Chapter 1545: The Invitation III

After finishing her meal, Lory changed into a tracksuit and stepped outside. Soon, her steady rhythm carried her through the quiet streets, breath measured, footsteps light.

From afar, Zhao Li Xin followed in silence, leaping from rooftop to tree, from tree to shadowed ledge, his presence hidden, his attention never wavering. His eyes remained fixed on her and on everything that dared to move within her vicinity.

Clad in dark gray, Lory ran through the neighborhood, the early calm broken only by the sound of her breathing. After an hour, she finally slowed to a stop to check her heartbeat when the low purr of an engine drew too close. Suddenly, a shiny convertible sedan rolled up beside her.

Lory played it cool, but her whole body went on alert. Her expression turned solemn, fingers curling slightly, ready to summon a weapon from the spatial ring at her hand.

Suddenly, she was greeted by a sleazy voice from one of the men lounging inside the car. A young man leaned lazily out of the open window, a lewd grin stretching across his face.

He wore a white tank top that clung to his tan skin, and bleach-blond hair falling messily around his sunglasses, with a thin goatee framing his chin.

"Yo, hottie," he called out. "Need a ride?"

Lory turned toward the source of the annoying voice—and froze. "Huh?"

She blinked several times, genuinely stunned. Leaning out from the front passenger seat of the car was a walking stereotype of a lecher she’d only ever seen on screens.

For a brief moment, she could only stare, equal parts amazed and incredulous, as if someone had dragged a badly cast character straight out of a drama and dropped him in front of her.

High above, concealed among the tall trees, Zhao Li Xin watched the scene unfold. His expression turned ugly.

Someone harassed his wife again!

In his world, such harassment, especially directed at a married woman, and worse, a noble lady, would be met with brutal consequences. The offenders would be beaten until they could no longer stand, then dragged before the local officers to rot in a cell for weeks.

Zhao Li Xin’s fingers twitched, itching to move, but he held himself back. He knew he couldn’t act, not until Lory gave him a sign.

Below, it took Lory a moment to fully collect herself. She glanced around, checking for any passersby, but the quiet street was empty. With no one else in sight, she calmly looked back at the group of young men, all of whom appeared to be in their early to mid-twenties, though appearances in this world could be misleading.

"...You talking to me?" she asked, her expression openly annoyed.

The man who had spoken earlier flashed a confident grin. "Of course. I don’t see any other hottie around—well, except me," he added, as if stating an undeniable fact.

Lory raised an eyebrow slowly. "Arguably."

Laughter burst from the car almost instantly. The other men howled without restraint, while the speaker’s grin faltered, his lips curling downward in obvious embarrassment.

Before he could recover, the man behind the wheel slapped him hard on the back, as if reprimanding his stupidity.

"Come on, man," the driver scolded.

He then leaned forward, meeting Lory’s gaze with an apologetic expression. "Sorry about my friend, Miss," he said sincerely. "He doesn’t mean to be rude, he’s just an idiot." There’s a resignation in his voice.

The man who had just spoken looked to be in his mid-twenties, perhaps a little older. Messy, wavy black hair fell carelessly over his forehead, as if he’d never bothered to tame it.

His olive skin caught the light faintly, smooth and warm in tone, while a pair of deep, dark brown eyes held an easy confidence beneath their calm surface.

Sharp cheekbones carved his face with a model’s precision, softened just enough by a relaxed expression. Every line of his features was clean and well-defined, the kind of handsome that drew attention without trying.

An ordinary girl might have been flustered being addressed by someone so attractive. Unfortunately for him, Lory had been surrounded by handsome men since childhood—and marrying someone as devastatingly good-looking as Zhao Li Xin had long since rendered her immune to such charms.

"I can see that," Lory said with a mocking tone.

The man’s thick brows furrowed slightly, clearly not expecting such a blunt response. Still, he recovered quickly, smoothing over the awkwardness as he cleared his throat.

"Uh—my name’s Enzo. This is Bobby," he said, gesturing toward the offender beside him. Then he nodded toward the back seat. "And those two idiots are Mario and Greg."

The two ’idiots’ he had introduced lifted their hands and waved at Lory, each wearing an equally stupid smirk. Lory glanced at them briefly, then looked away.

"Okay." She pulled up the hood of her tracksuit, a clear sign that she intended to continue her run, and paid them no further attention.

"Wait!" Enzo called after her, a hint of urgency in his voice.

Lory turned back, impatience plainly written across her face. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Enzo responded with a dry smile. With a face like his, attention usually came without effort. Women tended to soften around him, their guard lowering almost unconsciously. He was accustomed to that quiet compliance from women. Therefore, being dismissed so casually, without hesitation or interest, was a rarity, and that, more than anything, caught his attention.

"Um, I’m hosting a party," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I’m inviting everyone in the neighborhood. Well... since we’ve bothered quite a few people these past few days." He paused, then added, "So I wanted to invite everyone in the neigborhood to apologize, the party will be held at my place tomorrow night, around nine pm."

Lory frowned. Two invitations in two days, what a coincidence. The thought made her expression darken slightly.

When she didn’t respond, Enzo spoke again. "You know my villa, right?"

"The loud one," Lory replied flatly.

Enzo let out an awkward chuckle. "Yeah," he admitted. "That one."

Lory pondered for a few seconds. Then she turned away and resumed jogging down the street. Enzo and his friends stared at her retreating back, with confusion written across their faces.

"Hey—are you coming?" Enzo shouted.

Lory didn’t answer. She didn’t even slow down, running on as if she hadn’t heard him at all. Enzo lifted his hands in bafflement—then, after a moment, laughed, the sound tinged with disbelief rather than offense.

At the same time, Zhao Li Xin observed the entire interaction from a distance. With his keen hearing, every word reached him with uncomfortable clarity.

He caught the subtle hints, the carefully veiled intentions aimed at his wife. This kind of good guy-bad guy scenario was something he had seen far too many times, even in his own world, and in many situations, it was an effective way to win favor with unsuspecting people.

Fortunately, Lory was not oblivious. She must have noticed the man’s intentions—that was why her attitude had turned so cold. Then again, Lory had always kept her distance from the opposite sex. ℯ𝐥.

As long as he had known her, she had never behaved ambiguously around men. She never gave false hope, nor allowed misunderstandings to take root between herself and others.

No—she had always been strict, clean, and clear, to the point that it could seem almost cruel. But Lory understood that some things had to be made unmistakably clear to spare everyone unnecessary pain.

Lory once said, ’Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.’

Thanks to her attitude, there had never been a third party come between them; if that ever happened, not even Zhao Li Xin knew what he would do.

A short while later, Lory reached the villa, where Zhao Li Xin was already waiting for her with a clean towel in hand. A bright smile blossomed across her face as she took it from him.

"Thank you, honey," she said warmly.

Together, they headed into the kitchen. Lory went straight to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of cold mineral water, and took a long, satisfying drink.

"Ah... that’s refreshing," she murmured. She shrugged off her jacket, leaned back against the counter, and released a weary sigh.

Zhao Li Xin settled onto the tall chair across from her, watching in quiet silence as she caught her breath. After a moment, he spoke, his tone calm but certain.

"I don’t think you’ll need to do your morning run tomorrow."

Lory nodded in agreement. "Yes. I’m going to sleep the whole day, so don’t wake me up."

"I wouldn’t dare," Zhao Li Xin said with a smile.

"So... it seems my running wasn’t in vain, right?" Lory folded her arms on the counter and looked at him mischievously. "You saw the group of men who stopped me earlier. What do you think about them?" She studied him inquisitively.

Zhao Li Xin rested his chin against his fist, his posture casual, almost languid. Yet beneath that ease, a cold glint flickered in his eyes. "I don’t like people who try to flirt with my wife."

Lory pressed her lips together. "Annoying, yes. I won’t deny he was trying to charm his way into my favor—but why now?"

Zhao Li Xin gave a slight shrug. "The simplest answer is that he found you beautiful."

Lory rolled her eyes. "We’ve been here for days, and they only approach me now? That’s hardly convincing."

"They hadn’t seen you before," Zhao Li Xin said lightly, casting her a brief, knowing look. Then his voice lowered, the teasing edge fading. "Or they’ve reached the limit of their patience."

"Hmm, that makes more sense." Lory took another sip of her drink.

"Still," Zhao Li Xin concluded calmly, "it remains a hypothesis. Until we have concrete evidence, any judgment would be premature."

"Yeah, but unfortunately, it won’t be easy to confirm," Lory replied, pursing her lips. "People in that line of work are very protective of their identities. Even Noxcra can’t identify them one by one. Especially after the Dark Age War—so much data was lost, leaving huge gaps in tracing people’s backgrounds."

"We used that loophole to create our own identities, too," Zhao Li Xin said calmly.

"Exactly. It gives advantages to anyone who wants to start over with a new identity," Lory sighed. It was both a blessing and a curse.

"Stop worrying about it, wife," Zhao Li Xin said gently. "What’s meant to come will come. And with me here, nothing will happen to you."

Lory’s lips curved upward. "Of course I’m not worried about that," she replied. "I’m just getting impatient waiting, especially when we have other things to do."

"I know how you feel," Zhao Li Xin said. "If I weren’t spending this time with you, I’d be impatient as well. But until the black market retracts the bounty on our heads, this won’t end. Do you have any idea how to stop it?"

Lory propped her chin on her hand, pondering. "Making our enemies retract the bounty is impossible," she said slowly. "But we can make everyone else too afraid to take the job."

"Oh?" Zhao Li Xin’s eyes lit up with anticipation. "What are you planning to do?"

Lory’s grin turned decidedly devious. "I’m thinking of doing something... shocking."