“Am I not?” said Xiao Luo with a frown.
Su Li shifted her gaze away from him and said, “Sumir is only one of my many assets, and I can easily give it up whenever I wanted to. I’m not particularly concerned whether I work with Luo Workshop or not.”
“Is that so? Then why have you come here?” asked Xiao Luo, a trace of humor underlining his tone.
“I was just a little curious about the identity of the boss of Luo Workshop,” she replied.
Su Li looked at Xiao Luo, and she was neither trying to be condescending nor expressing her admiration. “At the same time, I wanted to see if my guess was right, and evidently I was. You are, indeed, the boss of Luo Workshop,” she said.
Xiao Luo raised a brow, feeling a little strange about what she had said. “I take it that this means you had already known about my identity for some time now?” he asked in surprise.
“Of course. I remember asking you once why Zhang Dashan never helped you to secure a job in Luo Workshop. From that moment on, I had already suspected that you might be the boss of Luo Workshop,” she replied.
Su Li was very composed, at least much more than Shen Qingyan and Chai Zhiying had been. “Good friendship is often founded upon equality. Zhang Dashan oversees Luo Workshop, and you’re such good friends with him. So there is no way that you could be unemployed and just idling your time away. Besides, you’ve also been unusually busy these days, precisely when Jin Yitang had been making waves in Xiahai—this was no coincidence, was it? All of these clues gave me enough reason to suspect you’re Luo Workshop’s boss,” she said.
Xiao Luo felt as if he was standing in front of this woman stripped of everything, and she saw through it all.
Calm and composed and in control of everything—this was the feeling she had always given him. It was too off-putting to someone as chauvinistic as Xiao Luo. In that instance, he felt a fire slowly burning within him.
Xiao Luo laughed wryly and said, “I’ve always hated this, you know? Your holier-than-thou attitude and the way you act as if you know everything.”
Su Li looked at him with a frown without saying anything, as she waited for him to finish speaking his piece.
“You asked me why I never told you that I was the boss of Luo Workshop, right? I can give you an honest answer now. It’s because of this attitude of yours—your arrogance and the way you look down your nose at everything. I won’t flaunt this little bit of success in front of you like a dog looking for its owner’s validation. You might be the nation’s goddess, a mega superstar. But as far as I’m concerned, you are first and foremost my woman, my legally recognized wife. I don’t care how lofty your achievements are, but you will play the part of a gentle, caring woman. So stop it with this arrogant attitude of yours!” he ranted.
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, and the louder his voice grew. And the more repressed the anger, the more violent the inevitable outburst would turn out to be.
Su Li was shocked. The man had acknowledged her as his wife, which was the only consolation that came from this entire situation. But what he said about her attitude had touched a nerve. She immediately rebutted in a chilling tone. “Who are you to tell me to change, Xiao Luo? We signed a contract when we got married. Don’t you dare forget it. To be clear, this is a contractual relationship, and I can dissolve it as and when I wish,” she snapped.
It was clear that she did not mean what she said.
“Contractual relationship? Enough with this bullsh*t,” he shouted.
Xiao Luo was genuinely furious this time. He gritted his teeth and slammed his palm down heavily on the conference room table. There was a resounding bang as the blow sent wood splinters flying in every direction, leaving a giant hole at the part of the table closest to Xiao Luo.
Su Li was so shocked that she raised a hand to cover her mouth, looking in disbelief at Xiao Luo as he advanced toward her, step by step.
There was a savage edge to his expression, with fury written all over his face. “We’ve had our moments in the time we were together, wouldn’t you say? You’ve bought me watches, clothes, and a diamond ring for our wedding, so I refuse to believe that you see our relationship as nothing more than a contract. If that is truly the case, then I don’t think I can stop myself from killing you!” he growled.
“Kill me?”
Su Li turned pale. “What…what are you saying?” she said in a shaky voice.
She could sense danger coming from the man.
Xiao Luo chuckled wryly as he bent at the waist and brought his face close to hers. “Because you’ve given me the wrong impression, I’ve always thought you liked me. You are playing games with me, and I hate being played, especially by a woman!” he hissed, almost in a whisper.
There was absolutely no way he would treat her with respect, not with the overwhelming anger he now felt. He held her flawless chin in his hand and tilted her head up.
Su Li was horrified, for she had never seen this side of Xiao Luo before. He was like a bloodthirsty beast, and a terrifying aura was emanating from him. Su Li could feel his heavy breathing on her face and sensed his savage instincts.
Xiao Luo showed no pity as he roughly lifted her face up and stared at her. “You listen to me, Su Li. I like you!” he said.
“Does he like me?”
Su Li’s slender frame was shaking as her face flushed red to her ears.
Xiao Luo let go of her chin and laughed bitterly. “But I don’t like that cold and arrogant attitude you have. I don’t like the fact that you never concede to anything. And what I dislike, even more, is the fact that you always use that contract to define our relationship. If our relationship is nothing more than just a contract, then why did you stay till midnight chatting with me when I was overseas? I don’t think that was pity on your part. If you like me too, then just say it! Is it that difficult for you to put aside your pride?” he said.
His voice was so loud that it reverberated across the conference room.
Su Li was truly frightened by the state that Xiao Luo was in. Her eyes turned red, and unshed tears threatened to fall at any second.
“We’ll speak after you’ve calmed down!” she said.
After that, she turned and headed toward the door. She wanted to get away as quickly as possible from this beast that was on the verge of turning vicious.
She barely took a few steps forward before a firm hand snatched her wrist with such a strong tug that she could not resist. Before she could pull away, she found herself in Xiao Luo’s embrace. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
Her waist was unusually soft. She leaned backward, but the man’s face was so close to hers. She could feel his warm, heavy breathing on her face. The two of them were very close together. A look of fear and helplessness was on Su Li’s face, while Xiao Luo looked cold and uncompromising.
“You’re trying to leave me? It’s too late for that! You lost the chance to run away from me the moment you so recklessly used a marriage certificate to keep us bound together. You’ll have to pay for your wilfulness!”
“W-what are you doing? What are you trying to do? Let go of me, Xiao Luo. Let go!” she cried.
Su Li was getting so anxious that she began to hyperventilate. The vibrations coming from this man was becoming increasingly alarming, and it was as if she would be swallowed up by him any second now.
“Let go of you? Why should I? Just because you’re a mega superstar?”
Xiao Luo could not help laughing devilishly. “I hate to break it to you, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re just a woman. An exquisite, beautiful woman!”
He said that and then dropped his head to kiss her on her soft ruby red lips.
To Su Li, she was just his wife in name, somebody he could look at from afar but not touch. And he had had enough of that. His anger was clouding his mind, and he was not as rational as he should be. He decided to let himself go this one time—this woman had to be put in her place.
