Blinded by Lust chapter 35

The underground parking lot became awkwardly silent. Time passed slowly, and even the motion-sensor lights began to flicker off one by one. Only two dark silhouettes remained, locked in a wordless confrontation.

After a long while, Wu Bie, not wanting to waste any more time with Huo Zhanyan, broke the silence. “You’ve said everything you wanted to say, right? Take your stuff and leave.”

With that, he gestured toward the trash can, then turned around, got into his car, and started the engine. The roar of the engine revived the dim motion-sensor lights, but Huo Zhanyan remained standing in place, staring in Wu Bie’s direction. Unfortunately, Wu Bie didn’t spare him a single glance. He hit the gas, and the Audi sped out of the parking lot.

Huo Zhanyan instinctively took a few steps after him. He reached the trash can, touching the droplets on the flower petals. He wasn’t sure if it was because the flowers weren’t fresh or because the florist hadn’t preserved them well, but they seemed to have wilted in no time.

It must be the flowers.

Huo Zhanyan lifted the trash can lid and tossed the flowers inside. What a waste. Wu Bie hadn’t even looked at them.

He hadn’t lied to Wu Bie. He really did only have three hours. If he stayed any longer, it would be much harder for him to get out next time.

Behind the pillar, the motorcycle his big brother had bought for him was parked. Though his leg injury wasn’t fully healed, he had asked his sister, Huo Zhanting, for the keys. If he hadn’t ridden here, he wouldn’t have made it down the mountain and back in just three hours.

…

Inside the car, with the windows closed, the air was heavy. Wu Bie felt an oppressive weight in his chest, struggling to catch his breath.

He hadn’t expected to see Huo Zhanyan again, much less under these circumstances. Whether Huo Zhanyan was messing with him or not, it didn’t change the fact that he’d been deceived. Just because Huo Zhanyan liked him didn’t mean he could accept the earlier betrayal.

Seeing Huo Zhanyan today had affected Wu Bie more than he wanted to admit. He thought he had made things clear: Huo Zhanyan could like him, play with him, or whatever, but they didn’t need to see each other anymore.

All Wu Bie had to do was wait a couple more months. Once the ship returned, he’d go back out to sea for a year or more. Time would wash away any lingering troubles.

Even though he comforted himself with these thoughts, he still had trouble sleeping that night. When he finally drifted off in the early morning, his dreams were restless, filled with scenes from the ship. Tossing and turning, he couldn’t sleep well and woke up late the next morning.

When he opened his eyes, he could faintly see sunlight behind the curtains. Sensing that something was off, he grabbed his phone and saw it was already 10:30 a.m.

“Fuck!”

Even though he was the boss and didn’t need to punch in or worry about attendance checks, Wu Bie had grown accustomed to discipline on the ship. Being so late still gave him a sense of guilt.

He jumped out of bed, rushed into the bathroom for a quick shower, then casually grabbed some clothes from the wardrobe. After hastily tidying up, he dashed out. As he passed by Chen Xian’s door, he felt a surge of anger. Why hadn’t Chen Xian called him this morning?

Frustrated but determined to confront him, Wu Bie rushed to the office. Before he could find Chen Xian to demand an explanation, the receptionist called out to him.

“Mr. Wu.”

Feeling guilty about being late, Wu Bie fidgeted, sniffing and touching his forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a bouquet of flowers at the reception desk and awkwardly commented, “The flowers look nice.”

The receptionist gave him a strange look, glanced at the flowers, and explained, “These were sent for you.”

Wu Bie froze. He had a suspicion about who sent them, but he still asked unnecessarily, “Who sent them?”

“I don’t know,” the receptionist replied, pointing to a card in the flowers. “There’s a card inside. Maybe it has a name on it.”

Wu Bie started to reach for the card but hesitated, recalling yesterday’s incident in the parking lot. He was worried something strange might happen again if he touched it.

“Aren’t you going to check?” the receptionist prompted, seeing his hesitation.

Carefully, Wu Bie picked up the flowers and gave a sheepish smile to the receptionist. “I’ll check inside.”

“So mysterious!” The receptionist’s curiosity was piqued, and she looked at him slyly, her eyes full of mischief. “Could it be a secret admirer?”

“Absolutely not,” Wu Bie denied immediately, quickly retreating into his office.

Once inside, he cautiously inspected the flowers, thoroughly checking them. After confirming there was only a card, he still didn’t feel at ease. He gingerly lifted the card, holding it in mid-air for a moment. Hearing no strange sounds, he finally relaxed and opened it, only to find the words “I’m sorry” written inside.

There was no signature, but Wu Bie already knew who the sender was. Did Huo Zhanyan really not listen to him?

Wu Bie casually tossed the card onto the coffee table. Not knowing what to do with the flowers, he decided to ignore them and sat down at his desk to kill time by watching videos.

Before lunchtime, the receptionist called again, “Mr. Wu, you’ve got another bouquet. Want to come see it?”

Wu Bie hadn’t even settled into his chair when he shot up and rushed out of his office. A few idle staff members had already gathered around the flowers, gossiping.

“Another bouquet so soon after the first one! It must be from the same person.”

“Looks like our Mr. Wu is in for a lucky romance!”

“Who do you think sent them?”

The receptionist signaled to the group that Wu Bie had arrived. They all turned around, their faces immediately lighting up with fawning smiles.

One loud employee, eager for attention, called out, “Mr. Wu, your flowers are here!”

Wu Bie bristled, wishing he could find something to stuff that person’s mouth. In three quick strides, he grabbed the flowers and was about to leave, but the group surrounded him, bombarding him with questions.

“Mr. Wu, who sent you the flowers?”

“Could it be someone from our company?”

Someone else disagreed. “No way. Everyone in this company is so lifeless. It’s probably a college girl.”

They were surprisingly close to the truth, except it wasn’t a “girl” at all.

“Really?”

This is how rumors start. Even with Wu Bie standing right there, they were able to concoct a whole love story of a girl pursuing him based on nothing but speculation.

“Mr. Wu is quite something, the last eligible bachelor in our company.”

True enough, the other colleagues were older, long married, with kids in middle school already. Even Chen Xian, who had been married and divorced, still had Shen Jixue by his side. The only true bachelor left was Wu Bie.

Wu Bie rolled his eyes and snapped, “Move aside! Stop spreading nonsense.”

“Hey! Do you think she’ll send another bouquet today?”

“Hard to say. She’s being so forward, how can Mr. Wu resist?”

Wu Bie felt both wronged and irritated. A college girl? He wouldn’t dare dream of something so fortunate. There was no college girl, just some guy in disguise.

With a stern face, he declared, “Let me tell you, there won’t be any more.”

Ignoring their protests, Wu Bie carried the flowers back to his office. He placed the two bouquets side by side on the coffee table. Aside from the color, they were identical, and even the cards were the same. Both said, “I’m sorry.”

Wu Bie folded his arms, leaning against his desk, staring bitterly at the flowers. What exactly was Huo Zhanyan trying to do? He didn’t want their petty issues to be made public at the company.

By lunchtime, there had been no more calls from reception. Chen Xian knocked on his door, inviting him to lunch. Still irritated and distracted by the flowers, Wu Bie forgot his earlier plan to confront Chen Xian and seized the opportunity to vent.

“Let’s go, time to eat,” Chen Xian said, having already heard the gossip about Wu Bie receiving flowers. With innocent curiosity, he asked, “Who sent you flowers?”

Walking right into Wu Bie’s line of fire.

“Why didn’t you call me this morning? I overslept because of you.”

Chen Xian looked aggrieved. “Didn’t you tell me not to? You didn’t want to wait around for Ah Xue at breakfast, so you said you’d drive alone.”

Wu Bie had indeed declined Chen Xian’s breakfast invitation because he wanted some peace. But still! That wasn’t a valid excuse for Chen Xian not waking him up.

Back to the flowers on Wu Bie’s desk, Chen Xian asked, “Hey, why are there two bouquets? Who are they from?”

“Who cares!” Wu Bie stood up and pushed Chen Xian out the door. “They were sent by mistake. Let’s go eat.”

Just after Wu Bie said that the flowers were delivered to the wrong person, when he came back after lunch, there was another bouquet at the front desk. The girl at the reception handed him a knowing look.

“Damn it!”

Wu Bie screamed in his heart. He wished he could crack open Huo Zhanyan’s brain and see what was going on inside.

“Didn’t you say they delivered it to the wrong person?” Chen Xian asked, confused.

But Wu Bie didn’t care about Chen Xian’s confusion and rushed to the front desk, asking, “Where’s the person who delivered the flowers?”

“It seemed to be someone from the flower shop. They left after delivering it.”

Wu Bie scratched his head in frustration and spun around on the spot. At least Huo Zhanyan hadn’t personally delivered the flowers, which was a relief. Huo Zhanyan had a bit of sense and hadn’t deliberately come to the company to provoke him. Wu Bie needed to find him and clear things up once and for all.

But how could he contact him without his number? Damn it! He didn’t want to contact him, but now he had no choice. This guy was really asking for it.

Wu Bie suddenly remembered they used to contact each other via WeChat. To use his old WeChat, he needed to replace the SIM card. Once he logged back in, he’d see their old chat history.

Annoying.

Wu Bie grabbed the flowers and stormed back to his office. Everyone exchanged glances, and soon they saw Wu Bie walk out of the office again.

“Hey, where are you going?” Chen Xian quickly called out.

Wu Bie clenched his teeth, fists tightly balled, and said, “To replace my SIM card!”