She thought of her mother, of the past, and of the two of them.
Gu Huaizhi seemed to notice that her mind had wandered. A trace of displeasure flickered through him. She was actually distracted at a time like this. Apparently, he still wasn’t enough to hold her attention.
“Look at me.”
He turned her face toward him, forcing her to meet his gaze.
In the darkness, his eyes were startlingly bright, like a leopard lying in wait for its prey.
Wen Yu had no choice but to meet his eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
He lowered his head and kissed her, taking away every bit of air from her lungs.
What followed came naturally.
He knew every sensitive spot on her body. He knew exactly how to make her lose control, how to leave her trembling beneath him.
Tonight, he seemed to be especially patient, yet especially—rough, as though he were trying to vent some emotion.
Sweat dampened their skin, leaving them pressed together in a sticky warmth.
The air was thick with an ambiguous intimacy, and the temperature in the room continued to rise.
After an unknown amount of time, everything finally settled down.
Gu Huaizhi rolled over and lay to one side, breathing heavily.
Wen Yu felt as though every ounce of strength had been drained from her. She lay limp on the bed with her eyes closed, completely motionless, a faint ache and exhaustion lingering deep within her body.
The only sounds left in the room were their slowly subsiding breaths.
A few minutes later, Gu Huaizhi sat up and got out of bed without the slightest trace of reluctance.
Wen Yu heard his footsteps entering the bathroom, followed by the sound of the shower.
He was always like this. Every time afterward, he would immediately wash himself, as though he wanted to erase every trace of her from his body.
Wen Yu slowly opened her eyes and stared blankly at the indistinct outline of the ceiling.
The lingering sensations in her body had yet to completely fade, but her heart was already ice-cold.
The water stopped, and Gu Huaizhi emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Without even glancing at her on the bed, he walked straight into the dressing room.
When he came back out, he was already dressed in clean loungewear.
“Wake me at seven tomorrow morning.”
Leaving those words behind, he picked up his phone and walked out of the bedroom without looking back.
The door clicked softly shut.
He had probably gone to the guest room or the study.
Wen Yu didn’t know, nor did she care.
She remained lying on the bed for a while longer. Only after the soreness and weakness in her body had eased somewhat did she force herself to sit up.
Dragging her exhausted body, she entered the bathroom.
In the mirror was a face still flushed from the heat, her lips slightly swollen and her eyes misty. Several obvious marks from his kisses remained on her neck and collarbone.
When this man lost all restraint, he always found different ways to wear her out.
She turned on the faucet, splashed some cold water onto her face, then turned on the shower and washed away every trace from her body.
After everything was done, she changed into the cotton pajamas she had brought with her, climbed back into bed, and lay down on the side where he had slept earlier.
A faint scent of his shower gel still lingered on the sheets.
The truth was, she wasn’t as unaffected as she appeared.
Because somewhere along the way, she had fallen in love with this man.
She knew that it went against the terms of their arrangement, but she still couldn’t stop herself from developing feelings for him.
They said that whoever fell in love first was the one destined to lose.
And so, fully aware of what she was doing, she allowed herself to sink deeper and deeper.
The Next Day
At exactly seven, Wen Yu knocked on the door of the guest room.
“Mr. Gu, it’s time to get up.”
There was no response for quite some time. Thinking he might not be in the guest room, Wen Yu was about to go to the study when she heard a low response from inside.
Only then did she turn back to the master bedroom, change clothes, and go downstairs before heading to the company.
That afternoon, shortly after Wen Yu returned to her desk after delivering some documents, the internal phone rang.
“Secretary Wen, Mr. Gu’s… Gu Dong’s younger sister says she wants to see Mr. Gu.”
It was the young receptionist calling.
Wen Yu frowned slightly.
“Please ask her to wait in Meeting Room Three. I’ll be there shortly.”
The woman was Gu Huaizhi’s aunt, Gu Jing.
She was the senior aunt of the Gu family and also one of the company’s Chairmans. She rarely came to the office, but whenever she did, it was usually for trouble.
Especially when it came to Wen Yu, she always treated her with a condescending attitude, as though she disliked her intensely.
Wen Yu knew exactly what Gu Jing was thinking.
Her aunt probably felt that Wen Yu, as a secretary, was too eye-catching, while Gu Huaizhi had given her far too much authority. She was also probably afraid that Wen Yu would seduce her nephew.
Wen Yu stood before the mirror and tidied her appearance. After making sure everything was in order, she walked toward the meeting room.
When she opened the door, Gu Jing was sitting upright on the sofa, a cup of coffee in her hand. Her well-maintained face wore an unmistakably arrogant expression.
Her eyes, which bore some resemblance to Gu Huaizhi’s, were filled with a critical, scrutinizing look.
“Chairman Gu.”
Wen Yu gave a slight nod, neither servile nor overbearing.
Gu Jing set down her coffee cup and looked Wen Yu up and down as if scanning her from head to toe. Finally, her gaze settled on Wen Yu’s face.
“Secretary Wen, I heard you’ve been handling the entire technology park project in Nancheng recently?”
“Yes, Chairman Gu. The project is progressing smoothly and is moving forward according to schedule.”
Gu Jing gave a light laugh.
“Smoothly? Then why did I hear there are some problems with the budget? It’s good for young people to be ambitious, but you can’t ignore cost control just to speed things up. The company’s money doesn’t grow on trees.”
Wen Yu’s expression remained unchanged, but her mind quickly turned over the possibilities.
Was she accusing her of incompetence?
“Chairman Gu, regarding the technology park project’s budget, all the figures are supported by detailed reports and calculations. If you have any questions, I can retrieve the relevant documents immediately for your review.”
Her tone remained calm.
“Reports are dead; people are alive. I heard you approved an additional five hundred thousand yuan for promotional expenses last month. That expense wasn’t in the original budget, was it? What’s the reason for it?”
So that was what this was about.
Wen Yu understood immediately.
The expense had been a temporary application she submitted in response to changing market conditions, intended for a targeted online promotion campaign. The results had been excellent, and the relevant report had already been submitted.
Gu Jing was simply using it as an excuse to make things difficult for her.
Looking at Gu Jing, Wen Yu continued,
“If you’d like, I can also bring you the performance evaluation report. Every decision was made with the goal of maximizing the company’s interests.”
Gu Jing’s expression darkened after being firmly, yet politely, pushed back.
What she hated most about Wen Yu was this very attitude—always calm, always armed with facts and reason, leaving her unable to find even the slightest fault.
“Hmph. Quite the sharp tongue.”
Gu Jing snorted coldly.
“Secretary Wen, don’t forget your position. A secretary is a secretary. Just take care of your own responsibilities. Some decisions simply aren’t yours to interfere with.”
The words were unmistakably personal, carrying a clear warning.
Wen Yu’s fingers curled slightly at her sides, but her expression remained unreadable.
She remembered that rainy night five years ago.
She remembered her mother lying in the hospital bed.
She remembered the crushing debt.
She needed this job.
She needed the “compensation” Gu Huaizhi gave her.
She couldn’t act impulsively. She couldn’t afford to offend him.
Taking a deep breath, she was just about to speak when a deep, composed voice came from behind her.
“Auntie, what brings you here?”
Gu Huaizhi was standing at the meeting room door. His tall figure was straight and imposing, his expression indifferent.
His gaze swept over Wen Yu before settling on Gu Jing.
Seeing her nephew, Gu Jing’s expression softened somewhat, but her tone remained displeased.
“Huaizhi, you came at just the right time. I was asking Secretary Wen about the technology park project. Some of the budget approvals seem rather arbitrary, don’t they? She’s only a secretary…”
“The budget was approved by me.”
Gu Huaizhi interrupted her.