Chapter 2: An Unspoken Understanding

If love could grant me a reason for forgiveness, then ambiguity is blameless.

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Before the words had faded, the accompanying chimes of the church bells brought an abrupt end to the web of sins interwoven across those decadent gambling tables. The pace of romantic intrigue here is faster than a rocket—do you dare to disbelieve?

“Mr. Lu, perhaps you simply lost to your own distracted heart.” An Ning replied with a faint smile, her gaze drifting to the hand gripping her slender wrist. Raising her eyes, she calmly issued her dismissal, “If you’re not satisfied, you may return another day. I have never entertained guests past four in the morning.”

Yet his grip only tightened, as if he wished to crush her bones.

Lu Huaining felt the unfamiliar yet familiar aura emanating from her, a tangled surge of emotions rising like entwined vines in his heart. “Who are you, really?”

“Take a guess!” Like a cat, she flashed a mischievous smile, her eyes bright with playful light.

Her song, every word, every expression—it all seemed designed to tear at his heart. Even this gamble felt carefully arranged, a gentle trap.

Her deep blue eyes were like paradise, yet more like hell, luring him to uncover the mystery beneath her mask.

He stepped closer; she retreated quietly. His relentless gaze was met only with her elusive smile, as if they were locked in a game of cat and mouse, roles reversed.

She delighted in it.

“Ding ding ding—”

The sound of an incoming video call finally drew her thoughts from the depths of memory. An Ning’s hand trembled as she opened the window, her heart skipping a beat without her noticing.

“Mama!” The sweet, tender voice of a little girl burst onto the screen, honey-warm and filling An Ning’s weary heart with sudden softness.

“Pengpeng…” Her slender hand trembled as it caressed the small face she longed for in her dreams, her voice quivering beyond control as she spoke the name.

On the distant end of the call, the little girl saw the tears brimming with desperate longing in her mother’s eyes. Innocent, wide eyes blinked with a smile, and a tiny hand tried to wipe away An Ning’s suppressed tears, though it only brushed the screen in vain.

“Mama, don’t cry. Grandpa says Pengpeng will see Mama very soon!” The little girl made a playful face at the screen, watching her mother nod through tears and laughter. Her childish excitement returned as she waved her arms, “Mama, Mama, Grandpa taught Pengpeng how to play mahjong today!”

At that, An Ning was taken aback. Was her father planning to mold her three-year-old into the next gambling prodigy?

Helpless, she followed the girl’s excited lead, “Did Pengpeng have fun?”

“Mhm, mhm!” The child nodded vigorously, cherishing every “meeting” with her beloved mother in her own way. “Grandpa taught Pengpeng so much! Grandpa is amazing!”

An Ning watched her daughter’s face framed in tiny hands, full of admiration, and could only smile bitterly. “What does Pengpeng like best?”

The little girl pouted, her eyes glimmering like black grapes and suddenly shining, “Matching game!”

An Ning laughed in spite of herself; her daughter’s unique childlike words always brought warmth to her lonely, exhausted heart.

“Sophie, take the young lady down for a rest.”

Her smile had barely begun to spread when a stern voice from the other side of the call made her shudder. She watched helplessly as the maid carried the little girl away.

Soon, the other end of the call was replaced by the face of an elder, weathered but fiercely proud, his eyes sharp as a hawk circling the sky. An Ning felt a chill.

“Father,” she called softly.

Her respectful tone only provoked a surge of anger on his face; his eyes locked on her uncertain hands, his low voice drifting out like a ghost, “Ning Ning, I still prefer you when you’re afraid of me.”

“Father—” An Ning’s voice rose abruptly, “Please don’t change the plan…”

“You shouldn’t have provoked me!” His icy words cut her off mercilessly. “If you think some things are more important, then wait until you give me a satisfactory answer before you see Pengpeng again.”

The call was abruptly ended. An Ning collapsed onto the sofa, her eyes drained of all color.

When Si Yang approached from behind, treading softly through the night, she remained frozen in that posture, her cold, beautiful gaze fixed on the endless sea before her.

“You seem to have a special affection for this blue expanse?” The man’s questioning tone carried a note of certainty.

“Did you know? There’s a poet in China who wrote a beautiful line…” She turned to gaze at his gentle face. “I wish for a house, facing the sea, where spring flowers bloom.”

Yet her ambiguous look was met with a smile from him.

“But such a reason does not belong to you.” His confidence was unshakable.

An Ning turned her head, and after a moment, her emotional eyes lingered once more on the wide blue before her. Her voice was wistful, “The reason I love this sea is because it holds the memory of the one who once loved me most…”

The one who once loved her most? Si Yang did not press her further. This enigmatic woman before him—if she lost her secrets, she would be nothing but a soul-less shell.

“The wedding dress has already been flown to the manor. Remember to try it on when you return.” He replaced the wine in her hand with calming tea.

An Ning nodded lightly, a shadow of a smile on her lips. She had never imagined her first time wearing bridal attire would be for this man.

But if not him, who else?

“Your eyes are indeed extraordinary.” Si Yang gazed at her, watching as she removed her colored lenses to reveal her black eyes, which seemed to possess a power for confiding all.

Extraordinary?

“It’s the first time I’ve heard such praise.” She sipped the fragrant tea, watching his retreating figure. The next moment, she drained her glass of wine.

Indeed, wine suited her tastes better—just as it suited her life.