The gala shimmered on around them, but Tang Yuhan's world had narrowed down to the man at her side—and the ghost of the one she once loved.
Lu Shenyan's fingers tightened slightly at her waist, not painfully, but enough to remind her: You're mine now. Play your part.
"Excuse me," Jiang Rui said, eyes locked on Yuhan, not Shenyan. "I need to speak with her. Alone."
She opened her mouth to respond, but Shenyan beat her to it.
"My wife has no interest in speaking to the past." His voice was quiet, yet sharp enough to cut glass.
Yuhan's pulse pounded. Jiang Rui's expression twisted with something between guilt and defiance.
"Yuhan, don't let him—"
"I'm not letting anyone do anything," she interrupted coolly. "You lost the right to worry about me the moment you walked away."
His mouth opened, then closed. Silence said more than anything he could've.
Shenyan led her away before any more fireworks could spark. The moment they reached a quieter hallway, he let go of her waist.
"You handled that well," he said, voice unreadable.
She turned to him, arms folded. "Don't act impressed. I've been performing since the moment we signed the contract."
His eyes didn't blink. "You think this is a performance?"
"I know it is."
He stepped closer, the space between them shrinking into something dangerous. "Then you should win an award. You fooled them all tonight."
"And you?" she whispered.
Silence.
Then—
His hand cupped her cheek, startlingly gentle.
"I don't want to be fooled," he murmured.
And then he kissed her.
It wasn't soft.
It wasn't tentative.
It was war.
A declaration.
Possession.
But it wasn't one-sided.
Yuhan kissed him back—not because she loved him, not because she wanted to—but because she needed to win.
Because if this was a battle of hearts, she wasn't going to lose.
When they pulled apart, breathless, her lips parted to speak—but the sound of hurried footsteps interrupted them.
"Sir, Madam," said the assistant, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. "There's a situation at the Lu Corporation building. You're needed immediately."
Shenyan straightened. "What kind of situation?"
"A break-in. Sensitive documents may have been stolen."
His jaw tightened. "Prepare the car."
Yuhan reached for his sleeve. "Do you want me to come?"
He looked at her, gaze lingering for just a second too long. "Yes."
---
In the dark interior of the limousine, their hands remained inches apart. Neither of them reached across the distance.
Not yet.
Not tonight.
But something had changed.
The battlefield had shifted from corporate deals and gala lights… to the space between two hearts pretending not to break.
And the war had only just begun.
---