The Favored Heiress
Chapter 550: What Does It Mean to Rely on Him?

Chapter 550: Chapter 550: What Does It Mean to Rely on Him?

Li Qiao clutched her phone tightly, unable to hear any other sounds except for He Chen’s words echoing in her ears.

—He wants to treat you better than before, so well that you become dependent on him, unable to leave him.

Li Qiao closed her eyes, suppressing the bitterness in her throat, wanting to speak but unable to utter a single word.

He Chen’s sigh once again came through, "Li Qiao, he has an obsession disorder, which is why he’s often more sensitive than others.

Whether it’s an illness or not, the fact he’s become this way, other than caring too much about you, I can’t think of any other reason.

Listen to your brother, try to rely on him, be tolerant of him, and let him clearly feel your affection.

You have to understand, in his entire life... he’s never experienced what it’s like to feel secure."

"Never?" Li Qiao didn’t know why she asked these words.

She believed everything He Chen said. Maybe it was out of a desire to understand more, or perhaps it was because Shang Shaoyan, the South Sea merchant she saw, was so powerful that he could cover the sky with one hand, control an entire city with his own strength, and have inscrutable Secret Hall forces, that she couldn’t believe he never felt secure.

He Chen licked his back teeth and looked towards the wall opposite him with a slightly hazy gaze, "That’s right, never. Because at the age when he needed security the most, everyone around him wanted to kill him. What else could he do but make himself stronger and give himself a sense of security?"

Li Qiao remained silent for a long time. As He Chen was halfway through his cigarette, just before hanging up, he added one more piece of advice, "Li Qiao, I’ve recognized you as my sister-in-law, don’t let us down..."

He spoke these words extremely earnestly, also full of his concerns.

After pressing the end call button, He Chen tossed his phone on the nightstand, his brows tightly furrowed, his eyes as deep as ink.

The enchanting woman who had been neglected beside him for a while tried to climb onto his arm, "Brother Chen~"

With a soft and warm woman in his embrace, He Chen suddenly lost interest.

He glanced coldly at the naked woman and indicated towards himself, "Get it off me."

"You’re such a tease." The woman rubbed against him coquettishly and obediently bent down between his legs.

To him, women were already mere playthings.

But Shaoyan was different. His deep affection for Li Qiao had reached a level that even shocked him.

...

Night fell, and the hands of the clock had moved to half-past seven.

Li Qiao stood in front of the office’s French windows for a long time, not moving a bit.

The door behind her opened, and Shang Yu came in, weariness hidden within his brows. The dark interior highlighted Li Qiao’s slender, solitary figure even more.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he switched on the light and quickly stepped forward to embrace her from behind.

A man’s body is always warm, and his arms are exceptionally strong, just holding her like that inexplicably made Li Qiao feel secure.

But how was she supposed to give Shang Yu that sense of security?

He Chen said, to depend on him, to make him believe she can’t live without him.

How does one do that, to be considered depending on him?

Li Qiao inhaled the familiar scent at the tip of her nose, letting her body lean against his chest. She looked at the arms wrapped around her and naturally hugged his arm, "Are you done with work?"

Her voice was hoarse.

Shang Yu looked down from her shoulder, their cheeks brushing against each other, and the cool, refreshing scent on his body became stronger, "What’s wrong with your throat?"

Li Qiao coughed lightly and as she turned her head, her nose brushed against his jawline, "It’s nothing, just a bit dry."

As soon as she finished speaking, the man released her from behind, turned around, and went to pour a cup of warm water.

Li Qiao turned to look at him, her usually calm eyes glinting with surprise, relying on him...

Shortly after, she took the water glass from Shang Yu’s hand, sipped a little, and repeated her earlier question, "Are you done with work now?"

"Yeah, shall we go for dinner?" The man stood with one hand in his pocket, tall and straight in front of her. He was clearly a high and mighty ruler, yet in front of her, he shed all his masks.

Li Qiao’s heart was so tender, she took a step forward and leaned closer to him, pressing her lips together in a nod.

"What would you like to eat?" The man turned back and walked towards the boss desk, the depth of the eyes beneath his brows revealing a trace of a smile, "Crystal Garden?"

Li Qiao didn’t quite know how to show her dependency on him, so she simply followed him wherever he went.

Shang Yu had just sat down, clearing away the files on the boss desk when, from the corner of his eye, he saw the young girl scooch over, leaning halfway against the table and gazing at him directly, "I don’t want to eat at the Crystal Garden, I feel like eating something else."

This might have been the first time Li Qiao had expressed her own desires in front of him.

She was always lax and preferred to go with the flow.

Be it clothing, food, housing, or travel, she was extremely casual in all aspects.

Upon hearing her answer like this, the man naturally leaned back in his chair, looked up slightly, raised his eyebrows to signal her, "Like what?"

Li Qiao placed the water cup on the table, leaned against the edge, and bent forward slightly towards him, "Seafood."

She remembered, he loved it.

Whenever she dined with Qiu Huan and the others, there was always seafood on the table, and Parma was also known for its seafood.

At that moment, the man glanced at her right hand, raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly, "Your wound hasn’t healed yet."

The smile at the corner of Li Qiao’s mouth stiffened, and she turned her head to look out of the floor-to-ceiling window.

Why did she have to crush that wine glass on impulse at the time?

Shang Yu saw her pouting movement in the reflection of the glass, his thin lips revealing a slight arc, he reached out to turn her face towards him, full of indulgence in his eyes, "Do you really want to eat it?"

Li Qiao met his gaze, hearing the concession in his tone, her heart softened even more, "Mhm."

The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed twice, his palm slid from her cheek to the back of her neck, tightened his grip, pressed down, and his thin lips captured hers, lightly sucking, "Okay, then let’s have seafood."

Clearly, his principles crumbled in front of her.

...

Forty minutes later, South Sea Seafood Restaurant.

Li Qiao sat in the private room, looking at the table full of steamed fish, braised fish, pickled cabbage fish, and pine nut fish, and silently covered the upper half of her face, sighing.

Is this it? Who has a table full of fish for seafood?

The man served a piece of steamed bass on her plate, smiling quietly.

Who said he didn’t have principles? Even dressed in the cloak of compromise, he was still inherently domineering and assertive.

Li Qiao looked at Shang Yu gloomily, "Why didn’t you order seafood?"

The man glanced at her sideways, his thin lips curling up as he ruffled her head, "We’ll eat it next time."

Next time, obviously meaning after her wound had healed.

Li Qiao’s gaze flickered, and she pursed her lips, saying nothing.

Her ulterior motives seemed transparent to him.

He must have guessed that her suggestion to eat seafood was because he liked it.

Li Qiao lowered her head to take a sip of the fish soup, the loose strands of hair at her ears hanging down, also concealing the chagrin on her face.

It seemed no matter what cunning plans she had, he saw right through them.

How was she supposed to create a sense of dependency?

After the meal, while Shang Yu was on a phone call, Li Qiao gently fiddled with his hand.

After a long silence, she heard the man say, "Tell Zhui Feng to return to the South Sea as soon as possible."