谁敢小看他呢?
她带着真诚来了——以及他可能想要的一切.
虽然她的脸上保持着平静和镇定,但当她看到他脸上的瘀伤时,她的内心有些动摇.
但情感是一回事,原则又是另一回事.
她保持着稳定,合乎逻辑的语气."荣先生,苏玉燕昨晚打了你一拳.我想对此负全部责任.请不要为难他,也不要升级这件事.你知道事情是怎么回事——我们没想到他会反应如此情绪化.
她会在半夜偷偷溜出去见某人.他当场抓住了她,鲁莽和不恰当.然后,她自己的哥哥为了保护她,给了他一个黑眼圈.
无论你怎么看,这都是她的错.
然而她就在这里,站在他面前,彷佛他是错的那个人.
"说得如此坚定,脸色冰冷,没有一丝真诚的悔恨.
距离他们最后一次见面只过去了几天,但感觉他们之间已经形成了一条巨大的鸿沟.
"沈小姐,"他慢慢地附和着她的话,把花束放在一边,心不在焉地摆弄着花瓣."你始终如一,我会给你——当人们有用时忠诚,当他们没有用时保持疏远."
他的声音疏离而冷静.
他从书桌上走开,走向书架.他拉下一条毛巾,擦了擦手.
沈明默默地跟在后面.乍一看,他似乎很平静,但那一刻的某种事情让她犹豫是否要打断.
她环顾四周,发现他早些时候一直在画一幅水墨画.
在她能够更仔细地看之前,他的声音打破了沉默.
"你说你会承担责任.好.你到底打算怎么解决这个问题?
她毫不犹豫地从包里拿出一个文件夹——他们签署的合同,还有一些新合同.
"荣先生,我认为是时候结束我们之间的一切了.正如你所看到的,目前的情况风险太大了.我会偿还合同中规定的罚款.以下是新的还款条款.我现在没有钱,但当我有钱时,你可以把这个拿来给我——我会兑现它.
他刚擦干净的手突然又脏了.
他翻阅了合同.
原件——带有他们的签名——他扔到一边.至于新的...
"你有钱的时候?这不是这样运作的.如果您违反了协议,请立即付款.负担不起?这很好.其他人可以.你为什么不把这份合同带到你的祖父那里呢?我相信他会很乐意补偿我.甚至可能支付额外费用.
他一定是疯了.
他平静地说话,但他的话语却恶毒到足以让她喘不过气来.
显然,温和的谈判是行不通的.
她的语气立刻柔和了下来.
"你到底想要什么?"
"我想要什么?"荣兆南露出一个令人不寒而栗的笑容.
他一言不发,当着她的面把合同撕成两半.
他的表情依然平淡,但眼神却是暴风骤雨.
She finally understood—this man couldn't be confronted head-on.
She lowered her gaze and surrendered.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
He didn't say anything. Just stuffed the torn contract back into her briefcase—along with the old one—zipped it up for her, then slapped it into her hands.
"Start from the hill last night," he said coolly. "Tell me exactly what you did wrong."
He was infuriating.
If he had such a problem with her and Rong Tianqi being together, why had he agreed to it in the first place?
"If I say that running into Rong Tianqi last night was just a coincidence, you won't believe me. Still—even if I did meet him on purpose, we're clean. There's nothing to accuse us of. But you—'meeting a client'? Whispering sweet nothings to a pretty girl on a mountaintop in the middle of the night? That's your definition of business?"
She folded her arms, voice sharp. "If I'm guilty of anything, it's being too quick on my feet. As for Su Yuyan punching you—I truly didn't expect that."
That was her idea of admitting fault?
"You saw me whispering sweet nothings on a mountaintop? Shen Ming, which eye of yours saw that?"
She looked up at him, calm and composed.
"Both. I had binoculars. I saw you touch her hand."
A brief silence followed.
"...You were mistaken."
That wasn't the kind of thing he could allow to spread.
But still, maybe she should stop while she was ahead.
She gave a dramatic little nod."You're right. I must have been mistaken."
"..."
He stared at her for a long time. Her beautiful face now wore a look of quiet defeat. Somehow, he ended up feeling like he was the one in the wrong.
"Sometimes, clients get too familiar. A brush of the hand is nothing. You don't need to keep throwing it in my face. As for you and Rong Tianqi—I'll drop it. You're getting engaged soon anyway. It's not my place to judge."
Engaged.
...What?
Shen Ming froze. Her mind went blank.
"Your heroic brother didn't just hit me without apologizing—he's gone ahead and arranged your engagement. He's already spoken to my grandfather. At this rate, I'll be drinking your wedding wine by the end of the month."
His voice was laced with venom, every word meant to sting.
He watched her face darken, eyes narrowing.
"Are you happy about this, Shen Ming?"
She scrambled to wipe the unintentional smile off her lips.
"What? No!" She fumbled, clearly flustered. "I'm just... tired. Long dinner meeting. I'm exhausted. I'm going upstairs to shower. I'll just stay here tonight."
That was the last straw.
Rong Zhaonan had been holding back—no longer.
And the consequences were severe.
Shen Ming paid dearly.
Later, she lay sprawled across the massive bed, covered only by a thin satin sheet.
Her hair was still damp. She was half-texting on her phone, half-listening for sounds from the bathroom.
Despite everything, the man still had energy. When he came out, he tossed the towel aside and collapsed beside her.
She'd noticed this about him in this life: Rong Zhaonan had a strange habit.
He loved the way she smelled.
Like now, wrapped around her, face buried in her neck, inhaling deeply.
It didn't match his usual cold and intimidating image at all.
She tried to push him away—his head felt impossibly heavy—but he didn't budge.
Instead, he snatched her phone and glanced at the screen.
"The Su Yuyan matter—we can put that to rest. I won't go after him. But your engagement to Rong Tianqi? That's not something your brother gets to decide."
She was actually a bit surprised her brother had pushed for this engagement in the first place.
She fell into silent thought, but it didn't escape him.
He turned her face toward him sharply, forcing her to look him in the eye.
"Go tell Su Yuyan," he said coldly, "to keep out of Rong family business. And tell him this—your marriage will wait."