The morning sunlight streamed through the window, and Dong Enyu was already awake.
Or perhaps it should be said, she had never been so clear-headed.
The cool air enveloped her body, and the silence filled the entire villa.
Being alone made Dong Enyu lose herself for a moment… Undercover, agent, spy… Alone, she could only complete the mission by herself.
This was her fate, and she had long accepted it.
Dong Enyu propped herself up, the open shirt slipping down her arm, but she wasn’t surprised at all.
She remembered everything that happened last night, from drinking at RED BLUE, meeting Luo Ye, Yong Le, and Zhao Han, to Huo Ai sending her home.
She remembered every look, every perfume, every word, and every move with particular clarity.
She was drunk, but her heart wasn’t.
Call it playing dumb if you will, but she knew how much to show her vulnerability and how much to let others believe in her weakness.
This time, she really fell hard, the pain of the wound bringing tears to her eyes.
So be it, let it end, just as they said before, let it end…
Dong Enyu got up and went to the bathroom to wash up, washing away the smell of alcohol.
The woman was once again full of energy, as if nothing had happened.
Dong Enyu changed into a neat suit, just like her usual office attire, and without even having breakfast, she picked up the documents on the table and drove to the Coral Reef Group headquarters.
Since it was still early, there weren’t many employees at work, and even after Dong Enyu took the direct elevator upstairs, Shirley hadn’t appeared yet.
The elevator doors opened with a “ding!” and Dong Enyu stepped onto the carpet in her high heels, making no sound.
Just as she was about to knock on the office door, a conversation made her pause.
“Are you sure you want to handle it yourself?” Through the door, Dong Enyu vaguely heard He Xuan’s voice, soft and somewhat helpless.
Handle it herself? Dong Enyu lightly pressed her lips together, her right hand, which was about to knock, slowly lowered.
“Yes.” Huo Ai’s unique husky voice came through softly.
“I think Dong Enyu is quite reliable.
Why don’t you two work together? At least have someone to rely on.” He Xuan kept persuading, making Dong Enyu, standing outside the door, raise her eyebrows.
She met the standard of a board member’s wife but never reached Huo Ai’s threshold.
Dong Enyu never minded this, but for some reason, she cared a little today.
What was it that couldn’t be done together? What was Huo Ai planning to do?
“I don’t trust her.” A single sentence interrupted Dong Enyu’s thoughts.
“Besides me, who else do you trust? I say you need to change your attitude, open up a bit.” He Xuan sighed exaggeratedly, and even through the thick door, Dong Enyu could hear the sigh.
But what concerned her was Huo Ai’s words; she said she didn’t trust her, didn’t trust Dong Enyu.
“Can’t do it,” Huo Ai responded decisively, “She hasn’t been honest.”
That was her reason.
Standing outside the door, Dong Enyu lowered her eyes.
Honest? What a joke.
“Everyone has some secrets.
Haven’t you been honest with her?” Dong Enyu heard He Xuan speaking up for her, feeling inexplicably comforted.
But Huo Ai was different…
“This matter, I won’t hand it over to a second person.”
Decisive, as was Huo Ai’s usual style.
This was a full stop.
Dong Enyu understood that no matter how much He Xuan persuaded, Huo Ai wouldn’t change her mind.
Her decisions never turned back, and it was such a woman who supported the Coral Reef Group, with such courage and perseverance that she took over the black market business, dominating both the legal and illegal worlds.
Since that was the case, Dong Enyu didn’t expect to get involved.
She turned and left, taking the elevator back to the first-floor lobby, sitting alone in the waiting area, lost in thought.
Trust, such a difficult word.
Did she need Huo Ai to trust her? But how could the shrewd Huo Ai be fooled?…
She didn’t know how long she sat there until a familiar voice brought her back to her senses.
“Enyu, what are you doing sitting here alone?” He Xuan walked out of the elevator alone, and upon seeing Dong Enyu, he approached kindly.
“Nothing,” Dong Enyu scratched her head, a little embarrassed, “A bit hungover, so I wanted to clear my head here before going up.” But in reality, she was already as clear-headed as she could be, afraid that if she saw things more clearly, she would collapse.
Sometimes being a little confused and hazy could make life more enjoyable.
He Xuan didn’t notice anything unusual about Dong Enyu, just patted her shoulder, reminding the young people not to play too wildly.
But Dong Enyu was no longer young, and she didn’t want to be too wild.
Even though everything seemed to be out of control…
After He Xuan left, Dong Enyu took the elevator back to the office.
When she pushed open the heavy door, Huo Ai happened to look up and meet her gaze, without any concealment, looking directly at each other.
Neither of them backed down because once they avoided it, the relationship would immediately crack.
She and Huo Ai were intriguing partners, seemingly having a connection but actually strangers with no real interaction.
Bound by interests…
“I didn’t expect you to come so early.” Huo Ai’s fingers lightly tapped the table, the monotonous sound creating an invisible pressure.
The panoramic view behind the woman, presented through the floor-to-ceiling window, magnified her aura by hundreds of times.
Whether it was a psychological effect or what happened last night, Dong Enyu almost looked away.
Fortunately, she held on.
“Thank you for sending me home last night.” Dong Enyu responded with a smile, appearing calm and unhurried.
Huo Ai’s calm and unruffled expression made Dong Enyu unable to read her.
“You’re welcome, but you’d better not cause trouble everywhere, to avoid embarrassing Haijiao.” It was a reminder, also a warning.
Dong Enyu raised a faint smile, softly saying, “Sorry.”
Her apology unexpectedly made Huo Ai raise her eyebrows.
Seemingly peaceful coexistence, but actually full of confrontation, silence could also become the most powerful weapon…
Huo Ai’s gaze was steady, her lips held a faint smile, but her eyes were sharp, as if trying to dissect Dong Enyu’s smile, to explore the reason behind her raised lips.
However, Dong Enyu wouldn’t give a single clue.
She raised the documents in her hand, then stepped towards Huo Ai, as if she hadn’t noticed the scrutinizing gaze, naturally pulling out a chair to sit down.
“Have you seen the information I gave you?” Once Dong Enyu sat down, Huo Ai shifted her gaze back to the report in her hand.
“I’ve seen it.” The documents were spread out on the table, containing detailed information about the antiques, the goods for this transaction.
Huo Ai closed the report in her hand, her gaze slowly moving from the spread-out papers to Dong Enyu’s face.
“This time, you handle the transaction yourself.”
As soon as the words fell, Dong Enyu’s heart skipped a beat.
Handle it herself… yet she didn’t trust her…
“I’ll be out at sea for a while, you have no problem with the negotiation details, right?”
“No problem.” Dong Enyu responded immediately without thinking, like a pop quiz given by a teacher to a student.
If she didn’t want to be kicked out of the Coral Reef Group, she had to ace this class.
But could she?…
Dong Enyu didn’t think too much because she and Huo Ai soon left the company, with Huo Ai driving the sports car to take her to inspect the goods.
The same mountain road, but a different mood, watching the scenery fly by outside the window, Dong Enyu wasn’t nervous or afraid.
She knew what to do next, this test was very important to her, if this path was paved well enough, perhaps it could be smoother in the future…
After Huo Ai parked the car, she got out on her own.
The villa, washed by a night of mountain rain, looked particularly bright.
The reflection in the water showed two women entering the villa, and Huo Ai handed the crowbar to Dong Enyu, letting her pry open the wooden box.
Because it was her task, her goods, so she had to do it herself…
“What about the buyer?” Dong Enyu didn’t hesitate, she pried open the wooden box forcefully, revealing the decorative items that were all show and no substance.
All show and no substance… This made Dong Enyu look at Huo Ai with some amusement.
“Mr. Han.” One of the bosses under Wutang, Han Ge.
Han Ge again? She would rather interpret it as Yong Le…
“These artworks, I think Han Ge’s willingness to purchase is not high.” Dong Enyu made it clear, it wasn’t that she was incompetent, but Han Ge wasn’t a fool.
Even an outsider could see the value, and the estimated price on the data, Han Ge wouldn’t buy it, nor would any other buyer.
To this, Huo Ai was indifferent, “Negotiate first, if it doesn’t work, then deal with it.”
Dong Enyu repeatedly gripped the crowbar, the cold touch stimulating her skin, making her feel a bit unable to hold it.
Not that she wasn’t confident, but…
“Are you sure you want to entrust this to me?”
Trust, such a luxurious word.
Dong Enyu stood straight, facing a woman a foot and a half away from her.
The woman looked back at her, with a similar height and attire, but their temperaments were completely different, though their auras were equally matched.
Dong Enyu was her partner, using Haijiao as a backing to get close to Wutang.
However, Huo Ai was doing the same, using her to cut into the center.
In some ways, their goals were aligned.
Despite this, Dong Enyu couldn’t feel at ease… She knew Huo Ai didn’t trust her.
How much benefit can you give to someone you don’t trust? Absolutely minimal.
“Weren’t you the one who said there was no problem?” Huo Ai wasn’t angry, but there was a hint of impatience in her tone.
“Are you at ease?” The answer she wanted was simple, but Huo Ai couldn’t provide it.
In the end, the woman only asked back, “What do you want to say?” Simple enough, clear enough.
Dong Enyu casually tossed down the crowbar, the crisp sound hinting at a flaw in their relationship.
“Do you trust me?” Five words, yet they were key enough to change fate.
She asked not expecting any positive response.
What she wanted to say was, “We’re partners, right?” Dong Enyu reminded Huo Ai that she wasn’t a pawn to be discarded with a wave of a hand.
Don’t forget, they were partners.
But Huo Ai shrugged, saying indifferently, “You’re my sixteenth partner.
I can always switch to the seventeenth, eighteenth.
You get what I mean, right?” She didn’t care about Dong Enyu, nor who her partner was.
In the face of interests, the woman still had some value, so she stayed by her side.
But if this partner lost her value, she could be replaced at any time.
How could Dong Enyu not understand? “As long as I make a mistake, there won’t be another chance.” She understood, she fully understood the rules of the game.
Huo Ai nodded, her flawless face was something Dong Enyu never tired of looking at, yet it also pressured her… Something too perfect always seemed too illusory.
“As long as you understand,” the beautiful lips moved with the sound, Huo Ai’s actions and voice seemed to slow down.
Every word was particularly clear… “There’s no trust or distrust, just if you slip up, Haijiao won’t need you, it’s that simple.”
