Chapter 3

Lu Xinyi tucked some stray locks behind her ear and stared at the calming waves hitting the body of the cruise ship. The warmth of the wind gently caressed her flushed cheeks while her eyes darted around the top deck of the cruise to see if people aren’t crowding the place.
She felt numb and dead inside and the last thing she wanted to have right now was a company of a stranger. The tears she had contained from the past days made her tired and exhausted. She laid on her bed for hours sobbing her heart out. Why did her life hate her that much anyway?
First, it took the life of her father and then her mother followed shortly. If it wasn’t for her grandmother who passed away last year, she wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up living on the streets.
A tear fell from her right eye which she quickly wiped away. There was no point of crying over it again. It didn’t matter as life itself seemed to hate her very existence. It would never get any better, in fact, Lu Xinyi was sure that it will get worse for her after her break up from that bastard.
Lu Xinyi was sure that it wasn’t the first time Gong Yijun and Meng Jiao had sex together. Maybe she wasn’t aware but as she remembered the previous reasons kept on using for the last months they were together, it did make sense to her. The affair had started a long time ago.
Her attention was caught when a couple… no, not really a couple. Lu Xinyi noticed that the deep frown etched on the tall handsome man’s face while the woman beside him, desperately clinging on his arm to get his attention.
She could hear the woman begging for the man to take her for dinner tonight. Lu Xinyi fought the urge to roll her eyes at the woman’s antics. It was clear that the man wasn’t even interested with her so why was she trying hard to trap the man with her flirtatious advances.
“Ms. Xia, I told you I’m not here to date you. Whatever did my grandmother told you, I assure you that it has nothing to do with me.” The man said with a hint of irritation on his voice.
When Lu Xinyi heard it, she felt like a stream of cold water poured through her as if piercing her soul. She decided to ignore them. It wasn’t like she had to meddle with their affairs. Her eyes went back on the waves that calm her senses while watching the sunset from afar.
Something about the man made her shattered heart skipped a beat. His cold dark eyes drew her unto him. It wasn’t as if there was anything else to break in her life but Lu Xinyi thought that it would be the best to ignore him and go on with her miserable life.
“I don’t believe you. You’re lying. You have no woman in your life and you haven’t seen with one for years!” The woman broke her hold on the man’s arm and glared at him. He was supposed to like her, to be charmed by her. Why was he looked like he would prefer to be somewhere else than to be with her?
Shen Yi didn’t like the expression on her eyes. Was she really that fool not to notice that he wasn’t interested? He was torn between jumping off the ship or tolerate this woman until he could shake some sense to his family about setting him up with brainless idiots. Why can’t his family understand that he likes being single? He liked it very much and had no plans on taking a wife very soon.
“I’m meeting with someone,” he flatly stated. He needed to ditch this gold digging leech who attached herself to him. He wasn’t planning to throw some money to please her.
“Lies! It’s just your reason to get rid of me!” the woman exclaimed with her fists clenching hard on the sides of her red dress. The curls of her locks bounced behind her small back.
Shen Yi had enough of her nonsense. She’d been testing his patience with her incessant chatting and whining and his poor ears couldn’t take it anymore. He buried his hands on the pockets of his coat and looked ahead.
His eyes saw something that he wasn’t expecting to see. There was a young woman standing at the top deck busy with her sightseeing. Her simple green sundress complimented her pale skin. Her long straight brown hair danced and swayed as the summer breeze hit her body. She was small and slim, even her chest was flat like pancakes.
He had to admit though that she was pretty but she looked so pitiful that reminds him of a lost kitten that was abandoned by her own owner on the busy streets of the city. It was bugging him, not that he cares but this young woman looking miserable was bothering him.
In his despair to get rid of the irritating woman on his side, Shen Yi decided to seek Miss Pancakes help. He didn’t want this woman’s presence anymore and at the same time, he needed someone to help him get rid of her until his cruise vacation ended. He dearly wished that Miss Pancakes wouldn’t reject him.
“There she is,” Shen Yi said and walked towards the young woman.
Lu Xinyi was surprised and was frozen on her spot when the man she saw arguing with another woman, stride towards her and gave her a slight peck on her cheek. Her eyes wide as she holds her hat on her head so it wouldn’t get lost as a sudden gust of wind hit the two of them.
Shen Yi leaned forward and placed a hand on her waist and drew her closer. His warm breath tickled the side of her face as he whispered on to her ear.
“Please help me, Miss Pancakes.”