Chapter 15: Come alone
Alex strode out of the elevator holding an insulated box. This was Red Valkyrie’s headquarters overlooking the imperial city. When he reached the door to the only office on the top floor, he knocked softly.
He knew that if he didn’t bring him anything to eat, Yu Wen would actually forget his meals. Thus, he had developed the habit of bringing it to him. Yu Wen’s voice came through, saying, "Come in."
Alex walked in and found Yu Wen sitting at his desk with a stern look on his face as he read through some documents. At a glance, he could tell that they weren’t work-related. The way the veins on his hands bulged and the suffocating aura around him meant one thing. He was looking through all the information he had about the night his father died.
After all these years, it had long turned into an obsession he couldn’t let go of. He went through the series of events countless times, thinking maybe he had missed something but in the end, the result was the same.
"Sir, I brought your dinner," said Alex, disrupting his focus. He placed the food box on the coffee table and stood there waiting for him to get up. But it was as though Yu Wen hadn’t heard him. Just when he was about to urge him to eat again, Yu Wen’s phone rang.
Yu Wen finally took his gaze away from the screen and glanced at his phone. He was about to hang up when he saw who was calling him. His raised hand stopped and he froze for a second, hesitating. He finally answered it and said, "Yes."
The sweet, sticky voice of a woman came through saying, "You always act cold towards me." Alex arched his brow. He decided this wasn’t a conversation he should be listening in on, so he walked out, the door closing shut behind him.
Yu Wen pursed his lips. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that Li Yu liked him, though she had never confessed. He had often thought about how he would respond if she ever expressed her feelings. He was not the type of person who was moved by emotions.
If it were up to him, he would rather stay on the battlefield. It was easier than dealing with other people’s emotions. He was apathetic when it came to matters of the heart. But his mother was always urging him to find someone to spend the rest of his life with.
That was the first thing she would say to him whenever they spoke. It was getting to a point where he was actually considering it. A lot of people didn’t marry for love. It was about status, power and resources. Looking at it logically, Li Yu was the perfect candidate. As long as she didn’t expect him to be emotionally invested, he could agree to her.
Seeing that he was ignoring her, Li Yu called out, "Wen-ge."
Yu Wen met her gaze in the video call and he said, "Why are you wearing so little?" Just those words had Li Yu blushing like a ripe peach. The fact that he had noticed made her so happy she could melt on the bed. She was wearing a satin dress with thin straps exposing her shoulders and prominent clavicle.
She pulled her silk robe and covered up, saying, "I am in my room. I am about to go to bed." She said she was about to go to bed, but her face still had makeup caked on it and her dangling earrings were still swaying with her movements.
Yu Wen didn’t say anything and Li Yu wasn’t at all mad about it. She was always the one to keep the conversation between them going. Having noticed the bandage on his neck, she gasped and asked with a look of worry, "What happened to your neck?"
Yu Wen touched the dressing that had just been changed and said, "It’s nothing." Not missing the opportunity to insult Li Jun, he added, "I got bitten by a rabid dog."
Li Yu was visibly upset. She said, "How audacious. I will issue an order to have all the stray dogs killed," her tone serious, like she really meant it. She did mean what she said. She would never let anyone hurt her man. Not even dogs would be spared.
He said, "No need." Of course, there was no need. If anyone were to kill Li Jun, it would be by his hand. While Li Yu was trying to convince him to let her issue the order, he saw a message pop up on his screen.
_You there?_
The message disappeared and Yu Wen typed back a response.
_Yes_
His response vanished and another message came in. There were coordinates and as soon as they appeared, they vanished. Another message appeared shortly after.
_Come alone_
Yu Wen knew who this person was. He was curious to know what Draco wanted to see him for. The thin bridge between them had long been turned into ash, so what did he want to discuss with him? Li Yu was still yammering on by herself like she always did when he interrupted her. He said, "I can’t talk right now. Something came up."
She was unhappy, but she made sure not to show it. She said, "Okay, how about dinner, you promised me." She knew that asshole Li Jun hadn’t lost his title yet, but she still wanted to have dinner with the general.
Yu Wen said, "I will call you when I am free," before hanging up. Li Yu’s eyes widened, seeing the screen that had grown dark. She flung her arms angrily. This man was a block of wood and didn’t know how to treat a woman at all.
But it was because of this that she loved him as well. Other women could look from afar, but they couldn’t get close enough to sniff his exotic and alluring scent. He entirely belonged to her.
With a humph, she lay on the bed and unlocked her phone. She was going to do the thing she enjoyed the most and which was joining in on talking shit about Li Jun on Starnet. That always seemed to calm her raging heart.
