-  At Xu Residence-

  "Mom, I’m not going to apologize to that lowly President Xu. Whoever she is, she can’t have more influence than our family." Xu Liqing screeched as she was on a call with her mother, Fu Lan.

  Fu Lan had to leave the country for some urgent affair and that’s why she had not been able to stand by her daughter through the turmoil.

  "Qing-Qing, we already lost Jade Stones because of that President Xu and I don’t want that person to affect our Xu Enterprises in any way possible." Fu Lan tried to debate with her tantrum queen of a daughter. She decided to stay calm while talking to her daughter grasping entirely about her character. "We can’t risk at this moment we are trying to strike a significant deal with Sandalwood Group of Companies. Don’t mess everything up for me and your dad. You just have to show some remorse to get into the good books of people again."

  Xu Liqing contemplated for a while. "Mom, I’ll apologize but not on live tv. So, make sure that no media is there."

  Fu Lan sighed out of relief. "Yes yes…… I’ll keep the media away. This Monday go to Vintage Gems office. I’ll inform them about you." She instructed a bit more details to her daughter and hung up the call.

  Xu Liqing was seething with hatred as she picked up a vase and threw it on the floor shattering it into pieces. She skimmed her hand on her dressing table overthrowing all the things to the floor. She was shrieking like an insane person. The fact that she had to apologize to someone was like a slap to her face as she felt her face stinging.

  She had never apologized to anyone in her life. She had always been her daddy’s princess and her mother’s jewel. But right now both of her parents were pushing her to bow her head in front of someone else and apologize.

  The fact that was making her act like non-compos mantis was actually that President Xu was said to be from a humble background. And a prideful heiress like Xu Liqing had to bow her head to her; it wasn’t simply feeling offended anymore. It was more of a matter of ego now.

  When people start feeding their ego with illusions, it becomes a misery of its own kind. Often times, ego doesn’t just destroy a relationship, it destroys the soul of a person. As long as ego stays as self-respect, it’s worth keeping. But when that exact ego takes the shape of self-judging, it’s not worth retaining it anymore.

  Ego is just another name for insecurity but we often mistake it as self-esteem. And while feeding our illusion of ego, we disregard the reality of love and care.

  That was the issue with Xu Liqing, she wanted her illusions of ego to stay as her reality while she disregarded the care and love she received from her parents.

  "I’ll make you regret this apology, President Xu!" Xu Liqing said to herself menacingly as she stood in her now unkempt room. There were broken vases, glasses, and other things scattered around her. But she wasn’t paying any attention to anything-

  Joyous Homes, Imperial City-

  "Good morning, Baby!" Xu Mey opened her eyes to see Ye Jie laying on his side with his face propped on his palm. His eyes were trained on her sleepy face. The bright sun rays were falling on the back of his head making a halo around him.

  Xu Mey tried to pull the duvet up to hide her face as she thought about the last night events. But Ye Jie didn’t give her a chance. He held the duvet and pulled it off of her face and giggled. He caged her as his body came to hover above hers.

  With both his knees on either side of her hips, he seized her like a predator. But Xu Mey didn’t feel startled or queasy. Rather she felt her heart anticipating his next action. She even felt her own skin craving him to touch it badly.

  Ye Jie dipped his head and left a soft kiss on her forehead. Xu Mey closed her eyes and only felt her soft, gentle kiss as his lips caressed her skin. He moved and kissed her closed eyes, then her cheeks and jawline. But he didn’t kiss her lips. Xu Mey was straining for him to kiss her lips but he kept teasing her by kissing anywhere but her lips.

  "Get up and freshen up. Qi Guan is bringing our brunch." She heard his deep voice before his body’s shadow looming over her own, disappeared.

  When she heard the sound of water, she opened her eyes and raked her fingers through her long hair in frustration. He left her unsatisfied and that too, early in the morning. Xu Mey punched the damn duvet in her indignation. But she couldn’t figure out the reason for indignation at all. It was not like she was ready to let him cross all the boundaries. But his touch made her body burn even when he was touching her with clothes between them.

  ’What will happen if he touched my bare skin?’ Xu Mey shivered on reflex just thinking about it. ’I was such a good girl. What are you doing to me, Jie?’ If only she could ask this question.

  To distract herself, she took her phone and dialed a number. After a single ring, the call connected and came a sweet voice, "Hey, Little Mey! How are you?"

  "Shen-Ge, I’m fine but I need your help. Where are you?" She straight got to the point.

  "I’m in Imperial City for the Neurosurgeon’s Annual Conference. Why? Everything is all right?" His tone showed his concern.

  She waved her hand nonchalantly and realized she was on a call and Lin Shen couldn’t see her. "It’s about……" She related the whole story to Lin Shen about Azalea. "Shen-Ge, can you help?" She asked anxiously.

  Lin Shen stayed quiet for a while letting everything sink in. "Mmm…… I can’t promise anything." Xu Mey’s face fell. "But," she felt hopeful again. "Let me visit First Emperor Hospital and check her reports. After that, I’ll let you know my opinion." He neither gave her a false hope nor snatched all her hope away. He gave a straightforward professional reply.

  But that reply was enough for Xu Mey. She smiled widely. "Okay…… I’ll ask Jie to let the hospital know about your visit." After that, she talked about useless things and hung up.

  After Ye Jie came out of the shower, he saw her smiling to herself and asked for the reason. Xu Mey told him that Lin Shen was already in Imperial and tonight, he’ll go to check up on Azalea. Ye Jie only smiled and didn’t say anything. He had already hired the best neurosurgeons to check up on Azalea and none of them gave him any hope. Although Lin Shen was also one of the most prestigious neurosurgeons Ye Jie didn’t want to have any hope. But he didn’t want to dampen her mood as well.

  After the freshening up and dressing up in the fresh set of clothes brought by Qi Guan, they sat at the glass dining table and ate the brunch in silence. "When are we leaving for home?" Xu Mey asked after eating.

  "We’re staying in Imperial till Sunday, Baby." He informed her indifferently.

  "What?" Her eyes widened. "Why?" She asked.

  "Because if we went back, my baby will find a reason to go back to the office and this husband of hers doesn’t want that." Ye Jie answered as if talking to a kid.

  "But my ankle doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s completely healed." Ye Jie gave her a look and she gulped guiltily. "Okay…… Not healed completely but it’s much better. It’s the fourth day and I barely feel anything." She was convincing him in any way possible. "Ah Jie, let’s go back. You have to work as well." She tugged at his sleeve shaking her shoulders with a pout.

  "Don’t try to tempt me, baby. I was supposed to come on Sunday and everyone thinks that I’ll come back on Sunday. As for you, until those stitches are all gone, you’re gonna stick right by my side." He patted her head like a dog making her scowl. He was about to get up when he halted midair, "What did you just call me?" He just realized that she called him ’Ah Jie’ and he was more than just happy about it.

  "Ah Jie." She replied with a scowl not paying attention to him.

  He grinned widely and pinched her cheeks lightly. "Since you called me so sweetly, I’ll take you out to play." He informed her and took the plates to the kitchen.

  Xu Mey’s scowl was replaced with a smile as he mentioned going out. She had been to Imperial plenty of times but sightseeing was never in her itinerary.

  It’s true the person who faced pain will be the one to value pleasure. Especially someone like Xu Mey who had a craving of being cherished buried deep inside. In her goal of avoiding the pain, she was unknowingly pushing the pleasure away from her life as well. But Ye Jie’s presence changed a lot she never thought was possible.