The man noticed Jiang Shuyin's distraction, and his kisses grew increasingly rough and fierce.
Jiang Shuyin's mind buzzed. Her lungs were starved of oxygen, and her body felt weak and limp from the breathlessness.
She pushed him, kicked him, and bit him.
But it was all to no avail.
He was like an impenetrable wall of iron; no matter how much she struggled, he refused to let her go.
The disparity in their physical strength was too great. Coupled with the fact that he had slept with her for four years in the Black Desert and had long since figured out all her sensitive spots, it wasn't long before—
He carried her to the bed.
After getting what he wanted, he sat shirtless at the head of the bed, smoking a post-coital cigarette.
He glanced down at the woman wrapped in the silk quilt. He thought she would cry, or perhaps scratch his face like a furious little beast.
But she did nothing, which was incredibly uncharacteristic.
Sensing his gaze, she raised her eyes to look at him. "Mr. Lu, getting a bit old, are we? Your stamina isn't quite holding up."
Lu Yan was thirty-two this year, right at the prime of a man's charm.
Lu Yan's smoking paused instantly.
He narrowed his hawkish eyes, sweeping a dangerous gaze over her. "What, unsatisfied?"
Afraid of making her uncomfortable, he hadn't deliberately gone hard on her, yet she was mocking him?
Men hated nothing more than being told they were inadequate. He stubbed out his cigarette, preparing to pin her down again, but she wrapped the quilt tightly around herself and leaped off the bed onto the floor.
Clutching the quilt with one hand, Jiang Shuyin pulled out her phone with the other.
She tapped open a video.
The video showed him carrying her from the apartment entryway, kissing her all the way to the bedroom, and forcing himself on her.
Lu Yan's face darkened slightly.
Jiang Shuyin tugged at the corners of her lips in a cold smile. "Mr. Lu, I installed a hidden camera in the apartment. In the video, I am resisting the entire time, but you are forcing me."
Lu Yan seemed to realize what she was about to say, and his handsome, sharp face grew gloomier by the second.
Jiang Shuyin met his cold, sinister gaze directly, the cynical curve of her lips deepening. "I got Miss Qin's phone number from Ji Chi. What do you think would happen if I sent this video to her, or to the police to accuse you of rape?"
Before Lu Yan could say anything, Jiang Shuyin continued with a cold, mocking look in her eyes, "You spent three hard years gaining Third Master Qin's trust. If I release this video, all your efforts will go down the drain, and your undercover identity will be exposed!"
Lu Yan got off the bed. He picked up his shirt from the floor and slowly, methodically put it on.
Buttoning the last button, his hawkish eyes swept over Jiang Shuyin, his emotions deep and unreadable. "You guessed early on that I would come to your apartment to sleep with you?"
Jiang Shuyin nodded. "Of course."
After four years in the Black Desert, she understood his temper well enough.
He was a domineering, insanely possessive lunatic.
Last time she didn't go to the hotel and sent a call girl to him instead, it definitely enraged him.
He would act like a venomous snake waiting for the chance to strike, ready to bite her at any moment.
Naturally, she had to make preparations in advance.
This was no longer the Black Desert. Now that she was no longer bound, she had the leverage to negotiate with him.
Facing his unconventional ruthlessness and madness, she had her own ways to cope.
Going head-to-head with him would absolutely never work.
She could only grasp him by his Achilles' heel.
Although he was unreasonable, he possessed a strong sense of conviction and duty toward his mission.
Lu Yan shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. His smile was wicked, wild, and a bit roguish. "What should I do, Jiangjiang? The smarter you are, the more you make my heart itch."
Jiang Shuyin knew very well in her heart.
The main reason he was pestering her now was to get revenge on her.
Revenge for her aborting his child!
Watching Lu Yan step closer and closer, Jiang Shuyin's expression remained unchanged. "I have no other demands. I just want us to go our separate ways and live our own lives. Even if we happen to run into each other, we should treat each other as strangers. If you can't do that, I'll send the video to Qin Xiaoxiao right now!"
Jiang Shuyin's finger was already hovering over the send button.
With just one light press, the video would be sent to Qin Xiaoxiao's phone.
Lu Yan took no further steps forward. He stared at Jiang Shuyin with dark, deep eyes, a self-deprecating smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Fine, you're ruthless enough!"
The two of them had gone in circles for seven years.
In her eyes, he still only saw disgust and hatred.
She could smile at anyone, speak softly to anyone, but for him alone, she spared not the slightest bit of affection.
He knew he deserved it.
In the prime of her life, he had ruthlessly shattered everything she had.
It was only right that she hated and loathed him.
Lu Yan closed his eyes. Suddenly, it felt as though all the strength in his body had been siphoned away by a giant syringe.
When he opened his eyes again, his hawkish gaze had turned icy and indifferent, completely devoid of any emotion.
"As you wish. I won't bother you anymore."
Jiang Shuyin met the man's bottomless eyes directly. "I hope you keep your word. As long as you stop pestering me, I won't release this video. Tonight, I'll just pretend I was bitten by a dog."
Lu Yan pressed his tongue hard against his back molars.
Damn woman!
She certainly knew how to infuriate and wound him!
Without sparing her another glance, Lu Yan tightened his jawline and strode away.
Just as he pulled open the apartment door, he saw a delivery driver standing outside, about to ring the doorbell.
"Sir, is this the delivery you ordered?"
The delivery driver handed the bag to Lu Yan and left.
Lu Yan took the item out of the bag and glanced at it.
At that sight, his handsome face darkened completely.
She had actually ordered contraceptive pills!
His fingers gripped the pillbox tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging one by one.
After a long while, he placed the pillbox on the entryway cabinet, closed the door, and left with a gloomy expression.
Hearing the sound of the door closing, Jiang Shuyin put on her nightgown and walked to the entryway.
Looking through the peephole, she happened to catch sight of the man stepping into the elevator.
He was finally gone.
She let out a long sigh of relief.
Turning her head, she saw the crushed pillbox on the cabinet.
It didn't take a genius to figure out who had crushed the box like that.
Jiang Shuyin poured a glass of water and swallowed the pill.
After taking the medicine, she brought out her laptop, put on her headphones, and opened a wiretapping program.
When she was in Ji Shaoqin's car, she had planted a small listening device in an inconspicuous spot.
An hour ago, Ji Shaoqin's female secretary had gotten into his car.
"Who was the woman you had dinner with tonight? Gu Xi hasn't been dead for long, don't tell me you already have your eyes on someone else?"
The secretary's voice sounded somewhat agitated and frantic.
"She's Xixi's classmate," Ji Shaoqin replied, his restrained voice carrying a hint of displeasure at being questioned.
"Shaoqin, I'm the only one who truly cares for you. If you fall for another woman, her fate will surely be the same as Gu Xi's."
Hearing this, the hairs on Jiang Shuyin's body suddenly stood on end.
From the sound of it, the secretary knew the cause of Gu Xi's death.
"Shaoqin, stay at the villa with me tonight, okay?"
Ji Shaoqin didn't speak. Suddenly, the sound of forceful kissing and the rustling of clothes rang out.
"Enough, Ye Jiaojiao. If you keep doing this, I'll cut ties with you completely."
Ye Jiaojiao smiled, a hint of a sob in her voice. You will never draw a line between us. I know your secret. Don't even think about cutting ties with me in this lifetime, unless you have the guts to kill me...
After a deathly silence, the sound of slamming car doors echoed as Ji Shaoqin and his female secretary stepped out of the vehicle one after another.
Listening to this recording, Jiang Shuyin became increasingly convinced that Gu Xi's death was not a simple suicide.
Taking off her headphones, Jiang Shuyin leaned back against the sofa and spaced out for a moment.
That was until her darling called her on video.
Jiang Shuyin answered the call, a warm smile breaking through her usually aloof expression. Baby!
On the other end of the screen was an exquisitely adorable little face. The little pink dumpling looked at Jiang Shuyin with crescent-moon eyes. Mommy, my brother and I miss you so, so much. When are you coming back?
Jiang Shuyin's eyes softened, her smile bright and clear. Mommy will take her annual leave in a month. How about I take you and your brother on a vacation then?
Okay! I'll go tell my brother the good news right now.
Jiang Shuyin nodded. Where is your brother? Why don't I see him?
Brother is in his room writing code. He developed a new game again. It can sell for lots and lots of money!
Thinking of her son, Jiang Shuyin felt a complex swirl of emotions.
Her son had likely inherited that man's excellent genes. With an IQ of 200, far exceeding that of an ordinary person, he had an incredibly strong ability to learn. He could recognize many words at a very young age and was highly skilled with computers.
Even she couldn't understand the strings of code he wrote.
Back in the day, when she first found out she was pregnant, she had indeed wanted to abort the baby.
But after an examination at the hospital, the doctor informed her that she was carrying twins. Furthermore, her uterine lining was exceptionally thin; if she forced an abortion, it would be extremely difficult for her to ever conceive again.
After a fierce internal struggle, she decided to keep the babies.
The pregnancy had been incredibly arduous. For the first three months, she threw up almost everything she ate. Around the fifth and sixth months, she started bleeding, and the doctor ordered strict bed rest to save the pregnancy.
Despite resting until the seventh month, she still went into premature labor.
Thanks to Wen Yan, who helped her find the best obstetrician, she narrowly escaped death and endured immense hardship to give birth to a pigeon pair of twins, a boy and a girl.
Over the past three years, these twins had become her entire life.
...
One month later.
Lu Yan and Qin Xiaoxiao took a flight to a coastal island.
The island was a popular tourist destination, boasting spring-like weather all year round and picturesque scenery.
Upon arriving at the island's airport, Qin Xiaoxiao went to the restroom while Lu Yan waited for her in the airport lobby.
Lu Yan glanced around. Suddenly, a little girl standing in a nearby corner caught his attention.
The little girl was wearing a puffy princess dress, her jet-black hair tied up in a neat little bun held by a watermelon-patterned hairpin. Her delicate features were incredibly sweet, and her skin was fair and tender. She looked to be about two or three years old.
She was as breathtakingly pretty as a porcelain doll in a shop window.
Even a tough, hardened man like Lu Yan couldn't help but feel his heart soften the moment he laid eyes on her.
The little girl seemed to be hiding from someone. She held an ice cream cone in her hand, eagerly licking and nibbling at it, while a trace of guilty fear of being caught flickered in her big, dark eyes.
Perhaps his stare was a bit too obvious, because the little girl suddenly looked up right at him.
For some inexplicable reason, Lu Yan's heart skipped a beat.
