Whatever the person on the phone said, it brought a flush to Kristen's fair cheeks. Her angry nails nearly gouged the phone case. "I'm not going back."
After a brief silence, she loosened her bite on her lower lip. "Relax. I'm a Liang. If there's shame to be had, I'll only shame myself. Besides, you're fresh out of face for me to lose."
"If you've got the guts, send someone to drag me back. It wouldn't be the first time."
She didn't give the other party a chance to speak. She hung up and flung the phone onto the sofa in fury.
Still not appeased, she kicked a chair twice, hissed when her toe throbbed, and dropped into a seat to rub it. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the handkerchief hanging on the balcony, and her hands stilled.
She didn't hesitate long. She picked up the phone again and dialed.
The One.
As soon as Kristen stepped out of the car, a man in a suit with gold-rimmed glasses approached, voice respectful. "Miss Liang, I'm Leon, Mr. Jin's secretary. Please come with me."
"Thank you," Kristen said, following him upstairs, down a winding corridor, and stopping at a private room door.
Leon pushed the door open. "Please, Miss Liang."
Kristen dipped her head and stepped inside.
Unlike Finn's usual private room, this one had a thick carpet underfoot and a faint scent of gardenia in the air. Jason sat on the sofa.
He'd removed his suit jacket and wasn't wearing a tie. The top two buttons of his black dress shirt were undone, revealing a refined collarbone. A glass rested in his hand; with each swallow, his Adam's apple slid in a way that was dangerously attractive.
Even after years around good-looking men in showbiz, seeing Jason again still felt like a shock—male beauty that unsettled the senses.
"Mr. Jason." Kristen lowered her gaze and greeted him honestly.
He lifted his lashes the smallest bit and tipped his chin at the seat beside him.
Kristen set her Hermès bag down and sat, carefully taking out the freshly washed handkerchief. "Mr. Jason, your handkerchief is cleaned."
Jason set down his glass. His long, fair fingers took the handkerchief, rolling it between them. "That's all?"
Kristen pressed her lips together. Her eyes flicked to the cigarette pack and lighter on the table. She took out a cigarette and raised it to his lips of her own accord.
Jason's mouth curved faintly as he accepted it, those dark eyes never leaving her face.
Whether it was the lighting or something else, his gaze seemed sticky, suggestive. Kristen's hand trembled as she clicked the lighter and brought the flame to the cigarette.
Jason drew a breath. Smoke curled from his lips as his low voice rumbled, "Didn't you say you couldn't?"
Sweat dampened Kristen's grip on the lighter. Her cheeks felt flushed and heated, as if the smoke had warmed her skin. Meeting his eyes made her heart shiver. Her red lips tilted. "Just learned."
Jason slanted her a look and took another pull of nicotine. Then those pale fingers tilted to her cheek, his thumb grazing the tiny tear-shaped mole at the corner of her eye.
She had classic peach-blossom eyes, their outer corners tilted up, and that small red beauty mark made her gaze look even more soft and helpless.
If not for that devastating face, Finn wouldn't have fallen in love at first sight and chased her for three relentless months.
His fingertips were cool, but somehow everywhere he touched burned, as if a small flame had caught at her eye corner.
She didn't know how long it lasted. By the time half her body felt numb, a warm breath brushed her ear, carrying his husky murmur—
"Little liar."
End of chapter
If you like the story, please leave a review and donate some Powerstone