He Lianchen cut his steak and chewed it slowly, giving her question a good thought. It had been a long time since he started working with Feng Tianyi. Even before Gu Yuyao ran away from him, he'd already associated himself with the devil.

  "Why not? Feng Tianyi isn't that bad when you know how to deal with him. Although I must admit most of his demands are outrageous and out of this world." He replied.

  When it comes to the devil, it didn't matter what time it was, when Feng Tianyi demanded something, he and Song Fengyan should do their best to fulfill it.

  "I still don't get it. I'm sure he isn't the best boss around." Gu Yuyao snorted and rolled her eyes. Her impression of the devil wasn't a positive one in the first place. While it was true that he was a distant relative, she did know that Feng Tianyi had a bad temper, according to his former colleagues and employees.

  He Lianchen shrugged. He supposed that working with Feng Tianyi and Qing Tian Group wasn't bad at all. He could do everything he wanted without worrying about his family.

  By giving up his rights to his inheritance from the He family, He Lianchen didn't need to worry about his older brother going after him.

  "So, what about him and Moyu? How long does he plan to hide the truth from her?" Gu Yuyao asked curiously. While she had no right to get between them, she was concerned about Tang Moyu. It would be a great betrayal on her part if Feng Tianyi continued to lead her on, believing he was Qin Jiran only all this time.

  If he truly wanted to be with the empress, Feng Tianyi should come clean and reveal his identity to her.

  "I'm not sure what's taking him so long to confess. In fact, I've already considered that this might happen, but I thought Tang Moyu would be the one who would fall to him."

  Gu Yuyao snorted at that and sipped the wine from her glass.

  "Then you surely don't know Tang Moyu well." She commented.

  The empress didn't give a damn fuck about men flocking around them. In fact, even when she and Li Meili invited Tang Moyu to hang out with them and set her up for a blind date, the empress always managed to find a way to turn down every man they tried to match her with.

  So it would be hard for the devil to impress or to convince Tang Moyu. He might have an advantage with her little buns, but Feng Tianyi would need more than that to convince the empress.

  "Enough about them. I'm more curious about what you've been doing for the past ten years." He Lianchen's eyes glint with interest. The devil and the empress were old enough to deal with their own issues. What's important for him right now was the woman sitting across him.

  Gu Yuyao shrugged.

  When she met Tang Moyu at Wharton, the empress was juggling her time among her school, work, and looking after her twins. At one time, for Gu Yuyao to save money on rent, she shared a home with the empress and her little buns until she was assigned to a different state by the company she worked for when the twins reached their third year.

  All-day long she'd be sitting at her office desk, paperwork piling higher and higher. The clock continued ticking on the wall and she swore it was slowing down every time she looked at it. Compared with her previous life in Beijing, Gu Yuyao felt like she was an outcast.

  Every time she didn't have to think about the task at hand, she would be dancing, dancing in the club to music so loud it made her deaf. She wouldn't be alone either, sometimes Tang Moyu and Li Meili would come along whenever she wanted to go clubbing.

  With that music, that beat, those crazy, crazy lights, she knew she was alive, she was real, and reality was awesome without relying on her family. By the end of the night, she would be quite drunk. She would leave with Li Meili arm in arm, wobbling down the lamp-lit alley to hail a cab. The next day the two would check out the photos and laugh their asses off because of their foolishness the night before.

  The rest of their dinner was filled with anecdotes and how she met the empress and Li Meili the first time. She also mentioned one particular event where she and Li Meili lost the Tang twins, which almost led to the empress skinning them alive.

  He Lianchen listened attentively and watched with amusement how happy she was recalling the misadventures she had with Li Meili. He'd never seen her like this when she was with him ten years ago. The Gu Yuyao he could remember was always guarded, always on the edge, like a scaredy-cat.

  Meanwhile, Gu Yuyao felt relaxed and carefree in his company. She'd never felt this calm before, not even when she was with the Tang twins. Because sometimes, whenever she watched after the little buns, she couldn't help but be reminded of her old happy days when her older brother was still alive.

  Everything changed when he died and she'd never felt truly alone until he was gone.

  "I still wish you'd have told me why you were leaving back then. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to take care of you." He Lianchen looked down at his unfinished meal.

  Gu Yuyao felt a pang of guilt at his words. It was her fault, but why was He Lianchen blaming himself?