Being alone away from home, if he didn’t answer her call, she might overthink things.
After a moment’s hesitation, he accepted.
Xiao Churan’s stunningly beautiful face soon appeared on the screen.
Seeing Ye Chen, she asked with some surprise, “Darling, where are you? This doesn’t look like a hotel.”
Ye Chen, using the excuse he’d prepared, smiled, “I’m staying in a siheyuan, arranged by Mr. Chen.”
“Mr. Chen?” Xiao Churan asked, “Which Mr. Chen?”
Ye Chen chuckled, “Mr. Chen Zekai, from Buckingham Palace in Jinling. He’s been promoted to the headquarters in Yanjing. When he heard I was coming, he insisted on playing the host.”
Xiao Churan nodded slightly.
She had seen news reports that Tawana and her team were staying at Buckingham Palace in Yanjing.
This explanation seemed reasonable.
Moreover, Ye Chen wasn’t staying at the same hotel as Tawana, which might further suggest there was nothing between them.
At this thought, Xiao Churan inwardly scolded herself, “Xiao Churan, what are you thinking? You actually suspected that the male dancer Tawana kissed on stage was your husband, even wondered if Tawana has feelings for him… How could that be? Ye Chen isn’t even staying at their hotel…”
Reassured, Xiao Churan smiled and said, “Looks like this Mr. Chen is quite nice, specially arranging a place for you.”
Ye Chen nodded with a smile, “You know me, I don’t like crowds. Miss Sweet’s team originally arranged for me to stay with them at Buckingham Palace, but I figured with a star like her, the hotel would be swarmed with reporters all day. So, I thought I’d find somewhere else to stay.”
“I was going to book a hotel near the National Stadium myself, but Tawana’s concert was so popular that all the hotels were fully booked. Mr. Chen arranged this place for me.”
With that, he flipped the camera to show the surroundings, smiling, “Look, it’s quite nice here, very traditional decor, with a study where I can read and relax. It’s in the heart of Yanjing but still peaceful, really comfortable.”
Seeing the environment in the video, Xiao Churan’s doubts faded even further.
She smiled, “Make sure to treat Mr. Chen to a nice meal later. He was quite kind to us in Jinling, even making an exception to reserve the Sky Garden for our wedding redo, probably thanks to him, right?”
“It was him,” Ye Chen said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’m on good terms with Mr. Chen. He even asked me to check his feng shui last night, and I told him I wouldn’t charge a penny.”
“That’s good!”
Xiao Churan breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Then rest early, darling, I won’t keep you. You’re probably busy tomorrow.”
Ye Chen flipped the camera back to himself, smiling, “You rest early too, sweetheart.”
“Don’t worry,” Xiao Churan said with a radiant smile, “I was about to go to bed, just suddenly…”
She paused mid-sentence.
She nearly blurted out that she thought the male dancer in the video resembled Ye Chen.
Quickly, she corrected herself, “I just suddenly missed you and wanted to see you.”
Ye Chen sensed something was off. His wife initiating a video call at this hour wasn’t as simple as she claimed.
In the next moment, he realised she might have seen the news and videos, thought the dancer looked like him, and that’s why she was acting out of character by calling.
At this thought, Ye Chen felt a mix of emotions.
He was weary of telling so many lies and overwhelmed with guilt.
Once a lie begins, it requires more lies to sustain it.
He suddenly worried about what would happen if Xiao Churan one day saw through his deception, and his lies no longer worked. Where would their relationship go from there?
