The Favored Heiress
Chapter 228: The Shape of the Collarbone is So Attractive

Chapter 228: Chapter 228: The Shape of the Collarbone is So Attractive

The time had come to 3 p.m., when Shang Yu was suddenly called away by Liuyun for an urgent international video conference that required his attendance.

Alone, Li Qiao nestled on the office sofa, glancing at her old workstation, then after a moment, she narrowed her eyes and strolled over.

Her desk still held the computer she had used during her internship.

Li Qiao took a seat, switched it on, and the screen displayed her favorite image of a star-filled universe.

She unconsciously curved her lips into a smile, glanced at Shang Yu’s large desk, and the smile deepened.

At that moment, the phone beside her rang.

Li Qiao picked it up and casually answered, "Uncle Zong."

Uncle Zong was the private auctioneer assigned to Li Qiao by the Venus Auction House, responsible for handling all her auction-related affairs at Venus.

From the other end, Uncle Zong spoke with due respect, "Miss, the invitation for the auction has been delivered to Elegant Villa Garden, and the event will commence at 8 p.m. this Friday at Venus Hall."

"Hmm, I know," she responded.

After the call, Li Qiao focused for a moment, feeling somewhat expectant about the performance of "The Autobiography of the Stock God" at the Venus Auction, a book that had been passed in three times already.

For the next twenty minutes, Li Qiao busied herself at the computer, occasionally glancing at messages popping up on her phone without giving them much attention.

With the tap of the Enter key, Shang Fu’s personal information was completely laid out before her.

Shang Fu, twenty-nine years old, born into the Parma Shang clan, beauty pageant queen, top financial analyst, member of the International Club...

Li Qiao’s fingers rubbed her chin as her expression lingered between a smile and a smirk.

By her titles, Shang Fu did have some capital.

However, it was surprising that she was a member of the International Club.

Li Qiao, with interest, fixated on the words "International Club" for a few seconds before the computer screen suddenly flickered, and all of Shang Fu’s personal information was destroyed by a counter-hacking attack.

Seeing this, Li Qiao nonchalantly exited the hacking system and sent a WeChat message to Li Shaoquan, asking him to handle the upcoming anti-tracking inconveniences.

Li Shaoquan, punished to kneel at home, limped cursing into his father’s study.

He had no choice but to deal with the mess his tycoon father had caused. Every time his dad left online traces, he used Shaoquan’s account, leaving Shaoquan in tears.

...

As evening approached, Shang Yu wrapped up his meeting and returned to the office.

The moment he entered, he looked towards the lounge area only to find Li Qiao not there. His gaze darkened for a flash before he noticed the girl sprawled across the desk, seemingly asleep.

The man’s thin lips slightly parted as he walked leisurely over, hand casually tucked in his pocket, leaning forward to gaze at her cheek.

Perhaps due to her relentless lab work in recent days, faint shadows lay beneath her thick lashes.

The usual vivacity around her eyes and brows was absent in slumber, replaced by a tranquil serenity.

A few seconds later, Li Qiao’s eyelashes fluttered, as the staring from above triggered her alertness.

She opened her eyes, her gaze tinged with sleepiness, and looked up to meet Shang Yu’s deep, smiling eyes.

"Hmm..." Li Qiao lazily rose from the desk and swayed, bumping her forehead into his chest, "Is the meeting over?"

Shang Yu’s broad palm embraced her shoulder, and as he looked down at the little head nuzzling in disarray, his voice was magnetic and tender, "You’ve been waiting a while."

Li Qiao, just awaken, wasn’t fully lucid yet.

Especially as the continuous twilight glow outside the window bathed the office, softening the stark black and white décor, the atmosphere became even more soporific.

Li Qiao nestled in his embrace, her forehead rubbing against him, inhaling the sandalwood scent on his body, a solid sense of security enveloping her.

Gathering her composure, she tilted her head up to the descending handsome face of Shang Yu and gave a light smile, "Master Yan, I’m hungry."

"What would you like to eat?" At that moment, the man stepped back slightly, propping her chair with one hand as he bent down to meet Li Qiao’s gaze.

Their cheeks were inches apart, and as Li Qiao blinked, her glance drifted inadvertently to his shirt’s open collar.

His bending action caused the collar to open, revealing a wheat-colored chest and the sexy lines of his collarbone, which ended up catching her eye.

Li Qiao found that Shang Yu’s collarbone was really quite attractive.

So attractive that... she touched it without thinking.

She had an odd urge to see what the smooth curve of his collarbone felt like.

Then, her hand was grasped, "What are you doing? Hm?"

The man squinted, his voice low and husky as he spoke, the rising tone at the end making Li Qiao’s eyelids twitch.

Regaining a sliver of rationality, she looked at her fingers that were being held and coolly raised her eyes, "There’s a bit of ash here."

At that, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Shang Yu’s lips, and after a silent second, he tilted his head and whispered in her ear, "Are you sure? As far as I remember, I haven’t smoked since the meeting this afternoon."

Li Qiao: "..." That was pretty awkward.

Suppressing his laugh, Shang Yu saw her slightly annoyed expression and the deep laugh spilled from his lips. He casually pulled her wrist, "Let’s go, I’ll take you to eat."

...

Like dense ink, the night set in, and at eight o’clock, the Yan Emperor’s motorcade along with a Mercedes stopped outside the laboratory building.

At that time, Li Qiao was in the man’s arms, receiving a peck on her lips as he reminded her, "Go to bed early, and call me if anything comes up."

"Alright, goodnight." Li Qiao rubbed Shang Yu’s cheek with hers and smiled lightly as she pushed open the door to get out of the car.

She took her car keys from Liuyun and stood watching the motorcade drive away. She bit her lip and turned to get into her car.

But after taking a step, Li Qiao’s gaze flickered, and she focused on a vehicle by the roadside, her lips slowly curving into a smile, "Come out."

At that moment, from the quiet side road, a faint sound of footsteps approached from behind Li Qiao.

She turned nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow as she fixed her gaze but suddenly narrowed her eyes, "Why is it you?"

...

Meanwhile, as the Yan Emperor’s motorcade was en route to the South Sea Mansion, Liuyun sat in the passenger seat, hesitated for a moment, then turned to say, "Boss, we received a message this afternoon. Shang Fu has a foothold in the Elegant Villa Garden."

The man was lounging against the seatback, and upon hearing, he lazily opened his eyes to look at Liuyun, raising an eyebrow as a sign to continue.

Understanding, Liuyun’s expression grew more solemn, "Miss Li has an apartment in the Elegant Villa Garden too. Do you think Shang Fu might... "

Liuyun didn’t finish his sentence, but a chilling atmosphere congealed inside the car.

Shang Fu wasn’t the type to cover the sky with one hand, but she was too good at exploiting her given advantages to cause trouble.

With that seductive face and enchanting figure, she had countless men in Parma willing to go through fire and water for her.

To say she was cruel and ruthless was no exaggeration.

Because of the recent yacht explosion involving Shang Lu, the investigation pointed toward her.

Shang Yu closed his eyes briefly, and after a moment of silence, he issued a stern command, "Go and notify Academician Jiang. Arrange for some people at the laboratory to protect her covertly."

"Yes, boss," Liuyun responded energetically.

He knew the boss wouldn’t just leave Miss Li to fend for herself.

Although they all believed in Miss Li’s exceptional abilities, when facing a woman like Shang Fu who stops at nothing, one can never be too careful.