The Overnight Chosen Wife: Darling, Kiss Me Deeper

Oh, did she? Lanni mocked him in her heart.

"I told her what I thought of it and she yelled at me. We fell out so badly that I had to call and ask whether what the media revealed is true." She explained the nonsense she had come up with a while ago, which was in line with Flynn's plan.

"It's a lie. You know that I would never hurt my own flesh and blood. Actually, Lanni, there is something I didn't tell you."

"What is it?" Lanni asked.

"That day, I had a bug on me. Someone is trying to investigate me for heaven knows what reason."

Lanni was amused by his ability to push logic. Was he trying to make it seem like he had been forced to say such mean words to save her and Luna? He had even cleverly left it to her imagination so she would be the one to fill in the meaning behind his words. If she exposed him later, he would simply deny having said anything about it.

"I understand." She was too tired to argue with him so she dismissed him.

'Why does this seem too good to be true? It's happening all too easily.' Xia Hanchen questioned mentally on the other end.

Before he could think about it, he heard what he perceived to be the main reason why Lanni had given him a call.

"I got a job offer but it's from a private agency. The owner wants to meet up with me in private." Her voice was a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

"Why would you want to meet up with a stranger in private? The fact that he claims it to be a private agency is suspicious." He warned out of instinct, but he was not trying to look out for her safety. He was only acting as a caring father to once again gain her trust.

He was thrilled when she said," It is why I called. I don't want to go on my own. Can I borrow some bodyguards?"

"Why do you want to borrow bodyguards? I will go to the place with you." He offered, and the girl was overjoyed.

"When is the meeting?" He asked.

"In two days."

He hung up with a smirk on his lips.

"Stupid girl. You should have worked for me." His tongue ran over his teeth. "But since you want it to end this way, then be my guest."

…

Ever since Xiaoshi heard Han Xichen confess his feelings for her, she had been walking on eggshells. She no longer knew how to face the man so she decided to keep her distance and pretend to know nothing until she couldn't pretend anymore. She knew that what she was doing was not solving a problem, she was merely avoiding it—but she was not ready to face it yet.

She knew what would happen if she rejected him; they would not be on good terms anymore. A selfish part of her still wanted to be in contact with him.

She was still thinking about it when he called and she answered the call before she could think of ignoring or rejecting it.

"Shishi, how are you feeling?" He asked with a tone full of concern.

"I'm much better now." She responded and gently poked her belly, near the bullet scar. It was healing much faster than the man had predicted.

"You have been sticking indoors for too long and should take a short walk. Do you want to go out together?" He suggested, rendering her speechless for a while.

It took some seconds to gather her thoughts and the man waited patiently on the other side of the line. Just when she thought he would soon give up and hang up on his own, she heard his gentle call. "Shishi,"

"I'm sorry, I can't." She said in one breath as though she was afraid that she would be unable to do it if she delayed for a second.

The line went silent and she waited for the hang up tone. "Is it because of what I said to Xiehan?" He asked straightforwardly.

While kt was indeed the reason, she did not expect him to point it out in the open so for a while she did not know what to say.

Taking her silence for a yes, he sounded helpless. "You can ignore what I said. Can we go for a walk as friends? If you are uncomfortable to be with me on your own, you can bring Xiehan along."

While he made the suggestion, he knew that the girl trusted Xiehan and would definitely agree if her cousin was going along. He also knew from Xiehan's reaction on that day that the man approved of him to be With Xiaoshi. If the three of them went out together, he didn't need any guess work to know that Xiehan would find an excuse to leave the two of them alone. It was just a roundabout way to end up with the same result.

Coincidentally, the doorbell of his condo opened and he was not surprised to see that the guest was Xiehan. He rarely had any guests, and he had been expecting Xiehan since the latter had stated that he would look for him later.

"Come in." He said to his friend who might soon be his in-law as well, and stepped aside to let him in after hanging up the call with Xiaoshi.

"You know what I want to say to you." Xiehan did not mince his words.

Knowing his friend well enough, he indeed knew what the latter was going to say. "You don't need to tell me anything. I will take good care of her."

Xiehan nodded in approval as it was indeed the exact thing he was going to talk about. "You don't need to prove that to me but to her father."

Knowing how unreasonably overprotective his uncle was of Xiaoshi, he did not expect him to approve of Han Xichen that easily.

"I already did. Shishi and I met him." He explained, puzzling Xiehan. Even so, the latter did not probe too much.

Han Xichen grabbed this chance to pull some strings in his favor. "She is scared of taking a walk with me."

Xiehan hummed and took out his phone, dialling Xiaoshi's number immediately. "Come and join me for lunch."

"Where?" Xiaoshi asked in surprise.

"Just get ready. The chauffeur will pick you up and bring you to the venue." Xiehan instructed and hung up.

As expected, Xiaoshi looked confused when she was brought over and when her eyes landed on Han Xichen, she glared daggers at her cousin.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Xichen can check on you." Xiehan stated in concern, much to the girl's chagrin. Was there anyone who did this to their own cousin?

In response to her glower that threatened to revenge if a chance presented itself, Xiehan grinned and stood up. "I have other things to do so I will let you two have a talk."

He then bumped shoulders with Han Xichen as he lowered his voice to say, "You know what not to do."

"Of course." Although he liked Xiaoshi, he would never do anything against her wishes.

This was the only reason why Xiehan had no qualms about leaving Xiaoshi in his house. Besides, she was not a toddler. She would have turned to leave if she did not want to be here.

"I knew you would pull off such a stunt." She crossed her arms and snickered at Han Xichen when it was just the two of them left.

The man helped her onto a couch so she would not be too tired, laughing at her words. "Yet you still came."

"A part of me still wanted to prove myself wrong." She sat down since she was starting ring to feel tired.

"Is it just that?" He knew it wasn't the right time to make fun as this was probably his only chance but he couldn't help teasing her. "Are you sure it's not because you missed me?"

"Don't be ridiculous." She ignored his words, though she felt heat rush up her cheeks.

"Am I?" He laughed and settled down beside her as he studied her expressions carefully. "Why don't you want to consider me? Is it because of Jiang Xingyu?"

Her heart skipped a beat but she wasn't sure what she felt. It was almost as though she was being misunderstood and wanted to explain herself—but she didn't know what the misunderstanding was, much less how to explain herself.

She tilted her head and her eyes met his deep gaze.

"Why, Shishi?" His lips parted to ask, and she swallowed. She thought he was asking why she didn't like him but he continued in a direction she did not expect. "Why do you force yourself to believe that you will love him forever when you don't even have an ounce of feelings for him anymore?"

"Because I do, and I will." She insisted stubbornly, making him laugh at her naivety. Seeing her frown, he brushed a thumb against her scarlet cheek. "Then why do you blush when I get close to you?"

"I…" Her tongue was stuck as her heart picked up its pace.

"I can prove you wrong." He closed the distance between them.