Your Presence Lights Up My Heart

The hall, where the dinner party was being held, was brightly lit in stark contrast to the sky, which looked like it was draped in black satin.

Rita Su entered the room and the sounds of merriment rang in her ears. People danced and laughed, and wine glasses clinked. She was wearing a handmade, delicate peach evening dress whose hemline was studded small diamonds, which sparkled like stars in the night sky.

Rita Su should have been the center of attention at the dinner party as she was the wife of Flynn Shen, the heir to Shae Group.

However, at this moment, she was sitting in an inconspicuous corner, holding a wine glass, and drinking as if she would never get drunk.

An unexpected incident had led to her demotion. Until yesterday, she was the director of the design department, but right now Flynn Shen had announced the promotion of another person to her position after his speech.

She was people-watching from her corner when she spotted his tall and handsome figure far away, looking as dreamy as her three-year marriage.

"Ms. Su, why are you hiding here? Tell me what's on your mind."

Rita Su, who was slightly drunk, instantly sobered up. She raised her head and saw an enchanting woman pretending to be concerned about her but holding a look of triumph in her charming eyes.

It was Maeryn Han-Flynn Shen's mistress, who had become so bold as to brazenly approach and taunt her in public.

"Miss Han, I'm just tired. Please don't flatter yourself," retorted Rita Su, gulping down the wine in her glass, and throwing a cursory glance at the guests who were laughing and talking.

She looked calm on the surface but a sharp pain was pulsing at the bottom of her heart.

"Ha-ha!" Maeryn Han laughed sarcastically. Since Rita Su was being rude to her, there was no need for her to pretend to be nice anymore.

"Rita Su, you have been Flynn's invisible wife for three years. Aren't you sick and tired of the pretense? Why do you have to hold on? It must be awful to be left out in the cold every day, right? I would advise you to take the initiative to divorce him. It's better to leave with some self-esteem rather than being kicked out by Flynn, isn't it?"

Maeryn Han's husky voice and her charm belied her evilness.

She was born to be the other woman.

Rita Su couldn't help laughing bitterly. What Maeryn Han said was true. She tried her best to ignore it but she couldn't avoid the truth.

For the last three years of marriage, Flynn Shen had turned a blind eye to her as if she was just a piece of decoration for his house. He entertained himself with a string of love affairs. Even at their company where she worked, she was forbidden by him to reveal her true identity.

"Don't worry about other people's private affairs, Miss Han. I'm Flynn's wife. Do you think you are the first person to say this to me? Nobody can replace my position. I'm afraid you can't change it, just like the other women,"

remarked Rita Su with an elegant smile.

But the more she smiled on the outside, the more she wanted to cry inside. Maeryn Han's beautiful face cut her heart like a knife.

"Humph!" Maeryn Han rolled her eyes and looked around. Then she took out a long, thin cigarette from her Chanel handbag and lit it. Taking a deep breath, she blew the smoke on Rita Su's face provocatively.

Rita Su felt her eyes tingling because of the smoke. She was really pissed off at this woman's blatant disregard for her.

"Rita, I've never seen anyone as shameless as you. No wonder that Flynn can't do anything with you. But..."

Maeryn Han stopped abruptly and stared at her meaningfully. She turned the cigarette and stubbed the burning end on her own arm. Immediately, a red mark formed on her skin.

"What?"

Looking at her in astonishment, Rita Su wondered why Maeryn Han was doing this.

Maeryn Han grabbed Rita Su's wrist and shoved the cigarette into her fingers. Then she let out a piercing scream.

"What trick are you playing? Let me go!" Rita Su yelped angrily, but she unable to free her wrist from Maeryn Han's clasp.

Maeryn Han's screams attracted the attention of all the guests at the dinner party. They saw that the two of them were engaged in some sort of a conflict.

Flynn Shen, who was engrossed in an important discussion with the company's top managers, also heard her and came over.

"Mr. Shen, she burned my arm with a cigarette!" As soon as Maeryn Han saw Flynn Shen, she assumed the role of damsel in distress.

Seeing the red mark on her arm, he flew into a rage.

He did not expect Rita Su to be so mean.

"Rita, come to my office tomorrow. You are no longer welcome at this party. Please leave now," he ordered in front of their subordinates without caring about her dignity.

"Why? It was her! She's the one who came here to provoke me!" protested Rita Su, who was embarrassed and indignant. Most of the time she would keep quiet in front of him, but she could not tolerate it right now.

She was so furious that she raised her hand intending to slap Maeryn Han. Now that he didn't believe her, she would vent her anger on the other woman.

However, she was stopped by a powerful hand, which then pushed her aside roughly.

Rita Su staggered and bumped into the security guard. Before she could collect herself, she heard Flynn Shen issuing orders. "Drive this woman out!"

Dragging her tired body, Rita opened the door. It was only seven o'clock in the evening when she arrived home; still early for the dinner party to end.

"Good evening, Mrs. Shen. Welcome back," greeted the maid, taking the handbag from Rita Su respectfully.

"Tell Flynn that I am asleep when he comes back." It was hard for her to conceal her exhaustion. She went straight upstairs.

After entering her bedroom, she took a shower and changed her clothes. The moment she lay on the bed, she burst into tears, looking at her wrist, which was bruised by her husband.

The next day was their third wedding anniversary, but would he remember?

He didn't remember it before, so why would tomorrow be any different?

Her mind was in a mess. It took her a long time to fall asleep. When she was half asleep, the maid knocked at her door.

"Mrs. Shen, Mr. Shen asked you to go to the study."

Rita Su sat up abruptly. After hesitating for a moment, she opened the door to the study and saw her husband.

She stopped and heard his voice from inside. He was talking to someone on the phone.

"Well, this gift is very important to me. You must send it on time tomorrow."

Her withered heart seemed to be infused with life by that conversation.

It sounded like he still remembered their wedding anniversary.

With a relieved smile brightening up her face, she entered the study and saw that Flynn Shen, who had just finished the call, was still holding the phone in his hand.

However, his expression turned sour after she entered the room.

He stared at her in disgust and said, "It took you so long to come here."

She bit her lip. She was used to this attitude but when she thought of the phone call, she still felt warm inside.

"I'm glad that you still remember our wedding anniversary. I was thinking we can just celebrate by having a meal together." It was also the simplest wish she had harbored in her heart for the past few years.

It meant more than anything having a warm dinner together, at least for her.

Putting down the phone, he looked into her eyes and thought of his phone call.

"Wedding anniversary?" He raised his eyebrows, with an inscrutable expression on his face.

He paused a second and continued, "I don't want to talk about that. Read this cooperation plan and come to my office tomorrow with your design ideas."

The next morning, when Rita Su woke up, she went to the dining room, and saw one set of dinnerware on the table.

In the past three years, except for the family banquet, Flynn Shen had never eaten a meal with her. In fact, he seldom had dinner at home.

As for him making an exception for their anniversary, it was very likely that he didn't remember it.

She hurried to the company after breakfast. As soon as she entered the elevator, she heard her colleagues whispering and glancing at her derisively from time to time.

No one knew that she was from the Su family in A City or that she was Flynn's wife.

She sat down at her desk silently. Within moments, she saw Maranda Zhou coming towards her sneakily.

"Rita, I'm so excited. I'll see Charles Yue soon. Do you think I should take a photo with him?" asked Maranda Zhou eagerly, holding her hand.

As she was demoted and thrown out of the dinner party by the security guards last night, everyone, except for Maranda Zhou, avoided her today like the plague.

On a day like today, Maranda Zhou's innocent face, lightened Rita Su's heavy heart.

"Charles? Who's that? A famous star?" Rita Su was a little confused. She knew that Maranda Zhou was obsessed with handsome men and had high standards for her prospective partner.

Maranda Zhou shook her head mysteriously. Pointing to the paper on the table, she squealed, "He is the new president of Yue Group! Did you forget your schedule this afternoon, Rita? We're going to meet him today! Charles recently took over his father's business. I've seen his photos in financial magazines. He is so handsome that even the young movie stars are jealous of him!"

"Really? Does that mean you don't like your previous idol anymore?" asked Rita Su with a grin. Hearing her exaggerated description made her chuckle.

Maranda Zhou shook her head. "No, I don't. He is in the past and has faded. The only dream man in my life is Charles now!"

Rita Su shrugged her shoulders. She could never be as crazy as Maranda Zhou was. She couldn't even have a proper relationship with her husband, forget about being infatuated with charming idols.

The same afternoon, they set out for the headquarters of Yue Group. On the way, Maranda Zhou enthusiastically filled in Rita Su on Charles Yue, relaying all the information she knew like an encyclopedia.

After hearing so much about him, Rita Su was curious to see whether he was that special in person too.

The Yue Group had a stake in a range of businesses and a presence in many industries.

Recently, Charles Yue had taken charge of the company as the president. The first thing he did was to extend his business to the fashion industry. As part of a joint venture, he wanted to take advantage of the reputation of Shae Group's designers to bring attention to his new brand.

When they arrived at the headquarters, Maranda Zhou was so excited that she couldn't enter. Finally, Rita Su had to drag her into the elevator.

Everything went smoothly. Rita Su assumed that Charles Yue would not have time to meet two ordinary fashion designers.

Just as she was about to drag a reluctant Maranda Zhou back to their office, a gentle voice came from behind.

"Excuse me, ladies. Are you the designers from Shae Group?"

Rita Su stopped in front of the elevator. She looked back and saw a tall and handsome figure coming over.

"Ah!" Maranda covered her mouth, trying to hide her excitement. Comparatively, Rita was quite calm. She smiled gently at the man, who was approaching them.

She could guess the man's identity from his pretty face.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Yue. We are designers from Shae Group," Rita greeted him confidently holding out her hand.

However, when she felt the warmth from Charles' palm, her heart skipped a beat thanks to Maranda's brainwashing from earlier.

Thankfully, it only lasted a moment.

"Sorry, I was in a meeting just now. It's my honor to tie up with your company. We're just starting up, so we need your help with the design of the new products that are about to be launched." Charles was gentle and modest, but the underlying pride and indifference in his voice made Rita aware of his true personality.

Maranda pretended to be calm. She only nodded along and spent time ogling Charles, leaving all the social niceties to Rita.

With a faint smile, Rita said in a humble tone, "Mr. Yue, don't worry. We have talked to your designers just now. We will certainly devote every effort to it."

When the elevator doors opened,

Charles signaled to the two ladies to enter the elevator before him.

"Oh, no, I forgot to take the business proposal!" Maranda whispered in Rita's ear just as she was about to follow Charles into the elevator.

Both women turned back to go to the office and the elevator doors slowly closed.

"Maranda! No one can be more careless than you!" Rita sighed helplessly. As the elevator descended slowly, she noticed an elegant cuff link near her foot.

Rita bent down to pick it up. Maranda squealed, "Rita! Doesn't this belong to Mr. Yue? I was staring at him for a long time. I remember!"

Maranda begged Rita to give her the cuff link as a souvenir all the way to the parking lot, but Rita insisted on returning it to its owner.

Maranda was still pleading Rita to reconsider her decision when they spotted Charles driving a black Bentley towards the exit. Rita could vaguely see his handsome face through the half-open window.

"I'd better return the cuff link to him,"

said Rita and started walked quickly towards his car. But just as she reached his car, he accelerated without warning and sped past her.

Rita watched the car disappear from her view in astonishment. The last sight she saw was the solemn face of Charles, staring ahead indifferently.

At this moment, her phone rang.

Rita put the cuff link in her pocket and answered the call from her mother-in-law.

Although Rita didn't live with her mother-in-law and didn't have much contact with her, their relationship had always been very harmonious.

Her mother-in-law had always wanted a daughter-in-law from an eminent family. As Rita's family background was equal to that of the Shen family, she was glad that Rita married her son.

However, Flynn was a playboy by nature and preferred the bachelor lifestyle, which was also the main reason why his temperament changed greatly after he was forced to marry Rita.

Her mother-in-law didn't chat with her for too long but Rita was still very touched by her call. It made her heart ache to know that she was loved by the mother and loathed by the son. As these gloomy thoughts swirled in her mind, she couldn't calm down on the way back to the company.

Flynn forgot that it was their wedding anniversary today, but his mother remembered and she even criticized her son's bad behavior.

For Rita, having such a good mother-in-law was a sense of comfort for her during these trying three years of marriage.

As soon as she got back to the company, she put aside her personal affairs and began to focus on her work.

It was not long before she heard Flynn's assistant's voice. "Rita, Mr. Shen is waiting for you in his office. Please spare some time to meet him."

"Okay. I'll be right there," she replied. Rita was stunned for a moment. Staring at the assistant's gloomy face, she had a strong and ominous premonition.

As soon as she entered his office, she saw Flynn's clouded face with a sour expression.

"Close the door," Flynn commanded in a cold voice, staring at Rita with his emotionless eyes.

After closing the door, she still stood near the door, fearing that Flynn was about to get even with her.

"Come here." Flynn's voice was full of anger.

Seeing that she didn't move, Flynn stood up from the chair, stomped over, grabbed her arm, and dragged her to the sofa.

"My mother called just now. You were behind this, weren't you?" he asked disdainfully.

What did Flynn think of her! Rita was furious.

"Is this why you called me to your office?" Rita sneered, shooting him a contemptuous look. "Mom also called me to remind me of our third anniversary. She told me that we should have a meal together. As for her calling you, it has nothing to do with me!"

Looking down at Rita, Flynn growled and gritted his teeth. "Stop dreaming! The only thing I will be celebrating today is my first dating anniversary with Maeryn," he informed her ruthlessly.

It felt like someone drove a knife into her heart and twisted it. The mystery of last night's phone call was finally solved. What a cruel twist of fate that they met on this day!

Rita clenched her fists hard until her skin turned pale and the bones in her knuckles stood out.

"Then why did you ask me to come here? Just because your mother called? Sometimes you are really like a woman, questioning me about such trivial matters," Rita taunted as her expression softened.

She had to calm herself down. She was afraid that she would not be able to hold her tears in and end up crying in front of Flynn.

Flynn grabbed her shoulder like an enraged bull and pushed her down to the sofa.

With a fierce look in his eyes, he roared, "Don't think that I don't know how you urge her in private to force me to have a child with you. I already told you that you should be prepared to live like a widow after you marry into our family!"

Rita felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She didn't want to talk to Flynn any more. Since he didn't believe her, there was no point in even trying to explain.

Shrugging off his hand, she got up from the sofa, turned around, and walked towards the door.

"You are not allowed to leave!" he yelled and stopped her when she tried to open the door. Before she could react, she was pushed to the leather sofa again.

"Hey!" Rita saw Flynn holding a small and exquisite cuff link in his hand. "Give it back to me!" she screeched.

Before Flynn could confront her about it, Rita snatched it back from him in a flash.

He was furious and glowered at Rita. The next thing she knew, he grabbed her delicate neck with his big hand.

"How dare you cheat on me? Whose cuff link is it?" he asked in a dangerous tone. He was staring at her maliciously as though he wanted to eat her up.

Rita, who couldn't breathe by now, fought with all her strength to free herself from his clutches. She stumbled to escape and hit the corner of the table. The severe pain in her elbow only made her more determined to escape from this place.

Flynn didn't come back home all night. It was not until the next morning when Rita came to the company that she saw him and Maeryn entering the office one after another.

Normally, when Flynn had something to say to Rita in the company, he would call her to his office, but this morning he stopped her outside.

"I have a new plan for our tie-up with Yue Group. Be ready to come with me this afternoon," he said flatly. He looked calm and collected as if nothing happened yesterday.

But Rita had not forgotten. She turned around and said expressionlessly, "I happened to pick up that cuff link."

When Rita saw Charles again, he was wearing a brand new pair of cuff links to match his suit.

Looking at the well-dressed and elegant man sitting across her, Rita realized that this was the first time that she was looking at him carefully.

Charles had thick eyebrows, long, curly eyelashes, and fair skin. His slightly pursed lips were thin and his jawline was perfect.

She didn't dare to look into his eyes as she was afraid that the darkness in them would make her fall in love with him. It was a natural temptation even when Flynn was present in the same room.

"Mr. Yue, I have studied your new plan last night. Every industry needs to be infused with vitality once in a while. We will launch the next season's clothing line together and it will definitely be a huge success!" Flynn sat tall and proud in his tailored suit. His gentle and powerful tone was very persuasive.

Charles picked up the coffee and took a sip. A smile appeared on his charming face. "Great! We're on the same page. Since we have reached an agreement, let's draw up a new contract."

Rita sat quietly and looked at the two men smiling at each other and politely shaking hands.

Suddenly, Flynn's phone rang. Taking out his phone, he excused himself, and went to the bathroom, leaving Rita and Charles alone in the room.

She was a little nervous and lowered her head. Charles' powerful aura made her silent for a while.

"Ms. Su, you seem to be a little absent-minded today," Charles remarked casually.

She could tell that he meant something else. However, she didn't expect Charles to probe further.

This was the second time they met. It appeared that Charles was interested in her and his voice was full of concern.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Yue. I'm just thinking about my work," she said, pretending to be calm. She caught a glimpse of Charles, who was staring at her intently.

Just then Rita heard footsteps behind her. Flynn walked in quickly.

After taking his seat, he explained to Charles apologetically that he had encountered an emergency and had to leave the meeting. Before leaving, he instructed Rita to discuss the specifics of the joint venture with Charles.

Looking out of the window at Flynn, who drove away in a hurry, she couldn't help but wonder what made him leave in such a rush.

After Flynn left, Charles saw that Rita was lost in thought. "Ms. Su," called Charles, drawing her attention back to him. "If you are still preoccupied with your work, I can drive you back to your office."

"Okay. Thank you, Mr. Yue." Rita didn't know why she agreed so readily.