The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 371 - 374. Important welfare notification, must-see (second update)

Chapter 371: 374. Important welfare notification, must-see (second update)

Eden’s face stiffened as he pulled his hand from her wrist, "I do have someone I like, but that person isn’t you."

Annie, upon hearing this, was momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered with a laugh, "Are you talking about the woman you grabbed last time to use as a shield? Stop joking, I can tell, your relationship may be close, but it’s definitely not that of a boyfriend and girlfriend. Even if there’s mutual affection, it’s certainly not the romantic kind. Unless you tell me who this person is, I’m not going to believe you."

She looked at Eden, waiting for him to give her a name.

Eden’s thin lips pressed together slightly, but he said nothing. Annie burst into laughter, "I knew you were lying to me. You don’t have anyone you like. Eden, I know you don’t like me now, but that’s because you haven’t discovered my good qualities yet. Once you do, you’ll definitely like me, and of that, I am completely confident."

"Suit yourself, but don’t bother me in the future. I don’t like women who pester me relentlessly," Eden said.

Annie was about to follow him when Eden glanced at her indifferently, picked up his coat, and left.

Annie stopped in her tracks and looked down to see a photo on the ground. She picked it up and saw it was of five people: besides Eden and the woman he used as a shield, there were also Shen Qinglan who she met today, the international supermodel Cissily, and the international superstar Andre.

In the photo, Shen Qinglan looked very young and innocent, seemingly around fifteen or sixteen years old.

Annie frowned. Did these people know each other already?

However, since the photo was carried by Eden, it must be important to him. Annie thought it over and put the photo in her bag, planning to return it to Eden another day. Wouldn’t that give her another legitimate reason to find him, and also a reason Eden couldn’t refuse? With that thought, Annie suddenly felt delighted. The annoyance she felt from Eden’s rejection vanished instantly.

"A ’Hawaiian Love,’ please," Annie said, sitting down at the spot where Eden was just seated, smiling cheerily.

The bartender placed a blue drink in front of her, "Miss, here’s your drink."

Annie took a sip with eyes sparkling brightly. Just thinking of Eden made her heart swell with sweetness; she didn’t even understand why there would be such a perfect man like Eden in the world.

"Miss, are you alone?" a man’s voice arose beside Annie, making the hairs on her neck stand up. She instinctively leaned to the side. Glancing at the man chatting her up, she frowned and said, "Go away."

The man was not alone; there were three of them. They looked at Annie with grins, "It’s so boring to drink alone. Why not join us? The three brothers here guarantee you’ll have a blast."

"It’s your family who are all ’miss,’ you roll as far away from me as you can. I’ve got no interest in playing games with you," Annie said impatiently. She was a regular at nightclubs and had seen her fair share of such people; she was experienced in dealing with them.

In such an upscale bar, most men and women were out on the prowl, but those who could afford to be there generally had decent conditions and manners; after being told off like that, they would know to leave.

However, the men Annie encountered tonight were an exception. Hearing Annie’s words, they not only didn’t leave but also circled around her, ogling her face with lascivious eyes, a trace of lechery flashing by, "Sweetheart, a girl shouldn’t speak so harshly. Girls should be more gentle; it’s cuter."

Annie snorted coldly, crossing her arms, "Gentle? The last thing I know how to be is gentle. Scram already, or else I’ll start calling for help."

The men were unafraid and continued their teasing laughter, "Go ahead, yell. See if anyone pays you any mind."

Annie glanced around; the place was crowded, and everyone’s eyes were on them. Once they met her gaze, they all looked away. Annie cursed under her breath and stood up, ready to leave.

One of the men suddenly grabbed her. "Beauty, where do you think you’re going?"

Annie looked at them coldly, "Let go!"

The man didn’t release her, his gaze lingered on a certain proud part of Annie’s figure, and he swallowed unconsciously. Noticing his gaze, Annie’s expression turned even colder as she tried forcefully to break free from the man’s hold but was unsuccessful.

"Beauty, don’t struggle, just come and have a drink with the brothers," he said, trying to pull Annie toward the bar.

The people around watched, yet not a single person stepped forward to say anything, making Annie feel a chill in her heart.

"Ah!" The man holding onto Annie’s wrist suddenly cried out, releasing his grip instantly.

Before Annie could react, Eden had already pulled her behind him. Looking at the broad shoulders in front of her, Annie’s eyes instantly turned into stars.

"I warn you, mind your own business," the man said coldly, holding his wrist, his expression fierce.

Seeing this, the other two men surrounded Eden, looking ready for a fight.

"She’s my friend. I can’t just stand by if you bully her," Eden said.

"Just because you say friend, doesn’t mean she is. I could say she’s my girlfriend. What’s it to you if there’s a little quarrel between lovers?" the man said with disdain.

Annie’s expression was cold as ice, "Me, fancy you? The very idea of it is laughable. You’re the very definition of a brazen liar."

Her words were like adding fuel to the fire. Eden turned back, glanced at Annie, and she stuck out her tongue, knowing she had spoken out of turn. Her nature was arrogant, a true heiress temperament; she had never been subjected to any grievances since she was young. Facing provocation now, she naturally wouldn’t hold back.

"Shrew, who do you think you’re insulting?" the man spat, glaring at Annie fiercely. Annie glared back, unflinching, her eyes just as large, if not larger.

Eden shifted to the side, blocking the man’s view.

"We’re leaving now, please step aside," Eden said calmly, steadfastly protecting Annie behind him.

The man sneered, "Want to leave? Sure, let this little lady join us brothers for a good drink, then you can go. Otherwise, you’re going nowhere."

Eden’s eyes turned slightly cold; despite being the most mild-mannered among his friends, he was also the most ruthless. At this moment, his gaze at the three men was very cold.

Annie’s expression also froze completely. She took out her phone intending to call her Daddy, but another man saw this and snatched her phone away.

Seeing this, Eden raised his leg high and kicked the man’s arm, sending the phone flying from his hand. Eden caught the phone and returned it to Annie.

The other two men saw this and exchanged glances before raising their fists and rushing toward Eden.

Annie let out a cry, "Eden, be careful!"

Eden caught a glimpse of danger in the corner of his eye, twisted to the side, and with a swift kick, one of the assailants flew out and crashed heavily onto a nearby table, breaking the glass and lying on the ground coughing violently.

Annie watched, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, as Eden took care of them with a few punches and kicks. Her admiration for him surged like an unstoppable river.

**

Shen Qinglan walked out of the police station with a calm demeanor, whereas Eden looked annoyed. It wasn’t frightening to be called to the police station for fighting, but the troublesome part was that Shen Qinglan had found out about it. Seeing Shen Qinglan listening to her with a big belly, hurrying to bail someone out in the middle of the night, Eden couldn’t help but glare resentfully at Annie – this woman had brought all the trouble.

Annie, bewildered by Eden’s glare, didn’t understand why he was suddenly so angry. She turned to Shen Qinglan with a face full of gratitude, "Qinglan, thank you so much for tonight. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably be grounded by my dad tomorrow."

The situation at the bar today was unexpected; someone had called the police, and they were taken to the station. Annie and Eden were unhurt, but the three men who Eden had thrashed were bruised and swollen and had been threatening to sue them non-stop at the station.

The police required someone to come for bail, and Eden had first called Jin Enxi, but Jin Enxi’s phone was unexpectedly turned off. Eden had intended to wait until daybreak to call Jin Enxi again, but the police called Shen Qinglan because she was the last contact in his phone.

"It’s fine, but how did you get involved?" Shen Qinglan asked.

Annie hurriedly recounted the whole story, "So it’s really not Eden’s fault. They started the trouble. If they hadn’t bothered us, I wouldn’t have stooped to their level."

Shen Qinglan understood the situation and looked at Eden with a half-smile. Eden moved his gaze away, avoiding Shen Qinglan’s eyes.

"It’s late. I’ll take you home," Eden said.

Shen Qinglan had arrived by taxi, fortunately from near a hospital, so catching one wasn’t hard. Eden drove Shen Qinglan to the hospital before taking Annie home. "Where do you live?"

Annie was already drowsy; after such a long night, she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

Hearing Eden’s question, Annie shook her head, "I can’t go home." At this hour, going home meant facing her father’s wrath. A thought struck her, and she looked at Eden, "How about I go back with you? Just for one night."

"There’s no place for you to sleep at my house."

"That’s okay, I can sleep on the couch or even on the floor," Annie said.

"Tell me your address or get out of the car now," Eden said coldly, his mood dampened by Shen Qinglan witnessing his embarrassing situation.

Annie gave him a pitiful look, "It’s the middle of the night now. Do you have the heart to leave me alone on the street? What if I run into a thug? I’m beautiful, and after just escaping the wolf’s den, do you really have the heart to see me fall into the tiger’s mouth?"

Eden was unmoved, "Address or get out – choose one."

Annie pouted, "Alright, alright, if I can’t stay, I can’t stay. But I really can’t go home right now. Just drop me off at a hotel you see later on, and I’ll check myself in."

Eden started the car.

Annie sneaked peeks at Eden with the corner of her eye, noticing he really intended to take her to a hotel, and couldn’t help feeling displeased. In the bar earlier, he had been so protective of her, and now he was ignoring her. They say women are fickle as the sea, but in her opinion, men’s hearts were deeper than the ocean floor, and even more capricious.

She muttered quietly to herself, and in the silence of the car, her words fell clearly into Eden’s ears. Concentrating on driving, Annie huffed and took out a photo from her bag, slamming it in front of Eden, "Here, your thing, I’m giving it back to you."

Eden glanced at it casually, then his gaze sharpened. He stopped the car, picked up the photo, and looked at it intently before turning to Annie, "Where did you get this photo?"

Annie met Eden’s gaze with a grave expression, "Don’t look at me like that. I found this photo; I didn’t take it from you."

Eden had realized the photo was missing after leaving the bar at a traffic light, as he unconsciously reached into his pocket and found nothing. That’s when he’d realized he must have lost the photo in the bar. So he had turned back to look for it and hence stumbled upon the night’s events.

"Thank you," Eden said, securing the photo back in his pocket, this time closer to his chest.

Watching him, Annie’s gaze darkened slightly, "Is this photo very important to you?"

Eden fell silent, seemingly reluctant to speak, but suddenly said, "Yes, it’s very important." It was their only group photo and the only one he had with Shen Qinglan.

The photo was taken at a time when they had broken free from that organization and found their freedom. That period was their happiest, and it captured Shen Qinglan laughing her most genuine laugh.

After so many years, when he had been apart from Shen Qinglan, steadfastly keeping his promise not to seek her out and disrupt her life, this photo was his sole consolation during those moments of missing her.

"You’ve known Qinglan for a long time?" Annie noticed the youthfulness of Shen Qinglan in the photo, which clearly wasn’t taken recently.

Eden wasn’t surprised she recognized Shen Qinglan, "Yeah, I’ve known her for many years."

"How did you meet?" Annie was curious.

Eden didn’t answer, merely saying, "We met when it was time to meet."

Annie was frustrated, "Eden, do you know what frustrates me most about you? It’s that you always speak in half truths. Can’t you just speak plainly for once?"

Eden replied indifferently, "In the future, go to bars alone less often."

Wow, how did the topic change so fast? Annie thought to herself, her eyes suddenly lighting up with expectation as she looked at Eden, "Were you just showing concern for me? Eden, you really came back to the bar tonight just to find me, didn’t you?"

Eden chuckled, "You’re imagining things. I just wanted to find the photo, nothing more. Here’s the hotel, get out." He pulled over.

Annie didn’t move but stared intently at Eden, "If you were only looking for the photo, why did you protect me like that tonight?"