The instant their eyes met, Director Huang sobered up considerably.
“You bitch, how did you get in here?”
His voice was hoarse with drink, but it carried a bone-chilling murderous intent.
Normally, with his vigilance, not even the slightest disturbance would escape his ears. But today, he had drunk a little too much—and with lust clouding his mind, he had been so dazed that he failed to notice someone entering his home.
Xiao Mandong quickly recovered from her shock. Looking at the naked Director Huang before her, she felt as though she were staring at a corpse floating in formaldehyde.
Without making a sound, she retrieved her scalpel from her storage space and tightened her grip around it. She cursed Political Commissar Shi inwardly. Why couldn’t he have let her keep the gun for a few more days?
Director Huang glanced around the study. After confirming that Xiao Mandong was alone, he relaxed.
He pulled a pack of cigarettes from the clothes hanging by the door and casually lit one.
Then he dragged over a chair and plopped himself down, his posture brazen and provocative, completely unconcerned about his appearance.
His eyes settled on Xiao Mandong, sinister and mocking.
“Speak. Who are you, really? What do you want? And where are my things?”
He had just finished with Liu Mengyao and was physically exhausted. He had come to the study to get a cigarette, never expecting to run into this reckless woman. She had even dared to break into his home alone in the middle of the night.
Since she had delivered herself to his door, he would show her no mercy.
“Don’t look at me like that. I never thought an educated youth like you would be into this sort of thing. What is it? Want to experience it yourself, hmm?”
“Did you divorce your husband because he couldn’t perform?”
Director Huang clicked his tongue against the inside of his cheek. As he spoke, he leaned forward slightly, cautiously probing Xiao Mandong.
Xiao Mandong instinctively took a step back.
“Director Huang, watch your mouth.”
Xiao Mandong knew she couldn’t provoke him right now. A veteran spy like him certainly had abilities beyond the ordinary. He might be able to take her life in a matter of seconds.
She had to stall for time and wait for Shen Linzhou to come upstairs.
Director Huang let out a derisive laugh. He took two deep drags on his cigarette, then slowly exhaled a ring of smoke.
“You stole so many things from me, and that still wasn’t enough for you? Then what exactly are you trying to get from me?”
His gaze swept over Xiao Mandong’s slender, fair neck. He suddenly felt an urge to snap it.
Next door, Liu Mengyao had finished washing herself. When Director Huang failed to return, she vaguely heard voices and hurriedly wrapped a thin quilt around herself. Moving as quietly as possible, she went to the study door and was just about to pull it open a crack to take a look.
But the door was suddenly yanked open by Director Huang. He seized Liu Mengyao by the hair and dragged her inside.
He shoved her forward. “She saw what happened between us. You tell me—how should we deal with it?”
Liu Mengyao staggered from the push and nearly fell.
Once she regained her balance, she finally got a clear look at the person standing opposite her. It was Xiao Mandong.
Forgetting the pain in her scalp, Liu Mengyao clutched the quilt tightly around herself, her eyes bloodshot.
“Xiao Mandong, you… What are you doing here?”
“I get it now. You must have your eye on Lin Guoan. You’re jealous because I’m going to marry him, so you came here deliberately to cause trouble, didn’t you?”
“You divorced woman, you’re nothing but a tramp! What right do you have to compete with me?”
Liu Mengyao was hysterical, her words tumbling out incoherently.
“What exactly do you want? I’m begging you, please don’t tell Lin Guoan about this, all right? You… What do you want? Money? I can give you money—any amount!”
She was panicking. Tomorrow, she would be able to register her marriage with Lin Guoan, but now Xiao Mandong had caught her in this disgraceful situation.
Xiao Mandong said nothing. She didn’t dare open her mouth, afraid that one careless word might anger the two madmen before her. She kept her eyes fixed on Director Huang, terrified that he might suddenly strike.
Her entire body was taut, and she gripped the scalpel in her palm even tighter. Her heart pounded as if it might burst through her chest.
Shen Linzhou still hadn’t come upstairs. Every passing second was unbearable.
“Idiot. Do you really think she’ll keep your secret just because of her ties to the Lin family?”
“I’m sitting right here. What are you afraid of? Go up there and kill her, and you can sleep soundly afterward.”
Huang Yuanqing was trying to make Liu Mengyao test Xiao Mandong’s limits so that he could take advantage of the opportunity to strike.
The reason he had remained seated and kept his distance was that he didn’t dare act rashly. This woman had stolen so many of his things, moved the large stone he had placed in the bathroom to block the way, and now dared to come here alone.
Moreover, after their repeated clashes recently, his instincts told him that Xiao Mandong was no ordinary woman.
Only then did Liu Mengyao come to her senses after hearing Director Huang’s words.
That was right. They were on their own turf. What did she have to fear?
Her uncle-in-law was right. Only the dead could keep their mouths shut.
“Xiao Mandong, this is all your own fault. You bitch, I’m going to shut you up forever!”
The instant she finished speaking, Liu Mengyao didn’t even care that the quilt was slipping from her body. Like a madwoman, she snatched up the heavy bronze paperweight from the desk, gathered all her strength, and swung it viciously at Xiao Mandong’s head.
Liu Mengyao had been completely blinded by her impending marriage. All she could think about was marrying Lin Guoan without a single obstacle in her way. She couldn’t allow Xiao Mandong to ruin everything.
Xiao Mandong had been on guard the entire time. She dodged the paperweight in Liu Mengyao’s hands, then kicked her directly in the chest.
The blow sent Liu Mengyao stumbling backward. Her back slammed into the wall behind her, and the bronze paperweight fell from her hand with a loud clang.
Downstairs, Shen Linzhou heard the noise and immediately sprinted upstairs.
When Director Huang saw that Xiao Mandong was holding a scalpel instead of a gun, he sneered contemptuously.
He was certain now that Xiao Mandong was neither a police officer nor a member of the special task force.
Director Huang slowly rose to his feet. His knuckles cracked as he flexed his fingers, and his eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty brutality.
“Hand over the things. I’ll let you die quickly. Otherwise…”
Director Huang advanced step by step.
Xiao Mandong slowly retreated. She had already made up her mind: if necessary, she would hide in her storage space. Nothing mattered more than staying alive.
Her back soon pressed against the wall. With nowhere left to retreat, she stared fixedly at Director Huang’s movements while straining her ears to catch any sound from outside the door.
Inwardly, she pleaded, Shen Linzhou, hurry. Just a little faster.
She couldn’t enter her storage space unless absolutely necessary. She still had a family to protect.
Director Huang kicked her wrist, sending the scalpel flying.
Just as Xiao Mandong was about to slip into her storage space, the study door was suddenly kicked open. A gun muzzle was leveled steadily at Director Huang.
“Don’t move!”
The bloodthirsty ferocity on Director Huang’s face instantly froze, replaced by utter disbelief.
Ignoring the pain in her wrist, Xiao Mandong took advantage of the opportunity to move along the wall to a safer position, doing her best to avoid another attack from Director Huang.
When Shen Linzhou saw Director Huang standing there in all his naked ugliness, a murderous rage surged through his eyes, so intense it nearly spilled over.
He forcibly suppressed the urge to shoot the man dead on the spot.
