Chapter 7 (1/2)

LMA – Chapter Seven (part 1)

Luo An Hai felt like her vivid dream was real. She opened her heavy eyelids, someone was holding onto her waist on her bed. She looked down at her naked body. Sleeping nude was nothing new, it was a man’s arm around her waist that was out of place. She couldn’t see the man lying behind her back, but she could feel his naked body.

She jumped out of bed, and wrapped the bedsheet around her body. The naked man on the bed was Han Ting Hua. She licked her lips while checking out his chiselled body. The fingernail scratch marks on his back gave her a headache. What happened last night? She touched her lips, recalled his burning kisses and caresses. s.h.i.+t. How was she going to get out of this mess? What happened after he drove her home? Why did her body have the scent of her body wash? Did he bathe her? She didn’t believe he would take advantage of her when she was unconscious. But why were there kiss marks on her body? Why did he sleep naked in bed with her?

She had done everything to make him hate her. How did their hearts ended up like this? How deep would their hearts fall? How did the sequence of events happen out of her control? She couldn’t say he took advantage of her last night, because she clearly remembered she egged him on.

Han Ting Hua heard someone mumble and opened his eyes. The bedsheet covered Luo An Hai’s body, but he could see her red cheeks.

‘Morning Miss Bashful,’ he teased.

‘Who are you calling Miss Bashful?’ she asked.

She glanced at his morning glory and her throat dried up. ‘Han Ting Hua, hurry up and put clothes on.’

‘What clothes?’ he asked.

She followed his gaze to the pile of clothes that stunk like vomit.

‘Looks like your selective memory only includes what happened between us at the pub,’ he said. ‘I took you home. You vomited on me, and I kindly gave you a bath. I wanted to sleep in my bedroom, but you wouldn’t let me leave your bed.’

He left out the part she called out his name in her sleep again. How could he leave her when she sounded sad calling his name? It was only in her sleep that she didn’t mask her real feelings.

When she was awake, her sharp tongue always insulted him. Why did she always distance herself from him? Why couldn’t he keep his eyes off her? Why did seeing her surrounded by men made him impatient? Why did she derail his years of planning to get her to see him as a man? He didn’t want to give her another chance to distance herself from him.

She stepped back toward a window when he suddenly got out of bed and advanced toward her. She put her hand up between their lips, he twisted her wrist behind her back. Why couldn’t he stay the same little boy who ran to Mai Fang whenever she used her martial arts moves on him? Their chests touched and he kissed her lips.

‘Luo An Hai, last night you made the first move,’ he said.

‘What?’ she denied.

‘You were drunk last night,’ he said. ‘Other men wouldn’t have just kindly given you a bath after you vomit on their clothes. In the future you should cut back on alcohol.’ He let go of her wrist. ‘I’m going back my bedroom.’

Kind? What kindness? There wasn’t a spot on her body that he didn’t kiss last night. She wanted to pull out his hair.

Outside her bedroom, he smiled after hearing frustrated sounds come out of her mouth.

Photos of Mark hobbling out of a bathroom was splattered on magazine covers.

Luo Cheng Hua summoned Luo An Hai home to talk about the incident with Mark.

‘An Hai, your father is waiting in the living room,’ Mai Fang said.

Luo An Hai was suspicious why Mai Fang was smiling if her father was going to lecture her.

Luo An Hai walked to the living room. Why was her father drinking tea with Han Ting Hua?

‘Why are you standing?’ Luo Cheng Hua asked. ‘Have you seen the latest magazine articles?’

‘Yes,’ Luo An Hai said and sat on the sofa.

‘Did Mark do anything to hurt you?’ Luo Cheng Hua asked.

Luo Cheng Hua wanted to kill Mark after he saw the magazine headlines.

‘Did he touch you?’ Luo Cheng Hua asked. ‘If he did, I’ll make him suffer. No one can save him.’

Luo An Hai was speechless. Her father was worried about her instead of lecturing her. It was an unfamiliar feeling to see her father worry about her.

Luo Cheng Hua didn’t know how to act seeing his daughter look surprised.

‘In the future avoid going to seedy places,’ Luo Cheng Hua said and cleared his throat. ‘Stay for dinner. Mai Fang bought ingredients this morning to make your favorite dishes.’

‘An Hai, don’t listen to your father,’ Mai Fang said. ‘Your father woke me up early this morning and dragged me to buy ingredients to make your favorite dishes.’

Luo Cheng Hua escaped to his study room out of embarra.s.sment.

‘An Hai, look at your father’s shy back,’ Mai Fang teased.

Luo An Hai saw her father’s rigid back and legs running for the first time. It was a bitter sweet moment. She turned around and smiled at Mai Fang for the first time in two lifetimes.

Mai Fang received Luo An Hai’s smile after many years, and tears swelled up in her eyes.

‘I… I need to check on dinner,’ Mai Fang said.  ‘An Hai, wait here with Xiao Hua. Dinner will be ready soon.’

Luo An Hai couldn’t believe the woman she hated for many years was deeply moved after receiving a smile from her.

‘A miracle happened,’ Han Ting Hua said, watching Mai Fang run to the kitchen. ‘Luo An Hai, you smiled at my mother. Did you forget to wear thorns today?’

‘Why are you here?’ Luo An Hai asked.

Luo An Hai was planning to take revenge on Han Ting Hua, but seeing him again after avoiding him since that night, her revenge plans melted.

‘My mother asked me to come home for dinner,’ Han Ting Hua said.

Han Ting Hua knew Luo An Hai was avoiding him. Dinner at the Luo Mansion was his chance to see her.

Luo An Hai stood to hide in her bedroom, but Han Ting Hua followed her upstairs.

‘Luo An Hai, what are you scared of?’ Han Ting Hua asked.

‘Nothing,’ Luo An Hai said.

Luo An Hai wanted to close her bedroom door, but Han Ting Hua’s leg was in the way. She kicked his leg, he dodged her kick.

‘What do you want?’ Luo An Hai asked.

‘You’re tensed and scared,’ Han Ting Hua said. ‘You always avoid eye contact and fist your hands whenever you’re tensed and scared.’

Han Ting Hua played with Luo An Hai’s hair. ‘Luo An Hai, what are you running from?’

‘I don’t have time to listen to rubbish,’ Luo An Hai said.

Luo An Hai closed her bedroom door forcibly. She slumped against the door. Running? Of course she needed to run from Han Ting Hua.

On the other side, Han Ting Hua wanted to understand why Luo An Hai declared she hated him and his adoptive mother the first day they met. But if Luo An Hai truly hated him and his adoptive mother, why didn’t she do anything to break up his adoptive mother’s marriage? Years of living with Luo An Hai, he realized she was all bark and no bite. He knew after Luo An Hai noticed he saw through her thorns, she avoided him. What was Luo An Hai scared of? Why did Luo An Hai give him the feeling of a scared lost child? Why did Luo An Hai deny the unspoken connection between them? He didn’t have patience left to wait for Luo An Hai to acknowledge their connection.

End of Chapter Seven (part 1)

Love Me Again Chapter 7B

The pub incident was the last straw, with the intense pa.s.sion within him finally breathing through its paper thin constraints. Han Ting Hua is determined not to wait any longer and not to let her continue to escape. But a woman like Luo An Hai is truly stubborn.

Han Ting Hua glances at the table to see a newly published magazine with that same obstinate woman on the cover, intimately clinging to a man, while that man was the same one Luo An Hai had cruelly dumped and left begging for them not to break up.

“Eh, Han, when did you get to school?” Angel had just walked into the student council’s office, and hadn’t expected to run into Han Ting Hua since he hadn’t attended school for several days. “To think you’d be here. That’s great, there’s something I ….. Since when were you interested in gossip magazines?”

Stunned, she stares at the magazine Han Ting Hua had placed on the table, as she just happens to have a similar one in her hands.

Not waiting for Han Ting Hua to answer, Angel takes a risk and starts to discuss the gossip “A woman’s heart is like a needle in the bottom of the ocean, and a Queen’s heart is even more so! At the time she had dumped Hunter so cruelly, who would’ve expected they’d be so sweet and intimate now? The magazine also mentions their relations.h.i.+p is so close they’re even talking about getting engaged… Han, is this true?”

Is this real or fake, uncle Luo and his mother had also asked him the same thing.

Having seen the tabloids, Luo Cheng Hai had also been kept in the dark, not knowing what his daughter is up to. Calling An Hai, he found that her phone had been turned off. Since Han Ting Hua was always around Luo An Hai’s side recently, he had Mai Fang enquire, thinking he had a clearer understanding of the situation. He hadn’t expected that he couldn’t pry anything from Han Ting Hua.

These past few days Luo An Hai didn’t return to the family home, nor did she enter the company, while her phone was constantly off, and even the staff at the company couldn’t locate her. Pretty much only the paparazzi knew her whereabouts.

Han Ting Hua had expected Luo An Hai to hide from him, but he hadn’t thought she’d put on this kind of show. Looking at the embracing figures on the magazine, his eyes flash but he doesn’t answer Angel’s questions, instead asking her if it was her father’s birthday.

Hunter and Angel’s families had business dealings, so Hunter would definitely be at the birthday party to congratulate him. While Luo An Hai would also attend as his companion. Angel is easily led towards a new topic by Han Ting Hua.

“Ah I almost forgot, I had wanted to speak to you about something” She places her hands together, pleading. “Han, be my escort tonight! Otherwise my grandfather will definitely take the opportunity to introduce me to various men, so annoying! Han, I was your s.h.i.+eld for so long, isn’t it time to repay me?” Even if he doesn’t agree, she’ll nag him until he does.

But contrary to Angel’s expectations, not only does Han Ting Hua not refuse, he even reveals a rare smile.

“Naturally, it’s my pleasure.” Angel’s request just happened to fit right into his plans. As the magazine enters back into his sight, he dangerously eyes Angel. Let’s see how you’ll escape this time!

Luo An Hai hadn’t expected to see Han Ting Hua at the birthday banquet since that brat had always been low-key and never attends any banquets. But seeing the blonde haired girl on his arm, she suddenly understands. She had forgotten Han Ting Hua’s little girlfriend was the Dai’An family’s only daughter. Han Ting Hua had also seen Luo An Hai. The moment she entered the room, she instantly drew everyone’s attention.

Elegantly and meticulously made up, with her light chestnut hair half pulled into a bun revealing her beautiful snow white neck, appearing sweet and s.e.xy in a little silver strapless. Sapphire earrings gently swinging on the sides of her face, the straps around her lower back outlining her alluring curves, with two perfectly balanced legs peeking out from a blooming silk skirt, clad in her favourite Mary Jane heels. While her clothes weren’t the most flamboyant, and she hadn’t adorned herself with the most dazzling gems, wearing a necklace that matched her earrings on her snow white neck, yet that charming and elegant disposition caused all the other women at the banquet to pale in comparison.

“Ah!” Angel whispers in Han Ting Hua’s ear, with a tone full of wors.h.i.+p, “A Queen’s entrance is really something else. Come, let’s greet her.”

Han Ting Hua slightly smiles, lightly holding Angel’s waist as he walks towards Luo An Hai.

Realizing that he was approaching, Luo An Hai can’t help but freeze, Immediately developing the urge to flee. But she endures, straightening her back and proudly lifting her chin as she coldly surveys the people approaching.

“What’s wrong?” Sensing her body stiffen, Hunter looks towards her, eyes tender and filled with his love towards Luo An Hai. So much that even though she had treated him cruelly before, he was still unable to relinquish her.

Even though Luo An Hai had clearly told him it was impossible for her to love him, he still refused to stop sticking near her, thinking that as long as he doesn’t give up, Luo An Hai would someday be moved by his affections. Already looking towards the front, Luo An Hai ignores Hunter’s question.

Feeling perplexed, Hunter follows her gaze, only to see the Dai’An family’s daughter and an Asian youth walking towards them.