“Jingchuan, this is the caviar you like. Pair it with the foie gras in front of you. It's a rare delicacy.”
Shen Jibai spooned out some caviar and had the servant beside him bring it to Ye Jingchuan.
Ye Jingchuan looked at it. He didn't want to accept it, but he couldn't resist good food.
Besides, Shen Jibai was the sick one. The caviar and foie gras had nothing to do with it. He couldn't lose all sense of right and wrong and punish them too.
A small spoonful of caviar sat atop the Landes goose foie gras, translucent and gleaming beneath the lights.
Ye Jingchuan took a deep breath and bit into it.
The rich fragrance of the caviar and the tender foie gras instantly filled his mouth, leaving him utterly entranced.
There was no other taste like it in the world!
Seeing how much he enjoyed it, a trace of amusement entered Shen Jibai's eyes. Unconsciously, he ran his tongue over his lips.
What was he to do?
He was getting hungry too. Only...
It wasn't the delicious food before him that Shen Jibai wanted to eat. It was the delectable Ye Jingchuan sitting opposite.
When Shen Xiuchen was alive, Shen Jibai couldn't make a move on Ye Jingchuan beneath his elder brother's nose. Now, no one in the world could stop him. He no longer needed to hold back.
Ye Jingchuan was eating enthusiastically when he suddenly felt an unusually heated gaze settle on him, making his whole body uncomfortable.
He looked up, meeting Shen Jibai's intensely predatory stare.
Its naked heat made Ye Jingchuan recoil in disgust.
This wasn't admiration. It was an undisguised desire to take.
He frowned, his eyes turning cold, and focused on the food before him, ignoring that lunatic Shen Jibai.
But no matter how hard he tried, it was useless.
The timing wasn't right for Shen Jibai to begin his “meal,” so he could only let his gaze sweep over Ye Jingchuan again and again, greedy and excited.
Feeling that Shen Jibai was about to drive him mad, Ye Jingchuan clenched his teeth and chewed the Australian lobster before swallowing.
As though it were Shen Jibai's flesh in his mouth rather than lobster.
Shen Jibai openly met his gaze, maintaining a perfectly proper smile without the slightest flaw.
Elegantly raising his wineglass toward him, he said, “Jingchuan, congratulations on becoming single again today. And here's to a blissfully happy nightlife for us from now on.”
He slowly brought the glass to his lips and drained it, his eyes never leaving Ye Jingchuan's face, like a venomous snake watching its prey.
“I'll finish mine. Drink as much as you like.”
He had deliberately emphasized “blissfully happy.”
Ye Jingchuan's grip tightened on his glass until his knuckles whitened.
He understood the implication.
Forcing his breathing to steady, he lifted his glass and downed it in one bold movement.
It looked like an outlet for his frustration.
A glimmer of approval crossed Shen Jibai's eyes. Then he, too, tilted his head back and drank the red wine in his hand.
That easy gesture briefly gave Ye Jingchuan the illusion that Shen Jibai harbored no such filthy intentions.
But he quickly rejected the thought.
A madman hiding behind a veneer of respectability—Shen Jibai's behavior could never be judged by ordinary logic.
Shen Jibai withdrew his gaze. Gracefully taking up his knife and fork, he cut an A5 marbled Kobe steak into small pieces, added a specially prepared sauce, and handed the plate to the servant beside him.
“Jingchuan, try the steak I've just cut for you.”
Ye Jingchuan looked up to find the servant setting the plate before him.
He picked up his fork and slowly ate a piece.
The Kobe beef was tender and juicy, melting in his mouth. Its juices burst across his tongue, complemented by the fragrant, sweet sauce. It was delicious beyond words.
After finishing the steak, Ye Jingchuan wiped his mouth with his napkin. Then he ate another bite of foie gras and a serving of vegetable salad.
Throughout the meal, Shen Jibai kept arranging food for him while eating very little himself.
Who knew what he was planning?
Ye Jingchuan secretly glanced up at him.
Shen Jibai was sipping red wine with perfect elegance, looking relaxed and composed, as though he really were simply enjoying dinner.
Yet somehow, something felt wrong.
“Aren't you eating?” Ye Jingchuan asked, looking at the abalone that had been brought over.
The New Zealand blue abalone looked delicious, but he never ate abalone.
He was allergic to it.
Shen Jibai leaned forward and folded his hands on the table, the lower half of his face hidden in shadow.
He smiled, the flirtatious words coming effortlessly. “You're a feast for the eyes, Jingchuan. Looking at you is enough.”
“Oh.” Ye Jingchuan's mouth twitched. He decided to stop making conversation for its own sake.
It might be called a candlelit dinner, but he wasn't finding it relaxing.
Keeping calm, he returned the plate of blue abalone to Shen Jibai. “I'm full. You can have this.”
He wasn't sure whether Shen Jibai had done it deliberately.
Shen Xiuchen had known about his allergy. Shen Jibai might know too.
But the man never followed any predictable pattern. Perhaps he'd simply arranged it without a thought.
Either way, Ye Jingchuan had no intention of accepting the favor.
Shen Jibai looked at him, then at the returned abalone. His eyes flickered for a few seconds, but he said nothing, his expression remaining calm.
What he was thinking, however, no one knew.
This was the first time anything Shen Jibai had given had been returned.
Night deepened. A light breeze brushed the leaves with a soft rustle.
Clear moonlight spilled into the courtyard. Tiny, crystalline droplets clung to the white rose petals like pearls, gleaming enticingly.
The bedroom was large and extravagantly luxurious.
Ye Jingchuan emerged from the bathroom in a black silk nightdress, a towel in his hands as he dried his wet, long hair.
As he did so, he cursed Shen Jibai a thousand times over.
What normal Alpha stocked another Alpha's bedroom with sexy women's clothes?!
If he hadn't finished washing only to find no other clean clothes, he would never have put on this nightdress.
Looking down at himself, Ye Jingchuan felt his temples pounding.
Shen Jibai had clearly planned this in advance!
Otherwise, how could an entire estate fail to produce a single ordinary pair of men's pajamas?
He simply wanted to humiliate him.
The silk nightdress was exceedingly thin and close-fitting, scarcely different from wearing nothing.
After tossing the towel aside, Ye Jingchuan awkwardly pulled up the narrow pearl shoulder strap that had slipped down to his wrist.
The pearls were a beautiful pale purple, his favorite color.
But he had no inclination to appreciate them. Uncomfortable all over, his face showed only barely contained irritability and shame.
Just then, someone knocked.
Ye Jingchuan turned and asked sharply, “Who is it?”
“It's me, Jingchuan. May I come into your room?” Shen Jibai asked politely.
Ye Jingchuan didn't want to open the door.
But he knew that even if he refused, Shen Jibai had a hundred ways to get in.
Better to open it himself than have it forced open. At least he could preserve the last laughable scrap of dignity.
He opened the door. A rush of cool air made him frown.
Still, he stepped aside and let Shen Jibai into his private bedroom.
Calling it Ye Jingchuan's bedroom wasn't entirely accurate, however. After all, the entire estate was Shen Jibai's private property.