The Villain's Wife (WN)
chapter-173

The moment Zhuo Jingren went inside the boutique, both QiaoQiao and Manager Hao immediately rose from their seats, shock apparent in their eyes. How could the President suddenly arrive at this place? Could it be that…

Manager Hao's eyes lit up as her gaze shifted towards the blushing QiaoQiao. As expected, President Zhuo had taken a liking towards her artist. Manager Hao instantly checked QiaoQiao's appearance. The latter was wearing a sky blue dress which enhanced her pale skin. She was not wearing a lot of make-up and that only enhanced her natural beauty. She slowly nodded her head before looking at Zhuo Jingren's panicked expression? Eh? Why would President Zhuo…

Manager Hao did not continue her train of thought when both of them noticed that Zhuo Jingren was walking their way. She instantly cleared her throat, "Pre…" Manager Hao was not even able to finish her words when a gust of wind almost knocked her down. President Zhuo just walked past them towards the second floor of the boutique! The man did not even looked at them once! This…

Her eyes immediately moved towards QiaoQiao who actually had a very puzzled look on her face. What just happened?

"Sister Hao… I…" QiaoQiao's face turned pale then it became bloody red… so red it almost looked purple. It was obvious that Zhuo Jingren didn't even recognize her.

"QiaoQiao… you and President Zhuo…" Manager Hao was not able to continue her words. Though this all started with a single tease, she actually believed it might happen in the long run. But who could've have thought that…

Once again, Manager Hao swallowed a mouthful of saliva before she looked at some of the staff and clients who were looking at them awkwardly. "Let's go… I think our van just arrived," she said before leaving ahead of her artist. What an embarrassment!

….

On the other hand, Zhuo Jingren just stood at the door of the VIP fitting room. Yang Mi had already explained to him about everything that had happened, and though he didn't understand why Lily would suddenly fly into a fit of rage, he knew that calming her down will be difficult. Was Lily the type of person to yell? No. Zhuo Jingren was sure that Lily would not raise her voice just because she was mad. Was Lily the type of person to throw things once she was mad? He didn't know, but he can only hope that she would not choose to throw a knife at him once he steps inside.

"Ehem…" Zhuo Jingren immediately looked at Secretary Go who was standing next to him. "President, I saw the CCTV. The Madam was eavesdropping while Miss Bingbing was talking with those two women. One is an actress called QiaoQiao and the other, is her manager. I already took the liberty to inquire about this conversation and Miss Bingbing told me that the actress QiaoQiao and her manager had mentioned repeatedly about you sponsoring her films. In the end, they even had the courage to ask for the 'Boss'' number, who they assumed to be you."

Zhuo Jingren nodded in response. He did not utter a single word as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked into the room.

Inside, Lily was standing in front of the third mannequin. Her back was to Zhuo Jingren but for some reason the latter could not feel anything from her. Not coldness, nor anger. The throwing episode that he envisioned earlier also did not happen. Was he just overthinking?

"Hey?" He approached her casually and then he tried to lean down to kiss her cheek, but his lips met with Lily's palm.

"I think I like you," Lily said in a serious tone.

"Well… I like you too," he answered, looking at her side profile. Inwardly, Zhuo Jingren didn't know how to react at all. Ever since they got married, Lily had never told him that she liked him… She would always say she married him for his money or his body, sometimes even his face - but never him. So was Lily confessing her feelings, now? He was supposed to be happy, right? No, he wasn't. All he knew is that he was... nervous.

However, Zhuo Jingren was quick to force down his own thoughts and he chose not to say anything. He continued to look at Lily, his expression complicated.

"I am serious." Lily finally looked at him, her gaze a little complicated. "I think I have never liked anyone like this before."

"I…"

"And I want you to know that I have not been completely honest with you. Our child… might have been taken away from my womb without my knowledge," Lily suddenly blurted, completely killing the mood in the process. What else can she say? To be honest, she didn't know how to handle situations like this. Moreover, she didn't remember any movies that involved a wife's confession about her feelings for her husband. She was completely cluelessso she decided to just say the next thing that came into her head.

On the outside, Lily looked calm. Her face was stoic and her eyes looked straight into his. On the inside, however, she was still not satisfied. She was aware that she might be acting like a teenager, contradicting her own thoughts every now and then. Who else could she blame about this behavior? Aside from her stupid, innocent self who had never experienced a proper boyfriend in her teenage years? No one!

After arriving in Europe, Lily was so engrossed in learning and growing that she failed to associate herself with other people and be more familiar with relationships between a man and a woman. Moreover, she had promised herself to live alone until she died. Meeting – Liking someone like Zhuo Jingren was never a part of her plans at all.

Additionally, her grandmother never had discussions with her about these things ah.

"I… Wow! You never cease to amaze me," Zhuo Jingren said before taking a deep breath. He lowered his gaze before shifting it back to Lily's light brown eyes. Surprisingly, his heart didn't beat as fast this time. "I think this is also the time for me to tell you that I was thinking the same thing and had been doing my own investigation since you told me about it."

"I know." Lily answered. "What do you think will happen if we found out that someone deliberately killed our child?"

"Then we will destroy them," he answered immediately. In response, Lily nodded. 'Destroy them' was good enough for her.

Seeing Lily engrossed in her own thoughts as she shifted her gaze back into the mannequin, Zhuo Jingren decided to slowly pull her towards him, his hands wrapped around her waist. Then he kissed her head and hugged her tighter.

No matter how much Zhuo Jingren had analyzed the situation, he would never have included this type of confession or conversation at a time like this. To be honest, this mixture of harmonious and blunt Lily was an absolute surprise to him. Not that he did not like it. Because he did… He liked it a lot.

"Jingren?" Lily's soft voice reached his ears.

"Hmmmm?"

"You have been attracting different kinds of women lately. I think it's high time you stop working and just stay at home, so no one can see your handsome face anymore, no?"

"Eh?"