Zhou Wanning fell silent.
The people coming and going in the lobby no longer dared to look at her.
Lu Jinzhou dragged her into the CEO’s private elevator.
As soon as they stepped inside, he pressed her against the elevator wall.
His gaze was fierce. “What were you trying to do just now? Huh? Hoping Zhou Leyu would save you?”
“N-no, I wasn’t. I just… I just missed her.”
Zhou Wanning had thought her recent obedience had eased Lu Jinzhou’s guard, but she hadn’t expected his perception to be so sharp.
He gripped her chin, forcing her panicked eyes to meet his. “Let me make this clear—don’t try any tricks in front of me, Ningning. I don’t like it. Understand?”
Zhou Wanning nodded frantically. “I just… just wanted to say hello to her.”
Lu Jinzhou released her. “But your dear little sister didn’t seem interested in acknowledging you.”
At this, Zhou Wanning wondered—Zhou Leyu had clearly seen her earlier, so why had she pretended not to?
Her thoughts drifted, and a more terrifying possibility formed in her mind.
No, that couldn’t be. Maybe she… maybe she really hadn’t noticed her.
“Doesn’t anyone at your company know about you and Le Yu?”
“No one knows.”
That didn’t make sense. He had accompanied Le Yu to meet the Zhou family, yet no one at the company knew about their relationship.
Everything felt off.
Even if he and Le Yu broke up in the future, no one would ever know they had been together.
Lu Jinzhou’s office was spacious, with an attached restroom. Whenever Zhou Wanning grew tired of sitting, she would retreat to his private lounge to rest.
At noon, she was awakened by a kiss.
The man’s hands had already slipped beneath the covers and into her clothes.
Zhou Wanning pressed down on his hand, dodging his kisses. “My period isn’t over yet.”
For the first time, she wished her period would last longer—so she wouldn’t have to endure Lu Jinzhou’s forced advances.
Breathing heavily, he asked, “How many more days?”
Zhou Wanning’s menstrual cycle always lasted seven days. “Three more days. But even after it ends, it’s not suitable for… for that.”
Lu Jinzhou didn’t understand and thought she was trying to fool him.
But he couldn’t be bothered to argue. Once her period was over, if he wanted her, she would have to comply.
“Get up. I’ll take you to eat.”
“Okay.”
Lu Jinzhou took her to a Cantonese restaurant.
All day, Zhou Wanning had been searching for an opportunity, wondering how she could escape.
But her phone was now useless—she couldn’t even contact her friends.
“Lu…” She had only uttered the first syllable when his cold gaze snapped toward her.
He didn’t like her calling him by his full name—he said it sounded distant.
He wanted her to call him Jinzhou, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
“Can you give me my phone back? I have something to do.”
“What is it?”
“Before the school semester starts, teachers are assigned tasks, and there might be messages in the parents’ group chat. Could you please give me my phone?” she pleaded.
“I checked for you. Nothing important.”
“You went through my phone? That’s my privacy.”
“What privacy do you need with me?”
He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He didn’t understand respect at all. He spoke of doting on her, but in reality, it was all about control.
Zhou Wanning’s tolerance only made him push further.
“Lu Jinzhou, I’m a person, not your plaything.”
Lu Jinzhou was displeased with the way she addressed him. He had never treated her as a plaything.
If she were truly just a plaything, he wouldn’t have bothered trying so hard to have her.
As long as he wanted, he could take whatever he pleased without restraint.
All he desired was for Zhou Wanning to have her heart and eyes filled with him alone.
“Do you know what a plaything is like?”
Zhou Wanning pressed her lips together, biting the soft flesh inside.
Lu Jinzhou tossed down his utensils and rose, approaching her with an imposing presence.
He crouched before her, looking up at her. “A plaything—I don’t have to consider her feelings. She must do whatever I tell her to do, instead of me showing mercy and letting her go just because she cries and begs me.”
He took her cold fingertips in his hand, brought them to his lips, and kissed them. “A plaything is someone who has to smile at me no matter how I treat her. Even if I kick her, she still has to cling to my leg and say thank you!”
Zhou Wanning froze, startled by his shameless words.
Her fear stemmed from knowing that a man like him meant every word he said.
“A plaything is someone I can give to another man once I’ve had enough of her. Ningning, do you still think you’re a plaything?”
Perhaps sensing that his words had frightened her, Lu Jinzhou sat down on the chair beside her and thoughtfully placed a piece of fish in her bowl. “Eat more. You’re too thin.”
Although Zhou Wanning had lost some weight, she still had curves in all the right places.
Lu Jinzhou’s large hand caressed the back of her head again and again, as if he couldn’t get enough, like an elder doting on a younger one.
He leaned to the side, his gaze filled with intense possessiveness as he watched her profile.
His Ningning was so beautiful, gentle, and lovely no matter how he looked at her.
That sticky, unsettling gaze filled Zhou Wanning with panic. Was there no escaping this madman?
Before Zhou Wanning could finish her meal, Lu Jinzhou turned her chair around.
He lifted her onto his lap. “Are you really that unhappy? Do you want your phone that badly?”
Zhou Wanning didn’t speak, only nodded.
“I’ll give it to you when we get home tonight. Don’t be upset.”
He still preferred it when she smiled at him.
“Really?”
“Yes, but…”
She knew there had to be a condition.
“What?”
“After your period ends, wear the nightgowns from the walk-in closet for me.”
Mention of those nightgowns made Zhou Wanning’s face flush again.
Aside from the seasonal clothes he had prepared for her, there was also a row of lingerie nightgowns in the walk-in closet.
He wasn’t just mad—he was a pervert.
Those nightgowns were not only transparent but also pitifully scarce in fabric.
“Agree, and I’ll give you your phone.”
Zhou Wanning thought she’d get the phone first and worry about the rest later. “Okay.”
“Good girl, baby.”
After the meal, Lu Jinzhou spotted an acquaintance and went over to chat for a few moments, telling Zhou Wanning to wait for him in the car.
“Zhou Wanning!”
Luo Shuhang suddenly appeared before her.
It hadn’t been long, but he looked much thinner and more haggard.
Zhou Wanning had no intention of dealing with him and tried to leave.
“Don’t you dare walk away, you bitch! You offended President Li, seduced Lu Jinzhou—damn it, you shameless woman! You even seduced your own sister’s fiancé to screw me over.”
Not only did President Li refuse to work with him, but even his past clients had terminated their collaborations.
His studio was on the verge of collapse in just a few days.
All his employees had fled.
“Luo Shuhang, stop talking nonsense. Don’t you know what disgusting things you’ve done? How dare you turn the tables on me!”
Luo Shuhang grabbed her arm tightly, dragging her toward the restaurant exit.
The restaurant manager immediately stepped in to intervene.
“Get lost!” he roared.
“Luo Shuhang, let go of me! You brought this on yourself. You deserve it.”
“Slut, everyone come look at this slut who seduced her own sister’s husband.”
He had checked the surveillance from that night; Zhou Wanning wasn’t taken away by President Li but was carried off by Lu Jinzhou instead.
This woman must have been secretly involved with Lu Jinzhou long ago—what a fake, damn it.
His shouting drew the attention of everyone dining in the hall.
Zhou Wanning felt as if she had been stripped bare, sensing the accusatory stares of the onlookers.