Chapter 145: The Gaze Part 3

Lu Yuan was over a decade older than her, and they shared different mothers. Unlike Lu Xing, who had become Lu Yuan’s lackey early on, Lu Zhou had been suppressed by this black-hearted eldest sister for years. This sudden show of favor and cultivation clearly lacked any genuine trust; it was simply that the Lu family currently had no one else to use.

Lu Zhou watched with cold detachment as a beautiful young woman carrying a wine glass approached her sister. Lu Yuan’s secretary whispered a few words into her ear, clearly recognizing Liu Qiao.

Lu Yuan’s disinterested expression shifted. She raised an eyebrow, scanning the woman before her with a gaze that was both flippant and offensively bold.

“You’re not all that much. What kind of tricks did you use to get that woman, Shen Yi, to let you go?”

Liu Qiao curled her red lips into a smile. She placed her empty glass onto a passing waiter’s tray and then, as if she had no bones, leaned in close to press herself against Lu Yuan’s arm. She leaned into the woman’s ear, leaving behind a lingering, seductive whisper.

“Why don’t you try me and find out, CEO Lu?”

Lu Yuan didn’t move, but she suddenly felt her hand grow light. Liu Qiao had taken her wine glass. With a gaze that never left Lu Yuan’s, she pressed her own scarlet lips exactly where Lu Yuan had just drunk, and downed the rest of the wine.

As she turned to leave, Liu Qiao’s gaze—heavy with intent—swept daringly past Lu Zhou, carrying a profound meaning.

Watching that swaying, graceful figure depart, Lu Zhou’s eyes narrowed slightly. While Lu Yuan was occupied with a group of fawning socialites, Lu Zhou found an excuse to slip away and follow her.

As expected, Liu Qiao was leaning against a carved pillar nearby, waiting for her.

“You were that certain I would come?”

The next second, Lu Yuan’s smile vanished, turning ice-cold. She abruptly withdrew her hand, the one Liu Qiao had been suggestively stroking, and fixed her with a dark, mercurial stare.

Beyond mere wariness, the first image that flashed through her mind was that of a timid, delicate figure.

Liu Qiao’s reaction was one of momentary confusion. Wasn’t it said that the younger daughter of the Lu family was infatuated with her eldest sister’s woman?

She quickly composed herself, letting out a soft chuckle. “I wasn’t certain of anything. But since you followed me out here, either your preferences are true, or you’re looking for a partner. Either way, I’m happy to oblige.”

“It seems it’s the latter then?”

Lu Zhou remained silent, waiting for Liu Qiao to lose her nerve and offer something of real value.

Liu Qiao took a sip of her red wine. “You and your sister are the same. She’s a closet admirer of Shen Yi. The more she hates and opposes her, the more she actually cares.”

Since her teens, Lu Yuan had viewed Shen Yi—a woman over a decade her senior—as her greatest rival. Yet, time and again, her one-sided attempts to challenge her ended in crushing defeat. Worse still, she eventually realized that Shen Yi never considered her a threat at all; she didn’t even rank as an opponent. It was a humiliation that cut to the bone.

Even this time, Lu Yuan had reached out to the Bai family for a partnership first. Little did she know that the old fox running the Bai family would play it smooth, humoring her while simultaneously closing a deal with Shen Yi.

In a fit of rage, Lu Yuan had pivoted, choosing to cooperate with Bai Ran and the former head of the Bai house instead. Her sexual awakening had been sparked by Shen Yi’s former lovers, and since then, every partner she took shared some connection to the woman.

Lu Zhou’s expression tightened, her lips curling into a mocking sneer.

Did Eldest Sister really think she could arm-wrestle with a top-tier power-holder?

No matter how ruthless, suspicious, or black-hearted she was, in the end, she was nothing more than a victim of “impotent rage,” dancing in the palm of that woman’s hand.

Not so impressive after all.

As for Shen Yi… she truly had the capital to be so powerful that she didn’t even need to personally attend a banquet of this caliber to greet her guests.

“What do you mean Shen Yi ‘let you go’?” Lu Zhou asked. “Are you her lover?”

In her memory, Shen Yi was a cold, iron-willed woman devoid of mercy or empathy. The word “mercy” didn’t exist in her dictionary of total annihilation.

Liu Qiao, who had initially intended to seduce Lu Zhou into an alliance through an affair, realized the other woman had lost all interest in her. That look of avoidant disdain was all too familiar; she had seen it on Bai Ran.

Resigned, she shifted her strategy and offered a bit of insider information about Shen Yi. “I could never claim such a title. CEO Shen dotes on someone else entirely. I merely benefited from the association.”

Dotes…?

For that word to be associated with Shen Yi meant it was no exaggeration. Just how capable and influential was this lover to bewitch that woman to such an extent?

Did Shen Ruoshuang know about this?

“Who is it?”

“Oh, Young Mistress, please spare me,” Liu Qiao replied with a playful glint in her eyes as she prepared to leave. “I just barely escaped CEO Shen’s pursuit with my life.”

She didn’t dare say more, knowing when to stop. “Don’t forget to help me win over your sister. I’ll be sure to whisper in her ear for you later. We’ll have plenty of chances to cooperate.”

The moment she turned away, Liu Qiao’s gaze went cold.

Lu Yuan was just another version of Shen Yi or Bai Ran—at best, she’d be discarded; at worst, she’d be bled dry. She wasn’t exactly a safe harbor.

Liu Qiao’s goal wasn’t to depend on someone else anymore. She wanted to use the status of a lover as a bargaining chip to trade her way into the upper echelons of society. That was why she had set her sights on Lu Zhou, a “growth stock” with untapped potential.

Underlings watch from the shadows.

Power-holders seize what they want, step by step.

She refused to be like Secretary Zhou—someone who clearly cherished his own heart but still respectfully delivered her to Shen Yi’s bed.

This woman…

Lu Zhou watched the restless, risk-taking woman walk away. There wasn’t a hint of regret or “enlightenment” after her near-death experience. Suddenly, Lu Zhou found herself unsure of what Liu Qiao’s true intentions were.