His wife's pregnancy bump disappeared, and Mr. Huo was going crazy missing her.

Does he understand Awu better than anyone else?

Qiao Mian laughed when she heard this.

If he truly understood Huo Wu from the past, he wouldn't have failed to notice that every time he was intimate with Song Man, she would feel sad and shed tears.

If he truly understood what kind of person Huo Wu was, he wouldn't have believed someone else's accusation at the engagement banquet six years ago, thinking that she had torn up Song Man's engagement dress, and slapped her in public!

If he truly understood Huo Wu, he wouldn't have failed to investigate back then and discovered that she wasn't deaf and mute at all.

No, it's not that he couldn't find out, it's that he never even wanted to know about her past...

"I'm sorry, Mr. Huo, I was just expressing my personal opinion. What your sister A-Wu likes or dislikes is none of my business."

Qiao Mian felt that discussing the topic of "her past preferences" with him was completely pointless.

After all, the Huo Wu of the past is dead...

However, Huo Yanbei insisted on focusing on the topic of "cake".

He used a small fork to pick up a small piece of cake and brought it to her lips. "Qiao Mian, you don't want to eat cake. Are you really on a diet, or are you just afraid to eat it?"

These words were a clear indication that he was testing her.

If she eats it, she will once again reveal a similarity with Huo Wu.

Not eating it would only make things worse.

So whether she eats it or not, it's a dead end.

Huo Yanbei is that kind of person; once a seed of doubt is planted in his heart, he will never let it go.

Looking at the mango on the cake, Qiao Mian pushed it away. "I don't want to eat it, Mr. Huo. Are you going to force me to eat it...?"

Halfway through her sentence, she widened her eyes in shock—

Huo Yanbei slowly got up, walked to the empty seat next to her, and ate the small piece of cake that had been offered to her earlier.

Then, he suddenly reached out, grabbed the back of her head, and pulled her into his arms.

With his other hand, he pinched her small face, lowered his head, and kissed her deeply on the lips.

No, he simply and roughly pried open her lips and teeth, and put the cake from his mouth into hers.

When Qiao Mian realized what he had done to her, she frantically raised her small hands and pounded on his shoulders.

It struggled to break free from his grasp, making muffled noises, refusing to eat the cake he fed it.

But the more she struggled, the more forcefully and wildly he kissed her.

As their lips and tongues intertwined, the sweet and sticky cake melted slowly into their taste buds and lingered in their throats.

She was forced to swallow it.

However, the man did not stop kissing immediately; he simply kissed her more gently and slowly.

Finally, pressing against her forehead, which was covered in a thin layer of sweat, he breathed heavily, "Awu, you're getting more and more disobedient."

Qiao Mian was like a body whose soul had been emptied, weakly pressing her forehead against his, her breath carrying a faint, feeble gasp.

After her disordered breathing gradually calmed down, she mustered all her strength to push him away. "Mr. Huo, I'm not A-Wu... I'm not!"

She glared at him, both embarrassed and angry, and growled softly.

She was so angry that her whole face turned crimson, and her eyes were even redder than usual.

Feelings of grievance and shame surged to their peak, and glistening tears welled up in her painful eyes, falling one by one like beads from a broken string.

Finally, she lowered her head and began to sob.

This was the first time she had openly expressed her emotions and cried in front of him.

"Mr. Huo, you...you wanted me to eat cake, didn't you?"

At this point, she had lost all sense of reason. Since he had already fed her mangoes, she decided to just give up and do whatever she wanted.

Qiao Mian sobbed, grabbed the rest of the cake with her hand, and stuffed it into her mouth.

She ate while crying, just like a child who had suffered a lot of grievances and was throwing a tantrum.

Huo Yanbei felt as if a large hand had suddenly gripped his heart tightly, leaving him feeling dull and uncomfortable.

He never imagined he would bully her to the point of making her cry.

Seeing that she was about to finish the cake, he panicked a little and grabbed her small hand, which was still covered in cake. "Don't eat anymore. What if you're allergic to mangoes?"

Qiao Mian stared at the man's cold and indifferent face, a desolate smile curving her lips. "Mr. Huo, last time you deliberately staged an elevator accident to test whether I had claustrophobia, but did you consider whether I might actually be afraid, or even suffocate to death in an accident?"

"This time, you're forcing me to eat cake again. But have you considered what might happen if I'm actually allergic to mangoes? Could I die from an allergic reaction?"

"Don't you care at all about the lives of others in order to achieve your goals?"

As she said this, she lowered her eyes and glanced at her fair arm, which had not developed any allergic rash, finding it both laughable and infuriating.

Huo Yanbei just fed her a piece of mango, and for some reason, she didn't have an allergic reaction...

You should know that she has a severe allergy to mangoes; even a tiny bit will cause her to break out in rashes and have difficulty breathing…

However, at this moment, she did not experience any itching, pain, or difficulty breathing.

She glared at him angrily, as if she had just escaped a near-death experience: "Mr. Huo, did you see clearly? I'm not allergic. Now, can you let me go?"

Tears streamed down her face as she said these words.

Huo Yanbei stared blankly at the woman's face, which showed no signs of allergies, his mood extremely gloomy.

In particular, seeing her glaring at him resentfully and her tearful face, he felt a dull ache in his heart and pulled her into his arms.

Qiao Mian struggled and fought, but he held her even tighter.

The man's large, warm hands gently stroked her trembling shoulders and back as she cried, his thin lips lightly kissing her temples, his voice tinged with a barely perceptible nervousness: "I'm sorry..."

Upon hearing the words "I'm sorry," all of Qiao Mian's anger and struggle vanished in an instant.

She knew how aloof and cold Huo Yanbei was.

Once, when he was punished by Old Master Huo to kneel in the ancestral hall and subjected to family discipline, his back was beaten until the skin was torn and the flesh was bruised, but he never uttered a single soft word.

He just... apologized to her?

When he uttered those three words, her heart felt as if it had been torn apart by something sharp, a dull ache lingering within her.

She buried her face in the man's broad shoulder, biting him hard through his clothes, and sobbed, "I'm really not your sister, A-Wu... Can you please stop treating me like this?"

Huo Yanbei tightened his arms around her, burying his pale face against her neck, his voice low and husky: "But I hope you are..."

"What...?"

Qiao Mian looked up in a daze.

The man gently pulled her away from his embrace, cupped her face in his warm palms, and gazed into her eyes with his deep, dark eyes. "Qiao Mian, I've said it before, in front of me, you are my sister, A Wu."