The Domineering CEO's Vain Trophy Husband 17

Ming Yao's usually calm mind fell into a rare state of stagnation and confusion, Lin Zhi's words seeming to blur into inaudibility.

Recalling what they had been talking about just a few minutes ago, it seemed an extraordinarily difficult task. Ming Yao's gaze settled on Lin Zhi's fingers.

Slender, pale fingers moved through a sheen of light, deftly working along the contours of his calf.

Ming Yao seemed to catch a smile on Lin Zhi's face — that habitual, soft and innocent yet meaningful smile — though it may have been an illusion. Lin Zhi was watching him quietly, waiting for his answer.

Warm, humid air drifted in, swaying and spreading with the scent of flowers.

Ming Yao's eyes grew darker. He steered his wheelchair to the bedside.

"That doesn't matter anymore," he said.

The wheelchair was level with the bed. Ming Yao closed his hand around Lin Zhi's ankle.

The heat of his palm worked the essential oil in more thoroughly, and a sweet, warm fragrance suffused the air.

Ming Yao's technique was skilled — he had gone through professional rehabilitation massage after all, and had naturally picked up a thing or two. His palm slid across the back of Lin Zhi's knee. The cream-colored bathrobe shifted slightly open.

Lin Zhi's closed eyes did not open. His posture was languid.

Lin Zhi had no concerns about anything going wrong. Ming Yao's legs gave him considerable limitations, so the pace was one Lin Zhi held in his own hands.

Lin Zhi quickly discovered he had committed a grave mistake. His body was suddenly lifted into the air, and all he could do was instinctively grab Ming Yao's sleeve as he was lifted from the bed and into Ming Yao's arms.

The young man's beautiful face wore a look of helpless bewilderment at the sudden turn of events. His loose bathrobe had slipped with the movement, revealing a small stretch of shoulder and neck.

Lin Zhi hadn't had time to compose his expression before he met Ming Yao's eyes.

Ming Yao was an aggressive person. Though he appeared cold and indifferent, he was not some unattainable moon-like flower on a high cliff — he was the lord of a frozen forest and snowfield.

His cold, predatory nature made him magnetic. At this moment, the absence of his legs was not a humiliating weakness but a blade that made his presence all the more formidable.

The fragrance of osmanthus permeated the air. Lin Zhi's chest rose and fell.

His misty, beautiful eyes held a look of pure excitement. Even if this had been outside his expectations, he liked this kind of surprise.

If he only wanted someone who obeyed his every command and let himself be toyed with, he might as well buy a doll. This was far more interesting than any toy.

The warmth of Ming Yao's palms seemed to penetrate through the surface of his skin, pulling him down together into the damp embrace of early autumn.

"Mr. Ming..."

Lin Zhi's voice was soft, but Ming Yao did not want to hear that form of address.

A fleeting memory surfaced — what Lin Zhi used to call him. Back then, hearing it had filled him with nothing but resistance; then he never heard it again.

A kiss sealed the words away. Ming Yao's suit lapel was crumpled by slender fingers, and even the first button was yanked free, rolling away into an unnoticed corner.

Outside, the wind rustled through the trees. Early autumn in this city was still hot, the days still felt like summer, but the temperature drop in the evenings revealed the season's true nature.

Perhaps it was the hot spring, or perhaps it was Ming Yao — Lin Zhi did not feel cold.

It was only then that Lin Zhi realized that the upper body strength he had once praised in Ming Yao was not merely for show. Not only could Ming Yao lift him, he could even shift his position while holding him.

Currently, there was still a measure of restraint between the two, a sense of limits. Knowing this was not a good place to continue, neither of them would go further — but that was no obstacle to prolonging the haze of desire.

When Lin Zhi pushed him away, Ming Yao suppressed the swell of his emotions still holding Lin Zhi's wrist and slowly calmed himself.

He felt somewhat vexed at having chosen this place. There was no preparation at all, and he did not want something so hasty and careless. Clearly, neither did Lin Zhi.

Lin Zhi casually wiped away the traces with the towel that had been used for oil. Ming Yao unhurriedly cleaned his fingers with his handkerchief.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Ming. I'll be going now."

Lin Zhi raised his fingers to smooth out the creases in his robe, the corners of his eyes and lips carrying a look of quiet satisfaction.

The reason Ming Yao had invited him in was for tea and pastries. He supposed this could be considered coming full circle.

Ming Yao watched the young man standing before him — the corners of his eyes and lips faintly flushed — and could find no reason to ask him to stay.

The tender entanglement was like dew that vanished with the dawn. If not for the lingering fragrance, it might have been nothing but a beautiful dream.

Ming Yao's heart was beating with restless unease — a peculiarly strange sensation, as though he had possessed something and lost it — could grasp it — yet could not hold it.

It was what he desired, and yet it seemed it was not.

The tea on the table had gone cold, but Ming Yao drank it all the same, unbothered. His expression was deeply grave, as though he was weighing a particularly thorny business matter.

But what filled his mind at that moment was Lin Zhi's eyes and Lin Zhi's lips — his face, his waist and abdomen, his legs, the mole on his wrist, his feigned affection and the sincerity that was impossible to discern.

In the room next door, Lin Zhi lay on the tatami mat and let out a yawn, feeling pleasantly drowsy.

He looked at the kiss mark in the center of his wrist and noticed that Ming Yao seemed to have a particular fondness for that small black mole sitting right by his pulse.

It wasn't quite a birthmark. Lin Zhi also rather liked this little mole growing beside his pulse. The System had replicated it to give him a stronger sense of embodiment.

Time alone seemed to be System No. 01's designated hour for answering questions. Its tone was full of regret as it said: [Host, such a good opportunity just now — why did you pump the brakes?]

But before Lin Zhi could respond, System No. 01 cut in with a flash of apparent enlightenment: [I get it. You humans have a saying — the easier something is to obtain, the less it is cherished. So, you can't let him win too easily, right?]

System No. 01 thought the Host was truly wise. It all made perfect sense.

Lin Zhi played along: [You make a good point.]

Though that wasn't the reason. Lin Zhi didn't bother spending the words to explain it to an AI.

From the very beginning, they could never have gone all the way — because Ming Yao was a man with a strong sense of territory, and for something like this, he would only do it in his own domain. The Hot Spring Villa was not his private ground.

Simply put, the odds of it happening in the office were higher than here.

Rather than let Ming Yao be the one to stop, it was better for him to call a halt first.

As the hunter, he naturally could not become more immersed than the prey.

He had only intended to give Ming Yao a little tug and leave it at that. He hadn't expected Ming Yao to give him a pleasant surprise.

When the objective was clear, there was no hesitation — that was indeed Ming Yao's style.

What System No. 01 said was not entirely wrong either. The easier something was to obtain, the less it would be cherished. If one didn't concern oneself with sunk costs, when boredom arrived, everything was equal.

It was time for the next step. Fortunately, autumn in this city was a rainy season — favorable for the execution of his plan.

More difficult than touching Ming Yao's body was touching Ming Yao's heart. Just a matter of gradual progress.

Before the next stage of the plan was carried out, he'd let Ming Yao cool off for a few days.

Lin Zhi turned the calculations over in his mind, content in body and spirit as he drifted off into sweet dreams.

On the other side of the wall, Ming Yao did not fall asleep so smoothly.

In his dream, he held that bottle of essential oil and applied it slowly over Lin Zhi's entire body. Lin Zhi propped his head up with one hand and watched him with a smiling gaze, nestled against him like a soft, yielding flower.

When Ming Yao woke, the sky outside was still dark. He looked down at his legs, his face hidden in shadow. In the dream, his legs had been whole.

From that day on, the people in the secretariat noticed that Lin Zhi had been transferred. Someone curious asked Special Assistant Gao about it and received only his professional smile in return.

Special Assistant Gao himself had no idea what the boss was up to. Mrs. Ming was no longer sitting outside, the boss wore a dark expression all day, and everyone had been walking on eggshells in the meetings.

Even someone as perceptive as he was couldn't make sense of it. He simply stopped trying to guess.

After Lin Zhi reported to the new project team, the people there were reasonably courteous.

Though they knew little of Lin Zhi and nothing of his background, they understood that his relationship with the boss must be considerable — because Special Assistant Gao had personally come down to collect documents on several occasions.

Lin Zhi's new office was on the twenty-second floor. Ming Yao's office was on the top floor. With the distance between floors, unless it was important, they essentially never crossed paths.

Lin Zhi moved through it all with ease. Ming Yao's mood, on the other hand, grew worse with each passing day.

Because it wasn't only at the company that he couldn't see Lin Zhi — he couldn't see him at home either.

Even so, from the security cameras, Lin Zhi returned home every day, ate his meals and walked the dog as usual. He just didn't come to see him.

Another rainy night, and Lin Zhi still had not come.

Had he now given up even the pretense of fulfilling his duties? His ice cream factory was doing well enough that he no longer needed to earn grandfather's money?

Ming Yao lay on his bed and stared at his legs without expression. He should not have offered a million to begin with. He should have offered ten million.

Ten million per visit — at that price, Lin Zhi surely wouldn't look down on it.

Ming Yao's gaze shifted to the screen. Keeping the household security cameras open had become his dirty little secret.

Outside, the sound of thunder and rain seemed to be frightening Nuonuo. The little dog crawled out of its bed, a small cloth doll in his mouth, and went trotting upstairs.

The dog moved quickly. In no time he had reached the fourth floor, scratching at the door with both paws, its white tail wagging furiously.

He wasn't tall enough to reach the door handle.

The young man inside must have heard the commotion. The door opened.

Lin Zhi was wearing a pale blue long-sleeved pajama set. When he saw Nuonuo, he smiled and bent down to pat his head.

"Did our little baby bring his doll to sleep with me?"

Nuonuo placed the doll in its owner's hands, gave a single bark in reply, and wagged his tail even more vigorously.

"Were you scared of the thunder? Or was your bed too cold?"

Lin Zhi picked up the Samoyed. He was already getting pleasantly plump — in another year or so he wouldn't be so easy to carry. Dogs never had any sense of this, and no matter their age, they always believed themselves to be their owner's small, beloved baby, always eager to fling themselves at their person.

On the security camera feed, the little dog trotted happily into his owner's bedroom.

Ming Yao switched off the camera feed and turned on the air conditioning. He thought to himself that the temperature this autumn was probably lower than in years past.