“Uh… You…” Lina pushed hard against the man before her.

The man had one hand on the back of her head and the other hand hooked around her waist, emanating a fierce desire to devour her whole.

How could a woman"s strength compete with a man"s? Lina was trapped and unable to break free. She could only bite on his tongue.

Finally, the man withdrew from the entanglement in pain.

“Sven, you are crazy!” Lina frowned at him.

“I shouldn"t have let you off last time,” the man spoke in fluent Italian.

Last time… Lina"s expression changed. They almost had s.e.x. Now that she had gotten back together with George, this was not something worth reminiscing.

The man stared at her with his deep brown eyes and spoke slowly in a deep voice, “You chickened out and left me there suffering from desire. Shouldn"t I claim some interest from you?”

“I am not obliged to satisfy your need! You can find someone else to subdue your fires.”

“But you were the one who lit the fire!”

Lina choked and pleaded, “It wasn"t intentional, your brain was just consumed by l.u.s.t.”

Sven wasn"t furious but laughed as he leaned in towards her. “If my brain was really consumed by l.u.s.t, do you think you can back out the previous time just because you said you didn"t want to do it?”

“If you force me, you are a r-p-i-s-t!” Lina glared at him.

“R-p-i-s-t? You followed me to the hotel room on your own accord. Do you think there is any evidence to prove that I forced it upon you?

Lina choked on her words again. If Sven had really forced himself on her, she definitely couldn"t have escaped. And after that, she wouldn"t have been able to do anything about it because like what he said, she was indeed the one who followed him to his hotel room. In hindsight, it was terrifying.

“I have never forced anyone. I like to see them take the initiative, you included.”

“Impossible. I already have a boyfriend,” Lina shook her head.

“Boyfriend? Ha. Not anymore if you two break up,” Sven replied nonchalantly.

“I will never break up with my George again. We"ve already decided to get married next year. Stop pestering me. You have so many girls around you, they like you and take enough initiative, go and find them.”

Sven watched her, his eyes filled with h.e.l.l-bent determination to conquer, “I like challenging things.”

Lina laughed in fury as she pushed him away roughly and ranted as she walked out, “If you want something challenging, go and pursue a royal princess, that"s definitely challenging enough. I won"t play this game with you, bye!”

She was just about to open the door when her wrist was grabbed and she was tugged along by him.

“Let go!” Lina was shocked and furious, “Where are you taking me?”

“Shout all you want, best if everyone finds out about our special relations.h.i.+p.”

“My friend is still waiting for me, let go.” Lina suppressed her volume.

“Your friend will be taken care of.”

“Where on earth are you taking me?” Lina clutched the bannister of the stairs with her other hand and refused to follow him.

Sven stopped, looked sideways at her, and teased, “Could it be that you want me to carry you?”

Lina released the bannister.

“What are you doing counting cash here during working hours?” The head waitress" voice came from beside the waitress, startling her.

“I…” The waitress" eyes turned in their sockets, “Sister Li, I just realised I didn"t receive any change when I bought breakfast this morning, so I am rechecking my cash to confirm.”

“Do you usually carry that much cash in your pocket? That"s a few hundred! Did you take a customer"s money?” The head waitress looked at her with suspicion in her eyes.

“How is that possible? If Sister Li suspects that the money belongs to one of the customers, you can go around and ask who lost it,” the waitress said boldly.

Seeing that the waitress" reactions weren"t like that of someone guilty, the head waitress let go of her suspicions and urged, “Get on with your work.”

The waitress hurried off.

In a certain private room.

Sheng Jiaoyang and Lin Yan were cooking hotpot. Speaking of which, this was the first time that the two had sat together to eat hotpot. In the past, what she"d wanted the most was to enter a French restaurant with Lin Yan as a couple. However, they didn"t get to spend much time alone, and whenever they were together, they were in the piano room.

As for hotpot…

Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at Lin Yan. She felt that people like Lin Yan were only suited to high-cla.s.s places. He was like a cool breeze and the moon at night. She never thought that he"d be sitting with her, cooking the most ordinary ingredients, slice by slice, and covered in the scent of smoke.

“It"s cooked, have a bite,” Lin Yan picked up a slice of potato and placed it in her bowl.

Taking another look at him, Sheng Jiaoyang picked up the potato slice and bit down on it. Hotness and spiciness attacked her taste buds instantly.

So spicy! Sheng Jiaoyang blinked as she hurriedly searched for water.

“Is it very spicy?” Lin Yan asked with a concerned look.

“It, it"s okay.” Sheng Jiaoyang"s tongue felt like it was swelling up.

Lin Yan picked up a slice of potato and took a bite before he frowned. “Did you girls order extra hot?”

“We didn"t, perhaps they got it mixed up. I"ll get them to change the soup base.”

Sheng Jiaoyang lifted her hand to press the buzzer when a hand was placed over hers. Following the hand, she saw Lin Yan looking at her tenderly.

“Jiaoyang, why don"t we go and eat something else?” he asked.

“Huh?” Sheng Jiaoyang was stunned for a moment.

Lin Yan grabbed her hand and stood up. “Let"s go.”

Sheng Jiaoyang took a look at the extremely red soup base before standing up. After putting on her jacket, hat, and scarf, she left with Lin Yan.

They b.u.mped into Manager Liu on their way down, and she was surprised to see them.

“You"re leaving now? Is the food not to your taste?” The hot pot had just been served.

“We have something else to do,” Lin Yan answered.

Manager Liu looked at Lin Yan and nodded understandingly. “Then, have a safe trip back, please come again next time!”

Upon reaching the hotel"s entrance, Sheng Jiaoyang looked at Lin Yan with hesitance.

“Don"t turn me down.” Lin Yan smiled. “I"ve been practising a dish for a long time that I want to cook for you.”

Cook? Sheng Jiaoyang looked at Lin Yan in surprise. And, a dish that he"d been practising for a long time? This made her look forward to it.

She carefully wrapped the scarf around her, lowered her hat, and followed Lin Yan into the hotel.

“Aren"t you staying at the Lin mansion?”

“No, but everyone is going to grandfather"s house to stay up all night tomorrow.”

“That"s great. Aunt Lin should be happy now that she"s reunited with her father. No one knows how much longer this blessing can last, so all of you should cherish it.”

Lin Yan stared at her. She looks a little foolish wearing thick gla.s.ses, but on second glance, her eyes behind the lens are as pure as ever. Even if she"s changed her body, her inner beauty remains the same.

“What"s wrong?” Sheng Jiaoyang asked doubtfully, seeing that he"d suddenly stopped talking and was staring at her.

“I…” The elevator doors opened and he smiled. “Nothing, let"s go.”

Lin Yan stayed in a serviced apartment hotel and everything was available in a single room.

“Take a seat first, you can watch TV or something. I"ll head into the kitchen.”

“Okay.”

Sheng Jiaoyang sat on the sofa for a few minutes before she walked towards the kitchen curiously. The kitchen doors were shut, and the buzzing that came from within was like ants scratching at her heart.

Her eyes turned in thought as she lifted a hand and placed it against the kitchen"s frosted gla.s.s door, pus.h.i.+ng it gently to the side. When a gap appeared, she peeked in and was met with Lin Yan"s smiling gaze.

“If you want to take a look, come on in.”

Sheng Jiaoyang then pushed the gla.s.s doors open and entered the kitchen.

Lin Yan had on a snow-white ap.r.o.n, a chef hat on his head, and was beating egg whites with a whisk. He looked like a handsome head chef from a high-cla.s.s restaurant.

She scanned the ingredients on the counter and asked in astonishment, “You"re baking a cake?”

“Yes,” he replied softly.

Sheng Jiaoyang had wanted to say, "Why did you go through so much trouble? You can just directly buy one from a cake shop". But, on second thought, she was looking forward to it.

This was a cake personally made by Lin Yan, and one that he"d practised making for a long time. How could those random cakes outside be comparable?

“I have attempted many times and finally found a recipe with a sweetness level that matches your tastes,” said Lin Yan as he looked at her.

His love was overflowing so much that she could feel it before she"d even tried the cake.

“Is there anything I can help with? I can be your a.s.sistant!”

Lin Yan smiled and turned to look at a stainless steel bowl on the side. “Help me mix the flour and egg yolks in that bowl.”

“Sure!” Sheng Jiaoyang energetically walked over. After was.h.i.+ng her hands, she picked up the bowl and the mixing tools before starting to work.

After the egg whites had been beaten to form stiff peaks, and the egg yolks and flour had been thoroughly mixed, Lin Yan used a spatula to pour the egg yolks and flour mixture into the egg whites, gently folding them in in a clockwise direction. This would allow the egg yolks and flour to be evenly incorporated into the egg whites without comprising the airiness of the beaten egg whites.

Sheng Jiaoyang watched his slow but smooth movements. Looking at his serious att.i.tude, she felt that all those years spent being in love with him weren"t in vain. At the very least, he was now willing to spend precious time out of his busy schedule preparing a birthday present for her.

Lin Yan had already poured the cake mix into the mould and had pushed it into the oven.

“We have to wait around twenty minutes.”

“Okay.” Sheng Jiaoyang stared at the oven"s gla.s.s doors with bright eyes. As she noticed the cake slowly rising, she turned to look at Lin Yan with excitement and surprise. “Lin Yan, look! It"s rising!”

Lin yan smiled. She looks like a child who has just found a new toy.

“It"s easy to bake a cake, but the piping and decoration is tough. To be honest, I don"t have a single strand of painting DNA within me. So, I"ll have to ask you to help me with the cream piping on the cake later.”

“Sure, no problem.”

After the cake was baked, it had to cool down. The cream piping could only be done once the cake had cooled completely.

Lin Yan started adjusting the colour of the cream and beating it.

“The cream is ready, so it"s time for you to get busy now. Please trace this picture onto the cake.” Lin Yan opened his phone"s photo gallery and zoomed in on a photo.

Sheng Jiaoyang was momentarily stunned, for it was a photo covered with cl.u.s.ters of red roses. She said nothing, but picked up her tools and began to work.