The Favored Heiress
Chapter 472: Want to Call Off the Wedding?

Chapter 472: Chapter 472: Want to Call Off the Wedding?

Li Qiao’s heart was stung by Shang Yu’s words, her nose filled with the breath he exhaled.

She rubbed her forehead against the man’s, wrapped her arms around his lean waist, and looked up, saying, "I’ve been really busy, haven’t I?"

Busy, indeed, was a very good excuse.

In the dim light of the living room, Shang Yu observed Li Qiao, cupping her face in his palm, his eyes narrowed with a barely noticeable playfulness, "Are you really just busy?"

"Of course." Li Qiao didn’t want to continue the topic and, looping her arm through his, headed back to the living room, "Did my uncle tell you when he’ll give me the other twenty pages of translation documents?"

The man glanced at her right hand without a change in expression and curved his lips slightly, "In a hurry?"

As the two of them sat down, Li Qiao leaned against the couch, crossing her legs, and turned her head to raise her eyebrows, "Not in a hurry, just asking."

At this moment, the living room’s subdued light blurred their outlines, a beautiful tone that brought peace to the heart but also made everything before their eyes less clear.

Shang Yu slowly turned his gaze, a meaningful curve forming on the edge of his thin lips.

He bent his long legs, took out a cigarette and lit it, the thin, light smoke swirling around, "Like this kind of light?"

Li Qiao looked up, "Yeah, it’s quite cozy."

The action of the man taking a drag on his cigarette paused as he eyed her serious expression, the curve on his lips growing more pronounced, his voice husky with smoke, "Come here."

The distance between them wasn’t far, and Li Qiao scooted closer to him, her right hand carefully resting on the couch at her side, "What is it?"

Shang Yu’s deep eyes fell directly on her face, one hand holding the cigarette, the other lifting Li Qiao’s chin, "Let me have a look..."

"Oh, then look." Li Qiao met his gaze openly, and as she was doing two things at once, she didn’t catch the underlying tone in his words.

The man leaned over to put his cigarette in the ashtray, pressed his handsome face closer, the crisp breath still carrying a hint of tobacco, and resumed his unfinished sentence, "Is my fiancée avoiding me because she wants to call off the engagement, or is there something she’s hiding from me?"

Li Qiao, still letting him look at her face openly, "..."

This man was truly sharp to the core.

Li Qiao blinked, her composure intact as she pressed her jaw down on his fingers, "Why would I avoid you? I’ve really been busy."

The man pursed his thin lips, drawing closer for a teasing kiss on her lips, his voice deep, "Sure you don’t want to call off the engagement?"

Gazing at him in the faint orange light, with dark eyebrows and eyes, Li Qiao smiled playfully, "Would you let me if I wanted to call it off?"

"You can only think about it." Shang Yu pinched her chin, shook it slightly, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his embrace, and leaned down to pick up the half-smoked cigarette, taking a light puff, "How do you find working at the research institute?"

Li Qiao’s forehead rested against his chiseled jaw, her fingertips grazing it, her voice calm, "It’s okay, doesn’t feel much different."

For a moment, the man didn’t speak, only looking down at her, seemingly sighing silently, "The Mansion is closer than the dormitory, so if you work late, come here to rest."

Shang Yu didn’t bluntly suggest that Li Qiao move in, but instead left the option open for her in this manner.

She could come whenever she wanted, but if she didn’t feel like it, it was all up to her.

Li Qiao, half-leaning against his shoulder, felt a warmth in her heart and the teasing words slipped out without thought, "Then I might often come over to bother you."

With their relationship at this point, having done everything lovers do, Li Qiao felt there was no need to be shy.

At her words, the man turned his head and kissed her on the forehead, his voice low and gravelly, tinged with a laugh, "I’ll be waiting for you to bother me every day."

...

That night, all was silent, and only a nightlight shone in the master bedroom.

The two people on the bed breathed evenly, seemingly having fallen into deep sleep.

Before long, Li Qiao lifted her eyelids, and in the pitch-black room, only the distant night light emitted a dim, yellow glow.

She leaned against Shang Yu’s chest, gently shifted backward a bit to create a comfortable distance, and then let her gaze wander slowly over his body.

The wound on the man’s left shoulder had already scabbed over, and there was no longer a dressing attached, his well-defined chest rising and falling slightly.

Li Qiao looked at his deep contours and then indulged in a brazen scrutiny of his arms.

On him, there were no adornments like wristwatches, as usual, nor any other superfluous items.

Perhaps... the things he prepared for himself during an episode did not need to be worn on his person?

Li Qiao absolutely believed in this man’s domineering and ruthless nature, whether it was towards others or himself.

Thinking so, she unconsciously pursed her lips and sighed.

Her future medical research would inevitably have to span into the psychiatric field.

"Can’t sleep?"

Just as Li Qiao was staring blankly at the man’s cheek, his slightly parted lips uttered a few words in the tranquil darkness.

Shang Yu didn’t even open his eyes but pulled her into his embrace with a press.

In an instant, Li Qiao closed her eyes and remained silent, pretending to be deep asleep.

After three seconds of silence, the man beside her abruptly turned over and pressed her beneath him, his handsome face close to her ear, with a hint of a smile, he whispered, "Since you can’t sleep, why don’t we do something else?"

"I can..." She barely got two words out before the rest were cut off and stuck in her lips.

The quiet and profound night always seemed to amplify the senses infinitely.

Especially when lying side by side on the same bed, skin touching skin, she quickly felt the man’s certain aroused response ready to surge forth.

Li Qiao’s body stiffened, and she pushed his shoulder, turning her face away to catch a breath, "It’s very late..."

She wasn’t refusing, just suddenly reminded of what the psychiatrist had said that day in the hospital.

Patients with mania sometimes exhibit symptoms of increased sexual drive, reduced sleep, and no sense of fatigue.

She hadn’t started researching such conditions yet, so for now she couldn’t discern whether Shang Yu was truly vigorous or if it was a... chain reaction caused by the illness.

At that moment, Shang Yu nibbled on her earlobe, his voice growing even huskier, "Don’t you want me?"

Li Qiao inhaled deeply, still entangled with the issues in her mind, but the man gave her little time to think, seizing her red lips once more, kissing her fiercely and ruthlessly.

Usually, the more he cared for Li Qiao, the more ferocious he was in such matters.

Having not seen each other for many days naturally led to a long spell of intimacy.

...

In the latter half of the night, Li Qiao fell into a deep sleep.

The man, draped in a robe, sat on the edge of the bed, carefully examining her right hand.

After a while, he took out a green gourd-shaped medicine bottle from the bedside table and meticulously and evenly applied it to her wound.

There were some things he could pretend not to know, but he couldn’t just sit back and ignore them.

He was crystal clear about what was on her mind.

Shang Yu pressed his lips together as he watched Li Qiao’s sleeping face, and, after a moment, he bent down and cradled her face, dropping countless light kisses.