Ten

"Ow… my head hurts." Li Yuxi groaned as her temples and the back of her head ached. She covered her forehead with her hand and opened her heavy eyes.

The first thing she saw was her ceiling through a slightly blurred vision. The more she stared, the more she remembered what had happened in her room last night, which pushed her to believe that it had all been a dream manipulated by stress. To confirm that what she saw was a dream, she eyed the corners of the room, hoping that she would not see the man from last night.

When she found no signs of him, she sighed in relief and sat up, only to hold her head between her hands when it ached, followed by her vision almost blacking out. After a few seconds, she got a hold of herself and glanced at the window. The sun rays peeking through the curtain forced a gasp out of her lungs.

"I'm late for work!" Li Yuxi sprang out of bed and blinked when she got dizzy.

With a fast-beating heart, she ran into her bathroom and started running the bath with water. She held the hem of her shirt to pull it off when in the mirror, she saw the man from before. She screamed and backed into the bathroom door.

"You!"

"Good morning, Li Yuxi," he said in a cocky tone. "You need to be careful… you are no longer alone and the last thing I want is to see a woman's nakedness. I was a noble prince before I died."

"To hell with your royalty! Get out of my bathroom! Just get out of my life already!" Li Yuxi said at the top of her voice and shrieked when Zhao Ling vanished and appeared in front of her.

Her eyes widened at their proximity. He was in her face with his hands resting on the door. She felt small before him, not from his height but from the strong aura around him.

"I apologize but you cannot escape me. Not now, not ever… until I am done with what I came here for."

Li Yuxi snarled. "I cannot help you. Go find your relatives on your own. You are a ghost, right? Go find them with your sparkling powers or whatever you've got."

Li Yuxi placed her hands on his chest and tried to shove him away but it was like pushing a wall. Knowing there was no winning with the man, she puffed her cheeks and exhaled through her mouth.

"Listen, I don't know about your era but women now go to work. And I need to be at work and be home before twelve. So, please, Zhao Ling, let me go and leave this bathroom."

Li Yuxi stared into his light brown eyes, trying to get any form of reaction but they remained dead. The more he stared, the more she felt creeped out with goosebumps rising on her skin.

"What is it?" She asked, looking away from his eyes.

"I hate that I recently found out that I cannot get rid of you. Trust me, if I knew that I wouldn't be needing a stubborn mortal, I would have left the moment I was brought here." Zhao Ling cupped her chin and tilted her head so she could stare at him. "Right now, mortal. You are of great value to me. You will be the one to take me to the people responsible for my death."

Li Yuxi blinked. "I'm sorry, what? In case you've forgotten. The people who directly killed you are dead as you are. They are more than rotten corpses. How many times do I have to say this? You came back when the timing was off, Zhao Ling. Let go of the grudge you are holding and maybe you'll rest in peace."

His hold around her chin tightened a bit, sending a wave of fear through her body.

"I have said everything, Li Yuxi. You will not escape me."

Just after he spoke, he disappeared, giving room for Li Yuxi to breathe properly. She looked around the bathroom in suspicion.

"Are you still here?" She asked while glancing at every corner.

When she didn't get a response from him, she smiled and rushed to the bathtub.

"If you try peeking at me, I will kill you for the second time and I promise that no one will bring you back." Li Yuxi threatened. "Do you hear me?!"

As if on cue, Zhao Ling appeared behind her and chuckled close to her ear, almost making her trip but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his front. Li Yuxi's cheeks flamed and a flutter filled her belly at the contact.

"It is almost as if you want me to see you naked. Is that what you want, little mortal?" He whispered in her ear.

Li Yuxi wiggled in his arm but he tightened it and brushed his lips against the shell of her ear.

"All you have to do is ask," he whispered.

Li Yuxi curved her arm and hit him in the chin with her left elbow. His hold loosened and Li Yuxi used that as her cue to move away from him. She stared at his broad back, waiting to hear anything from him. She tensed when he chuckled darkly before turning around.

"You do not have to worry. I am not interested in any mortal, even any immortal being. Romance or anything of the heart died the day I was beheaded. So, do not flatter yourself into thinking I will try anything or be interested in your body."

Li Yuxi's heart panged at his words. This was not the first time she was hearing such. Lee Qiang always reminded her every time. But coming from a man who was a ghost, hurt her to a different level. To mask her pain, she rolled her eyes and went over to the sink. She looked in the mirror and watched the man vanish. She sighed and eyed her tired-looking reflection.

‡‡‡

Li Yuxi walked into work with paranoia heavy around her. She had not seen or heard from Zhao Ling since the bathroom scene happened. It left her self-conscious of her surroundings as she had a feeling that the ghost prince had no manners and would make sure he embarrassed her in front of her workmates.

Once she got to her cubicle, she placed her bag on the table while looking around with narrowed eyes. When she was certain that Zhao Ling wasn't around, she sat down and sighed in relief.

"Hey!"

Li Yuxi jumped in her seat and turned in the direction of the voice with her hands on her chest. She glared at Lin Wei who was staring at her in concern.

"You looked like you saw a ghost."

"If only you know," Li Yuxi responded.

"Huh?"

"Nothing…. What do you want?" She asked and Lin Wei sat on the edge of her table.

"We have a new boss and she is your idol," he said in glee.

"Yeah, I know about that already," Li Yuxi said and smiled. "It gets better… I will be her assistant."

Lin Wei gasped and held her hand, then grinned.

"Really? Oh, my God. I am so happy for you."

Li Yuxi giggled but became pale when she saw Zhao Ling leaning on the wall across her cubicle. She shot to her feet and glared at the man who smirked and flicked his long hair off his shoulder.

"Uh, Li Yuxi?"

Li Yuxi ignored Lin Wei's call to her and motioned with her eyes for Zhao Ling to leave. When the man disappeared she became relieved only to tense up when he appeared behind her.

"I will not leave you until you start helping me," he whispered.

It took everything in Li Yuxi not to scream but she calmed herself and sat down while ignoring the worried look on Lin Wei's face.

"You're beginning to creep me out."

"Hm. I'm going through worse," she muttered.

"What was that?" Lin Wei asked.

"Lin Wei, I have work to do for Miss. Wang. Go on now. We'll see later."

Lin Wei hesitantly walked away and Li Yuxi exhaled then spun her seat around to face Zhao Ling but saw no one in her cubicle. She pouted and faced forward.

"Stupid prince."

‡‡‡

"Miss. Wang… why are we here?" Li Yuxi asked the moment she stopped the company's car just outside her house.

"Well, I have lunch with someone today. Is there a problem?" Wang Lifen asked, meeting her eyes from the rearview mirror.

Li Yuxi opened her mouth to reply that it was her home but closed it when the door opened and she saw her husband. She watched from the side mirror as he helped her out of the car. A frown masked her face when she saw his arm go around her waist.

"Hello, my love."

Li Yuxi's eyes went wide from shock.

"What?" She whispered in shock.