On the screen of Feng Xia’s phone, Fengxi saw the words ‘Mother’ in capital letters, and the icon of a woman. It made Fengxi recall her mother, Mrs Hu, back in the woods. Mother Hu was a strict mother and made her adhere to the stringent rules of the Hu brown fox tribe. What the boys could do, she wasn’t allowed to.

Mother Hu had even disallowed her from entering specific areas in the woods. She and her friend, the snake spirit Hei Yao, had snuck off into an area she dubbed the ‘Forbidden Region’. Later, she received a beating from her mother in return, but she still continued her mischievous ways.

However, when she came of age, Mother Hu and her father, Hu Xin, stopped bothering about her affairs.

She had wondered why, but Senior Mu told her it was just the way of the foxes. Foxes lived very independent lives.

And the other fact about foxes was how they only possessed one lover for an entire lifetime, although there were exceptions. But foxes were sincere to their lovers. Just as she devoted all her love to the Great Immortal, and despite him rejecting her, she still continued to stay true to him until the day he died.

But how Tong Yue resembled him entirely was so hard for her to believe, and while she wanted to make her move on him, she didn’t want to sign the contract right away. Since she was Feng Xia now, she should give everything another thought. After all, she hadn’t truly been immersed in Feng Xia’s life yet.

The phone stopped ringing and went dead in Fengxi’s palm. Everything came very naturally to her; how she should use the device and the realisation that it had run out of battery. She was utilising Feng Xia’s knowledge. All of it she had, except the meeting with Tong Yue.

“We have to go.”

Mr Lee finished speaking to that person named Jax who had just arrived and ushered her towards the entrance. Before Tong Yue came, she had to leave. She knew she could do nothing since a sophisticated security system heavily secured the fourteenth floor and she required Mr Lee’s security pass to leave safely.

But where would she be going next?

Her mind was a whirl. She didn’t even remember why she was in this hotel in the first place, why Tong Yue had booked a room there, and why she had landed in his room. What connection did Feng Xia have with Tong Yue and what happened between them?

Why was he so adamant about making her sign that contract? What had he told her, that she needed to keep a secret?

Finally, they were inside the elevator that Fengxi had entered with Mr Lee earlier. She observed Mr Lee tap his access card, a big flat plastic rectangle, on the sensor on the dashboard of the elevator.

“Activated. You may select your destination now,” a robotic voice announced from the speaker on the right side of the elevator. Instantly, light illuminated the panel with numbers denoted in large squares, prompting Mr Lee to make a choice.

With the edge of his access card, he made his selection. The lift moved again, heading downward.

Then it paused at the tenth floor.

Fengxi became wary of some men in black suits entering the elevator. Her heart almost skipped a beat to recognise the man behind them.Tong Yue!

She pulled nervously on Mr Lee’s sleeve, hoping that the men didn’t recognise them.

“Fancy meeting you again, Lee Teng.”

She sucked in her breath to realise that Tong Yue was speakin

g to Mr Lee. So, Lee Teng was his name? What else did Lee Teng know about Tong Yue, and vice versa? He hadn’t even mentioned it in the conversation earlier.

“CEO Tong, it’s a pleasure.”

Fortunately, Tong Yue hadn’t recognised her from the cleaner attire she was wearing right now. She had enclosed her long hair in a bun and wiped off her makeup prior to performing cleaning duties.

“Gee, I didn’t even know you worked here,” Tong Yue said coldly. She could sense the arrogance in his voice. Did CEOs like him always look down on others? Suddenly, she sympathised with Lee Teng.

“..for your mother, am I right? This hotel belongs to your mother, if I recall correctly. How is she doing?”

She hadn’t expected that coming. Lee Teng turned out to be the young prince of the hotel, yet worked there as a manager. Little wonder why he was sitting around like a king while she cleaned the Claire Hall. Lee Teng’s premise was similar to hers as the spoiled brat fox ‘princess’ of the woods. Yet, he hadn’t struck her as a rich person. She had assumed he was genuinely an employee of the company!

Tong Yue just ignored her and conversed with his ‘old friend’. Though his words were emotionless, they carried a tinge of sarcasm. Lee Teng must have had a history with Tong Yue, although Feng Xia didn’t know it.

They bounded out of the elevator when they heard the beep.

“Wait!” Tong Yue shouted.

She turned around in a fluster, but his eyes were still on the manager’s.

“Let’s keep in touch.”

Lee Teng calmly reached into his shirt pocket and retrieved a pale business card.

“This is my name card.” He bowed and walked away, with Fengxi in tow.

She caught her breath once they were out of the hotel, breathing sluggishly until her pulse returned to normal. Tong Yue hadn’t recognised her, and she was now free!

“Thank you for your help, Mr Lee.”

“In the future, you may address me as Lee Teng.” Lee Teng combed his hair with his hands, ensuring that each spike in his hair was in order. “I suppose you are hungry. Now that you have escaped your fiance’s clutches, it’s time for a good meal. And does your back still hurt?”

She shook her head. While walking for so long, she didn’t realise her back pains had subsided.

“And I don’t think you have any clothes on you. How are you going to return Miss Amberlia’s uniform?”

She stared at the ground sheepishly. Lee Teng lifted her chin so suddenly that she stared at him in surprise.

“In the future, don’t let anyone, not even Tong Yue, bully you. You need to be strong and depend on yourself. Now, wait here.”

He returned with a brown and black chequered dress with a plaid beige skirt.

“There’s a public toilet right there that you can change into this outfit. It was supposed to be a gift for my sister, but you deserve it more now. After you’re done changing, we can go for a quick lunch.”

Obediently, she headed to the toilet nearby and, as usual, she locked the cubicle and changed into Lee Teng’s clothes.

The soft chiffon material proved soothing to Feng Xia’s sensitive skin, cooling under the hot weather of the summer. It fit her perfectly, as if it was made for her, appearing glamorous in the reflection of the toilet mirror. Beige seemed to go with Feng Xia’s pale skin so well.

She folded the uniform automatically, as Feng Xia would normally fold her clothes and returned to where he was waiting for her.

“Thank you,” she said loudly to express her gratitude, while handing him Amberlia’s uniform. He took it immediately, eyeing it briefly before tucking it over his large arm.

“Let’s not waste any time here.” He led her to a Jeep in the parking lot. She had never seen such a vehicle, but Feng Xia didn’t seem to be unfamiliar with the controls. It triggered a response in Fengxi’s mind, alerting her to pull on the safety belt and sit securely.

Her eyes followed his majestic eyebrows as he made a turn through the busy lanes of Rutherford Street. A small LCD screen between their seats alerted Fengxi to the traffic conditions and weather of the city at that time.

In her mind, Fengxi realised this was a GPS, and it was one of the old innovations of the twenty-first century. A few pedestrians crossed the road agilely, hurrying across what appeared to be black-and-white stripes. A zebra crossing in Feng Xia’s knowledge.

Suddenly, she was aware of Lee Teng’s arm on her shoulder.

“Duck down!” His voice screaming with panic. Wasting no time, Fengxi immediately obeyed, bending her head down to her lap in a split second.

From the corner of her eye, she was wary of the steel black body of a long vehicle. Behind the wheel, a man stared angrily around him. From the way the man was glaring, she almost thought his eyes would burst with flames.

Her heart almost exploded out of her chest when the car passed them and she spotted the passenger sitting gravely at the back of the car. Anxiety filled his normally cold and stoic face, an emotion she would have thought never existed in him.

“He seems… to be looking for something. Or someone. Wait-he’s making a turn around.”

She felt the thump of her heart again and swallowed hard.