At first, Lin Huaiqing had been running behind Lu Yuting. But with his heart racing and adrenaline surging, he soon overtook her without realizing it, pulling her along in an aimless sprint.
They stopped only when both were out of breath, leaning against a wall and panting.
Passersby could see a smartly dressed, attractive pair laughing and fooling around without any concern for appearances.
“Whew… I’m exhausted. I haven’t run this hard in eight hundred lifetimes!”
“Neither have I! Even a fitness test would be no worse. But seriously, I’m just an ordinary rich kid. Who would be watching me?”
“That’s easy. Think about whom you’ve offended.”
Lu Yuting’s words gave him an idea. He never involved himself in company business, so whoever was watching must be targeting him personally, not the Lin Group.
Apart from offending Qin Fan for his mission, he had not even met the protagonist yet. He had no grudges with anyone else!
Had Qin Fan actually sent someone to monitor his every move?!
What did he want? To kidnap him and demand an enormous ransom from his father? Or kill the hostage outright?
Thinking calmly, though, that seemed unlikely.
The Qin family could not do absolutely anything they pleased in the capital. They would not escape responsibility for murder.
After thinking for a while without reaching an answer, Lin Huaiqing gave up.
“Thank you for earlier, Miss Lu. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
He was about to leave when Lu Yuting caught his arm.
“Wait! Don’t you want to know why I left you back then?”
He did! Of course he did! He just had not expected her to be so direct.
“What would knowing change? Qin Fan is handsome, good-tempered, and his family is… Anyway, there probably isn’t much I can beat him at.”
Head lowered, Lin Huaiqing earnestly listed Qin Fan’s advantages over him.
Seeing him like that, Lu Yuting cupped his face and spoke seriously.
“No! That isn’t it! You’re the only person I’ve ever liked! It was Qin Fan. He forced me to break up with you!”
Lin Huaiqing immediately raised his head, staring in disbelief at her face so close to his.
“Huaiqing, you said I was the person you trusted most in the world! I swear to heaven, every word I’ve said is true!”
“Yuting, I’m sorry. I don’t want to discuss this today. It’s getting late. Let me take you home.”
He could not meet her faintly pleading gaze. Even if she was telling the truth, they could change nothing. One day, he would leave this place for the next world.
Lin Huaiqing parked in a modest residential complex.
The streetlights were broken, and the security did not look particularly good.
“You live here?”
“Yes… I only just returned. Having somewhere to stay is good enough.”
“Then I’ll walk you upstairs…”
He asked no further questions.
Lu Yuting lived on the fourth floor. The sound-activated stairwell lights were old and needed a loud noise before they would turn on.
“Huaiqing, we’re here. Won’t you come in for a while?”
She opened the door and asked from the entrance.
“No, it’s late. I should go.”
Lin Huaiqing declined firmly.
Since they had no future together, it was best not to give her hope.
“All right… Let’s talk on WeChat later.”
Clearly disappointed, Lu Yuting closed the security door, leaving him in the dark.
He shook his head helplessly and was about to go downstairs when he encountered a man in a baseball cap.
Assuming he was another resident, Lin Huaiqing started to step aside. Instead, the man came straight for him.
He roughly slammed Lin Huaiqing against the wall. The back of his head struck it hard enough to make him see stars.
“Fuck!”
Only one thought filled his mind.
He was done for! Qin Fan must have sent someone to kidnap him.
Dizzy, he struggled fiercely to break the man’s hold and run downstairs.
But the stranger was far stronger. His arms were hard with muscle. Beside him, Lin Huaiqing felt like a malnourished weakling.
He barely escaped half a step before a powerful arm caught his waist, dragged him back, and pinned him against the wall again.
The stranger pressed a thigh between his legs, leaving him unable to gain leverage on the stairs, as though nailed to the wall.
Then his breath was brutally stolen. The fierce, relentless kiss left his mind reeling.
Lack of air slowed his thoughts further. He could also distinctly feel a hot hand moving around his waist, exploring through his clothes.
He had never imagined anything so shocking would happen to him.
He was absolutely straight. He might not mind a woman throwing herself at him, but a man was another matter entirely.
In the darkness, he could not make out the stranger’s face. The baseball cap had fallen during their struggle.
Whether the man finally tired of kissing him or he managed to pull free, Lin Huaiqing at last regained control of his body.
“Hel—mmph…”
He tried to cry out, but the man clapped a hand over his mouth.
Lowering his voice, the stranger leaned close to his ear.
“If you want that woman to see you being kissed weak at the knees by a man in the stairwell in the middle of the night, go ahead and shout! Let her see what you look like after someone’s shown you some affection!”
Lin Huaiqing: “?!?”
What kind of filthy talk was that?!
Being humiliated like this by another man made his face and neck burn with anger. Yet he did not dare call anyone out.
Even if nothing was going on between him and Lu Yuting, that did not mean he wanted his first love to see him in such a miserable state.
When he made no further move, the man leisurely retrieved his cap from the floor and put it back on.
“What do you want?! I’m the Lin Group’s sole heir! If you hurt me, my father won’t let you get away with it!”
His father was his only protection. He was gambling that the thug Qin Fan had hired would fear the Lin family’s influence.
Sure enough, the man released him.
The moment he was free, Lin Huaiqing hurried downstairs, terrified the stranger might change his mind and grab him again.
“That woman is no good. Stay away from her.”
The voice followed him from behind, but Lin Huaiqing was too busy escaping to take any notice.
Once he finally reached the ground floor, he rushed into his car and locked the doors. Only then did he feel a little safer.
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