Lu Tingchen's disguise was excellent. His tone was relaxed and his eyes were gentle, as if the man who had been brewing a thunderstorm in the study just now was just an illusion. He listened patiently to Su Wanwan's vision of the honeymoon destination and could even offer a few pertinent suggestions, discussing which was more romantic, the sunset over the Aegean Sea or the aurora on the Nordic snowfield.
But Su Wanwan is no fool.
She could feel his arm around her waist, a little tighter than usual, with an imperceptible tightness. She could smell the very faint cigar odor lingering on him - something he would only touch occasionally when he was extremely agitated or needed to think highly. The most important thing is that she knows him. Qin Hao's hurried and solemn expression could never have been just "a little trouble".
He didn't say it, so she didn't ask.
She just smiled and followed his topic to discuss the honeymoon, but her fingers unconsciously curled up and her nails gently pinched her palm.
After trying on the wedding dress and seeing off the staff, the manor seemed to return to tranquility. But Su Wanwan could sense that beneath this tranquility lay a certain low pressure of an impending storm. The bodyguard's position was slightly adjusted, and the Angle of the surveillance camera seemed to have been recalibrated as well.
In the evening, Lu Tingchen received a phone call and walked to the study to deal with it. Su Wanwan held her sleeping son in her arms, gently placed him in the crib, covered him with the small quilt, and bent down to leave a tender kiss on his smooth forehead.
Looking at her son's peaceful sleeping face, the soft light in her eyes was gradually replaced by a determined expression.
She turned around without hesitation and walked straight towards the study.
The door of the study was not closed tightly and was slightly ajar. She heard Lu Tingchen's low voice, cold and resolute: "..." Sniper point in position... All import and export controls... The bait has been set up... What I want is a living person to ask behind the scenes..."
She gently pushed the door open.
Lu Tingchen, with his back to the door, was standing by the huge floor-to-ceiling window on the phone. Hearing a commotion, he turned his head sharply and saw it was her. His words stopped abruptly, and a trace of sharpness and surprise flashed in his eyes that he couldn't completely hide, but it soon turned into his usual mildness.
What's wrong? Did Chenchen wake up?" He quickly said to the other end of the phone, "Follow the plan," and ended the call, walking towards her.
"No, he slept very soundly." " Su Wanwan calmly looked at him, walked into the study and gently closed the door with her back hand.
Isolated from the outside world, only the two of them remained in the study. The air seemed to have frozen.
Lu Tingchen looked at her without saying a word, as if assessing her mood and purpose.
Su Wanwan walked up to him, raised her head and looked straight into his deep eyes. Without beating around the bush, she got straight to the point: "Tingchen, tell me, will something happen on the wedding day?" "
Lu Tingchen's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. He looked at her in silence and did not deny it immediately.
His silence itself is an answer.
Su Wanwan's heart sank, but her voice remained steady: "Is it Zhao Jing?" She ran away and wanted to do something at the wedding, right?
Lu Tingchen took a deep breath, knowing that he could no longer hide it. He reached out and held her slightly cool hand, noticing that her fingertips were trembling slightly, but her eyes were exceptionally determined, showing no sign of retreat or panic.
"Yes." " He finally admitted, his voice deep, "We found her trace, but she was very cunning and disappeared again." The intercepted information indicates that she or the person behind her might have resorted to violence on the wedding day.
"So, you weren't dealing with official business just now," Su Wanwan's voice was very soft. "You were setting up a trap, a trap that used our wedding as bait, right?"
Lu Tingchen's heart was gripped hard. He would rather she cry and be scared than see her so calmly and word by word dissect the plan he least wanted her to know.
"Wanwan, I..." He tried to explain but was interrupted by Su Wanwan.
What do you need me to do? She asked, her tone so calm that it didn't seem like she was discussing a conspiracy that might endanger herself. "Or, in your plan, what role do I need to play?" A bride who knows nothing and only needs to be protected? A frightened bait?"
Lu Tingchen was stunned. He had anticipated all her reactions, but not this one.
Su Wanwan held his hand backwards, not with much force, but with an undeniable strength: "Tingchen, we are one." If the storm is bound to come, I don't want to hide behind you with my eyes covered. I want to face it together with you. Tell me your plan. Tell me, how can I cooperate with you so that we can both catch them and protect ourselves and Chenchen to the greatest extent?
Her eyes were astonishingly bright, filled with worry and tension, but more so with trust and a determination to fight alongside him.
Looking at her like this, Lu Tingchen felt as if the hardest part of his heart had been struck hard, and a scalding hot current welled up. His little wife, at some point, has grown so powerful and dazzling.
He no longer hesitated.
He pulled her to the desk and brought up the three-dimensional security map of the manor and the layout map of the wedding process on the plane.
My plan is like this... He began to elaborate in detail and without reservation on his layout, every link, every backup plan, possible risk points, and countermeasures.
Su Wanwan listened extremely attentively. From time to time, she would raise one or two questions and even point out a time gap that was easily overlooked in the process.
Here, in the corridor from the lounge to the main stage of the ceremony, the decorative screens on both sides may become blind spots. It is necessary to increase mobile surveillance or adjust the patrol frequency of bodyguards. She pointed to a spot on the drawing and analyzed it calmly.
Lu Tingchen looked at her in surprise, and then a glint of admiration flashed in his eyes. He immediately noted this down: "OK, adjust right away."
A bloody plan that he was supposed to carry alone turned into a battle map of offense and defense that the couple worked out together under the warm light of the study.
They discussed the details and refined the plan, like comrades-in-arms fighting side by side rather than in a relationship of protection and being protected.
When the final plan was finalized, both of them heaved a slight sigh of relief.
Lu Tingchen looked at her and couldn't help but reach out and pin a strand of her broken hair behind her ear. His voice carried an unprecedented softness and pride: "Are you afraid?" "
Su Wanwan nodded honestly: "A little." But more often than not... Rest assured." She leaned into his arms, listening to his steady and powerful heartbeat. "Because I know you're not alone, and neither am I." "Together, there's nothing to be afraid of." "
Lu Tingchen held her tightly, as if he wanted to blend her into his very flesh and blood.
"Well, let's go together."
All the worries and fears, at this moment, seemed to be dissolved by this tacit understanding and shared courage.
Outside the study, the night was deepening and dangers were lurking everywhere.
In the study, they stood embracing each other, becoming each other's most solid alliance.
The wedding bell has yet to ring, but the clarion call of another battle has already sounded in silence.
(To be continued...)"