The city outside Yuwei's new apartment was soft with night. A gentle drizzle had started, tapping against the glass like an old friend asking to come in.
Inside her cramped but cozy apartment, Xia Yuwei dropped her small canvas bag by the door and stretched her arms up with a groan.
Her body was sore. Her mind was worse.
She tossed her jacket on the chair and collapsed onto the bed without bothering to change. The springs made a tired noise — the bed was as exhausted as she was.
Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
No posters. No photos.
Just her thoughts.
And one thought was louder than the others.
The coat.
That stupid coat.
Soft. Heavy. Warm.
Smelled faintly of expensive cologne and... cold weather.
"Why did he do that?" she whispered to herself. "Why would a married man with three kids care if I'm cold?"
She let out a small scoff.
"Maybe rich men have extra coats to spare."
But still...
The way Chen Yuxuan had draped it over her shoulders.
Silent. Effortless. Like he'd done it a hundred times before.
Her mind drifted to earlier that afternoon.
She hadn't eaten.
She had no money for lunch.
And then — that food tray appeared. Delivered by a cafeteria worker who said:
> "The guy from logistics paid in advance. Said you helped him with boxes yesterday."
Yuwei knew herself. She helped people without thinking. But she didn't remember helping anyone that day.
She had eaten because she was starving. But her brain kept whispering:
That wasn't from a logistics guy, was it?
She flipped on her side, pulling the blanket over her head to drown her thoughts.
---
At the same time, elsewhere in the city...
Lu Haoran stood in his kitchen, staring at the neatly packed lunch box he had brought home — untouched.
He had bought it during the lunch break. Simple food. Not too spicy — he remembered she hated spicy.
He was going to give it to her. He was even practicing in his head how to casually hand it over without sounding weird.
But then he saw it.
The cafeteria worker delivering her a tray.
Her surprise. Her shy smile. The way she kept looking around wondering who sent it.
And so he stopped.
Stood back.
Watched.
She didn't know he had stood just beyond the doorway for a minute, holding the lunch he'd gotten for her, until his hands felt heavy.
Someone had already taken care of her.
And it wasn't him.
So, he quietly turned away, went back to his desk, and pretended not to care.
---
Now, standing by his window with the city lights stretching beneath him, Haoran let out a long breath.
He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.
"I had three years," he muttered to himself. "Three damn years to tell her."
But the agency. The rules. The timing.
And then the mission.
Now, here they were — same mission, same air — and yet, she was smiling because of someone else.
And that someone else...
Chen Yuxuan.
There was something about that man.
The way he looked at Yuwei.
The way Yuwei reacted, even unconsciously.
No normal Financial Head would care about a cleaner like that. No married man would stare like that unless—
Haoran shook his head.
It couldn't be. Right?
But his gut told him there was more.
And his gut had never been wrong on the field.
He sat down, pulled open his agency-issued notebook, flipped to the page marked:
> "Subject Chen Yuxuan — Observation Notes."
He scribbled:
> *- Possible past connection with Agent Xia Yuwei.
Observing behavior toward Agent during non-professional hours.
Suspect: Hidden CEO?*
But then he crossed it out.
Sloppy. Assumptions.
Instead, he wrote:
> Keep watching. Don't get personal.
---
Meanwhile, back in Yuxuan's place.....
Inside a grand house with designer furniture, Chen Yuxuan sat in his study, his ankle still wrapped from his grand fall into the drainage.
He sat there with a glass of water, no ice, staring into nothing.
The bandage throbbed.
His ego throbbed more.
But all he could see in his mind was the way Yuwei smiled when the food was delivered.
A small, real smile. The kind she used to have in university — back when things weren't so complicated.
Zhao Lei peeked into the room.
"Sir, should I order dinner?"
"No."
"You sure? The dog might've bit some dignity off your leg, you need protein."
Yuxuan sighed.
"She smiled, Zhao."
Zhao blinked. "The dog?"
"No. Yuwei."
Zhao smiled gently. "Because of the food?"
Yuxuan nodded, then muttered, "But she doesn't know it was from me."
"Isn't that the point? She smiled because of you. She just doesn't know yet."
Yuxuan closed his eyes.
But instead of peace, he saw her face. Again and again.
To be Continued....