Victor’s grip on her hand intensified, nearly engulfing her entire hand in his palm. His breathing quickened as he edged closer, gaze locked on hers, leaning in—

This momentum… What was Victor attempting?

Alarieka’s scalp prickled, sensing she’d overplayed her hand. Noticing Grandpa Shi’s expression from her periphery, she instantly burst into “tears of joy”: “Really? You truly mean it?”

Victor nodded.

“Wonderful!” Alarieka cried out while throwing herself into Victor’s arms. Alarieka was absolutely stunning… If she didn’t cover up soon, she’d lose her composure in front of Grandpa Shi. Alarieka could barely hold back her laughter. If she had her phone, she’d snap a picture of Shi Yao like this to show Jaylene later—she’d tease him endlessly until he blushed crimson.

Shi Yao held the woman tightly against him, lowering his head with a contented smile that reached his eyes. Pure satisfaction radiated from him. After a long moment, he looked up, his expression souring again.

“Old man, see? This is the woman I want to marry. No one else.”

Grandpa Shi snorted heavily. “Shameless!”

Shi Yao was in too good a mood to bother with his words. “Take the wine Alarieka brought. Consider it a gift from your future granddaughter-in-law.”

With that, he pulled the nearly hysterical woman out of his arms, threaded his fingers through Alarieka’s, and led her out of the VIP Lounge.

Once in the car, Alarieka burst into uncontrollable laughter. “Shi Yao, you should’ve seen yourself! Hilarious…” Still giggling, she eagerly pulled out her phone to share with Jaylene.

Shi Yao reached over and snatched it away. “Don’t broadcast everything.”

Alarieka stopped laughing, studying his face intently. Somehow, he looked even grumpier than he had in the VIP Lounge. She frowned. “Why the long face? Didn’t I play my part well? Now your grandpa thinks we’re really dating. You’ve got the perfect excuse to reject that fiancee your family picked.”

Shi Yao pressed his lips together, starting the car silently and merging into traffic. Precisely because Alarieka’s performance had been flawless, he was angry at himself.

Ignoring her question, he grumbled, “Where do you want to eat? My treat.”

Alarieka was starving. Food instantly pushed everything else from her mind. “That Cantonese place we went to before. I want dim sum.”

Sitting across from Shi Yao, she popped a shrimp dumpling into her mouth. After swallowing, she prodded, “So… that girl your grandpa mentioned sounded nice. Why refuse?”

Shi Yao’s already dark expression worsened. He grabbed an unused fork and tapped her head. “Just eat. Don’t pry.”

Alarieka side-eyed him. “Ooh, secrets.”

He slid another bamboo steamer of dumplings toward her. “Even food can’t shut you up.”

Alarieka finished all the shrimp dumplings and chicken feet on the table in one go, wiped her mouth, and reapplied her bright lipstick. “Finished eating, time to go to the company.”

Yao handed her a napkin and chuckled: “It’s not the weekend, what’s at the company?”

Alarieka pouted, rubbed her shoulders: “What else? The game just launched, must be another bug.” As she spoke, her eyes fixed tightly on Yao.

Yao smiled and teased: “A bug you haven’t found, Alarieka the great engineer? That bug must be something.”

Alarieka glared at him: “You know what I’m going to say.”

Yao clapped his hands, shook his head regretfully: “I work under our boss Alarieka, if she asks for help, I have to agree, what else can I do?”

Alarieka walked around the table, hooked Yao’s neck without a word, pulling him along: “Stop joking, hurry back to write code, or the boss won’t pay you!” Alarieka was a head shorter than Yao, he bent down awkwardly as she pulled him out of the restaurant.