《Forbidden.Desire》3《Will You Come Home Tonight?》
Chapter Twenty-Two: Shackles and Desire
1、Behind-the-Scenes Confrontation
「Cut! That living-room Shura-field eye-standoff was brilliant! Everyone take a thirty-minute break; actors, prepare for the study scene!」
Director Zhang’s loud voice echoed across the set. The incandescent lights blazed on, instantly dissipating the oppressive, heavy filming atmosphere.
Sun (playing Shen Rui’an) let out a breath, lifted her somewhat elaborate skirt, and turned back to her personal VIP lounge.
The lounge was quiet and cozy; the vanity was covered with all kinds of high-end cosmetics and perfumes.
She looked at herself in the mirror, eyes closed, taking deep breaths as she prepared for Shen Rui’an’s complex, uneasy, and doubtful emotions in the next scene.
「Click.」
The soundproof wooden door of the lounge was suddenly shoved open from outside and then locked with a 「click」.
Sun whipped her head around. When she saw the man standing in the doorway, her beautiful black eyes filled with shock and bewilderment:
「Qin Che! Why did you come back early?! I thought the stand-in would be doing the next scene…」
Qin Che stood in the doorway in a black haute-couture suit, travel-worn, yet his strikingly handsome face was still covered with a layer of lingering frost.
He had just finished business negotiations abroad, skipped the hotel, and flown straight back to the set on his private jet.
Expecting to see delight on this woman’s face when she saw him, he never imagined her first words would be surprise that he hadn’t used a stand-in.
Qin Che narrowed his black eyes, a dangerously cold glint flashing in them. He took long strides toward her, his voice icy:
「Coming back early… makes you unhappy? Hmm? Did I interrupt your sweet on-screen date with Xu Mu’an?」
Sun looked at his frosty expression and couldn’t help rolling her eyes—this man’s jealousy was inexplicably intense again.
But she knew Qin Che’s beastly temper well; if she didn’t soothe him now, once filming started he would absolutely torment her to death in bed.
Her mood switched in a second. Sun curved her lips into a seductive, mischievous smile, boldly walked toward him barefoot, slid her arms around his neck like a water snake, and pressed her soft, fragrant body against his burning chest. She lengthened her voice coquettishly:
「Why are you angry the moment you get back～ Qin Che～～ I’m not unhappy, I was just too surprised…」
Qin Che felt the warm, soft jade-like body in his arms and the intoxicating scent that seeped into every pore. The raging anger and jealousy were instantly suppressed by her coquettishness. Yet he still maintained a cold demeanor and snorted:
「Who’s angry?」
Even as he spoke, his large, callused hand naturally wrapped around her slender waist and pulled her tightly against him.
Qin Che leaned down and bit her sensitive earlobe, his voice low and husky, filled with blatant dominance and possessiveness:
「You’ll find out after we finish filming… I want you to pay back everything you owe me these past few days—all at once!」
Sun’s ears flushed at his punishing dirty talk, but she only blinked provocatively and chuckled: 「Fine, let’s see what you’ve got, President Qin～」
2、Old Shadows
「《Will You Come Home Tonight?》 Chapter Twenty-Two, Scene Two, Action!」
The set lights switched back to a dark, oppressive cool tone.
Inside the living room of the overseas villa, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt ready to explode.
Han Xiu clung to Jiang Yuhe’s arm, practically glued to him. She lifted her delicate, arrogant face and said coquettishly:
「Yuhe, let’s go to the study first～ Just the two of us to talk.」
Then Han Xiu turned, her eyes filled with extreme provocation and implication, and looked at Pei Xiuyu, who was holding Shen Rui’an’s hand on the sofa. She smiled teasingly:
「Come find us in the study later to reminisce, Xiuyu～」
Before the words finished, Han Xiu twisted her sexy legs, forcefully dragging the gloomy-faced Jiang Yuhe, and strode toward the private study on the second floor.
「Click.」 The study door closed.
Only Pei Xiuyu and Shen Rui’an remained in the vast living room. The air was so quiet they could hear each other’s heavy breathing.
Shen Rui’an sat on the sofa, her black eyes filled with confusion, unease, and complexity. She turned to Pei Xiuyu, wanting to speak but stopping.
Pei Xiuyu took a deep breath, gripped her cold little hand, and spoke steadily yet with heavy memories of the past:
「Rui’an… The three of us used to be playmates.」
Shen Rui’an’s body trembled slightly at the word. She nodded lightly, said nothing, and quietly waited for him to continue.
Pei Xiuyu gazed at the pitch-black night outside the window, his eyes distant:
「But we lost contact long ago. Back then… after she fell for Jiang Yuhe, confessed to him, and was harshly rejected, she completely disappeared.」
Shen Rui’an frowned, a flash of disbelief in her clear eyes. She pressed her lips together and asked hesitantly:
「When you say… play together? Do you mean the kind of… threesome with one woman and two men?」
Pei Xiuyu looked into her eyes without any concealment or evasion and nodded frankly:
「Yes. Exactly what you’re thinking.」
Shen Rui’an gasped, her shock beyond words. She looked at the usually gentle, gentlemanly man and pressed on:
「Then… did you ever like her before?」
Pei Xiuyu paused. A complicated look flashed in his dark eyes, then he answered very seriously:
「Almost.」
He continued:
「Back then, Yuhe and I met her at an upscale overseas nightclub. We drank too much that night and naturally had our first threesome. After that, whenever she wanted to drink or have fun, she always invited both of us. Gradually she developed real feelings for Jiang Yuhe. Once, drunk, she confessed to him and was coldly rejected on the spot. Jiang Yuhe even told her: 『We shouldn’t see each other again.』」
Pei Xiuyu’s voice lowered, tinged with self-mockery:
「She was devastated for a while, coming to me every day to drink and cry. Watching her cry so heartbreakingly, I felt such pain that I almost thought I was falling in love with her. But thankfully… she eventually chose to go abroad and completely vanished from our world. That absurd relationship finally ended.」
Shen Rui’an listened carefully to every word.
Her heart felt like a knot being pulled tighter. She wondered: If Jiang Yuhe had once rejected Han Xiu so cruelly and cut ties, why was he now accepting her closeness again the moment she returned to the country? Even taking her to nightclubs and back to the villa right in front of her?
And Pei Xiuyu—after hearing Han Xiu’s invitation, did he still want to go reminisce in the study…
Shen Rui’an’s eyes gradually dimmed; the inferiority and insecurity that belonged to the original Shen Rui’an once again occupied her heart. She lowered her head slightly, her tone carrying a trace of tentative sourness:
「Then… are you going… to reminisce…?」
Hearing the panic and unease in her voice, Pei Xiuyu’s heart ached sharply.
Without hesitation, he stretched out his large hand and pulled Shen Rui’an tightly into his broad, warm embrace!
One hand gently stroked the back of her head, his long fingers threading through her hair as if giving her the sense of security and certainty she needed most in this lifetime.
Pei Xiuyu spoke low and solemnly in her ear:
「I will go to the study to find them. But Rui’an, remember—I’m not going to reminisce. I’m going to make everything clear, including… the relationship between the two of us now.」
Feeling the steady heartbeat from his chest, Shen Rui’an’s uneasy heart finally settled a little.
She obediently returned to Pei Xiuyu’s bedroom to wait first.
Meanwhile, Pei Xiuyu turned with a cold expression and strode toward the study on the second floor, filled with danger and past memories.
3、Domineering Declaration
Inside the second-floor study, the air was thick with the strong smell of cigar tobacco and the pungent sweetness of expensive perfume.
「Click.」
Pei Xiuyu pushed open the heavy wooden door of the study.
However, the moment the door cracked open, the scene before him made his brows knit tightly together!
On the leather sofa in the center of the study, Han Xiu was wearing only extremely sexy black lace lingerie and a thong!
Her haute-couture top had been casually thrown on the floor; she was straddling Jiang Yuhe’s lap in a seductive pose.
Jiang Yuhe sat on the sofa, his black shirt unbuttoned at three places, revealing his strong, attractive chest lines. One hand rested on Han Xiu’s snow-white waist, his face showing no emotion.
Seeing this, Pei Xiuyu’s eyes turned cold as knives. He said icily:
「You two carry on. We’ll talk after you’re done.」
With that, Pei Xiuyu turned to leave and close the door.
However, Han Xiu, still straddling Jiang Yuhe, suddenly opened her red lips and shouted coquettishly at Pei Xiuyu in the doorway:
「Xiuyu～ Come in! It’s not like you haven’t seen it before～ What? Afraid you won’t be able to control yourself? Or afraid… you’ll betray your poor little girlfriend? Hahahaha!」
Han Xiu’s laughter was filled with unrestrained provocation and mockery.
Pei Xiuyu’s face darkened instantly. To prevent Han Xiu’s shouting from reaching downstairs and making the sensitive Shen Rui’an overthink, he stepped into the study and slammed the door shut, locking it!
「Shut up! Stop deliberately causing trouble!」 Pei Xiuyu’s eyes were cold, his voice filled with strong intimidation.
While unbuttoning his suit jacket as he walked forward, he said icily:
「I came in to tell you two—」
However, before Pei Xiuyu could finish, Han Xiu suddenly slid off Jiang Yuhe like a seductive snake! Bare-legged in high heels, carrying a wave of pungent perfume, she rushed straight at Pei Xiuyu!
Han Xiu pressed herself against Pei Xiuyu’s strong chest without restraint, placed a slender finger teasingly on his thin, hot lips, blinked, and said seductively:
「Shh… Xiuyu, don’t be so fierce～ Don’t you want to relive those happy days when the three of us were together?」