Lu Mengjie was staring at the scenery outside the car's window. It was dark but she was able to see a few lampposts every now and then. She has been quiet ever since Yong Liwei left until she got in Si Hongqi's car. The guy didn't say a word as well until they were finally alone.

"You shouldn't be with him, Mengjie," he said with a warning tone.

"I can be with whoever I want," she argued. She turned to him with a serious gaze as she continued, "and I want to be with him."

She was not going to change her mind so easily. Yong Liwei has already told her that he has enemies. She wasn't afraid of them. She was not the type to run away just because there were difficulties ahead. She rather face them head-on instead of running away without even trying.

"You will be putting your life in danger by being with him. You don't know what kind of people are after him." His intense glare gave her chills but it wasn't enough to make her give in. Although it was obvious enough for her to notice that he was trying to restrain himself from raising his voice.

"I don't care," she retorted stubbornly.

He already knew how much of a stubborn girl she was and yet, he continued to warn her, hoping that she would change her mind. "Mengjie, I'm serious. His enemies will see you as his weakness if you continue your relationship with him."'

She raised a brow, crossing her arms as she looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "Is that a warning, coming from you?"

Heaving a sigh, he replied grievously, "of course not. I may be his business rival but I'm not so greedy to the point where I will have to go after his life. He is still a family." He reached out and held her hand and carefully explained, "I don't want you to end up like his previous lover."

Previous lover… A crease formed between her brows. "You're lying. I did a background check on him, Gege. He has no lovers. No deaths around him No whatever scandal," she affirmed.

"That's because everything that happened ten years ago was hidden from everyone. All news related to it on social media was swept clean, no matter how much you check his background, he will always be 'too clean'," he continued.

Too clean… yes, that's what she thought first when she checked his past. She already has her doubts but that didn't stop her from wanting to know more about him.

So Hongqi was quiet for a while as if he was hesitant to share a part of the information he knew. "After that happened 10 years ago, he began living differently. He is not the same Yong Liwei I knew."

"Then tell me what happened to him." If even she couldn't dig up his dark past, that only meant that someone as good as her was able to erase any trace of information about him.

He looked at her with a torn gaze in his eyes. He gave her hand a squeeze before he finally gave in. "After I took over my father's company 10 years ago, I met him with his lover. Her name was Chen Yuyan. I could tell that their relationship was pretty close. They were inseparable considering that she was also his secretary," he continued, his face dark and dreadful.

Lu Mengjie quietly listened without interrupting him. She didn't look surprised at all, finding out that Yong Liwei has someone else in his heart in the past. He was a mature man. He got years of experience and with those years, it was only normal for him to meet a woman who could make him fall for her.

"She was kidnapped and brutally murdered. News about her death didn't circulate. Chen Yuyan was an orphan. She had no family to mourn for her… except for Yong Liwei. Her death almost broke him. I don't know if that man really cares for you but if you'll continue to stay by his side, those who killed his ex-lover might start seeing you as his weakness and target you. Even if you have protection from the Han family, it doesn't mean you'll be totally safe. There are crazy, intelligent people out there. Crazier than you. You need to stop approaching Yong Liwei, Mengjie. I don't want the same thing to happen to you," he said, his eyes full of concern and worry.

Lu Mengjie averted her eyes from him as she lowered her head. No wonder Yong Liwei warned her about being with him. He has already lost someone he once loved… but for him to open his heart after years of pain… it only meant that she affected him a lot. She directed her gaze back at him, resolute seen in her eyes. "I don't care if he has such a past. My decision is final," she said firmly.