Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

Luo Lixi was pressing her face on the pillow. He went to her and snatched the pillow carefully; so as not to injure her already injured hand. 

She was startled as she felt the soft thing going away from her hands. Her face and neck turned into a deep shade of red as she felt ashamed to look at him.  

Sheng Ruming used his fingers to hold her chin and made her to look at him straight. They were very close to each other. She felt his warmth from the fingertips and sensed her whole body becoming hot.

"It was nothing shameful. You don\'t need to hide from me for this trival thing." he told her slowly and gently. 

Her soft skin felt very smooth to touch. He couldn\'t help but caress it as he did before in the past when she was unconscious. 

Luo Lixi was feeling very hot. She wanted to  slap his hand away but didn\'t. It had been many years since she saw him so close to her and didn\'t want to appear a cold person.

"You have lost weight and your body is skinny. Now that you\'re awake, you should just focus on regaining your lost health. I\'ll tell the chef to make your favourite foods. You\'ve now three main tasks to do daily - eat, sleep and enjoy. Don\'t think about anything else. Okay?" As he caressed her red face, he whispered beside her ear.

She felt his hot breath in her ear and it tickled her. The tip of her ears also turned scarlet. It was clear as day that Sheng Ruming was seducing her in a very alluring way. She seemed to have not noticed it as it was her first time.

"Ruming, you.. I w...want to talk to you about s..something." She spoke while her voice was stuttering nonstop in panic.

"Ssssh. Just do as I have said. Put your worries behind your back. We\'ll talk later when I come back." his sexy voice felt like a devil\'s whisper to her. She couldn\'t clear her mind as she nodded slightly. He felt satisfied by her obedient response.

They didn\'t know just how they looked right  now from a third person\'s viewpoint. It looked very steamy. 

A gorgeous woman laying on a bed and a handsome man caressing her face and whispering to her as if he was telling her some sweet nothings. Her flushed complexion could make people\'s imagination run wild.

Ring ring~

A sudden phone call broke this ambiguous atmosphere. 

Sheng Ruming felt extremely irritated. He straightened his body and picked the phone from his pocket. Luo Lixi heaved a sigh in relief. His close proximity to her was too much for her maiden heart.

It was Wang Haixiao who was the sinner. He didn\'t go anywhere and answered it in front of her.

"What is it?"

"CEO, you\'ve to come to the company as fast as possible. Your father has come here early this morning. I told him earlier that you would come to the office. But now that you won\'t, he became furious. He asked me where you were. I didn\'t tell him. Then he went to Yanli and I don\'t know what he told her but she told him about your whereabouts. Now he is heading there." he spoke while he sounded anxious.

Sheng Ruming felt his blood went cold. He wasn\'t stupid as he noticed Wang Haixiao addressed him as CEO not boss like other times. He gripped the phone tightly as he looked at her.

\'No, I won\'t let anybody to find her. Not even him.\' 

he then told Wang Haixiao, "I\'m coming to the company. Stop him at any cost."

"Got it." Sheng Ruming cut the line. 

Luo Lixi heard everything as the room was very quiet and he was very close to her. She was surprised that he was a CEO in his young age.

"You should be busy now. Don\'t waste your time here. Go." She urged him.

"Hmm." He adjusted his suit and turned around. But the next second he looked at her and told her sternly, "Don\'t try to touch phone. It\'s very dangerous for you."

"..." 

"Get that?"

"Yes."

"Also..." he took her head in his both palms and gave a light peck on her dry pinkish lips. 

"Good bye." he told her and went away in large steps. His face also turned slightly scarlet but wasn\'t apparent as much as her tomato like face.

Luo Lixi regained her senses after he closed the door. She plopped in the bed and hid herself in the bed sheet. 

\'Ah! Ah! Ah!...\' She couldn\'t process anything anymore as she got one shock after another today. She felt a sweet sensation in her heart.

But when the images of how she was forced to the brink of death by Luo Lixiang played inside her mind, her heart turned cold. Her smile also banished instantly. 

After recalling the things Luo Lixiang told to her before throwing her into the river, turned her eyes misty as she closed them. She took a deep breath to calm down the urge to cry out loud.

\'Lixiang, even if you\'re my brother, I won\'t spare you for what you\'ve done to... me. You said I was a thorn to you? The source of your  sorrow and misery?! Just you wait.... I\'ll make sure to be a biggest one at that!\' 

She opened her eyes abruptly and clenched the bed sheet tightly. Luo Lixi was feeling heart wrenching pain as she couldn\'t endure anymore and began crying silently in the lonely room.

... ...

In the Sheng Industry and Corporation.

Wang Haixiao lifted his head silently at the old man sitting in front of him.

"What did he say?" Sheng Haotin asked him in his deep voice. He was in his late fifties but looking at his temperament and disposition, anybody could tell he was not as simple as he appeared outside. His voice held immense authority as he asked Wang Haixiao. 

...

Sheng Haotin once served in the army thus he was very fit and his complexion looked healthy even in his old age.

He held thirty percent share of the \'Sheng Industry and Corporation\' while Sheng Ruming owned more than ten percent. He was the biggest shareholder of the company.

His son didn\'t come back home after that night when the three of them had a look ugly quarrel. His wife was very sad and wanted to meet her son but he didn\'t respond to her call. 

Sheng Haotin was forced to come here today due to her. She told him if he failed to bring their son home today, she wouldn\'t see his old face anymore. He couldn\'t just sit still then.

...

"CEO is coming. Please wait a little longer, uncle." Wang Haixiao answered him very politely. He didn\'t know why in front of Sheng Haotin he felt very scared. When he first met him, his instinct told him the old man was a dangerous man and couldn\'t be offended. 

When he told him that Sheng Ruming wouldn\'t come, he didn\'t flare up like before but forced him to make the phone call in front of him. Poor Yanli was dragged in the mud too as she had to take the blame.

They were in Sheng Ruming\'s office room. Sheng Haotin was sitting straight on a sofa. 

Ji Yanli was brewing some green tea for him. It was very rare for Sheng Haotin to come to the company. 

After Sheng Haotin stepped down from the CEO position, he had spent his time with his family or his friends. Occasionally, they would hold some small gatherings at his villa but only friends and relatives were invited. Outside people weren\'t even allowed to enter the vicinity.

Ji Yanli handed the cup of tea to him carefully. He took the cup and swirled the tea. When the aroma of the tea reached his nose, he felt relaxed and took a sip as if he was on a vacation.