A satisfied smile played on Akira's lips as she watched Naea hurry out. Left alone in the damp sanctuary, she took her time, enjoying a proper, relaxing shower under the cascading water before slipping into her bathrobe and stepping out into the bedroom.
There, she found Naea sitting carefully on the edge of the bed, cradling little Naria in her arms while feeding her a bottle. The gentle rocking and the warm milk had done their trick; Naria's eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted right back into a deep sleep.
Seeing Akira walk out, Naea carefully laid the sleeping baby back down onto the mattress. She stood up, her gaze fixing onto Akira with a pointed, warning look.
"She shouldn't wake up again," Naea whispered strictly, gesturing toward Naria.
With that final boundary set, Naea headed back into the bathroom. Since her sudden exit earlier had cut things short, she needed to take a proper bath and wash her hair.
Akira walked over to the bed, looking down at her sleeping daughter with a soft, amused smile. "Couldn't you have slept for just one more hour, little miss?" she murmured playfully to the baby.
Turning toward the wardrobe, Akira selected a sharp, casual-formal outfit that perfectly mirrored her effortless, "Old Money" style. She was standing in front of the mirror, casually drying her hair with the blow dryer, when the bathroom door opened. Naea walked back into the bedroom, freshly bathed, with her wet hair cascading over her shoulders.
Akira looked at Naea through the mirror, a soft look returning to her eyes. "Miss... come here. Let me dry your hair for you," she offered gently.
Hearing her voice, Naea didn't resist. She walked over and sat down in front of the vanity. Akira switched on the hair dryer, the warm air humming into life between them. As she lifted her hands, she paused, catching Naea's eyes in the reflection of the glass. A subtle, teasing glint flickered in her gaze.
"To dry your hair properly, I'll need to move it around a bit," Akira murmured over the sound of the dryer. "So... am I allowed to touch you?"
Naea caught the hidden meaning behind the question, remembering the strict rule she had just set in the bathroom. Feeling a slight blush creep up her neck, she gave a small, quiet nod of approval.
Satisfied, Akira ran her fingers through Naea's damp strands, gently working the dryer until her hair fell in smooth, perfect waves. Once she was finished, Akira turned off the machine, setting it aside on the counter.
"Aunt Zhi hasn't come back yet, so I'll have to make breakfast for us ," Akira said, leaning against the vanity as she prepared to head out. "What would you like to eat?"
Naea adjusted her collar, looking away slightly. "Anything is fine. Just make whatever you want," she replied softly.
With a nod, Akira turned around, unlocked the bedroom door, and stepped out into the drawing area, heading straight toward the kitchen to start the morning routine.Stepping out of the bedroom, Akira kept her eyes locked straight ahead. Even though Zheng was sitting right there in the drawing area, Akira completely looked past her, treating her presence as nothing more than empty space. She walked straight into the kitchen, immediately shifting her focus into preparing a perfect breakfast, along with a strong cup of black coffee to clear the morning's lingering heat.
A short while later, Naea finished getting ready. Dressed impeccably and with her hair beautifully styled, she stepped out into the drawing area.
The moment she appeared, Zheng's eyes snapped up from her books. Looking at the clock, Zheng offered a quiet, tentative greeting. "Good afternoon, Miss Naea."
Naea didn't let her composure slip for even a fraction of a second. "Good morning, Zheng," she responded calmly, gently correcting her with a steady voice. Before walking over to the study table, she gestured toward the books. "Keep your doubts and questions ready. I'll come over to teach you and clear them up in just a moment."
"Alright, Miss," Zheng replied, immediately lowering her head back to her notes, relieved by the familiar, structured routine.
Naea turned and walked into the kitchen to join Akira. Leaning against the counter, she glanced at the sizzling pans. "What are you making?" she asked softly.
Akira didn't look up from her cooking, a calm but firm boundaries settling over her features. "You'll find out once it's done, Miss. For now, please go back outside and sit down."
Naea opened her mouth to argue, but the sudden, direct order from Akira left her with no room to negotiate. Deciding not to press the matter inside the tight space of the kitchen, she fell silent. She turned on her heel, walked right back out to the drawing area, and sat down next to Zheng to begin reviewing her student's questions.Just then, Wei Jian finally opened her eyes. Checking the clock, she realized it was already 11:00 AM. Shaking off the heavy exhaustion, she quickly took a shower and stepped out of the guest room.
The mouth-watering aroma of fresh breakfast was wafting through the house. In the drawing area, Naea was sitting with Zheng, quietly guiding her through her studies. The moment Wei Jian turned the corner and caught sight of Zheng sitting at the table, her heart skipped a beat. Panic seized her, and she instinctively turned on her heel to retreat back into the safety of the guest room.
But she wasn't fast enough.
"Morning, Wei," Akira's voice cut through the air, catching her in her tracks. Akira glanced up from the kitchen counter with a calm smile. "If you're done with your shower, breakfast is ready. Come over and sit down."
Trapped by courtesy, Wei Jian couldn't find a single excuse to leave. She forced a tight smile, walked over to the dining table, and sat down. Trying to maintain her professional composure, she looked at Naea. "Good morning, Naea." Then, turning a hesitant gaze toward Zheng, she muttered, "Morning, Zheng."
Both Naea and Zheng politely replied back.
Naea looked closely at Wei Jian's tired eyes, a hint of concern in her voice. "You didn't come home last night, Wei. Did something happen?"
Wei Jian shifted uncomfortably in her chair, offering a quick, fabricated lie. "No... I just stayed over at a friend's place last night."
Sitting right across from her, the sound of Wei Jian's voice acted like a trigger in Zheng's brain. Suddenly, the fog in her mind completely vanished, and the scattered pieces of the previous night violently locked into place. The brutal boxing match with Tyson... her bleeding injuries... the way Wei Jian had gently cleaned her wounds... and then, the spiked drink, followed by that intense, passionate kiss in the dim light of the hotel room.
Everything became crystal clear. Zheng sat frozen in absolute shock, her eyes widening as the reality of what she had done hit her like a physical blow.
Right at that heavy moment, Akira finished plating the food. "Miss," she called out from the kitchen, her voice breaking the heavy silence. "Could you give me a hand with setting these dishes on the dining table?"
"Of course," Naea replied, immediately standing up from the study table and walking into the kitchen to help her.
With Naea gone and Akira occupied in the kitchen, the dining area fell into a suffocating, terrifying silence. Left entirely alone at the table, Wei Jian and Zheng avoided each other's eyes, caught in an incredibly awkward, suffocating atmosphere where the unspoken truth of the night before hung heavily between them.
Akira and Naea walked out of the kitchen, carefully placing the platters of fresh breakfast and the strong black coffee onto the center of the dining table. Once everything was set, they took their respective seats opposite each other.
Akira leaned back, fixing her dark eyes onto Wei Jian. With an effortless, teasing smirk, she spoke up. "So... was it your boyfriend ?"
Wei Jian blinked, looking up from her plate in complete confusion. "What do you mean, Akira?"
Akira leaned forward slightly, her expression shifting into a mask of casual, friendly concern as she pointed a finger toward Wei Jian's collar. "Well, you just said you stayed over at a friend's house last night. So... did he give you that love bite on your neck?"
The words hit the table like a lightning bolt.
Zheng, who had just raised her glass to take a sip of juice, froze completely, her hand paralyzing mid-air as her breath hitched in her throat. Right next to her, Wei Jian, who had been chewing a mouthful of food, violently choked. She began to cough frantically, her pale face turning bright red from a mixture of suffocation and sheer, unadulterated panic.
Seeing her in distress, Naea quickly grabbed a glass of water and handed it to Wei Jian, gently patting her back. As she did, Naea shot a sharp, reprimanding look across the table straight at Akira. Even if you noticed it, did you really have to say it out loud at the breakfast table? her eyes screamed.
Reading Naea's silent lecture perfectly, Akira raised her hands in a playful surrender and looked back at Wei Jian. "Hey, it's fine. You're at that age, so it's not wrong at all."
Gulping down the water, Wei Jian desperately tried to salvage what was left of her dignity. She forced her voice to remain steady as she spun another frantic lie. "It's... it's not what you think. We were just playing a game last night, and the rule was that the loser had to get a love bite. Unfortunately, I lost the game."
Zheng sat in agonizing silence right beside her, her heart hammering against her ribs as she stared down at her plate, drowning in a wave of intense nervousness. One wrong look, and the entire house would find out that she was the one who had won that "game."
Naea, wanting to completely diffuse the suffocating tension before it ruined the morning, spoke up in her signature calm, commanding tone. "Alright, let's just leave it at that. Let's finish our breakfast in peace now."
Once breakfast was over, Akira stood up from the table and headed back into the bedroom to grab her bag. Coming back out, she habitually started walking straight toward Naea, intending to plant a parting kiss on her forehead as she always did before leaving.
But midway, Akira froze.
Remembering the strict "no-touch" boundary Naea had placed on her in the bathroom, a low, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of Akira's lips. She stopped right in her tracks, locked eyes with Naea, and gave a slight, formal nod. "Well, Miss... see you in the evening."
With that teasing farewell, Akira turned on her heel, stepped out of the house, and got into her car, driving off toward the editing cafe.
The moment the front door clicked shut, the sharp cry of baby Naria echoed from the bedroom once again. Naea sighed softly, immediately preparing to head inside to check on her daughter. Before leaving the drawing area, she turned her attention to Wei Jian.
"Wei, I'm going to be with Naria for a little while," Naea explained smoothly. "If she falls back asleep, that's fine. Otherwise, I'll bring her out. In the meantime, Zheng is having trouble with a few biology topics. Could you please sit with her and explain them to her?"
Before Wei Jian could even open her mouth to object or make an excuse, Naea turned and quickly walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
With Akira gone and Naea occupied in the bedroom, the dining table was left completely empty except for the two of them. Wei Jian and Zheng sat frozen, trapped in an intensely awkward, heavy atmosphere. The lie about the "game" had fallen flat, the memories were fully back, and there was nowhere left for either of them to hide.Breaking the suffocating silence, Wei Jian cleared her throat and fixed her eyes strictly on the textbook, avoiding Zheng's gaze. "Which topic do you need help understanding?" she asked, her tone forced into a professional, detached calm.
Zheng stared at her for a beat before looking down at her notes. "Night photosynthesis," she replied quietly.
Nodding, Wei Jian pulled the book closer and began to explain the concept. She broke down the intricate process smoothly—how certain plants keep their stomata closed during the blistering day to conserve water and capture carbon dioxide only at night, storing it away to be processed later in the dark. Her voice was steady, but the underlying tension in the room made the academic explanation feel heavy, almost symbolic of the secrets they were keeping locked behind closed doors.
As Wei Jian sketched out a diagram to illustrate the cycle, the sleek pen she was holding suddenly slipped from her fingers. It bounced off the edge of the table and clattered onto the floor below.
Hoping to break the awkward energy, Wei Jian immediately leaned down from her chair to retrieve it. At the exact same fraction of a second, Zheng instinctively bent down to grab it for her.
In the narrow, hidden space beneath the table, their movements collided. Their fingers brushed against each other as they both reached for the fallen pen. The brief, unexpected friction of skin against skin sent an electric jolt through them, freezing them both in place. The professional barrier they had desperately tried to rebuild over breakfast dissolved instantly, leaving them breathless in the sudden closeness.The moment their fingers brushed, Wei Jian flinched as if she had been burned. She jerked her hand back instantly, her heart hammering against her ribs. Pulling herself upright, she shut the textbook with a sharp, trembling snap.
"Naea will explain the rest of the topic to you when she comes out," Wei Jian said, her voice shaky as she desperately tried to escape the suffocating proximity. "I'll... I'll go check on Naria instead."
She pushed her chair back, ready to practically bolt from the room. But before she could take a single step away, Zheng lunged forward. Moving with a sudden, fearless resolve, Zheng reached out and wrapped her fingers firmly around Wei Jian's wrist, completely halting her retreat.
The physical contact was solid, unyielding, and left no room for escape.
Wei Jian froze, her back turned to Zheng, her breath hitching in her throat as she stared down at the hand locking her in place.
"Wei Jian," Zheng spoke up, her voice dropping into a low, steady tone that carried a strange, heavy maturity. It was the first time she had ever addressed the older woman so directly, without any formal titles. "Don't you think we need to talk? Because if we don't... this awkwardness between us is never going to end."
Wei Jian slowly turned around, her gaze dropping to where Zheng's fingers were tightly locked around her wrist. Forcing a cold, unyielding distance into her eyes, she looked straight at Zheng.
"Zheng, I have nothing to talk about," Wei Jian said, her voice dropping into a flat, quiet whisper. "What happened last night... it wasn't your fault, and it wasn't mine either. But from this moment on, I want us to live like absolute strangers. That is what's best for me... and it's what's best for you, too."
The words were sharp, drawing a definitive line in the sand between them. Zheng stared at her for a long beat, her grip slowly loosening until her hand fell back to her side. A quiet, unreadable calm settled over her features.
"Hmm. Alright," Zheng replied softly, accepting the boundary without a single argument.
Before the heavy silence could swallow the room again, the bedroom door clicked open. Naea stepped out into the drawing area, carrying a freshly bathed little Naria in her arms. The baby was dressed in clean, bright clothes, her cheeks flushed a soft pink, smelling faintly of baby powder.
The suffocating tension at the dining table vanished instantly as both Wei Jian and Zheng looked up. In perfect unison, the heavy lines on their faces melted away, replaced by genuine, soft smiles the moment their eyes landed on Naria. It was as if the emotional storm of the last few minutes had been completely wiped clean, hidden away beneath the safe, comforting warmth of a normal domestic morning.
Across town, the chime above the editing cafe door jingled softly as Akira walked inside. Securing her usual quiet corner table, she settled down with a steaming cup of strong black coffee. Shifting into full work mode, she opened her laptop to review the newly submitted chapters from her author, An Mei.
As Akira scrolled through the draft, the narrative plunged deep into the aftermath of the high-stakes drama between the main characters. Following Fen Tao's fierce, private statement from the night before, she hadn't left Ruoxi's side for a single second. Instead of letting the outside world interfere, Fen Tao had quietly driven her away from the tension, bringing her straight to one of her secure, private apartments.
Safely locked behind closed doors, the atmosphere in the manuscript shifted into absolute, intense focus. Fen Tao and Ruoxi immediately began working together, combing through timelines and digital footprints to figure out exactly who was behind the leaked, fabricated kissing footage.
Akira took a slow sip of her coffee, her eyes scanning the pages as An Mei beautifully detailed Fen Tao's character. Fen Tao wasn't just standing by Ruoxi out of obligation; she was acting as an unyielding pillar of support in total secrecy, shielding Ruoxi from the scandal while fiercely hunting down the culprit. The absolute, protective loyalty in the draft felt incredibly raw—a striking mirror to the territorial instincts Akira herself had displayed just hours earlier in her own home.