Chapter 164: Chapter 164

"Brother Long..." Hua Xiaomo looked at him and said, "My SIM card contains a bug, which means both you and I have been deceived by Mo Rutian. He planted the listening device to steal the Qi Imperial Court’s business information through this phone."

"Later, Qi Longbing discovered it, and he eventually altered the financial budget bid sheet, which is why you didn’t win the bid. All of this was Mo Rutian’s doing... If it weren’t for him, Brother Long, you wouldn’t have..." Hua Xiaomo couldn’t continue, her amber eyes shimmering with a faint glow.

Long Shangxuan fell silent for a while, his ethereally handsome face shadowed with an unpredictable dark hue. "Xiao Mo, is everything you’re saying true?"

With boundless brilliance in her eyes, Hua Xiaomo responded, "Brother Long, when have I ever lied to you? You...we...almost..."

Suddenly, Hua Xiaomo could speak no further, a heavy shadow casting a pall over her beautiful pupils.

Long Shangxuan looked at her. "If the Chairman did tamper with this SIM card, then how could Qi Longbing let it go so easily after finding out?"

"Yes... He definitely wouldn’t just leave things be..." Hua Xiaomo’s voice was very low.

An oppressive silence pervaded the space, making it feel somewhat suffocating.

Long Shangxuan sighed. "I understand now. He must have done it for you... he didn’t call the police, did he?"

Hua Xiaomo smiled bitterly, her gaze carrying an indescribable sadness as she looked at him. "You must be wondering why I was with him, and why I worked at the Qi Imperial Court."

"I had no choice... my mother fell ill..." Hua Xiaomo sighed deeply, then proceeded to tell him all about the contract she had signed with Qi Longbing.

Long Shangxuan frowned slightly upon hearing this. After a good while, he finally said, "Xiao Mo, when your mother was hospitalized, I was right there with you! Why didn’t you tell me about all this? Would you rather sign a contract with that Qi Longbing than accept my help?"

Hua Xiaomo’s smile was tinged with bitterness, her eyes resting on some distant scene in the garden, becoming somewhat vacant.

"Xiao Mo..." Long Shangxuan looked at her as she remained silent, his handsome face darkening.

Unexpectedly, at that time, I missed an excellent opportunity...

"At that time, we had just reunited. For you and me... I..." Hua Xiaomo laughed and shook her head but said nothing more.

As Hua Xiaomo hesitated, the air fell silent once again.

Long Shangxuan gazed at her, his phoenix eyes darkening. After a long moment, he finally murmured, "You’re so foolish!"

"..." In response, her eyes brimmed with tears. Hua Xiaomo immediately turned away, not wanting him to see her in a moment of weakness.

"Xiao Mo..." Long Shangxuan gently called out, patting her back softly. "Are you feeling a little better?"

"Mhm." Hua Xiaomo forced a smile. When she turned back around, she was met with his warm, sunshine-like smile.

A soft tissue gently touched her eyelids, tenderly wiping away the glistening tears.

"I’ll do it myself," Hua Xiaomo said, raising her hand to reach for the tissue. But for some reason, instead of touching it, her hand grasped his...

Time seemed to stop right there, their eyes locking. Hua Xiaomo was caught off guard, slightly overwhelmed.

"I... I wasn’t..." she started to explain, feeling it would only make things worse.

Instinctively, she hurriedly released her grip. But in the next second, a large hand had already grasped her smaller one, decisively pulling her closer.

Hua Xiaomo’s mind suddenly went completely blank.

She smiled at him, infatuated and intoxicated. With her eyes closed, she fully immersed herself in this beautiful moment.

He smiled back at her.

"Xiao Mo, you’re truly beautiful..." Long Shangxuan praised.

Hua Xiaomo’s eyes were almost drunk with emotion as she watched him, the shyness on her face deepening.

Yet, she knew what she was doing was wrong. But... but she liked him so much! What was wrong with liking him?

Suddenly, just then, "Brother!" a youthful voice echoed through the air.

A little girl had, unnoticed, already made her way to the entrance of the garden and was looking over in their direction.

Long Shangxuan reflexively pulled back his hand and quickly looked towards the little girl, an unreadable expression on his handsome face. "Wen Xin, how did you get up here? Where’s Aunt Su?"

Only then did Hua Xiaomo snap back to reality. She quickly got up from the rattan chair, her face instantly turning red as she thought about what had just happened.

My God, what was I doing? How could I act this way? How could I be so casual? In his eyes, did he think I was a casual woman because I had signed that contract with Qi Longbing? So, was that why he acted that way towards me just now?

Hua Xiaomo furrowed her brow, feeling worse and worse the more she thought about it.

Long Wenxin ran over to them quickly, pointing at Hua Xiaomo and scolding, "You! You’re a bad woman, eyeing my brother like that! You’re a bad woman! Go away! I don’t like you! I don’t like you!!"

Hua Xiaomo’s mind buzzed.

But Long Shangxuan quickly pulled Long Wenxin away, scolding, "What nonsense are you talking? Go downstairs this instant!"

Soon after, the maid, Aunt Su, came up and, with a smile, took Long Wenxin downstairs. However, as Long Wenxin left, her resentful glare was fixed on Hua Xiaomo.

"I’m sorry, Xiao Mo. Wen Xin is too thoughtless. I hope you won’t hold it against her," Long Shangxuan said apologetically, the smile on his handsome face somewhat unnatural.

Hua Xiaomo shook her head awkwardly. "The one who should be sorry is me. I shouldn’t have given you the wrong impression."

"Wrong impression?" Long Shangxuan quickly picked up on her words. "Don’t you like me then?" Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒·𝗇𝗲𝘁

I hope that in the future, Brother Long can make me happier. And I hope I can help him forget his pain. Only by letting go of this suffering can he be reborn more quickly. Only then will he feel truly happy, truly fortunate. He really doesn’t want to go on living , no matter what.

My father liked Brother Long and hoped he could bring me happiness. At the same time, I also hope Brother Long can come to like me. I don’t know if he likes me, but based on how he acted just now, he probably does. Yes, Brother Long must like me! I think we could be happy together. As long as we’re happy together, that’s all that matters. Others can only offer their blessings; they have no right to oppose us. Our relationship is for us to decide. As long as our hearts are connected, Brother Long and I will be happy together. He will surely bring me the greatest happiness.