The private resort wasn't even listed on public maps.
Lin Yaoyue stared out the tinted window of the car as they passed through a discreet security gate, where guards barely spoke and palm trees lined the curved driveway like something out of a film set.
"This place is ridiculous," she muttered.
Beside her, Jiang Zeyan didn't look up from his tablet.
"It's quiet. Secure. And isolated. Perfect for avoiding press."
"Perfect for being murdered in the woods," she added under her breath.
He said nothing, but she caught the briefest twitch at the corner of his mouth.
The car came to a stop in front of a sleek villa made of stone, glass, and rich wood. A staff member in white gloves opened the door and bowed slightly.
"Welcome, Mr. Jiang. Miss Lin."
Yaoyue stepped out, squinting into the sunlight. The air smelled like salt and citrus. Somewhere in the distance, waves broke against the cliffs.
For a fake couple, the weekend felt very real.
---
The villa was massive.
Two bedrooms, one on either side of a shared living space with floor-to-ceiling windows and a heated infinity pool outside. The interior looked like it belonged in a magazine. Everything was perfectly arranged, color-coordinated, and unnervingly quiet.
Yaoyue dropped her overnight bag onto the edge of the couch and glanced at Zeyan.
"So… are we supposed to act couple-y the whole time or just when people are watching?"
He loosened his tie and headed toward his room. "When necessary."
"Define necessary."
He paused in the hallway, glancing back at her. "Don't flirt with the staff."
"Wow. That's what you're worried about?"
He didn't answer.
She rolled her eyes. "Relax. I'm too tired to pretend to like anyone today."
---
Later that evening, a private dinner was served on the terrace overlooking the ocean. The staff disappeared after setting the table, leaving them alone under a sky streaked with deep orange and fading gold.
Yaoyue poked at her grilled fish and vegetables.
"No wine?" she asked.
Zeyan lifted a glass of sparkling water. "We're still on display."
She leaned back in her chair. "What are we even doing here? Everyone who matters already saw us at the gala."
"Tang Min wants a reaction. A public confirmation. Photos from this weekend will circulate among investors and board members."
"So we're giving her what she wants?"
"No," he said, "we're staying ahead of her."
Yaoyue scoffed. "You say that like it's a game."
"It is," he replied calmly. "To her, at least."
She looked at him across the table. The ocean breeze lifted strands of his hair, but his face remained unreadable. Even now, even here, he was composed. Always composed.
"Do you ever turn it off?" she asked.
"What?"
"The performance."
He didn't blink. "Do you?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out.
Because the truth was, she didn't know anymore.
---
That night, she stepped out onto the terrace alone. The moonlight glinted off the surface of the pool, and the silence felt heavier than usual.
She stood at the edge of the railing, arms folded, staring into the dark sea.
Her thoughts were tangled, about Tang Min, the gala, the trip, Zeyan's silence, and her own reaction to things she shouldn't care about.
This wasn't real. She kept telling herself that.
But lately, it was getting harder to believe.
She didn't hear him approach, but she sensed him.
Zeyan stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, eyes on the water. He wore a soft grey sweater now, still impossibly polished, but less distant than usual.
"You can't sleep either?" she asked.
He shook his head once. "Too quiet."
"I thought you liked quiet."
"Sometimes."
She looked at him sideways. "You're different out here."
He didn't deny it. "There are fewer expectations."
They stood there in the silence for a while, the wind wrapping around them gently, the air filled with unsaid things.
Then, after a long pause, she said, "Tang Min scares me a little."
"She should," he said simply. "She's smart, resourceful, and used to winning."
"Sounds like someone else I know."
He glanced at her then, a flicker of something in his expression. Not cold. Not calculating.
Just quiet recognition.
"I'm not trying to win," he said.
"What are you trying to do?"
"I'm trying to end something... without starting something worse."
She nodded slowly, though she didn't fully understand.
He moved to lean beside her on the railing, close enough that she could feel the heat from his arm, even though they didn't touch.
And for a while, they just stood there, watching the sea move in the dark.
Not acting. Not talking.
Just being.
---
Inside her room, later, Yaoyue lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling.
There had been a moment, brief, fragile, where she had wanted to say something else. Ask more. Push past the surface.
But she hadn't.
Because she wasn't sure what she was hoping to find.
She told herself it didn't matter.
But her heart beat a little too fast for that to be true.
---
In his own room, Jiang Zeyan sat by the window, a tablet untouched on the table beside him.
He should have been reviewing reports.
Instead, his mind kept drifting back to the terrace. To the quiet between them. To the fact that he hadn't pulled away when she stood close.
He was usually so good at maintaining distance.
But something about her presence... blurred lines he had drawn long ago.
He closed his eyes, letting the sound of the waves fill the space around him.
She was only here for a month.
That was the rule.
He reminded himself of it again, and again, until he finally fell asleep.