“Shu Juan, Shu Juan.”
Someone was calling her name by her ear, over and over, making her ears burn and her whole body melt with warmth.
Shu Juan had never heard a man call her name with such tenderness.
Like a feather brushing across the depths of her heart, stirring a scorching heat.
A pair of hands gripped her waist with tremendous force, palms pressed against her skin, burning hot as if trying to melt her.
Again and again, as if determined to make her soul scatter and her spirit fly.
It was an experience she had never had before. Shu Juan felt as if even the marrow of her bones had gone soft. Instinctively, she reached up and hooked her arms around his neck, crying out and biting down amidst the ebb and flow, sobbing in a hoarse, broken whisper…
The next morning, Shu Juan was awakened by the harsh light streaming in through the window.
She moved her heavy, aching eyelids and took a long while to adjust before she could barely force them open.
What met her eyes was an unfamiliar room, like a hotel.
She sat up. The bed was a complete mess, the blanket slipping off. She looked down at herself and froze.
It took her empty, dazed mind a long moment to recall that last night had been the company reception for Gu Hong’s firm. She hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, but Gu Hong had persuaded her with patient reasoning, and only then had she agreed to attend with him.
But at the reception, she’d drunk some kind of alcohol she couldn’t identify, and before long, she’d grown dizzy and drowsy.
Shu Juan looked around. Where was Gu Hong?
She struggled to throw on some clothes and get up, searching the entire suite but finding no one. Could he have left her behind and gone home first?
She was used to this, actually, because he was always busy with work.
Shu Juan went to the bathroom first to wash up, and discovered that Gu Hong had thoughtfully prepared a change of clothes for her. The dress she’d worn last night had long since been torn beyond repair.
She hadn’t expected that after all these years of marriage, Gu Hong would be so fierce and ravenous last night.
Shu Juan recalled the low panting and murmuring by her ear, and felt a strange electric numbness run through her heart.
She tidied herself up, left the hotel, and took a cab home first.
But the moment she opened the door, she found Gu Hong at home—and not just him, but his parents too.
And there was her and Gu Hong’s child, Gu Qianqian, currently leaning against his grandmother’s leg.
The three adults sat in the living room, all with cold, grim faces. The atmosphere was suffocating.
Shu Juan changed her shoes and walked into the living room, looking at them. “What’s wrong?”
Gu Hong raised his head, his gaze fixed directly on Shu Juan, landing on the loose shirt button at her collar. “Where were you last night?”
Shu Juan was completely baffled. “Weren’t we together the whole night? Why did you leave me and come back first?”
Gu Hong’s eyes blazed with fury. “I looked for you all night! What’s going on with this shirt? Where are the clothes you wore last night!”
Shu Juan felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her. She nearly lost her footing.
The person who had been with her all night… wasn’t Gu Hong?
Gu Hong didn’t wait for her answer. He stood up and strode toward her, yanking open her collar to look. Instantly, he flew into a rage and raised his hand, slapping her hard across the face.
Shu Juan’s face went deathly pale, a clear five-finger mark appearing on it at once. She was still completely stunned.
Gu Hong said, “Shameless thing. I take you out to a reception, and this is how you can’t wait to seduce other men!”
Gu Qianqian watched with his clear, innocent eyes. Gu Hong’s mother, Zhou Hui, patted his back and, with a kindly face, instructed the child: “Your mother is cheating. Cheaters get beaten.”
Five-year-old Gu Qianqian, confused, asked, “What’s cheating?”
Zhou Hui said, “Cheating is going out and messing around with strange men. She’s not clean.”
Those words pierced Shu Juan’s heart like needles, one after another. Of all things, she least wanted adult matters to involve the child. Having him hear such things made her want to die.
Shu Juan’s whole body burned, as if she’d been stripped naked and put on trial. Her hair in disarray, she tried to defend herself: “Qianqian, Mommy isn’t that kind of person.”
But Gu Qianqian said, “I don’t want a mommy who isn’t clean.”
Afterward, Shu Juan hid back in her own room, afraid to face anyone. When she showered, she wished she could scrub her skin off.
Gu Hong was utterly disgusted with her and moved to sleep in a separate room.
That night, in the dead of silence, Shu Juan waited until she heard no more sounds outside before daring to leave her room. The living room was dark. She’d only meant to get a glass of water, but to her surprise, she caught sight of Gu Hong standing on the balcony, on the phone.
Gu Hong’s tone on the call was extremely deferential. “President Huang.”
Shu Juan knew this President Huang—he was Gu Hong’s superior.
The voice on the other end was especially clear in the night. “What’s wrong with you? I asked you to deliver someone. If you can’t bear to part with her, fine, but are you playing games with me?”