Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 113

Chapter 113 Take Our Separate Ways
As long as it didn’t rain, Nina would go downstairs for a walk every day after dinner. She would walk from home to the park beside the street, stroll in the park for a while and then head home slowly. It wouldn’t take long, usually about half an hour.

After putting on her small satchel and hat, she closed the door and went downstairs slowly. After walking out of the unit door, she would usually turn to the right and then left, walking around the building in front of her. She walked straight ahead and would arrive at the entrance to the park. But today, after coming out of the unit door, she turned left and walked around the building where she lived, heading in the opposite direction. She walked faster and faster as the dim yellow streetlights shone on her face. She looked a little nervous because she was constantly glancing at both sides; her lips were tightly pursed, and her hands tightly clutched her small satchel.

Suddenly, she frowned and walked even faster. Her hand slowly reached into her small satchel and grabbed something. Due to her nervousness, a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead. She stopped at the second corner and waited for a moment. Then, she suddenly rushed out to spray something on the man following her.

Over the past few days, she had always felt that someone was following her. She had suddenly turned around to check several times, but failed to even see a shadow. She thought that she had thought too much and it was just her illusion. However, this feeling hadn’t disappeared since that certain day when it suddenly attacked her. She was still uneasy, so she bought a pepper spray online and carried it with her every day. It was always better to be prepared.

Today the feeling she felt was the strongest ever. She almost heard the footsteps behind her. So, she did not follow her usual route. Instead, she circled around the back of the building and suddenly turned around. The man didn’t have time to hide, all he could do was to cover his face and let out a miserable scream…

Nina was stunned. Why did his voice sound so familiar? The man’s back was facing against the light, but with the light from a distant window, she could vaguely tell that he was tall. Nina’s heart sank somehow and she ran forward without saying a word. The man behind her heard her footsteps and rubbed his eyes as he chased after her. He staggered because he could not see the way clearly. The only thing he knew was that he could not let her get away. He definitely could not let her get away this time.

Nina was familiar with the neighborhood, so she made a lot turns quickly as she pierced through the maze-like buildings. However, she did not manage to get rid of the man. His steady footsteps were still following her. Nina was a little anxious. At this time, she saw a courtyard with a door that was sunken inwards a lot. She quickly dodged inside and stood close to the door. The man’s figure flashed past her. Nina stood still and listened carefully. Only when the sound of footsteps gradually disappeared did she slowly walk out, covering her pounding heart with her hand.

The moon was hiding in the clouds. The stars were as faint as shadows. One could only find one sparkling star when he or she looked for it very carefully. Darkness prevailed, and only faint light shone out from the windows of the buildings.

Nina heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She reached out and pulled the clothes on her back. There was also a thin layer of sweat on her back. It was very uncomfortable with her clothes sticking to her skin. She wanted to go back to take a shower and change her clothes immediately so that she wouldn’t catch a cold. However, when she turned around, she found that the man was standing behind her silently, as if he had descended from the sky, making her freeze.

The man slowly walked over, but with a nervous expression. “Hi, Nina, long time no see!”

Nina slowly raised the corners of her mouth and revealed a smile. After all, she was once a secretary to the general manager. In just a short moment, she could already face him calmly. “Hi, Boss Shao, what a coincidence…”

Shao Boqing kept a meter away from Nina, his eyes fixed on her, and his voice was a little hoarse. “You knew it wasn’t a coincidence, didn’t you just spray something on me?”

“Really? That was you?” Nina said in surprise, “I thought it was a bad guy. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”

“What did you spray on me?” Shao Boqing asked, “My eyes still hurt. I can’t open them wide.”

Nina walked over and looked at his eyes, which were indeed red. A man could actually be a little scary if he stood in the dark with a pair of scarlet eyes. Nina was suddenly a little afraid. She took a step back and withdrew one foot. But Shao Boqing grabbed her hand and said, “You still want to run away?”

“Why will I do that?” Nina’s voice was very calm. “Why will I run away?” However, she avoided eye contact with Shao Boqing and tried to shake off his hand. “Boss Shao, why are you grabbing my hand?”

“Why did you run away?” Shao Boqing asked her in a deep voice.

“You mean just now?” Nina said, “Because I thought you were a bad guy. You got sprayed but still chased after me. What kind of person can I think of you as?”

“I’m asking why did you resign from the Gu Group? Why did you move? Why did you say you would leave G City but then showed up here? Why did you change your phone number? Why didn’t you contact me?”

Nina opened her mouth and was about to speak, but Shao Boqing added, “Don’t say that you just want to change a lifestyle. Is the lifestyle you want to live here and do nothing every day, only come out for a walk after dinner? Nina, tell me, what are you doing?”

“Boss Shao, were you really following me?” Nina was a little embarrassed and angry. “No wonder I always felt that someone was following me these days. So it was you? What were you trying to do?”

“Don’t change the topic,” Shao Boqing pulled her closer and said with a deep and gruff voice, “answer my questions first.”

Being pulled by him, Nina staggered and almost fell into Shao Boqing’s embrace. She hurriedly reached out her hand to support herself against his body, maintaining a safe distance with him.

Nina remained silent and only glared at him. Shao Boqing did not cave in and stared back at her with an even more fierce gaze. After all, the general manager and the secretary weren’t on the same level. As their eyes met, Nina gradually lost ground. She started to lose more and more confidence, but she still said angrily, “It’s none of your business!”

“None of my business? Then whose business is it?”

“Who do you think you are? Why do you meddle with my life?”

“I’m your boss.”

Nina sneered. “You’re wrong. You were my boss. Right now, we’re just strangers. Please show some respect and let go of me. Let’s take our separate ways in the future!”

She finished her last sentence in a clear and resounding tone. Shao Boqing laughed instead of getting angry. “Take our separate ways? Strangers? Sure enough, the friendship means nothing once people part. You want to break off all the ties with me, don’t you? No wonder you changed your number and didn’t even contact Zhou Ting. Are you going to cut off contact with all of us? I didn’t expect you to be such a heartless woman! ”

Nina also laughed. “Boss Shao, people come and people go. Entering the company and us becoming colleagues are fated. But when people leave the company, they take their own paths. Who cares about fate anymore? Everyone has their own lives. If someone doesn’t want to be your friend anymore, do you still want to force that person? Haven’t you heard of a saying goes that a melon that is forcibly twisted off is rarely sweet?”

Shao Boqing stared deeply at her. “Nina, you’ve changed. You’ve changed in every way except that you’re still so glib.”

“You’re wrong, Boss Shao. Right now, this is the real me.” Nina suddenly showed an enchanting smile. “I used to cater to your taste, wear clothes that you like, put on makeup that you love, and even speak in a tone that you prefer. To be honest, I’m tired of that. I don’t want to pretend anymore, so I decided to leave.”

“You’re lying.” Shao Boqing glared at her.

“I’m not.” Nina stared back at him without showing weakness.

In the darkness, two pairs of eyes were shining with emotions. Their breathing with two different rhythms could be heard clearly. The two of them looked at each other in the night breeze. The moon came out of the clouds and cast faint light on the ground. Nina only saw that Shao Boqing narrowed his eyes for a second and then leaned over to her with his entire body…

Nina was dumbfounded to realize that Shao Boqing was actually kissing her and forcefully clutching the back of her head. Perhaps because he was kissing her too hard, their teeth collided. Without knowing whose lips were bitten through, a sweet smell of blood permeated between their lips and teeth. The strange taste woke Nina up at once. She pushed Shao Boqing away and raised her hand to slap him. The clear slap sounded exceptionally loud in the silent night. Shao Boqing stood there motionlessly with a confused expression, as if Nina was slapping somebody else.

“Shao Boqing!” Nina shouted at him, “Are you crazy? Don’t think you can do anything to me now that I don’t work for Gu Group anymore. I’m not the kind of woman you think I am! You pervert, lunatic, hooligan, madman, get lost! Now!” Nina scolded him and got more and more excited, her chest heaving violently.

Someone in the opposite building looked out of the window and took a look at them. The person probably felt that nothing serious was happening, so he then shrank his head and closed the window.

“Sorry, Nina,” said the man in the darkness after a long time, his voice bitter and hoarse, “I… I’ve probably lost my mind. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m sorry.”

Nina gasped for a while and then slowly calmed down. Her voice also softened, “Leave, just pretend that nothing has happened tonight. Even if we meet in the future, let’s pretend we don’t know each other.”

Shao Boqing kept his head half down and looked very depressed. “Why do you hate me so much? I always thought that after working together for five years, there should at least be some friendship between us, right?”

Nina said indifferently, “There used to be, but now there isn’t. You just spoiled the last bit of my good impression on you.”

Shao Boqing sighed and slowly turned around. But he did not move. After standing there for a moment, he turned back and looked at her. “You didn’t quit because of me, did you?”

Nina just looked at him coldly without saying anything.

Shao Boqing paused for a moment and added, “You quit because you hate me, didn’t you?”

Nina smiled faintly. “It’s rare for you to reflect upon yourself like this. That’s kind of an improvement.”

“Do you really hate me? Were you pretending all along in the past?” Shao Boqing asked, still unwilling to give up.

“Not really,” Nina said, “actually I hated myself. I hated how I turned myself into someone else I don’t like to please you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you didn’t like it?”

“Because of the job,” Nina said in a relaxed tone, “the position of the general manager’s secretary can offer me good salary and benefits. It’s a pity to lose the job all of a sudden. It took me a long time to make the decision.”

“I see,” Shao Boqing nodded, “so you were compromising and pretending all the time, but I didn’t know at all.”

“Now that you know, can you leave?”

Shao Boqing laughed at himself in ridicule and said, “Turns out I’m an annoying person, but I don’t know that myself.” Then, without another word, he turned around and left.

A long time after that, Nina was still standing where she was. The oxygen in the air seemed to have thinned out and she felt it hard to even breathe. The buildings around seemed to be crushing down on her. She felt a sense of despair as if she was about to face a calamity…