When Xu Mingzhe pushed open the door, Wen Wan was sitting at the vanity, slowly combing her hair. His gloomy face was reflected in the bronze mirror. His suit jacket hung over one arm, and his tie was loosened around his neck. She knew this look all too well—it was exactly how he appeared every time he came back from fooling around with Lin Xiaoman.
“Why are you back so late?” Wen Wan asked without turning around, her voice as gentle as it had been during their newlywed days.
“Business dinner.” Xu Mingzhe impatiently yanked off his tie and tossed it onto the bed. Then he froze. “Where’s the bed?”
Through the mirror, Wen Wan watched his eyes widen as he looked around the room. She sneered inwardly. Other than the bed and vanity, the bedroom was almost completely empty. The wardrobe doors stood open, revealing bare shelves. Only a few lonely hooks remained on the walls. Even the curtains had been stored away in her spatial space.
“What the hell are you doing?” Xu Mingzhe turned and glared at her, his handsome face twisting with anger. “Where’s everything from this room?”
Wen Wan set down her comb and slowly turned around, wearing an innocent expression.
“I didn’t like the style anymore and wanted to redecorate. I moved everything out temporarily. My brother will send over new furniture in a few days.”
“Moved it where?” Xu Mingzhe’s voice suddenly rose. He strode to the bed and frantically felt along the edges of the mattress. “Who told you that you could move things around without asking?”
Wen Wan tilted her head, a hint of mockery flashing through her eyes.
“What’s wrong? They’re just furniture and decorations. Why are you so nervous?”
Xu Mingzhe abruptly lifted the mattress. When he found the hidden compartment completely empty, all the color drained from his face.
He spun around to face Wen Wan, panic flickering in his eyes.
“Where did you move it? Tell me!”
Wen Wan pulled free from his grasp and stepped back, allowing a look of hurt to appear on her face.
“Why are you yelling at me? Old Chen said the warehouse was full, so he had everything transported to the abandoned storage yard outside the city. He said once the new furniture arrived—”
“The abandoned yard?!” Xu Mingzhe practically roared, veins bulging on his forehead. “Are you out of your damn mind?”
“Idiot!”
Snatching up his suit jacket, he rushed out the door.
“If it’s gone, you’ll pay for this!”
The door slammed so hard that even the wall hooks rattled.
Wen Wan slowly lifted her head, a cold smile curling across her lips.
She picked up the telephone beside the bed and dialed the housekeeper’s quarters.
“Old Chen, the young master is on his way to find you. Do a good job, and you’ll get a gold bar.”
The reply came immediately.
“Understood, Young Madam. I won’t disappoint you.”
Everything was proceeding exactly according to plan.
Earlier, while Xu Mingzhe wasn’t paying attention, Wen Wan had rubbed a special “fragrance” onto his clothes—a mixture of lard and several scents that wild dogs found irresistible. Humans would hardly notice the smell, but wild dogs would go crazy for it.
And the abandoned yard outside the city happened to be a gathering place for packs of stray dogs.
In her previous life, Wen Wan had studied perfumes extensively and possessed a keen sensitivity to scents. She had never imagined that skill would one day help her exact revenge.
The abandoned yard lay on the outskirts of the city. It had once served as a warehouse district for a state-owned factory. After the factory relocated, the area became a dumping ground for discarded materials.
Under the moonlight, Xu Mingzhe’s sedan sat alone at the entrance. Its headlights illuminated heaps of scattered junk.
Xu Mingzhe had jumped out of the car and was frantically searching through the piles. His suit jacket had long since disappeared, and his white shirt was covered in dust.
Then, from the edge of the yard, several barks rang out.
Xu Mingzhe heard them too and straightened warily.
The next moment, five or six wild dogs burst out of the darkness and charged straight at him.
“Get away! Damn beasts!”
Xu Mingzhe grabbed a wooden stick and swung it wildly, but he was no match for the hungry animals.
A large yellow dog lunged forward and clamped its jaws around his pant leg.
Old Chen hurried over, waving a stick to drive away the pack.
Xu Mingzhe stumbled backward but tripped over a pile of debris and crashed onto his back.
The yellow dog seized the opportunity.
It leapt onto him and bit directly between his legs.
“AAAHHH!!”
Xu Mingzhe let out a scream that barely sounded human. Clutching his groin, he rolled across the ground in agony.
The other dogs swarmed him, tearing at his clothes.
Desperately struggling to his feet, Xu Mingzhe staggered toward his car with a pack of barking dogs in pursuit.
He practically crawled into the vehicle. Before the door was even fully shut, he started the engine.
The tires screeched against the dirt as the car lurched wildly out of the yard.
Two hours later, Wen Wan leisurely arrived at the abandoned yard.
“Young Madam, everything has been taken care of,” Old Chen reported respectfully as he approached.
Wen Wan nodded in satisfaction.
In her previous life, this man had been Xu Mingzhe’s informant. Now, he was working for her instead.
The power of money was sometimes more reliable than family ties.
She took a thick envelope from her handbag and handed it to him.
“The gold bar I promised. The extra thousand yuan is your bonus. Remember—you never saw me tonight.”
Old Chen’s eyes instantly lit up. He accepted the envelope and weighed it in his hand. Any guilt he might have felt toward Xu Mingzhe vanished immediately.
“Of course,” he said. Then he hesitated. “But… the young master’s injuries are serious. Should we notify a hospital?”
Wen Wan let out a cold laugh.
“Don’t worry. He won’t die.”
When she returned to the Xu residence, the entire mansion was brightly lit.
The moment she stepped into the foyer, she heard Xu Mingzhe’s hysterical shouting and Zhang Cuihua’s wailing from upstairs.
“What happened?” Wen Wan asked, pretending to panic as she grabbed a passing maid.
“Y-Young Madam!” The maid’s face was pale with fear. “The young master is injured! The master called for the doctor. They said… they said…”
The maid stammered, unable to continue.
Wen Wan hurried upstairs and found chaos outside the master bedroom.
Xu Zhiguo stood nearby with a dark expression. The family doctor was conducting an examination. Zhang Cuihua was sobbing at the bedside.
Xu Mingzhe lay on the bed, pale as a sheet, cold sweat covering his forehead.
“Wen Wan!” Xu Zhiguo barked the moment he saw her. “Mingzhe said he got hurt while looking for the things you moved. What exactly happened?”
Wen Wan’s eyes immediately reddened.
“Father, I… I don’t know. Mingzhe asked where I had moved everything. I said Old Chen might have stored it temporarily at the abandoned yard. Then he suddenly became angry and rushed out.”
“The abandoned yard?” Xu Zhiguo frowned. “What was so important that he had to go there himself?”
On the bed, Xu Mingzhe suddenly struggled to sit up.
“Dad! There was—”
“There was what?” Xu Zhiguo’s sharp gaze locked onto his son.
Xu Mingzhe instantly deflated.
“There were… some important notes of mine.”
Wen Wan sneered inwardly.
Of course he couldn’t admit that the missing item was a ledger containing records of the Xu family’s black-market dealings and bribery.
The doctor finally finished the examination and pulled Xu Zhiguo aside to speak in a low voice.
Wen Wan watched as Xu Zhiguo’s expression grew darker and darker until it resembled the color of liver.
“What?!” Xu Zhiguo suddenly roared out of control.
“His reproductive organ was torn apart by the bite?!”