Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

The distance between the two was reduced to less than a foot.

Lin Mo's aura surged forth, instantly enveloping Chu Mengyao.

The scent was exactly the same as the one she smelled in his arms last night.

Chu Mengyao's breath hitched, and her body stiffened like a stone.

She instinctively tried to back away, but behind her was the cold, hard jade barrel wall, leaving her nowhere to retreat.

"What...what are you going to do...?"

Chu Mengyao's voice trembled, and her eyes darted away in a panic, unable to meet Lin Mo's gaze.

"what?"

Lin Mo's gaze was completely undisguised.

From her flushed cheeks, it slid down to her delicate collarbone, and then to the breathtakingly white skin pressed against her arm.

He slowly leaned down and whispered in Chu Mengyao's ear, his warm breath sounding like a lover's whisper.

"I just wanted to remind Strategist Chu that blocking like this is useless."

"After all, didn't we both see everything last night?"

"ah!!!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Mengyao bounced in the water and shook her head frantically.

"No! No! Nothing happened last night!"

She was so anxious that she became incoherent, completely losing her usual calm and composure.

"You're mistaken! You must have had a strange dream!"

To make her words sound more believable, she quickly added.

"I...I had a strange dream too! Yes! Just like that! We just happened to have the same strange dream!"

Once the words were out, even Chu Mengyao herself found the reason absurd and laughable.

But right now she can't care about anything else; she can only cling to this logic.

"Oh, it's a dream."

Lin Mo's tone was unreadable.

He almost burst out laughing as he watched the woman in the water frantically trying to cover herself with a few flower petals while muttering incoherently.

dream?

Sister, are you dreaming? Your home even has online multiplayer functionality?

Lin Mo thought to himself that he was complaining, but he kept a straight face and instead went along with her words, showing a look of sudden realization.

"It was all a dream..."

He sighed softly and slowly straightened up.

Then, he turned around decisively, leaving Chu Mengyao in the bathtub with a broad yet somewhat aloof back view.

"I thought that after last night... things could get to the next level between us."

"I didn't expect that; I was overthinking it."

"Since Strategist Chu says so, I respect your opinion."

Lin Mo's figure was desolate, and his voice became cold.

"Let's just treat it as a dream. From now on, we'll still be colleagues and ordinary friends."

"It's late, so I won't disturb Strategist Chu's rest any longer."

After saying that, he turned and left without any hesitation.

Looking at Lin Mo's back, which seemed to say "This is the end," and hearing his heartbreaking words, "Just friends."

Chu Mengyao's heart clenched for no apparent reason.

An indescribable sense of panic and loss instantly overwhelmed her.

How could this happen?

He clearly accepted his own explanation, the matter could finally be put on hold, and he saved face.

But why... do I feel empty inside, like a piece of me has been ripped out?

For a moment, Chu Mengyao didn't know what to do.

Lin Mo had already stepped out of the bathroom and was about to disappear behind the screen.

Now that he's gone, will he and I really go back to being just "ordinary friends"?

Will he never smile at me again?

I won't tease myself with that infuriating yet heart-pounding tone anymore.

Thinking about all this, Chu Mengyao's mind was in complete turmoil.

"Wait...wait a minute!"

Almost instinctively, she blurted it out.

The voice was soft, with a slight tremor, but it was clear enough in the quiet room.

Lin Mo stopped in his tracks.

He slowly turned around, the desolation on his face disappearing, leaving only a calm expression.

He walked back to the tub and looked down at the woman in the water, whose only visible feature was a pair of panicked eyes.

"What is it? Does Military Advisor Chu have any further instructions?"

The tone was polite, yet distant.

It was this estrangement that became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Chu Mengyao let him look at her without flinching.

Water droplets dripped from her soaked hair, hitting the water's surface and striking her heart.

silence.

A long silence.

She seemed to be engaged in a battle of wits, biting her lower lip until it turned white.

Ultimately, the fear of losing it overwhelmed all shame.

She gave up.

"I...I didn't mean that..."

Chu Mengyao's voice was pitifully soft, with a strong nasal tone.

"I just... I don't know what last night... what... what did that mean..."

"and……"

Her voice lowered further as she said this.

The blush that had finally faded from her face surged up again, spreading from her neck all the way to her chest, turning her face into an alluring pink.

Seeing her conflicted expression, Lin Mo patiently asked her a question.

"And what?"

Chu Mengyao's face turned even redder.

She took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

"And last night... I was the one who took the initiative the whole time!"

"You...you didn't take the initiative at all!"

"I...I don't know if your feelings for me are...whether they're real or not!"

After saying her last words, Chu Mengyao could no longer hold on and with a "whoosh," she buried her entire face in the water.

A string of bubbling bubbles rose to the surface of the water.

She dared not look at Lin Mo anymore, only daring to peek out from between the petals to observe his reaction.

Oh no, I've never been so humiliated in my life!

However, the expected ridicule or silence did not occur.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo was first taken aback, then almost burst out laughing on the spot.

So, this is what this ice queen was so conflicted about?

Feeling guilty for not being "proactive" enough last night, and thus doubting your own sincerity?

This thought process is really...

Kind of cute.

"so."

Lin Mo crouched down, trying to make himself look at the "submarine" in the water that only dared to show its eyes. He could no longer suppress the smile on his lips.

"So you want me to... prove my feelings?"

Upon hearing his voice, Chu Mengyao glanced at him quickly with her eyes, which were partially hidden among the water ripples and petals, before immediately looking away like a startled deer.

She didn't speak, but nodded very slightly underwater.

The movement was so light it was almost invisible.

But Lin Mo saw it.

He saw the anxiety deep in her eyes, and also the glimmer of hope hidden beneath her shame and indignation.

She just needs a definite answer.

"OK."

Lin Mo slowly stood up, his smile becoming meaningful.

Chu Mengyao, sitting in the bathtub, felt her heart skip a beat for no apparent reason.

Lin Mo walked up to her unhurriedly, not rushing to do anything as she had imagined.

Instead, he reached out and gently plucked a strand of her wet hair that clung to her cheek with his fingertips.

"Since you want to know..."

He twirled a strand of hair around his fingertip, his voice low, each word like a feather, gently scratching her eardrum.

"...Then tonight, I'll let you know clearly and plainly...what kind of feelings I have for you."