Empty Promises: The CEO Cunning Bride

"Feifei?" Feng Huan noticed something was off about her right away. Is she trying to say something?

"Haaah…" Zhao Fan let out a huge sigh with a big smile spread across her face. Then she burst out laughing, "See! She's getting punished for what she did to me!"

"What did you do?" Feng Huan yanked Zhao Fan's arm. "Why do you need to take things this far?"

"Hah!" Zhao Fan pulled her arm out of his grip with a smile still on her face. Her eyes began to burn and something moist was staining her face, "I didn't need to do anything! It's her retribution."

"Nonsense." Feng Huan felt an incredible headache coming if he continued to converse with her. "Feifei-."

When he had turned around, Xiong Jingfei was gone from where she was standing and out of the doors.

"Xiong Jingfei!" Feng Huan shouted, dashing after her but he was a step too late. She disappeared into the crowd and when he tried to call her, it went straight to the phone she left behind in the café.

***

"You lost her?"

"Y-yes, sir." A man in a well-dressed black suit answered. He was afraid to make eye contact with the man sitting before him, so he kept his head facing down to avoid it.

The silent tension was killing him. He wished that the person sitting across the room would say something! As if his wish was heard, the sound of a paintbrush snapped into two caused him to flinch.

"Find. Her."

"Yes! Right away!"

The man in the well-dressed suit took off as soon as he was given permission to leave. More than ever, he never wished so hard for the safety of someone. Please, let me find you quickly!

Yang Zheyan sat in silence as he stared at the painting that was ruined by a black smear across the canvas. He released the broken paintbrush that was dripping in black paint from his hand.

"Xiong Jingfei… Jingfei…" Yang Zheyan repeatedly muttered her name. He reached out and almost touched the undried canvas that had two figures kneeling on the ground with a full moon staring down at them. He curled his fingers into a tight fist, "What does this mean?"

After returning from the shrine, he had a very strange dream that repeated itself every night since then. He dreamt of two people saying their vows to one another. The dream is always vivid, but once his eyes are opened, they turn into fuzzy fragments.

The harder he tries to recall the dream, the quicker it fades away from his memory. He was afraid that eventually he wasn't going to remember any of it, and to him, it'll be like that dream never happened. He didn't understand what was happening to him.

It was confusing… The woman in his dream, every time she smiled it was the same as the dancing lady he dreamt of. The dancing lady that Lu Xuefeng claimed to be Xiong Jingfei. He wasn't sure anymore. 

If he painted the dancing lady to look like Xiong Jingfei, or the dancing lady in his dream was Xiong Jingfei.

Argh! Yang Zheyan grabbed the side of his head that was throbbing with pain.  .

Yang Zheyan's phone began buzzing with an incoming phone call from Nanny Liu. He instantly felt the pain fading after the buzzing phone distracted him from any thoughts of the dream. He answered the call, "Yes?"

Any thoughts about the dream were tossed into the back as he rushed out of the building. The dream can wait but the person at home may not wait for him.

***

Yang Zheyan stood at the door that connected their bedrooms together. He bȧrėly knocked on the door and it slightly creaked open, so he took it as a 'come on in'. He was surprised to find the room in complete darkness. When he turned on the light, he even flinched when he saw a woman sitting quietly on the bed.

He thought she had taken this chance and ran away again. Instead, she had locked herself up in the room after getting home. It was thanks to Nanny Liu that he knew her location right away. Nanny Liu got worried after seeing Xiong Jingfei's pale complexion. She became more worried after knocking on the door a few times and didn't get an answer.

Yang Zheyan stride cautiously towards the quiet Xiong Jingfei. There was something that felt off.

"Feifei." Yang Zheyan whispered her name as he got down on both knees in front of her. Using his thumbs, he wiped away the tears on her cheeks, and in a soothing voice he asked, "What happened?"

Nanny Liu, who was worried about them, peeked inside the room. She was shocked to find Yang Zheyan on his knees for someone and looked genuinely worried. She practically raised him since he wasn't fond of his mother. So, she is fully aware of his special conditions for the opposite gender and the inability to not express his emotions.

"Is everything alright?"

"Ah! You scared me." Nanny Liu scolded the recently hired maid that takes care of the laundry. She quietly closed the door behind her and with a crinkly smile, "Everything will be alright."

Finally, there is someone to pull out those locked-away emotions from a little boy who lost them. She could still remember the day little Yang Zheyan cried his eyes out and was desperately begging for forgiveness. The very next day he became a completely different person. A person who was void of all emotions. That's how Song Liqin was able to get close to Yang Zheyan without him pushing her away.

"Let's leave them alone." Nanny Liu pulled on the recently hired maid's arm. Once they got downstairs, Nanny Liu didn't forget to give her another firm reminder. "I'll let you go this time because you're new, but don't forget the rules about the second floor. You're not allowed up there unless you're given permission. Do you understand?"

"Yes…" Xia Guang answered but her eyes were glued to the second floor.