Lu Xinyi knew the moment they reached the capital, there would be some visible changes including her relationship with Shen Yi. Her disappearance totally did something to him—he couldn’t keep his hands off her all weekend since they got home. Forget vacation sex, there was something hot-hot-hot about welcome-home sex.

She didn’t mind it though. It felt like the honeymoon stage of their relationship again—so romantic, sappy and swoon-worthy.

Today was the third day since they arrived. That morning, she woke up alone in bed, naked. Dragging herself out of their massive bed, she pulled on one of his shirts that she had peeled off of him last night. It was a nice and comfy button-down shirt that was at least three sizes bigger.

Strutting out of their room, Lu Xinyi went down the stairs to find something to eat. She wasn’t expecting to see her husband anytime soon since he went out early this morning for an important meeting back at the Shen Group.

She was hoping to have a silent breakfast today. Since they arrived, their home was frequently visited by her in-laws. The first day back on the capital, Zhang Jingwei visited. In turned out that she left one of her seminars just to rush on her son’s place when she heard they were back.

Her mother-in-law had pampered her so much and ganged up on her son to treat her fairly.

In the end, Shen Yi left his mother and wife and escaped from further torture. The next day, it was Shen Huang and Shen Xue who visited her, bringing her several gifts including health supplements and tonics.-.

Shen Yi grumbled to himself that his own family was forgetting that he was the son as they were treating his wife better. As his wife’s attention was taken by his own family, Shen Yi buried himself in his work, finalizing the last tasks assigned to him as the president of the Shen Group. After Shen Xue finished his tasks abroad—in three months, he would be taking over his older brother’s position as the newest head of their business empire.

Lu Xinyi thought it was nice that her husband wasn’t one to be kept idle. He was always busy that she started to wonder if he was taking his meals on time. Maybe she’d give a call to Qiao He later to check on it.

Groaning, she propped herself up and sat the kitchen counter while she reheated her breakfast on the microwave oven. Thankfully, Madam Jin had followed them and kept their new house clean while she was away to study.

Lu Xinyi thought of something else to do today. Her husband wouldn’t arrive anytime soon; the only company she got was her two Akita dogs watching over her as they lay on the kitchen floor, waiting for some treats.

Meanwhile, Xiao Bai was sleeping outside their garden under a cherry tree. She had thought that he would mind being with her playful dogs, but it turned out that this little tiger was really lazy. He would only move if it was time for his meal or just switching places to sleep!

His ears would perk up whenever someone arrived at the front door of their estate. He would growl lowly, informing his owners that a guest was waiting outside. Lu Xinyi had once joked that they wouldn’t need a doorbell anymore as Xiao Bai’s senses were enough to let them know if they had guests.

After finishing her breakfast, she fed her Akita dogs, stalked over to their library, and plucked out a book that could help her from boredom. Just a few more days until she could return to the academy, and then everything will be back to normal. With her busying herself with cooking while her husband spent hours back and forth from the Shen Group to his own company, SY Holdings.

Not that she really wanted to leave Shen Yi, but she knew things were waiting for her back at the academy to deal with. She was going insane if this short break dragged on. She walked into the garden with her dogs following her. She didn’t forget to feed Xiao Bai before picking her spot under the cherry tree Xiao Bai was napping.

The garden of the new estate that her husband brought was larger from their previous home. Although the guards were increased, Lu Xinyi was still given some privacy to wander around. Flipping the book open, she began reading the first pages while the two dogs did what they normally do at this time—running and playing around—while Xiao Bai returned to her side to curl up and sleep.

She was busy reading the book for the next hour until Xiao Bai stood up and turned his head towards the direction of their front door. Just as Lu Xinyi expected, she had guests to entertain again. Leaving Xiao Bai to the garden, Lu Xinyi went back inside with Milktea and Mallows. She went upstairs to change her clothes to a casual attire. When she went down, she was greeted by Jin De.

“Young Madam, your classmates are here for a visit,” Jin De said. Lu Xinyi finally knew that she had hidden guards before, but since Jin De failed to protect her, he was now assigned to keep an eye on Xiao Bai.

“Classmates?” Lu Xinyi hoped that it wasn’t Meng Jiao, for she knew that she would be tempted to throw that shameless woman towards Xiao Bai so he could bite her to death!

“Xin Jiejie!” A familiar feminine voice echoed from the doorway. Tang Lilou ran towards Lu Xinyi and gave her a big hug. “I miss you!” she cried at Lu Xinyi’s chest.

Lu Xinyi laughed awkwardly and patted Tang Lilou’s head. She couldn’t understand why this girl was so affectionate towards her but treated everyone coldly.

Behind Tang Lilou appeared her twin brother Tang Liang with another unexpected guest standing beside him. What was Lan Xiaoli doing here?

The snacks and drinks were served. The Tang twins had also brought pastries for Lu Xinyi. Lu Xinyi sat on the couch, with Tang Lilou still clinging on her arm.

“I know the moment Meng Jiao volunteered to hike up the mountain with you, she was up to something! Only the team captains knew that the boundary on the southwest was dangerous, and yet she purposely used this fact to harm you!” Tang Lilou started her complain. She wanted Meng Jiao to take responsibility for her actions.

“Now, now. Don’t be angry, Sister Tang. It already happened, but I’m telling you, I wouldn’t give Meng Jiao any peaceful days from now on. Let’s see who the better schemer between us is.” Lu Xinyi reassured her. Her eyes were glinting with mischief as she thought how satisfying it would be to see Meng Jiao losing everything she had.

Before, Lu Xinyi wasn’t planning to get even with Meng Jiao after the latter seduced and slept with her boyfriend. She thought that by leaving everything behind—as long as she was with Shen Yi, no one would dare to harm her.

How wrong she was! How naive she was to think that her vicious relatives wouldn’t find another way to hurt her, especially when Shen Yi wasn’t around to protect her.

It seemed like the Sun family and Meng Jiao wouldn’t let her off so easily. They even devised a plan to harm her. Knowing that Meng Jiao had tried to seduce Shen Yi, Lu Xinyi was livid. It was great that Shen Yi didn’t succumb to Meng Jiao’s charm, but that didn’t mean Lu Xinyi was okay with it.

Meng Jiao and Gong Yijun had taken everything from her before. Her trust, her self-confidence, her love, her future… even her father’s possessions, they took from her. They were the ones who broke her and pushed her in the corner. It was all because of Shen Yi that she could once again build the dreams and heart they had shattered.

She was ready to forget Meng Jiao’s devious actions, but she couldn’t keep her claws away from Shen Yi? Once bitten, twice shy. She wouldn’t let Meng Jiao ruin her life again. By siding with the Sun family, she had basically proven to Lu Xinyi that whatever friendship they had before meant nothing to her.

Tang Lilou was surprised to see the ruthlessness that emanated from her cousin. She’d never seen Lu Xinyi this determined. The laughter vanished in Lu Xinyi’s eyes. Her customary warmth was gone faster than summer rain. Indeed, even her focus was somewhere as if everything had become invisible to her, or she could not bear to mind anything at all.

Tang Lilou looked up at her cousin again, this time with widened eyes. This woman was seriously frightening at that moment. A final glance at her furious eyes confirmed Meng Jiao’s possible outcome. Fright fluttered in Tang Lilou’s chest. It was like Lu Xinyi couldn’t wait to see Meng Jiao’s head served on a silver platter.

“Xin Jiejie…” Tang Lilou dared to pull her cousin back from her murderous and scheming plans. She didn’t like this look coming from Lu Xinyi.

Lu Xinyi blinked twice and looked down on her.

“We brought Lan Xiaoli with us. She’d been standing on your door at the Lunar Residence since the other day. She thought she will find you there,” Tang Liang casually mentioned, breaking the awkward atmosphere between them.

“Oh…” Lu Xinyi’s attention shifted at the nervous girl sitting across her.

Lan Xiaoli was fiddling with her hair nervously when Lu Xinyi regarded her. She almost jumped from her seat when she heard her voice. She was concerned about Lu Xinyi’s condition, but the moment she saw the coldness on Lu Xinyi’s eyes, she could tell that it would be better not to trigger the latter’s bad side.

“What brings you here, Miss Lan?”