Chapter 400: Unreasonable Behavior

The sudden knock on the door instantly cooled down Yang Chen's heated thoughts. Frustrated, he patted An Xin's elastic behind, signaling her to fix her disheveled clothes and hair.

An Xin understood the urgency of the situation. She hadn't locked the door, and if the person outside had entered without knocking, it would have been dangerous. Quickly tidying up her clothes, An Xin stood behind Yang Chen, her lady-like demeanor now replacing the flirtatious look she had moments ago. Yang Chen then called out to the door, "Come in."

The door slowly opened, revealing a figure Yang Chen had never expected to see. It was Lin Ruoxi, dressed in a light gray coat and an orange turtleneck sweater, both of which were the latest winter fashion. She had let down her previously tied-up hair and walked into Yang Chen's office with a casual elegance, holding a small white bag.

As soon as she entered, her cold, autumn-like eyes scanned back and forth between Yang Chen and An Xin, and a hint of chill appeared in her gaze.

Yang Chen's heart tightened. Was this a roller coaster ride? Why was Lin Ruoxi suddenly here in his office? She had never come before!

An Xin immediately recognized who Lin Ruoxi was. Although Lin Ruoxi rarely appeared in public, as a young lady of the An family, An Xin had seen her a few times, albeit without the chance to greet her.

Facing each other now, Lin Ruoxi simply glanced at An Xin, while An Xin scrutinized Lin Ruoxi from head to toe. Aside from being more beautiful than herself, An Xin sensed that Lin Ruoxi exuded nothing but coldness and arrogance.

A casual glance from Lin Ruoxi made An Xin feel insignificant, not because she looked down on her, but because Lin Ruoxi's nature was just like that. In her world, unknown women, regardless of their beauty or ugliness, wouldn't cause her any emotional reaction.

Ordinary women would feel a bit smug when seeing someone less attractive than themselves and a bit jealous when seeing someone more beautiful. But Lin Ruoxi's gaze had no such comparisons.

Having traveled the world and met countless people, An Xin quickly formed two interpretations of her man's legitimate wife: either Lin Ruoxi was pure-hearted, without worldly desires, or her thoughts were at a level beyond ordinary people.

However, An Xin couldn't believe that Lin Ruoxi, a woman even younger than herself, could be a profound philosopher. Yet, thinking of her as a pure-hearted woman seemed absurd too, given that she was the CEO of Yu Lei International, a commercial empire's leader.

Of course, purity here didn't mean naivety. In business, it referred to tactics and strategies, while purity spoke of the woman's emotional world.

An Xin considered herself somewhat adept at emotional manipulation. Back in Hokkaido, she had gone all out to exhaust Yang Chen every night, hoping he wouldn't want to part with her, compensating for the short time they had together. But she felt that the woman before her might not even know how to act coquettishly—not because she didn't want to, but because she genuinely didn't know how.

It's often said that women have an accurate eye for other women, and Lin Ruoxi truly wasn't adept at matters of romance. If Lin Ruoxi had occasionally acted coy or given Yang Chen some sweet moments, Yang Chen probably wouldn't have paid attention to other women, let alone gone to a bar in frustration where he met An Xin.

Unfortunately, the twists of fate are unpredictable. Lin Ruoxi's shortcomings had inadvertently paved the way for An Xin's relationship with Yang Chen, and even Mo Qianni and Liu Mingyu had found their opportunities in these gaps.

"Uh, oh, no, President Lin, why are you here?" Yang Chen forced a calm smile and asked.

The moment Lin Ruoxi saw Yang Chen with An Xin, she keenly sensed something. An Xin looked somewhat familiar to her, though she couldn't recall exactly whose daughter she was, but she didn't care much. What irked her more was the lipstick mark on Yang Chen's face.

Without needing to think, she knew what these two had been doing in the office just now.

"Was your right cheek bitten by a mosquito?" Lin Ruoxi asked with a cold smile.

"There are no mosquitoes in winter, Ruoxi, you have such a sense of humor, haha..."

Yang Chen smiled, then suddenly realized what Lin Ruoxi meant. He touched his right cheek and wiped it, looking at his hand to find a slight redness. He glanced at An Xin, who was pretending not to notice anything, feeling frustrated about the poor quality of the lipstick. He smiled stiffly and said, "I can explain this."

"No need to explain, it's not the first time this has happened. I'm more interested in knowing the identity of this young lady," Lin Ruoxi directly aimed her question at An Xin.

Facing the "first wife's" pressure, An Xin's "mistress" resilience kicked in. She calmly said, "Hello, President Lin, I'm the new director's secretary. My name is An Xin."

A flash of recognition crossed Lin Ruoxi's eyes. She then seemed to remember something and frowned, "Miss An, from the An family?"

"I don't know which An family you're referring to, but An Zaihuan is indeed my father, though I don't particularly like admitting it," An Xin said with a pout.

Lin Ruoxi seemed to have seen something utterly absurd. She looked at Yang Chen with disappointment. "So, the mysterious person who helped the An family take over the Liu family and took away the Liu family's daughter is you?"

Yang Chen was taken aback. He hadn't expected Lin Ruoxi to know about the Hokkaido incident. Thinking it over, it made sense; such a significant event would certainly have reached the ears of the upper echelons in Zhonghai.

Though Lin Ruoxi rarely attended social gatherings, information often made its way to her. The takeover of the Liu family by the An family and the elopement of the An family's daughter with a mysterious man had been the talk of the town, though the rumors varied. The facts had proven that something indeed had happened.

Initially, Lin Ruoxi found the incident strange but hadn't paid much attention to it. Now she realized that the mysterious and influential figure was her own irresponsible husband.

An Xin puffed out her cheeks, realizing the severity of the situation and opting to remain silent. She understood that this matter would make Lin Ruoxi exceptionally angry. After all, which wife would remain calm hearing that her husband had stolen someone else's bride?

Yang Chen stood there awkwardly, forcing a bitter smile but unsure of what to say.

"You've really outdone yourself. I just realized that making you a director was a waste of your talent. With your abilities, you effortlessly brought down the Liu family and elevated the An family to become the second most powerful family in Zhonghai," Lin Ruoxi said, her eyes misting slightly as she continued with a cold smile. "Yang Chen, perhaps I should let you take my position as CEO of Yu Lei International. With your help, we could become the world's number one company. Since you could provide such treatment for An Xin by stealing her from another, shouldn't our legitimate marriage offer at least as much?"

Seeing Lin Ruoxi's calm, almost sarcastic demeanor, Yang Chen felt even more guilty and uneasy. "Ruoxi, don't be like this. I know I've wronged you."

"How could you wrong me? I wouldn't dare let you feel that way. You're a big deal—playing around and wiping out the Liu family like it's nothing. You want a woman, so you just take her, even from as far away as Hokkaido," Lin Ruoxi said, her eyes reddening.

"Listen to yourself! You're not even letting me explain. Don't be unreasonable!" Yang Chen said, frustrated.

"Unreasonable? You're calling me unreasonable?" Lin Ruoxi's eyes widened, her face paling as she took a step back in disbelief.

Yang Chen realized his mistake too late and tried to backtrack. "It's me who's being unreasonable. I just came to ask you to lunch and check on your plans for next month's work. Who knew I'd be interrupting you and your new lover? My bad. I'll leave now and stop disturbing you. I'm not being unreasonable."

A cold glint flashed in Lin Ruoxi's eyes. She silently turned, opened the door, and walked out of the office.

Yang Chen wanted to call her back but didn't know what to say, so he could only slap his forehead in frustration and let out a long sigh.

An Xin also felt wronged. She hadn't intended for things to escalate like this, but it was clear her involvement had complicated matters. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for things to end up this way," she said, her eyes red.

Yang Chen chuckled self-deprecatingly, patting An Xin's head. "Silly girl, this isn't your fault. It's my own mess, and I have to deal with it."

"Shouldn't you go after her? As a woman, I know President Lin must be feeling really hurt right now. I think you should go comfort her," An Xin said softly, unable to hide her concern.

Yang Chen sighed deeply. "What good would it do to chase after her? I can't just say I'll cut ties with you and never see you again. No matter how I explain it, the outcome is the same. The fault lies with me—I can't seem to change my ways."

An Xin lowered her head in sorrow. She realized that nothing could change the situation, and leaving Yang Chen was out of the question for her.

Lin Ruoxi, hate me if you must. I've come between you two, but I won't give up just because of your pain, An Xin thought resolutely, biting her lip.