Chapitre 41: Burning Bridges
As soon as the car was gone, Qing Chen immediately called for his driver and they were out of the metal gates of the property. He didn't even try calling Feng Xuan in the fear that she would get into an accident by answering her phone.
Instead, he used the GPS tracker. He had Feng Xuan's phone and gadgets encrypted and a tracker was placed for such occasion.
His feet wouldn't stop tapping the floor of the car as the tracking application was loading in his phone. He knew Feng Xuan wouldn't have gotten far. She barely knew the routes here.
Knowing a little bit of her history from her father, Qing Chen could not calm down. He pulled the limousine's fridge open. He took out a flask and took a swig. His nerves were jumping under his skin. "What are you doing, Feng Xuan?" he whispered under his breath.
As he was taking another huge gulp, the ping sounded, and the circle glowed bright red on the screen. His eyebrows furrowed. The spot was not moving.
"She's at the bridge," he told the driver and he felt the car lurched forward.
A disturbing feeling started in his stomach. His mind asked: What if she jumped?
Qing Chen did a full body shiver.
No, he said. She couldn't do that.
But who was he kidding? That was Feng Xuan… she was—
Qing Chen silently groaned in his mind. But it all ended when they turned on the bridge and flashing lights of blue and red filled his vision.
His stomach took a dive. Did she got into an accident? Is she alright? Did she really jump off the bridge?
**
Feng Xuan did not know where she was going. Her thoughts seemed to have abandoned her the moment her foot found the gas pedal. She just kept on turning and turning at random corners until she found a highway she could speed through.
She rolled the windows down and the wind blew her hair backwards. The deafening wind clearing her mind of anything. She did not even know if she was thinking right that moment.
It was a pretty long highway, and she was sure she would've crashed if her mind hadn't been brought back to earth by the police siren. The blue and red lights flooding her rearview mirror.
Feng Xuan sighed and slowed down. She pulled over at the side of the road just as the police car did. She stepped out of the vehicle.
"Good evening, officer," she said to the man who had came out of the driver's seat.
He was a fairly young policeman. He would just be about two or three years older than her. "You're over-speeding, ma'am."
"Really?" she asked and pressed herself against the car. She could feel the heat coming from the hood.
"70 is the speed limit here. You're almost at 90."
90? She didn't think she was going that fast.
"May I see your license?"
"Sure," she said and pretended to feel the pockets of her jeans, leaning inside over the window, opening and closing the glove compartment. "Listen," said she once she emerged. "It seems like I don't have my license right now."
The guy's face contorted to a grimace. "Ma'am, I am going to have to have to fine—"
Feng Xuan's head snapped to the left. Another car slowed to a stop behind the police car. She immediately recognized the sleek black limousine as Qing Chen's. She looked the other way once Qing Chen was close.
Qing Chen couldn't believe his eyes. Feng Xuan was safe and only got pulled over. It was something he could fix. Unlike the other situation.
"You're new," Qing Chen said to the officer. "I'm Qing Chen."
The officer looked at his outstretched hand before shaking it. "Liao Chun," the policeman said, taking his hand. "And how are you related to this woman?"
He looked at Feng Xuan, who seemed dedicated in ignoring his presence. "She's my wife." Qing Chen took a deep breath. "Tell Deputy Tang Fen I send my regards. Good night, Officer Liao."
From the corner of Qing Chen's eyes he saw that the policeman's mouth opened and closed, as if he wanted to say something more but couldn't find the words. He could go to his deputy and he would get his answers.
But for now, Qing Chen needed to talk to his wife. "Feng Xuan."
Feng Xuan slowly turned to look at him but did not speak. It struck him just how beautiful she looked with only headlights to light her face.
"Let's go home."
"I don't want to go home yet, Qing Chen."
He was just about to ask her where she wanted to go when she spoke again.
"Come here for a little while."
They both got on the other side of the car, the one facing the water and the moon.
"I totally understand if you want to throw me off this bridge," he started.
Finally, he saw a ghost of a smile on Feng Xuan's face. "I'm not going to toss you over this bridge, my husband. Although, you just gave me an idea."
A cold shiver passed through him. "I actually prefer not to die at this moment. But my life is yours if you want to take it."
He meant to be funny, to lighten the mood. But Feng Xuan regarded him for a moment. "Is that so?"
And for a moment, Qing Chen was afraid to answer.
In the silence that took him to answer—in a swift movement, with strength Qing Chen never thought she had—Feng Xuan had gotten hold of the lapels of his coat and bent him against the railing of the bridge.
For a second, all he could hear was the loud beating of his heart in panic and the rushing of water under the bridge and looking at his wife's eyes that seemed to swallow him whole. "Should I send you to your death… husband?"
"U…uh—"
Then Feng Xuan released him, laughing her head off. She was laughing so hard she was doubled over and had a hand on the car for support. "You should've seen your face!"
Qing Chen put a hand to his heart, for good measure that it was still beating and inside his chest. "I was caught off guard," he reasoned.
"Oh," Feng Xuan said and opened the car door. "That kind of scene seemed so badass from that novel I was reviewing. Maybe I should change my rating. Let's go home."
Qing Chen did not answer, he was still looking for his tongue that he felt he lost. He got into the driver's seat, the other cars long gone, and drove them home.
Feng Xuan's window were down and she made no effort to roll them back up. She didn't even say a word to Qing Chen either. Not until they were in the bedroom.
To be honest, he was kind of surprised that she climbed into the bed first. "I'll sleep in the other room," he said when he emerged from the bathroom.
"What?" Feng Xuan asked. "Why?"
Qing Chen's jaw tightened. "Please, don't make me say it."
"You might be a father," Feng Xuan said with a laugh. It was great that she was seeing this as a joke--as what it really was. "But that's not certain yet. Pretty sure everything is just bull."
"You must despise me," he said, looking at his feet. "Maybe it would be better if I don't sleep next to you."
"Aw," she laughed. "I promise I won't smother you with a pillow. I really want to talk. You can leave if it would ease your mind. But please, stay for a few minutes."
Qing Chen scratched his head. She should be mad at him, pounding on his chest with her tiny fists. She should be screaming at him, packing his suitcase so she could throw it out of their front door. But here she was, smiling at him, offering him a place in their bed, and to talk.
He didn't quite get it either. He sat on the mattress and waited for Feng Xuan.
"What a night, huh?" Feng Xuan sighed, looking at the television in front of them.
"Indeed," Qing Chen answered.
"It had been a longer day for you."
Qing Chen was warmed by how soft Feng Xuan's voice sounded now. "A bit, but not really. Just one hurdle concerning the company. I'm just thinking about how bad business would be if this goes on."
"It takes a lot of courage to tell me one of the greatest shames of your life... sleeping with a secretary."
Qing Chen chuckled because at that time that he was drunk. It was so much of a great idea. "I was just trying to get out of something."
Feng Xuan nodded. "I think I have an idea why. Probably concerning another girl, right?"
Qing Chen only nodded his head. "Do you want to know the story?"
Feng Xuan shook her head. "I don't think I want to know. Not right now. Maybe in the future. Do you think that woman would be a threat? Show up in our one year anniversary with a small baby in her arms?"
Qing Chen's lips cracked a smile. "Nope, she's not coming back."
"Then that's good enough for me now," she answered. "Let's talk about this more with our families. So we'd know what our next step would be. Okay?"
"I'm really sorry," was all he said to her.
Feng Xuan just smiled at him, like a mask where his apology slided away. "Let's be calm for now. Let's not make this a bigger thing than it already is. Please, stay with me tonight."
Qing Chen did not need more convincing and got under the sheets.
"By the way," Feng Xuan began. "I'm mad at the fact that you fell in the cliche of sleeping with secretaries. That's really low."
Qing Chen knew she meant it as a joke, but he knew if his wife would it have it her way, she would put those words on his grave: Qing Chen, Cliched Secretary Banger. "If I knew I was going to get married that soon, I wouldn't have done it."
He felt Feng Xuan's hand slapped his cheek lightly. "I am not blaming you on anything for that. People trip and mess up at times. It happens."
Qing Chen's mind drifted to the possible end of this line, the business alliance broken, the bad press, the mafia splitting--
"I almost forgot to say good night," Feng Xuan's voice was still as smooth as honey.
Qing Chen opened his eyes a fraction and saw that Feng Xuan was already leaning over. He closed his eyes and felt her lips, soft as the fluttering of butterfly wings.
Qing Chen's goosebumps raised for the second time of the day when he felt Feng Xuan's breath on his ear, her lips lightly touching his lobe.
"Don't worry, dear husband," she whispered. "I won't let her take you away from me."
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone