Song Wantang walked out of the Song family's main gate. The driver was still waiting.
Seeing her come out, the driver quickly got out and opened the car door. "Madam."
Song Wantang was a little surprised. "Didn't I tell you to go back first?"
"Sir said to wait for you, no matter how long," the driver replied respectfully.
When he saw the slap mark on her face, the driver was taken aback. "Madam, your face..."
"Nothing. Let's go home." With that, Song Wantang bent down and got into the car.
That slap had severed the father-daughter bond.
The car slowly drove away from the Song Family Villa.
She leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and unconsciously placed her hand on her lower abdomen.
"Mommy, are you okay?" Little Dumpling's voice was cautious. "That old Song geezer went too far! He even tried to steal your shares—shameless! And that Song Yurou, putting on airs, I hate the sight of her!"
Song Wantang smiled inwardly. "I'm fine."
"But Mommy doesn't look happy."
"I'm just a little tired," Song Wantang said softly.
She really was tired.
Not because of Song Changfeng's aggression, nor because of Zhou Huiru and her daughter's sarcastic remarks.
She had long gotten used to all that. Once you get used to it, it doesn't hurt anymore.
What tired her was this endless entanglement.
It felt like as long as she was alive and still bore the name Song, she would never be free of these messes.
So the matter of the shares had to be dealt with quickly.
She had promised Grandfather she would protect the Song Corporation.
So she wouldn't sell the shares. Instead, she would enter the company and become a part of it.
Before, she didn't bother, thinking that they were family after all.
That man was, after all, her father.
But today's slap had woken her up.
..
Lu Shaodong had originally arranged to go support Zhou Jin's newly opened restaurant in the morning. Just as he was about to arrive, he suddenly got a call from Zhang Ma.
Her tone was anxious. "Sir, Madam just came back from outside. I don't know what happened, but there's a red slap mark on her face. It looks like... she was hit."
"I understand." Lu Shaodong's expression darkened, then he instructed the driver, "Turn at the next intersection. Go home."
"Where is Madam?" Lu Shaodong asked as soon as he entered.
Zhang Ma quickly replied, "She went straight to the bedroom when she got back. I knocked and asked a few times, but she just said it's nothing."
Hearing this, Lu Shaodong's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. Without asking further, he strode toward the master bedroom.
Zhang Ma opened her mouth behind him, wanting to say something, but eventually swallowed her words.
As long as Sir was there, he would hold up the sky even if it fell.
Madam still had plenty of blessings ahead!
The master bedroom door was left ajar, not fully closed.
Lu Shaodong stood at the door and knocked a few times, but there was no response.
He couldn't help but frown.
"Wantang?"
It was the first time he had called her by her name.
His pronunciation was clear and precise, carrying a hint of pressure.
After a moment, Song Wantang gently opened the door.
Her hair was a bit messy, one side of her cheek was swollen like a steamed bun—clearly from a slap—and her eyes were misty.
When she saw it was Lu Shaodong, she was startled for a moment, then turned her head away, trying to cover the slapped cheek with her hair.
But it was too late. Lu Shaodong's sharp eyes had already seen it at first glance.
He noticed Song Wantang's action and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "I'm not blind. I saw it. Who hit you?"
Besides the Song family, no one would dare to hit or would even hit Song Wantang.
"No, I... I accidentally scraped it."
Song Wantang wasn't good at lying, so her lie was completely unconvincing.
In truth, she just didn't want to trouble Lu Shaodong.
They were only in a marriage of convenience. She felt like she had been causing him trouble all along.
Lu Shaodong's face was expressionless. "Do I look that easy to fool?"
Even a three-year-old wouldn't use an excuse like that!
Song Wantang: "..."
Suddenly, her chin was pinched by Shen Mozhou and turned. He frowned. "It's swollen into a steamed bun. How foolish—did you just stand there and let them hit you?"
Song Wantang pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Because she hadn't expected Song Changfeng to strike suddenly.
Zhang Ma rushed over with an ice pack. When she saw Song Wantang's face, she exclaimed, "Oh my god, Madam, what happened to your face? It's so bad—it's all swollen."
"Scraped it," Lu Shaodong replied flatly.
As he spoke, he took the ice pack from Zhang Ma's hand.
Zhang Ma frowned slightly.
How could it be a scrape?
It was obviously a slap.
Zhang Ma also looked unconvinced.
"Zhang Ma, thank you." Song Wantang didn't want to trouble others. "I'll do it myself."
"Let me apply it for you," Lu Shaodong said.
Zhang Ma was an old hand around Lu Shaodong, having worked with him for years. She had never seen him care so much about any woman.
She secretly smiled. "Madam, it's inconvenient for you to do it yourself. Just let Sir help you."
"But..."
How could she trouble him?
Song Wantang felt uncomfortable.
Soon, Lu Shaodong approached with the ice pack.
The next second, the ice pack touched her slapped cheek, making her shiver involuntarily from the cold.
Seeing this, Lu Shaodong unconsciously lightened his touch. "Does it hurt a lot?"
"No. I'll do it myself. I don't like troubling others," Song Wantang said, very uncomfortable.
"I'm not Shen Mozhou. I like being troubled," Lu Shaodong replied.
"..."
They were very close.
So close that she could smell the crisp scent of pine wood on him, see the curve of his eyelashes, and even feel the faint warmth of his breath.
Her heartbeat treacherously skipped a beat.
The ice, melting through the bag, seeped out in tiny droplets, moistening a few strands of hair at Song Wantang's temple.
Lu Shaodong naturally reached out and brushed them aside. His fingers had thin calluses, tickling Song Wantang as they brushed past.
Little Dumpling giggled. "Mommy, Daddy is so gentle and so handsome!"
Song Wantang's face turned even redder.
"You went to the Song family today, so it was someone from the Song family who hit you? Who?" Lu Shaodong still hadn't dropped the subject.
Song Wantang tried to keep her tone as calm as possible. "It's nothing. Just a little misunderstanding. It's over now."
"I asked, who hit you."
Song Wantang was silent for two seconds. Knowing she couldn't hide it, she stopped concealing it. "Song Changfeng."
She called him directly by name.
She wouldn't even say "my father" anymore.
Lu Shaodong didn't show surprise, but his jaw tightened slightly.
"Because of the shares?"
Song Wantang was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood.
Since Lu Shaodong had married her, he must have investigated her thoroughly. There was no way he didn't know she held shares in the Song Corporation.
"Yes," she nodded, not hiding it. "He wanted the shares in my hands. I didn't give them."
"So he hit you."
It wasn't a question; it was a statement.
Song Wantang twitched the corner of her mouth, trying to smile, but it pulled at the injury on her face, and the smile turned into a sharp intake of breath.
"Hiss—"
"Don't move." Lu Shaodong's voice suddenly came even closer.
✦✦✦