door, all expressionless, stopped her.

"I’m sorry, ma’am," one of the guards said. "Our club doesn’t admit just any guest."

Shen Jing blinked, looking at the open doorway through which a couple of middle-aged men had just passed. She was surprised. "But isn’t the door still open?"

The guard reiterated, "Our club doesn’t admit just any guest. I’m very sorry, ma’am."

They judged people by their appearance; to put it plainly, they only welcomed established upper-class patrons.

After a moment’s thought, she asked, "I’m here to see someone in Room A22."

The security guard shook his head.

Shen Jing felt dejected. As her fingers slid across her phone screen, before she could even dial the number, it automatically shut down. Could this be any more coincidental? She had looked after Liang Yingning all night and had forgotten to charge it.

The security guards paid no mind to her standing off to the side. She suppressed the urge to ask to borrow a phone. She even considered the desperate lie of claiming to be Zhou Luchen’s girlfriend, but now she feared the ridicule. She also keenly felt the disparity between them.

Enough already.

I’ll make Zhou Luchen remember tonight forever!

But then again, with his proud and arrogant temperament, would he really remember? Would he remember that I came all the way from Su City only to be stopped at the door and forced to stand here as if in punishment?

A draft from the hallway whistled past, and Shen Jing pulled her light jacket tighter around herself.

One of the security guards gave her a cold glance. "Are you really waiting for someone?"

"Waiting," she replied.

She had no idea how much time had passed when the Victorian-style glass door swung open. Zhou Luchen emerged, laughing and talking with two middle-aged businessmen. A security guard held the door open, saying, "Take care, Mr. Zhou."

The feelings of injustice Shen Jing had just managed to suppress resurfaced, and she stared intently at Zhou Luchen.

Zhou Luchen paused. His expression was hidden in the dim backlight, and he was silent for a moment.

Shen Jing trembled slightly. She walked towards Zhou Luchen and draped her arms around his neck. She acted endearingly spoiled without a shred of reservation, even in front of his bodyguards. It was a familiar habit from their meetings, an instinctive gesture on Shen Jing’s part.

Her voice was hoarse from the chilly air. "They wouldn’t let me in to find you."

Zhou Luchen tossed his suit jacket to a bodyguard and clasped her waist. "What happened?"

Shen Jing’s long eyelashes drooped. "I’ve been waiting here for you for a long time."

He eyed her. "Don’t you know how to call?"

Shen Jing looked up. "Don’t you remember I was coming to see you? I told you when I left. Didn’t you wonder where I was when you didn’t see me for two hours?"

He was silent for a few seconds, his fingers brushing away strands of hair the wind had disheveled at her temples.

The answer struck Shen Jing then. It seemed he didn’t remember she was coming to Shanghai to see him. He’d been too busy and forgotten, hadn’t he?

She turned her face away, subtly pulling her hair from his touch. "I stood here for an hour for nothing."

She blamed him—blamed him for not arranging things properly, blamed him for forgetting about her the moment he got busy. The beautiful woman was filled with bitter complaints.

Zhou Luchen pinched her chin with two fingers, tilting her face towards his. "Did I tell you to stand?"

He hadn’t told her to wait. Zhou Luchen wasn’t one to tolerate such unprovoked vexation.

She lifted her chin. "Blame me for not being sensible, for insisting on waiting here for you, just to see you."

Zhou Luchen scoffed. He didn’t speak, just stared at Shen Jing. He appeared perfectly composed, yet his gaze felt as if it could pierce one’s very soul.

"If you treat me like this, I won’t come again," she said, her voice growing softer and softer, eventually carrying a faint, pitiful sob.

The corners of Zhou Luchen’s lips twitched upwards. He slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, appearing to have all the leisure in the world to coax her. "Fine. From now on, I’ll treat you like an empress. Cars passing by won’t even dare to honk at you, hmm?"

Shen Jing looked at his enigmatic smile, so full of rakish charm. In that moment of succumbing to his charm, she blurted out, "That’s far from enough."

"What do you want?"

Zhou Luchen leaned in. The shadow cast by his larger frame enveloped her, and his warm breath grazed her ear.

Shen Jing looked up. Their eyes locked, each peering deep into the other’s soul. The longer they looked, the more a viscous, silken bond seemed to fuse them.

His lips curled into a suggestive arc, his tone light and teasing. "Want me?"

His voice was both soothing and provocative.

Shen Jing’s ears burned from his teasing. She gently pushed his chest with a light touch, like the playful pout of a bashful young wife.

"I do."

Yes, she wanted him. She felt she must be crazy. When you truly liked someone this much, you didn’t want to control your feelings in the slightest.

Zhou Luchen didn’t give a direct answer. Instead, he pulled her back by the waist, pressing her into his embrace. "Aren’t you silly?"

An attendant had already brought the car around, and it stopped before them. Zhou Luchen’s hand rested on her lower back, guiding her as they walked together. He took the Bentley car keys from her hand and tossed them to a bodyguard. He opened the car door, watched her get in, then walked around the back of the car to the other side.

In the Maybach’s armrest storage compartment, she found the candy she had hidden; it was still there. Unhappy, she ignored Zhou Luchen and unwrapped a piece to eat by herself.

Zhou Luchen glanced at her, then nonchalantly looked away a second later.

Shen Jing turned her face away.

He ordered sharply, "Stop the car."

The driver braked smoothly, stopping right on the Songpu Bridge.

Shen Jing paused.

Zhou Luchen spoke indifferently, "Keep sulking, and I’ll throw you into the Huangpu River."

Shen Jing sniffled and sat up straight, obediently.

She was scared. His aura was too sharp and cold. Scared that he would actually do it.At her young age, she wasn’t ready to be thrown into the Huangpu River.

Seeing her compliance, Zhou Luchen’s mood visibly improved. He pulled her into his embrace. "So delicate," he chided, though he found her very delicateness exasperating.

She buried her face in his shoulder, whimpering tearfully, "You can’t throw me into the Huangpu River."

"Alright," Zhou Luchen said, his fingers gently stroking her hair as he patiently soothed her. "I won’t."

Shen Jing sniffled. "And you can’t throw me in the future either."

An almost imperceptible layer of cold indifference flickered deep within Zhou Luchen’s sharp, dark eyes. He silently, impassively rejected the ’future’ she spoke of.

The driver pressed the accelerator again, unable to resist glancing in the rearview mirror at the beautiful woman. Her tear-streaked face, a mix of real and feigned sorrow, was utterly captivating. He had never seen a girl act so willfully around the Second Young Master.

Listening to the Second Young Master’s husky voice coaxing the beauty in the back seat, the driver steered the car into Yunding No. 1.

Shen Jing looked out the car window. She had been here once before; it was all too familiar.

After they entered the underground parking lot and the driver respectfully exited the car, Zhou Luchen was already heading towards the elevator. Shen Jing remained in the car, reluctant to get out, her eyes fixed on his noble, retreating figure.

This won’t do, she thought, feeling utterly pathetic.

"Zhou Luchen, come back for a moment," she called out, bending over to rub her calves. "You need to carry me out. My legs are numb."

She was still complaining about having to stand for an hour. She certainly knew how to act spoiled.