Lu Xia sat there for almost 30 minutes, but she noticed that Huo Yanxi was still busy. She stood up and walked over to his desk.
She said, “Brother Yanxi, carry on with your work. It’s about time that I went home.”
Huo Yanxi’s hand froze. He put down his pen and raised his head to look at Lu Xia with an apologetic look on his handsome face. He said, “I’m slightly busy today. Why don’t you wait for a little longer? We can eat after I’m done.”
Lu Xia’s eyes glinted slightly. She shook her head and said in a considerate manner, “It’s fine. Work comes first. We can always eat some other time. I’m off.”
She swiftly turned towards the door without waiting for Huo Yanxi to respond. Her departing figure seemed a little lonely from behind.
Huo Yanxi watched as she disappeared through the door. He leaned back into the chair and rubbed his forehead. After staying quiet for a long time, he raised his head to grab his phone from the table.
*
Huo Tingrui saw two missed calls from Lu Xia after he came out of court. He swiped his finger on the screen and seemed to be contemplating whether he should call back.
But his phone suddenly rang and interrupted his thoughts. He lowered his head to see the call from his older brother and answered it without hesitation.
“Hello, Brother Yanxi. What’s up?”
Huo Yanxi had assumed Huo Tingrui to be busy and didn’t expect him to answer so quickly. He said, “Nothing much. Xiaxia looked me up and asked when we could hang out.”
Huo Tingrui thought about those missed calls from Lu Xia. His expression turned a little indifferent as he replied. “I don’t think I can. I’m quite busy off late, so I can’t find the time.”
Huo Yanxi went quiet for two seconds before he asked him. “Tingrui, do you have some misunderstanding regarding Xiaxia?”
Huo Tingrui was caught by surprise and said, “Misunderstanding? I don’t get what you’re driving at.”
“I had preconceptions about Yaoyao when Old Madam Yang’s incident occurred. I misunderstood her, so I might have caused a rift between Yaoyao and Xiaxia…”
Huo Tingrui figured out what his older brother meant by misunderstanding before he even finished his sentence. He could not help interrupting his brother. “Xiaxia called me twice about 30 minutes ago. I was in court, and my phone was with my assistant.”
Huo Tingrui paused before he continued in a slightly deep voice. “Moreover, Yao has never brought up Xiaxia before, so there’s no misunderstanding to speak of.”
He used to think Lu Xia was just a little willful and meant no harm. From the looks of the matter today, he gained a whole new level of understanding about her.
Huo Tingrui shook his head. He did not want a deeper wedge to be driven between them because of Lu Xia, so he said, “Brother Yanxi, if that’s all, then I have to go. My client wants to talk to me.”
Huo Yanxi could tell that Huo Tingrui was losing his patience, so he did not persist. “Sure. Get back to your work.”
Huo Yanxi sat for a long time motionlessly after hanging up the phone.
**
Lu Xia went downstairs and flagged a cab to go back to the Lu residence.
He Xiaoman’s angry voice came from the living room the moment Lu Xia entered through the door.
She asked her in an impatient tone. “Where did you go all afternoon? The chauffeur called to say that he waited at the gate for a long time, but you didn’t turn up. He couldn’t even get through to your phone.”
Lu Xia gazed at He Xiaoman. Since she was not in a good mood, she replied in an indifferent manner. “I went for my practice. I left my phone in the bag and didn’t hear it ring.”
