Cecilia Chen stood at the doorway, staring at them in shock.
She was holding a tray with a bowl on it—probably bringing something to eat for Evan Xiao.
Bang! The tray and bowl crashed to the ground. Cecilia looked utterly devastated, clutching her mouth and running away in tears.
The commotion snapped Evan Xiao back to his senses.
He glanced down at Lily Bai, her clothes in disarray beneath him, and got up, feeling a little regretful.
What was wrong with him today?
He was completely losing control of himself.
Evan Xiao, tall and broad-shouldered, with long arms and legs, accidentally kicked over the incense burner by the couch as he stood up.
Clatter! The incense burner spilled its contents everywhere, making a mess.
Evan Xiao frowned at the incense burner.
His gaze sharpened instantly.
It was sandalwood, mixed with some Silvergrass Incense powder, almost burned out.
He crouched down, touched the Silvergrass Incense powder, and brought it close to his nose for a sniff.
Suddenly, a chill ran through him. He turned to look at Lily Bai.
Lily Bai shrank into herself, terror written all over her face.
He’s onto her!
He actually found out!
What should she do now?
Would he really kill her?
Or... would he force himself on her before killing her?
Grace glanced at a certain part of him that was still, um, standing tall, then curled up in the corner of the couch, blushing furiously and trembling all over.
Evan Xiao suddenly unleashed a burst of spiritual power, snuffing out the burning incense, then spun around and stormed out.
Grace sat there, stunned for ages. Then it hit her—he ran away!
If he was going to force himself on her before killing her, shouldn’t he at least do it first?
What does it mean if he just runs off like that?
She rushed after him, but he was already gone.
She looked at the incense ash scattered all over, then at the shattered bowl by the door, and cursed, "Cecilia Chen, screw you!"
Of course, now’s really not the time to be cursing out Cecilia Chen.
She needed to run for her life!
If Evan Xiao realized she drugged him, he’d definitely kill her!
Maybe it wouldn’t just be her—her mom and two little sisters might get beaten to death too!
She had to get out of here, fast.
After straightening her clothes and forcing herself to calm down, she tried to act casual and walked out.
On the way out, she ran into Louis Lin.
He looked super nosy, sneaking over to ask, "Hey, Lily Bai, what happened just now? I saw Cecilia running out in tears!"
Lily Bai forced a smile. "She was bringing food to the General, but she accidentally broke the bowl."
"Oh! Got it, got it." Louis Lin gave her a knowing look and winked.
You don’t know squat!
Grace flashed him a small smile. "Louis, are you busy right now?"
"Not busy. What’s up?" Louis Lin asked warmly.
"I've got something urgent to handle. Could you go back and ask Lily to clean up the study for me?"
"Sure, no problem." Louis Lin headed off.
Grace took a deep breath and kept walking toward the main gate.
The main gate of the General's Manor was usually closed, with two guards inside and two posted outside.
If anyone wanted to go out, they'd open the little side door.
Grace walked up to the door, smiling politely. "Could you please open the gate?"
These days, she was pretty famous in the manor—everyone knew who she was.
The gate guard beamed at her and greeted, "Oh, it’s Lily Bai! Heading out?"
"Mm-hmm." Grace kept her cool and nodded.
Normally, they’d just open the door for her.
But today, one of the guards actually said, "Could you please show your pass?"