There were plenty of questions in Xiao Zhiren's mind. But the one that dominated his thoughts was; Why did she kiss him? Although he was glad for this initiative that she took on her own will. But he couldn't rule out the fact that she wasn't that extrovert in the intimacy department. There had to be a reason behind why she took this bold step.

If she had kicked him so openly, he wouldn't have been surprised. But she kissing him openly was shocking.

Oddly, he could feel the tension in her muscles as well. Her lips weren't relaxed on his and movement was clumsy as well. But nevertheless, she still tasted sweeter than honey to him. But his mind couldn't relax at all.

As for Ru, her mind was shouting, 'Go away! Go away already! Why are you not moving?' She wished she could smack the head of that person taking a languid walk like he was in a garden. 'Don't people normally give privacy to such scenes? Why is he still not going then?' Why the hell did she take the initiative to kiss if that busybody wasn't going to move?

Ru had an inkling feeling that the busybody in the hallway had seen her and that's why he wasn't moving at all. But she had no answers to that busybody's questions. That snooper was gonna ask a million of questions and Ru had no way of answering those questions. Worst of all, he was gonna laugh at her seeing her in female attire.

And this one event would be repeated a million times in the future to tease her. She couldn't give him the satisfaction. Not at all! But on second thought, she could also use this thing with Xiao Zhiren - whatever it was - to her own advantage. For instance, she could finally flaunt someone before him like he always flaunted his wife before her.

That was a good idea. Ru was weighing the pros and cons in her mind. And the cons were slightly heavier than the pros. After all, losing her image as the savage Young Master Ru was a lot worse than facing his endless flaunting of his perfect family.

"Ah-Jie, why did you come out?" Ru heard that familiar sweet voice that could only belong to her busybody best friend/cousin, Zhu Jie's dearest wife; Xu Mey.

Jie looked in Ru's direction for a moment longer before shaking his head. "It can't be her. She wouldn't ignore me like this." He mumbled before turning towards his wife. "I needed some fresh air, baby. Why were you looking for me?"

"Mom's looking for you," Xu Mey replied to him with a smile.

"Okay. Let's go to mom then." Jie followed her and entered the ballroom again.

Ru counted to 100 before pulling away from Xiao Zhiren and heaving a sigh of relief. She craned her neck to see whether he was really gone or was he hiding somewhere for a sneak attack like he always did. She should have remembered that he was a 'Zhu'. His family would obviously be here with other families. Why did it skip her mind?

Stupid! Forgetful mind! Useless one!

Xiao Zhiren looked at her face curiously. She looked disturbed but what could affect her so badly? She was a brave woman and he always saw her as one. Why was she being so sneaky now?

"What are you looking at?" Xiao Zhiren asked.

"Seeing if that sneaky bastard is gone or not," replied Ru in a daze.

"Did you kiss me to hide from someone?" asked Xiao Zhiren again. He knew the answer but his stupid heart still made him ask that question.

Ru snickered, "Obviously. Why else would I kiss you?" Now, that was her way to ruin someone's dreams.

"Way to burst a bubble." Xiao Zhiren's mood again fell. "Right. It's only my wishful thinking anyway." Ru looked at him and was stunned to see her watery eyes. Was he going to cry? But why? Did she do something?

"Zhiren, are you going to cry?" Ru asked trying to turn his face towards her but he pushed her hand away.

"You don't care. You don't care at all." He snapped back. "No matter what I do or what I say, you... You don't believe that I love you. You don't believe in me at all. Perhaps, I'll have to cut open my heart for you to see how much I really love you." With a self-deprecating laugh, he added, "I think you won't believe even if I really did it."

Without giving a chance to Ru to speak, Xiao Zhiren walked away from her and all that she saw was a tear sliding down his cheek and his defeated back.

Scratching her head, she said, "Did I do something wrong again? Argh! What is wrong with me?"

"I can enlighten you about that part," hearing this voice, Ru's eyes widened once again. With a 'woosh' she looked to her right side and saw that buttinsky looking at her with a weird look. He walked close to her and circled around her slowly eying her from head to toe. "Damn! I knew you'd look gorgeous but never expected that you'd be deadly gorgeous."

"Was that sarcasm?" Ru asked in response.

Jie flicked her forehead saying, "My silly Ru'er, when did you lose your confidence in your self-acclaimed otherworldly looks? Aren't you the most handsome one? The peerless beauty with brains."

"That I am," she replied matter-of-factly. "Didn't you just leave? Why are you back?"

He snorted at her, "Do you think you can fool me? I watched you grew up. I don't have to see your face to recognize you. I'm very familiar with you. Even in these girls clothes, you can't fool me." Pulling her along with himself, he added, "Just like I know that what you just said to Mr. Xiao Zhiren was wrong and you truly didn't mean to hurt him."

"Of course, I didn't mean to hurt him," Ru replied with a sad look.

"But you still hurt him." He stated the very obvious.

"I didn't want to."

"Ru'er, Ru'er, my dear Ru'er! Have you told him that you love him?" Ru was stunned frozen as she stared at him.

"I... I don't lov-love him." Ru stammered in her speech making Jie smile at her.

"Stupid little girl. Tell me, he just cried because of you. How are you feeling?" Rubbing her hand, he said, "Be honest with me."

Ru pursed her lips trying to formate her words. "I don't know. But my heart is clenching and it's really painful. I'm not sure whether I hurt him or hurt myself."

He patted her head and said, "Then my genius cousin, do you still need me to word out this feeling?" Ru stayed quiet as he continued, "You once told me that one of the worst pains in life is seeing the person you love crying. And the reason for those tears is you."

"I said that?" Ru asked in disbelief.

"Yes, you did." He replied.

"Woah! I'm really smart." Even in this situation, her narcissism was intact and it was really surprising for Jie. She lifted her eyes to look at Jie and asked, "Do you think I love him?" Jie nodded. "I'm screwed."