You've really angered me this time

"Why are you here?"

Gu Wenze's voice took on an intense chill without his realizing it, seemingly cooling even the air around him.

His dark gaze moved between Qiao Hua and Yan Yu. "When you said you had something to do, you meant coming to the business banquet with him?"

Who knew I'd be unlucky enough for Gu Wenze and Yan Yu to be attending the same business banquet? Qiao Hua thought.

But she had nothing to feel guilty about. She nodded. "Yes. What a coincidence."

Seeing how calm she was, ice gathered in Gu Wenze's eyes.

Qiao Hua had no time for me, but she had time for Yan Yu?

Beside her, Yan Yu took the initiative to greet him. "President Gu, we meet again."

Gu Wenze swept him with a cold glance. "Can't President Yan even find a date? Do you need my woman to accompany you?"

Yan Yu smiled slightly. "Of course I can find a date, but I certainly don't know anyone else as outstanding as Qiao Hua."

As he spoke, he casually rested a hand on Qiao Hua's shoulder. "Actually, I should thank you, President Gu. If you hadn't invited someone else, I wouldn't have had the chance to attend tonight's banquet with Qiao Hua."

He placed particular emphasis on "invited someone else," giving the words a pointed undertone.

Gu Wenze's gaze settled on Yan Yu's hand on Qiao Hua's fair shoulder, his eyes cold enough to seem frozen over.

"Take your hand off her."

Yan Yu didn't budge. "In what capacity are you ordering me around, President Gu?" he asked evenly.

"As her husband."

"Really?" Yan Yu gave him a meaningful smile. "But I heard you two were getting divorced."

Gu Wenze's eyes instantly darkened, taking on a chilling severity.

Their eyes locked, an undercurrent of tension surging through their silent standoff. Neither backed down.

Then Jiang Nan's gentle voice broke the deathly silence from beside them. "Wenze, so this is where you are."

The moment Gu Jinman, who was beside her, spotted Qiao Hua and Yan Yu, she hurried over to complain. "Wenze, Qiao Hua seduced some man from who knows where and actually wormed her way into this banquet. Hurry up and teach her a lesson!"

"Gu Jinman, you can eat whatever you like, but you can't say whatever you like," Qiao Hua warned. "This is my boss, not some random man I'm sleeping with."

Gu Jinman snorted. "Who knows whether he's your boss or someone you're fooling around with?"

Qiao Hua curled her lips. "By your logic, coming here with someone other than your husband means you're fooling around. Then your brother coming with Jiang Nan must mean they're..."

Jiang Nan's expression immediately soured. She instinctively looked toward Gu Wenze, but he was staring intently at Qiao Hua, his eyes on her alone.

Jiang Nan's hand at her side tightened around her skirt. It took a long while before she slowly released it.

Not expecting to have dug herself into a hole, Gu Jinman raised her voice in agitation. "How can my brother and Jiang Nan possibly be the same as you?"

Qiao Hua shrugged. "You were the one who said it just now. I didn't say anything."

Seeing Gu Jinman at a loss for words made Qiao Hua feel much better. She turned to Yan Yu. "President Yan, there are too many dogs barking here. It's deafening. Let's go."

Yan Yu nodded slightly. "Then we'll be taking our leave, President Gu."

Their retreating figures looked unexpectedly well matched. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought they were the couple.

Gu Wenze tightened his grip on his wineglass, oblivious to the dark red wine dripping onto the carpet.

"Wenze, look at her! She's with some other man, and she still acts like she's done nothing wrong!" Gu Jinman kept fanning the flames, wishing her brother would divorce this woman immediately.

"Shut up!" Gu Wenze suddenly snapped, looking coldly at Gu Jinman.

He rarely spoke to Gu Jinman in that tone. Frightened, she swallowed the words she had been preparing to say.

Beside her, Jiang Nan stiffened slightly.

Was it her imagination, or was Gu Wenze... angry?

Worried that Qiao Hua might feel uncomfortable at an event like this, Yan Yu specifically took her to a corner to get something to eat. Before long, someone came looking for him, so he had to leave her waiting there while he went to mingle.

Even then, plenty of people came over to strike up conversations.

Qiao Hua really wasn't comfortable at events like this. Using the restroom as an excuse, she escaped upstairs, intending to get some air on the balcony.

As she passed through the corridor, a pair of hands suddenly shot out of a doorway and swiftly dragged her inside.

The world spun before her eyes. In her daze, her back seemed to hit something hard. She looked up to find Gu Wenze's shadowed face looming before her.

"Hey, let go of me!"

Qiao Hua struggled hard to break free, only to be restrained even more tightly. Not knowing what Gu Wenze wanted, she glared at him in anger.

The room was dim, leaving Gu Wenze's expression unreadable. "I told you last time to keep your distance from him. Did you just ignore everything I said?"

Not only was Qiao Hua with Yan Yu, but she had even dressed up so dazzlingly.

On his way upstairs, Gu Wenze had heard no fewer than ten people discussing Qiao Hua. Some had even said she and Yan Yu made a good match.

In that instant, Gu Wenze had felt the displeasure of having something that belonged to him snatched away.

Qiao Hua quickly calmed down and met his gaze. "President Gu, don't you have anything better to do than meddle in everyone else's business?"

Her words only added fuel to the fire. Gu Wenze abruptly gripped Qiao Hua's chin. "Tell me the truth. Do you like him?"

His grip hurt badly. Qiao Hua winced. "If there's something wrong with you, go see a doctor."

"Then why did you come to a banquet like this with him tonight?" Gu Wenze practically forced the words out through his throat. "And you still dare claim there's nothing going on between you?"

Whenever he pictured Qiao Hua chatting and laughing with Yan Yu that evening, his blood kept surging, filling his chest with an unfamiliar, unbearable feeling.

Qiao Hua smiled so happily around Yan Yu, yet all she ever said to him was "divorce."

Qiao Hua took a deep breath. "He couldn't find a date, so he asked me to help out at the last minute. Is there a problem?"

It would have been better not to mention it. Her words reminded Gu Wenze of Yan Yu's barbed remarks at the banquet, and he said harshly, "He's the president of a company, and he can't even find a date? Qiao Hua, do you really think I'm an idiot?"

Qiao Hua lost her patience. "Believe it or not. Everything I've said is true."

Somehow, those words ignited Gu Wenze's fury. He didn't know how much effort it took to stop himself from exploding. He enunciated each word. "Quit your job with him. Right now."

"No," Qiao Hua replied without hesitation.

Her reaction only convinced Gu Wenze further that their relationship wasn't simple. Otherwise, if it was just a job, why was Qiao Hua so unwilling to quit?

All the emotions Gu Wenze had accumulated that evening had reached their peak. His face was shrouded in darkness, mingled with emotions impossible to decipher. "Qiao Hua, you've really angered me this time."