Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 88 - Heaven Wants Me Dead
Chapter 88: Heaven Wants Me Dead
Ye Chuqing didn’t dare touch alcohol again for quite a long time. She had come to understand all too well that alcohol really was the easiest thing to ruin everything.
To talk about what happened, we’d have to start back at the end of June.
Right in the middle of summer.
Ye Chuqing had attended a birthday party—though to call it a “friend’s” birthday would be generous. It was really just a birthday celebration for some wealthy young heiress from the upper social circle.
Ye Chuqing had grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth, but her personality was very different from most of those socialite types. She didn’t get along with them, didn’t normally hang out with them, and only went to the party out of boredom and because her mother kept pressuring her to socialize.
She hadn’t expected someone to be so tone-deaf as to invite both her and her ex-boyfriend to the same party.
She had met that ex during her time studying abroad, and their breakup had been less than amicable. Seeing him again made things instantly awkward.
Those “plastic” girlfriends clearly wanted to watch her make a fool of herself. One of them even made a performative apology in front of everyone: “Oh sweetie, look at me—I totally forgot about you and Wei Yuanhe. You don’t mind, do you?”
Ye Chuqing sneered inwardly but kept a flawless smile: “Of course not. We broke up on good terms. Why would I mind?”
“Oh, great. I heard Wei Yuanhe’s girlfriend will be joining later too.”
Ye Chuqing: “…”
A real breakup wasn’t scary—it was the one who ended up humiliated who had to be embarrassed.
Her ex showed up with his new girlfriend, while she was single. Even though she no longer had the slightest interest in Wei Yuanhe, she couldn’t stand the idea of everyone in that room just waiting to laugh at her. No way she was giving them that satisfaction.
One of the plastic friends asked, “So, Chuqing, do you have a boyfriend now?”
She curved her eyes in a smile and lied without missing a beat, her tone even a little flirtatious: “There’s this up-and-coming young celebrity I’ve taken a liking to. We swapped contacts last time—we’re chatting.”
The plastic friend faked a surprised “Wow!” and teased, “Ooh, sounds like something serious?”
Ye Chuqing waved it off and took a sip of wine: “Nah, just dating for now. I’m not thinking about marriage at the moment.”
After some small talk, the girl finally left, and Ye Chuqing immediately sent a bunch of messages and called over Chen Die, who had just finished attending a wrap party next door.
But Chen Die had to leave eventually. Before she left, Wei Yuanhe’s damned girlfriend had already arrived, so Chen Die helped her send two quick texts to Chen Shao:
[Help.]
[Jinqi Tower 8905.]
The messages looked serious enough to raise alarm—so Chen Shao did show up.
But some time had passed by the time he arrived and opened the door to 8905—Ye Chuqing was already drunk.
When Chen Shao entered, the room went quiet. Everyone turned to look—though they all recognized Chen Shao, they didn’t run in the same circles and weren’t exactly close.
He scanned the room, found Ye Chuqing, and walked straight to her.
His brow was slightly furrowed. He’d run into Chen Die in the hallway and already had a pretty good idea why she’d sent him that distress signal. He grabbed Ye Chuqing by the wrist and said in a low voice, “Ye Chuqing.”
Ye Chuqing was resting her chin on her hand and lazily lifted her eyes.
She’d put on a full face of flawless makeup for the party, and the way she glanced up from that angle made her eyes look even longer and more seductive.
Then, with a delicate pale arm, she hooked it around Chen Shao’s neck and pulled herself close.
She was wearing a spaghetti-strap evening dress, so no regular bra. Whether she was genuinely drunk or just putting on a show in front of the crowd was unclear, but she leaned in very intimately.
Chen Shao’s brow twitched—he could practically feel her chest pressing against him. With his back to the group, he muttered a low curse under his breath.
Fuck.
Chen Shao was convinced.
What kind of woman did this?
Everyone else in the room had no idea how close Chen Shao was to losing it. All they saw was the two of them clinging to each other like long-lost lovers. The crowd was instantly stunned.
When the hell did these two get this close? What even is this relationship??
Chen Shao picked Ye Chuqing up and turned toward the group. His gaze swept across the room and landed briefly on Wei Yuanhe, who frowned slightly. After a moment, Chen Shao looked away and said to the birthday girl, “I’ll take her home.”
The birthday girl was totally dumbfounded. First, Chen Die had shown up, and now her cousin? She just nodded blankly: “Sure, sure.”
But wait—hadn’t Ye Chuqing just said she was flirting with some young celeb? So what was Chen Shao then?
A suitor??
In the elevator on the way down, Chen Shao stuffed Ye Chuqing into the car.
“Where do you live?” he asked.
The drunk was already reclining the seat, getting ready to sleep.
Chen Shao: “…”
Unbelievable.
He clicked his tongue and pulled out his phone to ask Chen Die for her address. But ten minutes passed with no reply—she’d clearly dumped this hot mess on him and ghosted.
With no other choice that late at night, Chen Shao brought Ye Chuqing back to his own place.
He didn’t usually stay at the main Chen residence, preferring an apartment near his office, which wasn’t too far.
Normally, he would’ve just slung her over his shoulder like dead weight. But she was wearing a slip dress today, so he had to handle her carefully.
After parking outside the apartment, he walked around to her side of the car, pulled down her dress to her mid-thigh to keep it in place, and carried her upstairs in his arms.
It was around 10 p.m.—the early-to-bed folks were already home, and the night owls were still out. Luckily, he didn’t run into anyone on the way up, or else he might’ve been mistaken for a perv bringing home some drunken girl.
He unlocked the door, turned on the lights.
The living room lit up instantly. He looked down at Ye Chuqing—and the proximity made him pause. He had always known she was beautiful, but their past interactions were all bickering and headbutting. They’d first met because of a film project and had fought so much that just hearing her name used to give him a headache. He had never taken the time to look at her this closely.
Fair skin. Crimson lips. Cheeks tinged pink from the alcohol.
When not speaking, Ye Chuqing was far more likable.
Chen Shao carried her in, kicked the door shut behind him, swapped his shoes, and walked over to the couch. He gave a soft scoff and muttered to himself: “Count yourself lucky you ran into me tonight. Otherwise, tomorrow morning, you’d have nothing left to do but cry.”
But just as Chen Shao leaned over to put Ye Chuqing on the sofa, she hooked her arm around his neck and pulled him down hard, landing a kiss tasting of alcohol on his lips.
Chen Shao froze on the spot.
But Ye Chuqing wasn’t done. She extended her tongue to trace slowly around his lips. Alone together, with their breaths intertwining, it was easy to spark something explosive.
Chen Shao didn’t move, letting her lick a circle around his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing.
He didn’t dislike it—in fact, he thought the wine on her breath was quite pleasant. It was high-quality red wine.
Ye Chuqing, eyes still closed, finished her little drunken act and flopped back onto the armrest of the sofa. Her chin tilted up high, highlighting her curvy figure.
Chen Shao licked his lips, savoring the taste of the wine, oddly feeling it suited Ye Chuqing perfectly.
She lay sprawled on the sofa and finally spoke. “Thirsty.” Her eyes remained closed.
Was that sudden kiss earlier just her drunken attempt to find water?
Chen Shao’s throat felt dry and irritated. He got up, fetched a glass of water from the fridge, twisted the cap open, and handed it to her. “Here.”
Ye Chuqing took the glass, but with her drunk state and diminished coordination, her hand wobbled. She took a sip, but spilled half the glass, and it trickled down her neckline.
She gasped lightly, completely forgetting Chen Shao was still standing next to her—
What happened afterward was absurd, yet somehow inevitable.
The next morning, Ye Chuqing woke up in Chen Shao’s bed.
Her memory of the previous night stopped at Chen Shao showing up at the birthday party. She assumed she ended up crashing at his place. Lying on her side, she squinted at the scenery outside the window.
Still groggy from the hangover, she thought vaguely that Chen Shao was surprisingly decent this time—he hadn’t made her sleep on the couch.
But in the next second, an arm wrapped around her waist, and a warm chest pressed against her back.
Ye Chuqing instantly sobered up. Her eyes flew open, and she instinctively flung his arm off and sat up—only for her waist to give out and send her falling back down. It was only then she realized how sore her whole body felt.
Chen Shao was awakened by the commotion. He gave a light cough. “You’re awake.”
He sounded oddly calm.
Meeting her shocked gaze, Chen Shao raised an eyebrow. “Don’t remember?”
A terrible premonition welled up inside her. She opened her mouth and cautiously asked, “...We didn’t do anything indecent, did we?”
Chen Shao nodded seriously and added, “You slept with me.”
Ye Chuqing: “...?”
What the hell had she done?!
Chen Shao studied her expression, let out a small laugh, then got up, put on a bathrobe, and headed to the bathroom for a shower.
In truth, Ye Chuqing had been drunk last night—Chen Shao, however, had been completely sober. If something had really happened, it would have been his responsibility for not holding back. No way could she, drunk and physically weaker, have taken advantage of him.
He had just meant to tease her. But when he came out of the bathroom, he saw her sitting solemnly on the bed and giving him a deep bow. “I’m sorry.”
Chen Shao: “…”
That was unnecessary.
He coughed and said, “It’s okay. I can take responsibility.”
After all, if anything had happened, he’d been the one in control.
But Ye Chuqing waved her hands frantically, clearly embarrassed. “No, no, this was my fault to begin with.”
Chen Shao narrowed his eyes slightly. “What, you’ve made this kind of mistake before?”
“Huh?” She was momentarily confused before realizing what he meant. “Of course not! But still, I can’t drag you down like this. I can’t let you get roped into something like this for the rest of your life, right?”
“……”
“......”
As much as she said that—soon after, Ye Chuqing did rope him in again, this time with a baby on the way, landing the ultimate “accidental” blow.
Chen Shao, to his credit, didn’t complain. He even told Huang Sheng himself that he was willing to take responsibility, becoming the most cooperative scapegoat imaginable. This made Ye Chuqing feel even more guilty.
Under relentless encouragement from both families, they were urged to settle down as soon as possible, even though the wedding would still take some time to prepare.
Since things were already moving in that direction, Ye Chuqing went along with it. She and Chen Shao got their marriage certificate and moved into their newly prepared home.
Only… their relationship was painfully awkward.
The parents were well fooled, thinking the two were genuinely in love.
But only the two of them knew—their situation was anything but a real romance. They had slept together by accident. Twice. And had only recently become friends. When they first met, they were practically enemies.
Nothing could be more awkward.
They used to argue the moment they saw each other. Now, living under the same roof, their relationship was kept oddly courteous under a cloud of tension.
They didn’t even share a bedroom. No public announcements had been made, and only their parents quietly prepared for the wedding behind the scenes.
Ye Chuqing found the so-called marital home stifling. Since Chen Die had no work and was staying in Yan City, they made plans to go sing karaoke after dinner.
It was only around 9 p.m. when Wen Liang called to urge her home.
Ye Chuqing was unimpressed by their clingy behavior. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her purse and said, “Let’s go.”
Chen Die put on a mask and cap. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, someone called out, “Senior!”
She looked up and saw a rookie male idol from their company. He’d just debuted recently after participating in a talent show and had a small fan base. She’d run into him once at Yiming Entertainment. They were vaguely acquainted.
She smiled and returned the greeting.
The boy glanced at Ye Chuqing and recognized her as well. He bowed politely. “Chairwoman Ye.”
Ye Chuqing didn’t know him. She had just asked, “You’re from Chen Shao’s company?” when a group of people came noisily toward them. The one in front had a slightly shrill voice—
“Hey, isn’t that our Chuqing and Chen Die? How come you’re out playing without inviting us?” It was the birthday girl from last time.
Ye Chuqing disliked these types and was just about to make an excuse to leave.
But that girl was something else. She glanced at the man standing beside her, then covered her mouth with a giggle and bumped Ye Chuqing with her shoulder. “Hey, is this the little celebrity you mentioned to me last time? The one you had your eye on?”
Chen Die: ?
Ye Chuqing: “…”
She had only said that offhand to shut her up last time. Now the woman made it sound like she was a lecherous middle-aged creep!
What the hell was in her brain?!
Ye Chuqing was about to refute her when she caught sight of Chen Shao walking through the entrance.
He paused when he saw her. Another plastic “sister” chimed in: “I’m so jealous of you. Sitting in your chairwoman seat, surrounded by handsome men and pretty women all day. So? Have you got your man yet?”
“......”
Chen Shao’s gaze felt like a physical weight, and Ye Chuqing truly understood what it meant to be doomed.
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