Lin Xiangwan’s body stiffened, and she began to struggle.
Sensing her resistance, Jiang Shijing gave a mocking smile, released her lips, but kept a hand clasped behind her head.
Her back pressed against the cold car window, the chill making her tremble slightly, while the heat of his breath brushed against her face from time to time.
She frowned uncomfortably and bit her lip. “Let go of me.”
The moment the words left her mouth, her eyes reddened despite herself.
She couldn’t hold back her emotions. For no clear reason, she wanted to cry partly because of his frivolous, disrespectful behavior, and partly because of the overwhelming mix of grievances in her heart.
So he did care about what happened three years ago.
That wedding had been announced to the whole world grand, extravagant, mobilizing both families.
Later, Wen Qian told her that until just before the ceremony began, both families had been searching everywhere for her.
Jiang Shijing had stood on the stage under the blazing sun for two hours, only leaving after being told she had already flown abroad.
An experience like that was probably impossible to forget.
But who could really say clearly who owed whom, or who had gone too far?
Even if she had suffered betrayal and left without a word, all she received in return was Jiang Shijing’s resentment. Nothing more.
“You can still cry?”
Jiang Shijing let her go and leaned lazily against the driver’s seat, his collar slightly open, revealing the faint outline of his collarbone. “I thought Miss Lin didn’t have a heart.”
“Enough.”
Lin Xiangwan steadied herself and turned to look at him. “You’ve had one girlfriend after another. Plenty of women want to marry you. You changed your heart long ago. Is it really necessary to dwell on someone from your past like me?”
She pushed the car door open and stepped out.
Behind her, the sound of the window rolling down followed.
Jiang Shijing’s eyes curved with a smile. “I’m not dwelling. I hold grudges. Lin Xiangwan, I’ll settle this score with you slowly.”
Her steps faltered. Suppressing her anger, she ultimately couldn’t stop herself from turning back.
“Instead of fixating on others, maybe you should think about what you did back then. Jiang Shijing, do you even count as a man?”
Jiang Shijing “?”
He watched her retreating figure, falling into thought.
That night, Lin Xiangwan lay in her newly rented apartment, tossing and turning.
She tightened her grip on her phone and checked her work email again.
Just moments earlier, someone from Ding Sheng had contacted her, setting a meeting for three o’clock tomorrow afternoon to discuss the partnership.
The deal was moving forward. She felt relieved but not truly happy.
She kept thinking about what Jiang Shijing had said.
If he planned to “settle the score slowly,” then he had no intention of letting things end peacefully between them.
Yet at Ding Sheng, he hadn’t stopped Zhou Yan from cooperating with her.
She couldn’t figure out his next move. And losing control of how things developed was exactly what she hated most.
Lin Xiangwan sighed softly, closed her eyes, and forced herself to rest.
As the night deepened, she drifted into uneasy sleep.
In her dream, she returned to that night that bar Jiang Shijing’s icy voice echoing in her ears like a ghost.
“I don’t love Lin Xiangwan.”
“If my grandma weren’t so old and eager for a great-grandchild, I wouldn’t marry her.”
In that private room, Jiang Shijing had women on both sides of him, a heartless smile on his lips.
Across from him, Lin Xijun beamed, his brows filled with smug triumph.
When she woke again, Lin Xiangwan was drenched in sweat.
It was still dark outside. She sat up and steadied her breathing, taking a full ten minutes to pull herself out of the despair left by the dream.
After showering, she headed to Fanxing.
As soon as Zhong Jie’s assistant arrived, Lin Xiangwan instructed her to gather all idle staff from the project department for a meeting.
The conference room door remained closed for an entire hour.
Lin Xijun sent people in with tea and water, but none managed to get inside to see what was happening.
Restless, he decided to go himself.
Just as he arrived, the staff filed out.
Lin Xiangwan lingered at the back, leisurely flipping through documents.
Hearing footsteps, she didn’t even look up. “Vice President Lin has sent people three times. Is something the matter?”
She deliberately stressed the words “Vice President Lin.”
Even with the high-stakes performance agreement in place, it couldn’t outweigh the strong recommendations of the shareholders.
They didn’t believe she would succeed and thought she was fooling around. To feel secure, they had insisted on placing Lin Xijun in the vice president position as a safeguard.
Lin Xijun felt exposed, both annoyed and embarrassed. He strode forward, pressing a hand against the edge of the table. “The company was handed to you to manage not for you to mess around. You’ve practically emptied the entire project department. Who am I supposed to use?”
“Everyone I called to the meeting had no assignments today. So there’s no problem reallocating them.”
Lin Xiangwan closed the file and met his gaze coldly, arching a delicate brow. “Besides, you just said the company is under my management. How I use personnel has nothing to do with you.”
“Lin Xiangwan!” Lin Xijun slammed the table. “If you keep acting recklessly, the shareholders won’t just stand by! Believe it or not, I’ll tell Uncle Zhong you’re deliberately fooling around!”
“Go ahead.”
Unmoved, she stood and handed the file to her assistant Xiaoxue. “And while you’re at it, tell Uncle Zhong that I’ll be hosting people from Ding Sheng at the company today. I’ll be borrowing his best tea leaves.”
Lin Xijun’s face stiffened. “Ding Sheng? Don’t tell me you mean Zhou Yan’s Ding Sheng?”
“Of course.”
She walked past him toward the exit.
Refusing to believe it, Lin Xijun hurried after her. “Impossible! Zhou Yan is Jiang Shijing’s cousin. He knows what happened between you two. Why would he cooperate with you?”
At that moment, her phone rang.
Seeing it was a work call, she frowned. Still dealing with Lin Xijun, her voice carried a faint impatience, making her sound especially cool.
“Hello?”
The caller hesitated, speaking more cautiously. “President Lin, there’s an appointment waiting in your office.”
“Got it.”
She hung up and turned back to Lin Xijun.
“As long as I want something, nothing is impossible. Lin Xijun, I said I would drive you out of this company. That wasn’t empty talk. You should start feeling a sense of crisis.”
With that, she left decisively.
Lin Xijun stood in the corridor, face dark, fists slowly tightening.
In the CEO’s office, Xiaoxue pushed the door open.
“President Lin is here.”
The girl inside stood immediately and flashed a bright smile. “Sister Lin.”
“Miss Bai?” Lin Xiangwan froze for a second, surprised to see Bai Zhiran.
Bai Zhiran nodded and looked around. “Sister Lin, I didn’t expect you to be the CEO of Fanxing. That’s amazing! You and Brother Shijing are both so outstanding. I really can’t compare.”
Lin Xiangwan pressed her lips together.
She had noticed this girl loved belittling herself in conversation. It made it hard to respond.
“You’re excellent too. And what happened between Jiang Shijing and me is long in the past. I hope Miss Bai won’t mention it again.”
She walked over and poured her some tea. “So, what brings you here?”
“Sorry, I talk too much.”
Bai Zhiran smiled shyly and took out an invitation from her bag, handing it over.
“I went to Ding Sheng this morning with Brother Shijing. Cousin Zhou said he’s hosting a cocktail party tonight partners will all be there. I happened to have business nearby, so I brought you the invitation.”
Tilting her head, she blinked sweetly. “Sister Lin, congratulations on reaching cooperation with Ding Sheng. You’ll attend on time, won’t you?”