Capítulo 13: Shall We Dance?
Days later...
Zhu Li watched as Jiang Li walked into the wide, luxurious hall filled with people dressed in gem-studded and sparkling dresses, gowns, and suits.
Music of unparalleled charm and class reverberated throughout the place, capturing the ears and calming every wandering mind.
So many scents and perfumes lingered in the air, mixing and creating a web of sometimes pleasant but, most of the time, heavy fragrances haunting every present guest in the area.
She saw the man she had always been chasing in her previous life sporting an annoyed expression, yet as the most handsome person on the campus, and probably in the whole city, he nevertheless appeared less good-looking.
The faint creases in between his regal eyebrows did not diminish his charm and appeal one bit.
Even that frowning expression lights up an unknown fire within her heart.
The woman couldn't help but hate herself for feeling this way despite what she and her family went through in her last life.
She soundlessly breathed in and out.
From afar, several ladies around their age could be seen gawking and staring at him intently as though he was naked in their predator-like eyes.
It was just so laughable, considering the fact that the person himself knows none of their silly, sinful thoughts.
'Jiang Li...'
She batted her eyelashes once, holding her champagne flute nearer to her lips.
She raised her chin a bit before taking a sip of the wine.
Its taste was quite sweet, with lots of juicy acidities to keep it lively and fresh.
However, Zhu Li found it lacking in bitterness or any other stronger taste. She wondered why she was craving for something like that.
'... In the past life, he married the fiancee arranged for him by his parents. A divorce came around for him a few years after, but by then, I remember that my family' company had long been crushed by the Chengs, precisely two years after I graduated...'
The woman mingled with the womenfolk on the right side of the venue, her heart so melancholic despite the smile on her lips and eyes.
"Oh, my dear Li'er, come here."
Her mother, the madam of the Zhus, called her out.
When she saw who was the one standing across from her mother, she politely walked over even though deep inside, she badly wanted to rip the person apart and toss his body parts to the sharks in the ocean.
"It's my pleasure to become your acquaintance, Miss Zhu. I am Cheng Yijun of the Longfeng Group of Companies."
'Cheng Corporation, in other words,' she inwardly sneered.
The woman received the madam's signal and smiled to hide the frost in her eyes, "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Cheng. You are very popular in the whole country."
"You are so polite, Miss Zhu. I wonder if I can invite you to dance?"
Happiness flickered in her glamorous mother's face, and words of envies and flatteries flew into her ears.
Zhu Li was a known beauty in the upper society, and thus, it was no wonder that the playboy of the Chengs extended a dance invitation to her.
How many women had fallen for this simple trick of him, she wondered.
"Then, shall we dance?"
A slight smile graced Zhu Li's lips, yet when she was extending her own to the man, she abruptly and teasingly stopped.
Placing her other hand on her forehead, she said,
"Wait. I-I'm sorry, I suddenly felt dizzy. I don't think I will be able to match Mr. Cheng if we go to the dance floor now."
Hesitation and regret appeared on the man's face.
One glance at that expression, and she knew the person must have already imagined something beyond this place together with her.
As he had always been doing with the countless women, he bedded then tossed away before.
"It's a pity. But milady's health is more important. I suggest Miss Zhu take a break at one of the guest rooms for now. Would you like me to escort you?"
'Scum. And an idiot! Amateurish acting can actually fool him. How did he become Jasper City's Business King? And why the heck will I let him escort me anywhere?'
It was amazing how the curling of her lips did not seem forced when she replied,
"I'm afraid to bother Mr. Cheng. Please don't worry about me. I plan to take a rest at one of the side sofas here."
The loathful 'golden' bachelor of the country who, despite the recent crises his corporation had just been to for these past two weeks, could still remember to flirt with women left, right, and center, finally left her alone. He must have only felt a bit of pity for prey that slipped out of his net but moved on too fast to search for another woman willing to accompany him.
The woman shook her head and left the group of women there.
Instead of looking for a sofa at the sides to sit at as she said to the bastard son of fate, Zhu Li went out of the side entrance leading to the elaborate garden of the venue.
Anyway, the politician who had a birthday today already made his entrance an hour ago, so it should be okay even if she wandered around and waited for her family to notify her of their departure.
Unexpectedly, after she went out of the brightly lit hall and got into the dimly but dreamily lit corridor, she found somebody she did not expect to be there.
The figure of that person was leaning against the pillar as he bathed under the soft glow of the multi-colored lights.
His ever-so-familiar and charismatic voice entered her ears,
"Yup... Just call me once you're done with whatever you have to do there... No, I don't wanna... Why mingle with them?... Goodbye, and thanks in advance."
And then Zhu Li saw him ending the call and pocketing the phone even though gibberish protest-like sounds were still echoing in the background.
'... I don't remember this happening in my last life.'
The woman repeatedly blinked at the man who appeared in this place at this time despite it being contrary to what she recalled.
"Hmm?"
Most likely alarmed by her presence, the man turned his head towards her direction, seeing her just a meter away from where the dazzling light was coming.
It appeared like a mesmerizing halo behind her that even Jiang Li, the slightly crazy guy, couldn't deny that Zhu Li was quite a beauty above every girl at this party.
"We met before, right?"
Zhu Li forced down the lump in her throat and spoke up.
The second lifetime started quite a few days ago, yet the effect of this man on her remained the same, to her woes.
He merely nodded.
She felt helpless at the happiness she felt when he didn't take his eyes off of her. If there was only a well nearby where she could jump off, she would have already headed and jumped in there.
In the end, it was she who averted her gaze, settling her eyes on the rows of red roses by the side, blooming regardless of time.
"It seems I disturbed your rest. I shall excuse myself then. Good eve."
Before she could turn around, he spoke up.
"No need to leave. I don't own the place. Stay if you want."
She watched as the man threw her a calm look.
She was weighing whether to stay or not when he made an expression as if he remembered something.
"Now that I remember it, how did you solve things with that other woman?"
Deciding that she could try to do as he said and enjoy this rare moment of peace, which could also probably be their last, the girl in the elegant long red dress took a seat on the stone bench there.
She answered, "I made her apologize. And then that's it."
Zhu Li had precisely gone back to this timeline around that time. With full knowledge of how the future would turn out to be, she initially wanted to strangle the 'her' who easily settled the matter that way.
But then, she thought, it was actually for the better.
In a sense, Xie Na's outcome had not been any better than hers.
Or maybe hers had been worse since while Zhu Li never had a definite crossing of paths before with Jiang Li, Xie Na was used to the fullest and then discarded together with her unborn child.
At least in this lifetime, her stupid scuffles with Xie Na had not yet started.
However, in one corner of her heart, there was a bigger part that couldn't accept everything she experienced back then.
She looked back at Jiang Li, her gaze very complicated.
He was the root cause, yet he was innocent. It sounded like awesome nonsense, yet it was the truth.
'... Maybe I should start avoiding this guy while taking revenge against the other,' she thought a few seconds later.
The two of them were quite near to each other and could have gotten closer, in a symbolic manner, by speaking to each other.
However, they chose to maintain that calming silence and safe distance between them.
Their reasons differed.
The girl only wanted to be able to say in the future that she spent some time with the person she loved before giving him up.
The young man thought he had nothing to talk with her.
Later, in the next coming days, once they recalled this party, their escape from the hall, and the chance meeting at the garden, it would be such a puzzle to them how their wasting away the romantic music, place, and atmosphere became quite the memorable experience for the both of them.
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