Chapter 5 – Too Long Behind the Mask
1093 Words
Ye Zhen pointed calmly at the ceiling.
“Did I forget to mention?” he said. “There are security cameras all over this house. Including right above us. Perfect resolution. Full angle. No blind spots.”
“You’re sick!” Mo Xiaoxi’s voice trembled with fury. If looks could kill, she’d have torn him apart on the spot.
“Oh, come on.” He gave a casual shrug. “You could even say I’m helping you. I mean—this could be great evidence, right? You could hand it to the police. Maybe, if you're lucky, someone will take your side.”
“Bastard!” Mo Xiaoxi snapped. She hurled the stack of photos at his face. “Don’t get cocky. You have no idea who’s going to win this.”
She turned to leave, head held high.
“Wait.” His voice was cool, mocking. “What happened—did a shower wash away your common sense? Shall I call Lan Sijing and tell him how you—”
Before he could finish, Mo Xiaoxi had already spun around. Her posture was straight, her expression composed, and she wore a bright, dazzling smile.
“Yes, Mr. Ye?” she asked sweetly. “How may I help you?”
That smile—it was like the spring sunshine. Warm. Bright. Disarming.
For a moment, Ye Zhen was caught off guard.
How could someone fake happiness so well? Or… had she worn the mask so long that even she didn’t know it was fake anymore?
For a fleeting second, something in him softened. Pity? Maybe. But the feeling vanished just as quickly as it came.
“Miss Mo,” he said coldly, “I hope you haven’t forgotten our little agreement.”
“Not at all.” Her smile didn’t waver, but her eyes turned sharp—cutting. “Didn’t you say I was to ‘satisfy your primal urges anytime, anywhere’? Including at Tianyu? Great idea. Shall we go there now? Might as well invite an audience, make it a proper show.”
She was taunting him.
Ye Zhen’s jaw clenched. A vein pulsed visibly in his temple.
He gritted his teeth. “You really have no shame.”
“No shame?” Mo Xiaoxi let out a dry laugh and threw up her hands. “Please. That’s almost a compliment. After everything, I’m way past shame. You think you’re so clever, picking up someone else’s discarded pride and treating it like a trophy? That’s what’s really pathetic.”
“Enough!” Ye Zhen shot to his feet. “Don’t push me, Mo Xiaoxi.”
She fell silent for a long time before finally lifting her gaze.
“So?” she asked quietly. “May I leave, Mr. Ye?”
“Resign,” he said flatly.
That was too far.
She could tolerate a lot. But not this.
Her job at Tianyu wasn’t just a job—it was her foothold in life. Her sense of worth. Her last safe harbor.
“No,” she said, her voice barely audible but firm. “Anything else, fine. But not that.”
“Oh? Can’t bear to leave Lan Sijing?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“That’s not the only reason,” she replied honestly. “You’ll never understand what Tianyu means to those of us who built it. You stand above us all, but you’ll never understand loyalty like that.”
Ye Zhen laughed bitterly. “Hearing you talk like that makes me even more certain I don’t want you to go back. So what now?”
Mo Xiaoxi didn’t answer. She was too tired for games. Her pride had already been reduced to a threadbare curtain.
She bowed her head.
“I’m begging you,” she whispered.
Ye Zhen’s eyes narrowed. “Begging? With what? What makes you think that’ll work?”
There was something strange in his eyes—conflicted, almost sad.
She knelt.
Without warning, she dropped to her knees.
Ye Zhen’s heart twisted—though he didn’t know why. This was not the girl who’d shouted at him, defied him, taunted him.
This was someone who had nothing left to fight with.
Tears welled in her eyes, though she blinked them away, refusing to let them fall.
But they came anyway.
Ye Zhen snapped.
“Get out!” he shouted, his voice hoarse. “I don’t want to see you again!”
Mo Xiaoxi slowly rose, picked up her bag, and left without a word.
Outside, the sky was stained crimson with the setting sun. She paused and looked up.
A bittersweet smile formed on her lips.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, and wiped away a tear.
In just one day, her whole world had changed. And the price of maturity, she realized, was losing who she used to be.
She didn’t go back to Tianyu. Not yet. She needed time to collect herself, to bury the shame and anger where no one could see them.
She had to act like nothing happened.
Like she was fine.
She drifted through the city like a shadow and returned home past ten. Jiujiu was still at her computer, tapping away at the keyboard, lost in whatever code she was writing.
Mo Xiaoxi collapsed onto the couch in a starfish sprawl. She stared blankly at the ceiling.
At least she was home.
Just as that thought sank in, her phone rang. She checked the screen. Ye Zhen.
She hung up immediately.
No second call came.
She had just begun to breathe again when—the doorbell rang.
Who would show up this late?
“Jiujiu!” she called. “Get the door!”
No response.
Frowning, she stood up. Odd—Jiujiu wasn’t there.
She opened the door—and there he was.
Ye Zhen.
His face dark as thunder. His presence sharp as ice.
She tried to slam the door shut, but he caught it—and her—pulling her out.
“What’s this?” he sneered. “Too important now to answer my call? Does your highness require a personal invitation?”
Mo Xiaoxi shivered and forced a nervous smile. “Mr. Ye… I must’ve hit the wrong button. Honest mistake.”
He leaned in, his tone low and cold. “As my supposed lover, skipping curfew comes with consequences.”
Before she could react, he lifted her off the ground.
She gasped.
He leaned in, voice dangerously close. “Unless you want to have this conversation right here in public… I suggest you stop fighting.”
- Writer
