Gu Tingshang provoked his romantic rival as he worked.
“You’re wrong. She’s my wife now.”
“Keeping me company is her duty. I suggest you stop worrying about her and stay away from her from now on.”
Nan Zhou couldn’t believe his ears. “What did you say? Say that again!”
“I said Lin Zhixu is my wife now. Don’t believe me? Ask her.”
Gu Tingshang turned Lin Zhixu’s face toward him and forced her to speak.
“Tell your ex-husband big brother who I am.”
Lin Zhixu grabbed her phone and threw it, then sank her teeth into his arm.
“You’re a devil!”
“If I’m the devil, what are you? A little demon?”
Lin Zhixu’s eyes reddened, and aggrieved tears trickled from their corners down to her collarbone. Hearing Nan Zhou’s anxious, furious voice made her chest ache.
Over the past three years, Nan Zhou had truly cared for her.
“What is it? Regretting it?”
Lin Zhixu did feel reluctant to let him go. In this world, only her older sister had treated her as well as Nan Zhou.
She hadn’t wanted a divorce. Nan Zhou had forced her into it.
That day, Nan Zhou had said, “Zhizhi, our family business has collapsed. I’m afraid I won’t be able to give you living expenses anymore. We might even end up in debt. You’re my wife, so if the company goes bankrupt, you’ll have to help pay it off with me. How about we get divorced? I’ll find you another rich husband to marry. All right?”
Thinking back on what Nan Zhou had said, Lin Zhixu felt she’d been a little heartless.
Gu Tingshang looked at the sorrowful tears on her face, and felt deeply unsettled.
“Lin Zhixu, look at me. Call me Hubby.”
Lin Zhixu gritted her teeth and said nothing. Gu Tingshang couldn’t pry a word out of her.
“Say it! Call me the way you called your ex. I’m your husband now.”
“Say it!”
Lin Zhixu clutched the bedsheets so tightly that she bit her lip until it began to bleed, but she still wouldn’t speak.
The more stubborn she was, the more it showed how much she still cared about her ex-husband.
Gu Tingshang grew even rougher in his anger.
The man’s frenzied possessiveness drove him to become more domineering.
In the end, Lin Zhixu curled up beneath the covers and cried for a very long time.
Gu Tingshang had meant to take out another check and soothe her with it.
But he decided against it.
This marriage was a transaction from the start. She wanted money; he wanted her body. There was no need to get emotionally involved.
The Gu family’s men put their careers first. They had no need to get caught up in love between men and women.
Women were only seasoning in life; satisfying physical desire was enough.
Gu Tingshang grabbed his clothes and got up, leaving her alone in the room to work through her emotions.
“Stop crying. I’ll run a bath for you. You’ll feel better after a soak.”
“Take this card. I’ll give you your living expenses on time every month.”
“If you keep crying, I don’t mind doing it again!”
That last threat worked better than the check. However stubborn Lin Zhixu was, she knew it was better not to invite trouble when it was right in front of her.
If he did it again, she really would die.
Hearing Lin Zhixu’s cries of abuse over the phone, Nan Zhou was consumed with regret.
The girl had married him when she was twenty. She hadn’t fully grown into herself yet, and was as innocent as a little white flower—delicate and soft. He hadn’t had the heart to touch her. He’d spoiled and protected her like a younger sister.
If the company hadn’t run into financial trouble, how could he have borne sending her away?
He knew she had secrets. Her relatives had taken all her money, but he’d never asked about it. Whatever he’d promised her, he let her decide how to use.
He’d planned to introduce her to Shen Yan. At least Shen Yan was a good man, gentle by nature. Zhizhi wouldn’t suffer if she married him.
And Nan Zhou wouldn’t have to worry about some older man taking advantage of her.
Who could have known that just one day after their divorce, his wife would be snatched up and married by that bastard Gu Tingshang—and treated so roughly?
He wanted to save her, but there was nothing he could do.
Even at its peak, the Nan family had only been able to look up at the power of the Gu family. Now Nan Group was on the brink of collapse, with even less chance of standing against them.
Unable to get Zhizhi out, all Nan Zhou could do was humbly beg Gu Tingshang to treat her a little better.
“Brother Gu, Zhizhi is young and simple-minded. Please be good to her. She likes jasmine-strawberry cakes and hates matcha sauce. She’s allergic to mango, but she’s greedy, so keep allergy medicine at home.”
“She’s delicate and afraid of pain. Even a small scrape will make her cry for ages. Be gentle with her.”
“And I’m in love with Lu Mengwei. I only think of Zhizhi as a younger sister. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Please, be tender with her!”
For Lin Zhixu’s sake, Nan Zhou buried his own feelings deep in his heart. He would swallow all the pain himself.
He knew how domineering Gu Tingshang was, and how strong his possessiveness could be.
At least he hadn’t touched Zhizhi.
A man with even a shred of decency wouldn’t mistreat her.
After reading the message, Gu Tingshang sneered.
“Useless. He doesn’t even dare admit he likes her. But at least he knows what’s what.”
His long fingers moved over his phone as he typed a line.
“Cut off her hopes. I’ll give you the Harbor West No. 3 project.”
Nan Zhou stared at the message, which felt like an act of charity, his feelings a tangled mess.
That Old Fox was as perceptive as ever. Even so, Nan Zhou hadn’t managed to fool him.
Harbor West No. 3 could bring Nan Group back from the brink. But the price was losing Zhizhi for good.
From now on, he would never hear her sweet “Hubby” again. He could only watch her from afar as a big brother, preserving the last shred of dignity between them.
He would even have to distance himself from her and hurt her, so she could forget the feelings they’d shared over the past three years.
Gu Tingshang knew how to do business—and how to manipulate people.
Of all the brothers, he spoke the least, but he was the most cunning.
The day before, Nan Zhou had thought Zhizhi could marry anyone—Shen Yan, Xiao You, Ou Xu… Anyone but Gu Tingshang.
Yet Gu Tingshang had said nothing at all, and in the end, he was the one who got her.
Nan Zhou gently touched the wedding photo on the table and pressed a reluctant kiss to her brow.
“I’m sorry, Zhizhi. Your Brother Nan Zhou was useless. I couldn’t protect you.”
“But don’t worry. I’ll work hard to rebuild what I lost. If one day he doesn’t want you anymore, I’ll bring you home and keep taking care of you.”
He gathered up everything in the house that had to do with Lin Zhixu and locked it away in a hidden room. Then he packed his clothes and set off for Harbor West.
Although Gu Tingshang had handed him the project, Nan Zhou still had to prove himself. If he couldn’t tackle that hard problem, no amount of help from others would give him a firm footing.
Before leaving, he sent Lin Zhixu a message.
“Zhizhi, make a good life with your current husband. He’s cold by nature, so take the initiative. Don’t go against him, or you’ll be the one who suffers.”
“Your big brother is going to Harbor West. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Take good care of yourself. If you run into trouble, you can ask Gu Tingshang for help. He’s your husband; he can stand up for you.”
Nan Zhou knew that Gu Tingshang was Lin Zhixu’s biggest source of trouble.
But he was powerless to help her.
Now that she was Gu Tingshang’s wife, Nan Zhou had no right even to speak up.
Lin Zhixu cried for ages after receiving the message. She called Nan Zhou again and again, but none of the calls went through.
Nan Zhou had already deactivated that number, and he wasn’t replying to her WeChat messages or texts.
He didn’t want her anymore.
They’d agreed that after the divorce he would still be her big brother, still her family. How could he suddenly turn his back on her?
Was it just because she’d slept with Gu Tingshang?
But she hadn’t done it willingly.
That bastard Gu Tingshang had forced her with brute strength.
“A-Zhou, does your company still need money? Gu Tingshang gave me a hundred million. I can give it to you.”
When Nan Zhou saw the message, tears streamed down his face.
The Little Moneygrubber, who loved money more than life itself, was willing to give him even her bride price. After raising that money-devouring beast for three years, he’d finally won her over.
Too bad she was someone else’s wife now.
When Gu Tingshang came in and saw the message, he was so furious it felt as if his lungs would explode.
“Lin Zhixu, did you sell yourself just to fill your ex-husband’s financial hole?”
“Fine! You really are something.”