259 Tug Of War

She read it and considered all the clauses for loopholes but it was very elaborate, either his lawyers were very good at their jobs or he was a damn conniving bastard.

In any way, she had nothing to be wary about. She took the pen the Butler handed and signed. She kept the file on the tray and walked past him.

Before she could take further than three steps the Butler invaded the exit. Lei Xinyi narrowed her eyes threateningly at him.

He extended his phone at her; she eyed it with confusion, "Madam Lei, Young Master wishes to have a word with you." His voice was respectful but the underlying irritation was no mystery.

Her frustration was fueled by the lack of control she had over her life. Finally, in a long run, a man had taken the reigns of her life. It was like he was leading her life, to Eden or Abyss.

She was more than an independent person; she was an outright pessimist and a full-blown paranoid woman. She was scared, her fear leading the trail of life. She was scared of leaning too much on a man that when he leaves. She staggers and falls exclusive of balance.

Her heart ached at the thought but the world was horribly deemed like that. It can be for superficial or worldly reasons or simply because feelings fade, interests stray but in a long run people leave you.

It churned her inside to anticipate the same outcome with him none the less harsh truths are shoved in your face like that…

She was afraid more than she could return back. It didn't take long for people to have a change of heart and then he would be there to ask her to pay her debts with interest!

It was so frustrating that she wanted to cry out loud. It was like one way she was drowning and the other way she was getting run over by a car. She could trust him and lay her life in his hand and wait for him to throw her to the curb or she could land in front of a running train by getting out of here without his backing.

It was a death sentence anyway so why not choose the one where she has a survival chance?

Her eyes closed as it was almost hard to steel her resolves before she took the phone from his hand and moved out of the corridor.

She brought the phone to her ear, "What is it?" Her voice placid and tone abrasive.

"'What is it, sweetheart?' That's what I wanted to ask you too." His voice deep, magnetic yet calm and threatening.

His tone made her want to wage her tail on his whims. He was just so filled with authority that it was hard to relent. Her lips pouted and she wanted whine but held herself back, her hormones were playing with her, or maybe she had hit her head hard on the headboard this morning.

"I don't want it! I don't want anything from you! I don't need anything from anyone!" In her frustration, she sounded like a brat but she didn't care. It was good to go as long as it got the job done.

There was silence on the other line; Lei Xinyi felt hesitation seep through the cracks of her insecurities. 

What was he going to do now? Was he going to hang up on her then extract his temper anywhere else? Were this generosity and fondness just a ruse to get her under his control so he could use her as a puppet against the Lei and her father's family?

Her mind was running wild so was her eyes. Searching, observing, and analyzing for escapes and exits, all of it happens subconsciously. She was about to hang up and make a dash for it when he replied.

"Why?" She would lie if she said she wasn't intimidated. She was every bit intimidated to the tip of her toes. He just had this superior, dominant aura about him that forced you to bow to his commands.

Why? The answer could be answered in a thousand words essay but not a one-word will be relevant to his ears! She fisted her hand and felt suffocation envelop her in the blanket of anxiety.

Because she wasn't ready to fill her plate to the point where she will not be able to digest it all! Because when she trusted people they position her in places like Yi Yang left her, where he knew she could be dead! Because they not only broke her trust but they scarred her soul. Because she didn't want 'him' to be one of them!

At last, she bit her lip and replied with nonchalance, "I was going to activate my old cards or maybe draw money out from my international accounts. So there was no point in borrowing money from yo..."

'THUD!'

There was the sound of things breaking and shattering, most likely he flipped his table; she physically flinched as her hands crumbled. Her natural instinct telling her to hung up and run again but she suppressed the urge. This time she wasn't going to run and leave another trail for another wolf to follow her.

She closed her eyes hearing his heavy breaths and took a shaky breath, "L…Li Yuan…"

"Oh? So you would rather expose yourself by using your old accounts that can be traced and are monitored then take help from me! Do you think I don't get it? You are trying to have fewer ties to me so when you wish to leave you to have less rigging to rip. I have to say you are smart."

She heard his heavy breathing, then the sound of glass shattering, for what felt like years she heard his calm yet menacing voice as the ocean, "The second you are in my arms, you are mine and when the breeze touches your skin, you are something foreign! All wile and tricks! Are you using me to dump me later?"

Her lips pursed and a tear escaped her treacherous eyes. She wanted to yell at him too! She was frustrated and enraged. Did she have any control left over her excuse for life? 

'This…this son of a Romeo didn't understand, love, sentiments, relationships weren't just in her cards. And if she could even cheat fate at some point, it wasn't in her priorities right now!

"Li Yuan, I don't need money. I don't want things that will be hard to give you once …"

"You are too blunt, Lei Xinyi. It's not about money, resources, luxuries, it never was. It's about having each other backs. Didn't you just promise to me your every beat of your pumping heart, every inch of blazing femininity of your body and every breath from here on?" 

Lei Xinyi's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, "Wh…What? Wh…When? You!" She continued stammering in a complex compound of rage and flabbergasts confusion.

She clearly said no such thing! She clarified earlier the day that she wanted was but a relationship for namesake only till any other progression can be insinuated!

'This man!'

"Sweetheart, you can go with your friends with that card or you can call your puny, skinny cousin rotting in my Headquarter goodbye." He abruptly cut her off, his voice steady but not short of underlying ruthless threat. He wasn't pleased.

"And if both don't float your boat, I am coming home." 

Lei Xinyi pursed her lips as her nose flared in anger. He was asserting his dominance earlier in the base of the relationship. 

He was the law and he was the offense. He practically ran the continent. So he thought he could keep her under his wing! 

Lei Xinyi fisted her palm and narrowed her unique eyes into slits. The Neanderthal really did assume he called the shots. She will show him!

Tonight when he comes back she will show him how to mold iron without flaming, scorching heat! She will show him, how he was just another man bound by flesh and whose flesh pledges his loyalty to!

"Don't. I am leaving…with the card." She replied in a clipped tone and hung up. 

It was such a stupid argument they had almost every time they had a conversation, the same theme just different pier. It was like they were stuck on the same propagation that needed to disperse. She will make sure of it.

She elegantly and regally waltzed back in and vehemently gave a scorching look to the butler who remained passive and stoic as a statue. 

With a lingering glare on the snitch, she kept the cell phone on the tray with excess exerted force, aimed to smash the phone on the tray's surface. Without a word she collected the things and stormed out to Su Qing's red Porsche Taycan.

She climbed and slammed the door shut behind her as a medium to quell her anger.

"Hey! Be nice to my baby here!"

"Did you get the Lu girl?"

"She will be already there. If you haven't noticed it's just you who has been steam roasting their as*on fancy, expensive leather, the rest of the world was sure on move."