"Okay, now remove your hands."

Zhao Lifei did so and blinked in confusion when she was still standing in utter darkness. It was so dark, she could barely see Yang Feng ahead of her.

"What’s going on—"

She gasped when Yang Feng clicked a button and immediately, the darkness turned into brilliant shimmers of lights.

The scenery was absolutely surreal and breathtakingly beautiful. Majestic archways covered with a dazzling array of lights. There were rows upon rows of intricately crafted white-metal work upon the arches. Exquisite and dainty flowers interspersed with fairy lights, the exquisite and colorful flowers patches stretched on for miles to come. Accented by string lights twinkling from above, this place was beyond magical.

The biggest thing that stood out for her was the strikingly colorful carpet of white, red, and pink roses on the floor, hundreds of them were fashioned into a cliche heart shape, candles artfully strewn throughout the arrangements.

Zhao Lifei felt her eyes tear up, clearly overwhelmed by her emotions. Yang Feng walked to her with an enormous edible bouquet that brought a delighted laugh from her. He really knew her well... Instead of flowers, he’d gotten her fruits, all cut into different designs!

He handed her the gift and then wrapped his arms around her waist, turning her body to the side where she could oversee the city of Shenbei, which seemed darker than usual. The brilliant lights she had grown up to were nowhere to be found, only the lights of a few office buildings were still on in the distance.

Then, without warning, a blast of light flew out of nowhere and shot into the sky, exploding into fiery sparks that lit up the night sky, shining brighter than the stars. The fireworks shot out color in every direction, sparkling, tumbling, and flashing. It was a spectacular sight to witness, the iridescent rays bursting through the limitless night sky. In the blink of an eye, the once empty and plain darkness was lit up with color, just like the way Yang Feng brought the light of hope and love back into her colorless world.

Zhao Lifei was at a loss for words. So choked by emotions, she couldn’t even form a sentence. Just then, a different type of firework flew into the sky. It spelled out, "Say Yes." She turned around in confusion.

Revealing his most charming smile, he asked, "Will you be my woman?" He refused to say girlfriend, for the word was so outdated and meaningless to him. He wanted to do nothing more but say wife, but knew that would send her running for the hills. Just as she wanted to, he would take it slow with her.

The question sounded like a demand, one that she knew her heart will never let her reject.

"O-of course I will, stupid." She sniffed, rapidly nodding her head. His smile became a grin stretching to his ears as he yanked her into his arms, crashing her body against his.

"Good, because I wasn’t going to take a no." With that said, he crashed his lips down to hers. It was sweet and slow as he savored every part of her mouth, his lips painstakingly claiming everything, pulling her lips into his mouth to suck and lick before lightly biting it and thrusting his tongue into her mouth to taste her. Delectable and sweet as always, he knew he could never get enough of her. When she ran her hand up his back, her fingers airy light, he shivered and held her tighter until not a single inch was left between them.

He pulled back to let her breathe and using one hand, pressed the back of her head so that she was resting her face on his chest.

"You can’t run anymore, Lifei, you’re my woman now." He declared, even though there wasn’t a band on her finger or their names on a marriage certificate.

She shivered at his words, so definite and sure of himself. He was so confident that she would remain with him for the rest of their lives and for some odd reason, she loved it. He was firm in his decision and she knew he was the type that would keep her by his side, even if it meant running to the other side of the world just to take her back...

"I never intended to run in the first place." She answered, her words made his heart skip a beat. Those words, so sweet and a blessing to hear, he nearly kissed her again, but restrained himself from doing so. He could only tighten his arms around her.

- - - - -

The next day, pictures of the couple blew up in the media. Numerous paparazzi shots were taken during their day at the amusement park and every single one of them showed a loving couple. Yang Feng’s arms were always around her, protectively holding her against his body, while Zhao Lifei gazed at him, a smile on her face, completely unaware photos were being taken.

The media were frenziedly writing about them, branding them as the ultimate Power Couple. None of the news companies dared to offend Yang Feng’s woman by bringing up her dark past. Just to bootlick him, they only wrote praises and compliments.

Of course, there were a few that were foolish enough to bring up the fact that she was Zheng Tianyi’s ex-fiancee and even pulled up humiliating pictures of her from years back. This did not settle well with Yang Feng, who then had these companies wiped out. For the people involved with it, they were not only blacklisted but also bankrupted. The malicious pictures were deleted and became practically untraceable.

It was a clear warning to the media that anything harmful to Zhao Lifei’s reputation would not be tolerated. Yang Feng himself made sure of it.

Everything had happened so quickly, that by the time Zhao Lifei woke up in the afternoon, she realized there were multiple missed calls and text messages. Most of it came from her parents and relatives that she forgot the names of and wondered how they even had her number in the first place.

Because she woke up so late, she didn’t see anything on the media and didn’t bother to, until she read the majority of the messages

[Mother]: Ungrateful little thing! Why didn’t you tell us you were dating Yang Feng? What? Were you scared we would bad-mouth you in front of him? I’ve painstakingly raised you with my own blood, sweat, and tears! At the least, you could’ve given us a heads-up. Do you know how embarrassed I was when I showed up to the weekly gathering and they showed me the pictures?!

[Father]: I’ve seen the news. Is it true? This is one of the rare times you’ve made me proud. Don’t let it go to waste. I want the connections to him immediately. Message me his phone number, his address, and his personal email. How far have you gone with him? You can restore your grace with me by bearing his son and marrying into the Yang family. It’s the least you can do to pay us back for the resources we’ve lost from your pathetic humiliation.

[Linhua]: Jie-Jie, how are you these days? I haven’t talked to you in a while, we should set a date to catch-up. I’ve convinced dad to come around and communicate with you again. I know mom and dad have been very rough and strict with you in the past few years, but we are still family. A house divided against itself cannot stand... Please come home soon.

[Fourth Aunt]: Ah-Fei, I’ve seen the good news, the Yang family is a very respectable and formidable family... But please place more emphasis on your health. You look very thin and frail in the pictures, have you been eating well? Would you like to come and stop by auntie’s house? Your maternal grandmother has not seen you in a very long time. She misses you dearly. What do you think about coming back during her seventh birthday?

Zhao Lifei immediately responded to her fourth aunt, Wang Huixi’s, message. She was a very loving woman and one of the two people from her mother’s side that genuinely cared for her. But because her fourth aunt and her maternal grandmother lived on the other side of the country, it was hard to visit them. She made a mental note to book a ticket to their city very soon.

[Auntie, I’ve been eating very well recently, but I was on a small diet a few weeks ago, so I appear skinnier. Please do not fret, I have gone back to my usual routine! And have been eating lots I will visit you and grandmother very soon, perhaps within the next two weeks~]

For her parents, she tried very hard to not come off as rude and disrespectful, fighting fire with fire would not have good results.

[I apologize Mother, but you’ve never reached out to ask me anything, so I thought this information would be too irrelevant for your busy life.]

historical

[Father, in order to pass on Yang Feng’s personal contact, I would need to inform him first, but I would like to warn you, he is not the most approachable person.]

When it came to drafting a message for her younger sister, Zhao Lifei frowned. Convinced their father to come around? Yeah right! More like coming around only because it was beneficial to him!

[My dearest little sister, where actually is home? I hope it’s not the place you reside in. Have you forgotten there is no room for me there after you claim my previous one as your closet?]

After responding to a majority of the messages she deemed important and ignoring those who never spoke to her until now, Zhao Lifei hurriedly climbed out of bed to get dressed and freshen up. After eating her lunch, she decided it was finally time to pick out the dress that she would wear to the Ling Conglome banquet.