His Addiction - Chapter 48

In the quiet hotel room, a scene from her dream flashed through Xu Zhi’s mind:

Liang Jinmo’s lips pressed against hers, soft and lingering, incredibly gentle.

She had never been kissed before, and since it was a dream, it hadn’t felt real. But she yearned to be treated with tenderness, to be needed. She vaguely realized that if it were Liang Jinmo, she might…

…not refuse.

Her heart pounded harder. Just as she was about to close her eyes, he raised his hand and gently touched her cheek, just below her eye.

So, he wasn’t going to kiss her. She chided herself for being so presumptuous. But the skin beneath his rough fingertips felt warm, the heat spreading to her cheeks.

Her heart was still racing, but she didn’t pull away.

Liang Jinmo finally spoke. “We’re meeting with the resort’s marketing team this afternoon. They’ve already gone ahead. I came back to get something and to check on you.”

Xu Zhi’s lips pursed. She wanted to ask him why he had come to check on her.

But she was too cowardly to ask.

Perhaps he hadn’t thought much of it, simply checking on a friend. Or perhaps…

If he gave her a different answer, she didn’t know how she would react.

It felt like there was an invisible barrier between them. But she wasn’t sure if breaking through it would lead to an abyss.

Yet, she couldn’t deny the warmth of his fingertips on her skin, the intensity of his gaze.

The air crackled with unspoken tension. After a moment, Liang Jinmo withdrew his hand. “Will you be okay alone?”

He had asked her this question more than once. He always treated her like a child.

“I’m fine. I…” She paused. “I’m really fine. I was upset yesterday, but I’ve figured it out. Since I can’t prove my innocence, there’s no point in arguing with people who don’t believe me.”

However, being called “disgusting” by Liang Mushi, seeing him throw her suitcase on the ground… those things still stung. She had never been so humiliated.

Liang Jinmo stepped back, creating some distance between them. “Then you should rest at the hotel this afternoon. If you still don’t want to stay here, I’ll take you back to the cabin tonight.”

Xu Zhi hesitated. “Actually…”

She wanted to leave, although not as urgently as yesterday. She still didn’t want to stay in the same place as Liang Mushi and Chen Jing.

Liang Jinmo, seeing through her thoughts, said, “I’m a little busy today. Let’s leave together tomorrow, okay?”

Looking into his deep eyes, she agreed, almost involuntarily. “Okay…”

After Liang Jinmo left, Xu Zhi buried her face in the pillow, berating herself for her weakness.

Yang Xue used to say she had no resistance to handsome men, and she hadn’t understood. But now she did…

Liang Jinmo’s face was indeed devastatingly attractive.

Bored in the afternoon, Xu Zhi opened her suitcase to organize her things.

One corner of the suitcase was dented from when Liang Mushi had thrown it, rendering it unusable. Fortunately, the contents were undamaged.

The most important item in the suitcase was a white shirt.

The one Liang Jinmo had lent her.

She had endured Liang Mushi’s insults just to retrieve this shirt.

Although she had washed it, she hadn’t returned it to Liang Jinmo. The thought of him wearing something she had worn against her skin made her hesitate. She wasn’t sure if she should just buy him a new one.

Holding the shirt, Xu Zhi thought about Liang Jinmo, then drifted off to sleep.

She was woken by her phone ringing.

It was Xu He Ping again.

She couldn’t avoid him forever. He was her father, after all. She reluctantly answered the call.

Xu He Ping asked, “Why didn’t you answer my call last night? Were you in Mu Zhi’s room last night?”

Xu Zhi thought, If I tell him I spent the night with Liang Jinmo, he’ll go crazy.

Xu He Ping had once commented on Liang Jinmo’s illegitimate status, saying that in ancient times, he would have been a concubine’s son, with no right to compete with the legitimate heir.

She didn’t dare to tell the truth. “No, I didn’t hear the phone ringing.”

“You didn’t hear it? Couldn’t you have called back today?” Xu He Ping’s tone was sharp. “How did things go with Mu Zhi? Any progress?”

There had been no progress, only regression. Xu Zhi suppressed her frustration. “Dad, Liang Mushi really doesn’t like me. He said he doesn’t like good girls.”

“Then be whatever type of girl he likes,” Xu He Ping said, his tone exasperated. “Think about the girls he liked before. Imitate them. Do I have to teach you this? Women have to be a little more… proactive… to please men.”

Xu Zhi felt like she had been slapped.

She couldn’t believe her father would say such things to his daughter. After a long moment, she said stiffly, “I can’t do that.”

“If you can’t do that, then go to his room, take off your clothes. Few men would refuse. Once you’ve slept together, he’ll have to marry you!” Xu He Ping’s voice was harsh. “Don’t forget, this isn’t just about you. It’s about our family, about the livelihoods of hundreds of employees at our company!”

Xu Zhi’s face was expressionless. She had stopped listening.

She didn’t know when the call ended. Lying in bed, curled up in a ball, she suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of weariness.

I wish I had never been born, she thought. Then I wouldn’t have to endure all this pain.

She didn’t cry anymore. Her eyes were dry, her tears seemingly exhausted.

Liang Jinmo and his team spent the afternoon at the resort’s marketing center, having dinner with the marketing staff.

At the dinner table, Yang Xue, remembering Xu Zhi, took out her phone. “I’ll order room service for Zhi Zi. She didn’t have any appetite for lunch. She should eat something.”

Liang Jinmo glanced at her. “I’ve already ordered for her.”

Yang Xue froze, then put away her phone, giving him a thumbs-up. “Director Liang, always so thoughtful.”

Zhou He also glanced at Liang Jinmo, his feelings complicated.

As was customary at business dinners, they started drinking. Fortunately, the marketing team soon suggested a mahjong game.

Zhou He and Yang Xue, excited, quickly finished their meal and went to the hotel’s game room.

Liang Jinmo didn’t join them. He asked Yang Xue for her room key again and went upstairs to see Xu Zhi.

It was dark outside. He swiped the keycard and opened the door. The room was pitch black.

He found the light switch and turned it on.

He smelled a faint scent of alcohol. Looking up, he saw Xu Zhi sitting on the sofa by the window, holding an open can of beer. She asked him, “Want one?”

She looked even worse than she had that afternoon, her hair disheveled. Her eyes weren’t swollen anymore, but her gaze was unfocused.

There was a small round table and a tiny sofa by the window. The table was covered with cans of beer.

Xu Zhi had ordered the beer when the staff delivered her meal. She had just opened her second can. She wasn’t exactly drunk, just tipsy, her nerves unusually on edge.

Liang Jinmo didn’t answer. She didn’t seem to care, asking, “Where are Yang Xue and Zhou He?”

“They’re playing mahjong.” Liang Jinmo frowned as he walked over, noticing the untouched meal he had ordered on the TV cabinet.

It seemed she had started drinking without eating anything.

Before he left, she had seemed so composed, saying she was fine.

He was silent for a few seconds, then sat down on the sofa beside her. “Does drinking make you feel better?”

Xu Zhi thought for a moment. “Beer isn’t as good as the fruit wine you gave me, but… I’m not trying to get drunk, not trying to act crazy. I just…”

She struggled to articulate her thoughts. “I feel like… whenever I drink, I’m not myself anymore. I don’t have to be Xu Zhi.”

She wasn’t sure if she had made sense. “Do you understand?”

Liang Jinmo opened a can of beer. “You should eat something first. It’s not good for your stomach to drink on an empty stomach.”

Xu Zhi drank her beer silently. After a while, she suddenly laughed. “You’re the only one who cares about that.”

Liang Jinmo: “What?”

Xu Zhi: “Whether my stomach is okay or not.”

Liang Jinmo didn’t respond, drinking his beer quietly.

Xu Zhi suddenly asked, “Am I being delusional?”

The alcohol had numbed her senses, or perhaps it was Xu He Ping’s phone call that afternoon that had pushed her over the edge. She was speaking recklessly.

What was the point of being a good girl, always cautious and afraid? It hadn’t gotten her anywhere. She might as well say what she wanted to say.

Liang Jinmo turned to look at her. “Are you sober?”

“Relatively. I’ll remember whatever you say now, tomorrow.” She took another sip of beer, the bitterness spreading through her mouth. “But I can’t guarantee I’ll remember later.”

Liang Jinmo: “Then I’ll wait.”

Xu Zhi froze.

He was always so unpredictable. She laughed, her eyes sparkling. “Jinmo Gege, you’re being dishonest…”

Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol. Without warning, she leaned closer to him.

The sofa was small, and he didn’t move away, simply staring at her, his eyes dark and deep.

“What are you afraid of?” she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes, as if she were teasing him. “I saw it. This afternoon, when you came back, you wanted to kiss me.”

The alcohol had emboldened her.

Liang Jinmo’s grip on his beer can tightened, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Xu Zhi, don’t tempt me.”

“I have this condition now. Whenever someone tells me not to do something, I want to do it even more.” She leaned even closer. “What’s the point of listening to others? No one will like me just because I’m obedient.”

Her breath, faintly scented with alcohol, brushed against his face.

Liang Jinmo’s breathing deepened.

The beer can in his hand crumpled slightly.

“What do you consider ‘tempting’?” she asked, oblivious to the danger. “My dad said men like… proactive… women. Am I being proactive…?”

Before she could finish, Liang Jinmo placed his beer can on the table with a clang.

Xu Zhi froze as the world around her suddenly darkened. He was blocking the light.

He moved swiftly, his hand cupping the back of her head. Before she could react, his lips were on hers.

The beer can slipped from her hand, rolling to the foot of the bed, spilling beer onto the carpet.