Seducing Him - Chapter 48

Upon receiving the news, Ci Yiyang rushed to the hospital.

Lu Lan and Lu Jin were already waiting outside the operating room, while the person inside was still in critical condition.

“How is it?” Ci Yiyang asked, her gaze fixed on the operating room. Her voice was unexpectedly calm.

Lu Lan, seeing her arrive, was about to say a few words of comfort when her phone suddenly rang.

Looking down, she saw it was a foreign number.

Though there was no note attached, Lu Lan’s heart tightened instantly.

Clutching her phone, she forced herself to look up at Ci Yiyang and said, “I need to take this call. Ah Jin is over there—you can go ask him.”

After Lu Lan left, Ci Yiyang did not approach Lu Jin. Instead, she sat down on a chair, her chin resting on her collarbone, lost in thought, staring at nothing.

Someone sat down beside her.

A faint, cool fragrance enveloped her, overpowering the sterile hospital smell and bringing an oddly soothing calm.

She knew who it was, so she didn’t bother to raise her head.

The boy stretched his long legs lazily, his voice as warm and gentle as ever:
“Elder sister only came now. Does that mean you weren’t planning to come home tonight?”

Ci Yiyang looked up at him. “Hm?”

Lu Jin lifted his chin slightly, pointing toward the operating room. Patiently, he repeated himself:
“If he hadn’t been in this car accident, wouldn’t you have stayed away tonight?”

This time, she understood.

She had expected words of comfort from him, not this strange remark.

But it was true—she had indeed planned not to return. Lorraine and Lu Lan’s return to Hechuan was likely for the purpose of announcing their marriage, so Ci Yiyang intended to spend the night with her grandmother, only showing up again at their engagement banquet.

She had plenty of photos, chat records, even videos of her time with Lu Jin. If they dared to marry, she was ready to expose everything in front of everyone and end this still-unconsummated union.

What she hadn’t expected was Lorraine’s sudden accident, which disrupted all her plans.

“Elder sister, is that right?” Lu Jin turned his face to her, his calm, dark eyes reflecting her face with startling clarity.

Though his demeanor was cool, his tone was full of warmth.

But it was precisely this out-of-place warmth that made everything feel strangely unsettling again.

Ever since she had met him, Ci Yiyang often had the uncanny sense that Lu Jin could see through her—her thoughts, her intentions, her every move.

She lowered her gaze, avoiding his eyes, and lied softly:
“No. I just… haven’t seen Grandma in a long time. I wanted to stay with her tonight.”

He seemed to accept that answer. Suddenly, he lifted her hand and pressed it against his cheek. His lips curved upward in a relieved smile as he sighed:
“Good thing elder sister wasn’t in the car. Otherwise, the one lying inside might have been you too.”

The hospital was full of people coming and going. At any moment, someone could notice them. Ci Yiyang frowned and tried to pull her hand back, but his grip was tight.

“Lu Jin, let go.”

Obediently, he rubbed the bridge of his nose against her palm, then released her hand.

Lu Lan, who had gone to take the call, did not return for a long while.

Ci Yiyang waited for hours until finally, past midnight, Lorraine was out of danger.

Lu Jin accompanied her to ask the doctor for updates.

The doctor explained that Lorin had suffered a head injury. It was still uncertain when he would regain consciousness, and he needed further observation.

Just after they finished speaking with the doctor, Lu Lan finally came back.

Whatever call she had taken had clearly upset her—her face was visibly pale.

The moment she entered, she looked at Lu Jin.
“Ah Jin, come with me.”

Ci Yiyang glanced at him.

He rose calmly, adjusting the blanket that had slipped off her shoulders and whispered,
“Wait for me.”

The two walked one behind the other down the corridor to its far end.

Through the glass window, Ci Yiyang could see Lu Lan’s expression—serious, even suspicious—as though she were confronting him about something.

Lu Jin, however, looked calm and gentle, his red lips moving slowly as he answered her.

She didn’t bother to watch any longer, closing her eyes to rest against the wall.

At the far end of the corridor—

Lu Lan stared at the boy denying everything, her mind flashing back to the man’s voice on the phone. A chill ran through her whole body.

She couldn’t understand it. She had cut off everything from the past so cleanly. How could he still find her contact information, even know exactly where she was?

She had thought Lorraine’s accident was his doing. But when she asked, the man had been silent for several minutes before replying in a regretful tone:

“Ah Lan, you know me. I don’t do things that leave survivors. That would be too low-level.”

The man’s cultured voice, speaking clumsy Chinese, had still left her terrified.

“Ah Jin, tell me honestly. Has he contacted you?” Lu Lan pressed, voice lowered.

She had already asked this before.

And as before, Lu Jin replied:
“No.”

Then, after a pause, he added gently:
“Was it him who found you?”

Lu Lan shook her head, defeated. Her tone was forced:
“No. I just… when Lorin was hit out of nowhere, and the police still can’t find anything, I started to worry.”

“Don’t worry.” Lu Jin leaned lazily against the wall, eyes drifting toward the crescent moon outside the window. His voice was warm and reassuring:
“He’s too busy fighting for power right now to make a move. And with his execution style—if he really could spare the time, he would’ve already appeared in front of you. Or you wouldn’t even be standing here anymore.”

Hearing this, Lu Lan’s face regained a touch of color.

She knew he wasn’t lying. If the man had really done it, Lorraine would never have survived.

Perhaps it was just an ordinary car accident. Maybe she had overthought it.

Tired, she rubbed her forehead. “Maybe I’m imagining things. Stay here with Yiyang. I’ll go make another call.”

“Mm.” Lu Jin nodded evenly.

But no sooner had she left than his phone rang.

He picked up, and the man’s cultured tone came through the line:
“Theo.”

This time, he spoke in fluent American English, scolding him for not being thorough, mocking how the woman now viewed him as a villain. His tone was entirely different from the gentleness he had used with Lu Lan.

“Mm?” Lu Jin lowered his eyes, listening to his hypocrisy. In a voice of sincere apology, he said,
“Sorry.”

The apology came so quickly it left the man feeling like he had punched into soft cotton—ineffective, unsatisfying.

“Anything else?” Lu Jin asked calmly, hand resting against the window ledge, gaze drifting off into the distance. He clearly had no patience for this tedious conversation.

The man, silent with him for two years, had originally wanted to act the father, praise him for handling matters well. But realizing Lu Jin had no interest in talking, he faltered.

“Theo—”

Before he could finish, the boy interrupted politely:
“Sorry, I have something else to do now. If you have questions, ask Ms. Lan—assuming she’s willing to answer.”

He hung up before the man could reply, leaving nothing but a busy tone.

Then, calmly, he blocked the man’s number before heading back toward Ci Yiyang.

By now, it was four in the morning.

Ci Yiyang had curled herself up on the narrow companion bed, her head nodding forward repeatedly.

Just as she was about to slump over, a pair of hands gently cradled her head.

She opened her sore eyes to find the boy kneeling before her, those pure black pupils gazing at her intently.

His face was dazzlingly beautiful.

Leaning into his hands, her voice soft and hazy with drowsiness, she asked,
“Are you finished talking?”

Lu Jin smiled faintly.
“Mm. She wants to transfer Uncle Luo to another hospital in Jing City. We’ll be heading back later.”

Ci Yiyang didn’t object. After all, Jing City’s medical standards were far better than Hechuan’s.

“When are we leaving?”

“Later today. I’ll have Uncle Wang come pick us up.”

“Mm…”

“Rest for now,” he said gently. “I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

Her eyes were too heavy to stay open. Leaning against his hand, her consciousness slipped away, her responses softening into nothing but quiet breathing.

The fluorescent lights of the hospital fell across her pale face, her lashes drooping weakly as she leaned docilely into his palm.

So adorable.

So lovable…

Lu Jin’s gaze lingered on her lips, dry and colorless. Bending down, he brushed them with his tongue, wetting her chapped skin. Absentmindedly, he thought he should bring her a lip balm next time.

“Mm.” In her sleep, she whimpered faintly, breath catching from the kiss.

Accidentally deepening it, he pulled back with a soft gasp, his nose brushing against her now flushed, damp lips, eyes filled with barely concealed obsession.

“Elder sister, we’ll always be together.”

He would sweep aside anyone who stood in their way.

Lorraine was transferred to the best hospital in Jing City. Though he was out of danger, he still had not awakened.

Since their return, Lu Lan had grown increasingly busy, leaving Ci Yiyang and the caregivers to tend to Lorraine.

Her instincts told her this marriage might quietly dissolve. Lu Jin, however, seemed entirely unaffected, continuing to call her “sister” every day.

Because of her daily hospital visits, Ci Yiyang rose very early each morning.

When she arrived one day, she found Lu Lan already there.

The woman looked worn down, exhaustion visible despite her still-striking beauty.

After the caregiver finished changing Lorin’s clothes and left, Ci Yiyang sat silently by the bed.

“I always thought,” Lu Lan suddenly said after a long silence, eyes on Lorin, “that though your father had many flaws, at heart he was still a good man.”

Since her return and reunion with Lorraine, his tenderness had reminded her of the boy he once was. But lately she realized—no one remained forever innocent, forever young.

Ci Yiyang glanced at her but didn’t respond.

Long ago, when her mother was still alive, perhaps she too would have agreed.

But no truly good man would bring another woman home mere days after his wife’s death, before her ashes had even cooled.

Carefully smoothing back Lorin’s hair, Lu Lan asked:
“Ci Yiyang, do you not want me to marry your father?”

She had asked this before, but this time Ci Yiyang’s answer was different.

She shook her head.
“I didn’t like it before.”

Ever since learning from her grandmother that her mother had never wanted to marry Lorraine—perhaps hadn’t even loved him—Ci Yiyang’s resistance had waned.

Now, she only wanted to know the truth of her mother’s suicide, whether Lorraine was involved. As for their marriage, she no longer had the energy to care.

Lu Lan, surprised by her indifference, turned to look at her.

Ci Yiyang’s expression was cool, detached, as though she truly didn’t care anymore.

After a pause, Lu Lan spoke again:
“Actually, before your mother passed away, I had no contact with him. We only reconnected afterward. I needed a husband, and he was widowed, so with our history, I chose him.”

Ci Yiyang caught the implication immediately. “So you’re planning to separate from him?”

“Mm.” Lu Lan nodded.

She had once believed that remarriage would free her from that man’s grasp. But now, she realized this choice had nearly cost Lorraine his life.

In the past few days, she had investigated as much as she could. The perpetrator’s methods were too clean to trace, but she had made up her mind to part ways with Lorraine.

“Once he wakes up, and I’m sure he’s fine, I’ll explain everything properly,” she said. “That’s why I wanted to ask—would you mind?”

Ci Yiyang shook her head absently. “I don’t mind.”

Ever since she learned her mother hadn’t loved Lorraine, all her prior actions felt meaningless. She too had already been planning to cut things off with Lu Jin.

Now that Lu Lan was leaving, there would be no marriage—and she wouldn’t have to face the awkwardness of being tied to Lu Jin anymore.