“Take off your clothes.”
These three deeply insulting words caused a crack to appear on Fang Mian’s face.
“Why are you just standing there, Assistant Fang?”
“Didn’t you desperately want the video deleted? Then Assistant Fang should at least show a bit of service awareness, shouldn’t you?”
Gu Tingye’s aggressive pressure gradually drained the color from Fang Mian’s face.
She had to admit that all successful people possessed exceptionally sharp minds.
They could always effortlessly pinpoint others’ fatal weaknesses.
Just like now.
He was deliberately humiliating her.
Gu Tingye stared at her stubborn face. “What? Starting to play coy now?”
“Gu Ziqian has been playing tricks on you for five years. I imagine Assistant Fang knows quite a few things… right?”
“Didn’t you say last time that doing it once is no different from doing it ten times? Then let’s begin! Start kissing from here all the way down.”
He pointed to his own forehead.
In the silent air, their gazes collided, locked in a wordless battle.
A moment later.
Fang Mian curled her lips into a light smile. “As you wish!”
She mentally blocked out Gu Tingye’s gaze.
Then, like a robot, she pressed her lips to his full forehead, his high-bridged nose, his thin, pressed lips.
Next came his Adam’s apple, collarbone, chest…
Her numb lips mechanically followed the commands from her brain, as if devoid of sensation.
Just as her lips were about to touch the forbidden zone.
A sudden sharp pain shot through her wrist.
She couldn’t help but frown and look down.
A raging fire burned in Gu Tingye’s eyes. “Put your clothes back on and get out!”
He was the one who wanted to start.
And he was the one who wanted to end it.
This man was utterly unreasonable!
Fuming with anger, Fang Mian, even as she was being thrown out, didn’t forget to take the stack of documents that needed distributing.
This act made Gu Tingye even more furious, smoke practically rising from his head.
In her eyes, even a few files were more important than him.
She could care about lifeless documents.
But she refused to care about him, a living, breathing person…
Heartbreaker!!
Fight or not, argue or not.
She still had to accompany Gu Tingye on the business trip tomorrow.
But because her mood was ruined, she wanted to buy something to cheer herself up.
With early summer approaching, Fang Mian wanted to buy her mother two new outfits.
He Lan flatly refused. “No need, last year’s clothes are still seventy percent new. Besides, I’m old now, what do I need new clothes for?”
“It’s you who should go buy a couple of bright, lively pieces. Don’t wear nothing but white or black work clothes all day; it doesn’t suit your flowery age at all.”
In the end, Fang Mian couldn’t overcome her mother’s insistence, and the two went to the shopping mall together.
Having just bought a house, Fang Mian’s finances weren’t loose.
Mother and daughter browsed in stores with moderate prices.
Half an hour later, Fang Mian picked out a nude pink maxi dress and a coffee-colored halter-neck mini dress set.
She also insisted on buying her mother a cream-colored chiffon dress.
He Lan said heartbrokenly, “You stubborn child. Even if you buy me such a pretty dress, I have nowhere to wear it.”
Fang Mian laughed. “Who says? You can wear it when you go grocery shopping, take out the trash, or go to the supermarket!”
He Lan: “It would be such a pity to get it dirty outside.”
A familiar female voice chimed in: “Just throw it away if it gets dirty.”
Fang Mian turned to look.
Fang Lu, holding her mother Jiang Yan’s arm, said with an air of superiority, “It’s just a little over two hundred yuan, not even expensive. Fang Mian, are you really that poor? As Gu Ziqian’s girlfriend, doesn’t he usually give you money to spend?”
She suddenly exclaimed in feigned surprise, “Oh, I almost forgot. It seems you two have broken up now.”
“Fang Mian, oh Fang Mian, when Young Master Gu offered you cars and houses, you refused. When he bought you diamond rings and jewelry, you refused. Even the gold and silver cards he gave you, you never spent a single cent. And the gifts he sent you, you didn’t even bother to unwrap them.”
“Tell me, are you just brainless, or are you simply an idiot?”
Slap!
A forceful slap echoed throughout the entire floor, drawing the attention of many onlookers.
Fang Lu, clutching her burning cheek, stood frozen in shock.
Jiang Yan glared furiously. “How dare you hit Lulu?”
Fang Mian shook her aching right hand dismissively. “Since you’ve neglected to discipline your daughter since she was young, Auntie, I was just teaching her how to speak properly in the future.”
Jiang Yan, trembling with rage, pointed back and forth at Fang Mian and her mother. “So it’s true—you were just pretending to be obedient and well-behaved in front of Jingyuan all along. Now that you’ve moved out, your true hypocritical faces are finally showing.”
He Lan couldn’t take it anymore. “Jiang Yan, can’t you speak with a bit of conscience? Ever since you married into the Fang family, I’ve been serving you faithfully.”
“Who took care of you when you were hospitalized after giving birth? Who held Lulu every time she had a fever and needed injections? Who brought you meals and kept you company during your uterine fibroid surgery?”
“It was all me, He Lan! All these years, I’ve been sincere and kind to you, repaying your hostility with kindness, yet I’ve never received a single word of praise from you. Search your conscience—what have your own family ever done for you? How can you say such things?”
As she spoke, He Lan couldn’t hold back her tears.
All her youth and time had been devoted to serving the Fang family, yet they not only showed no gratitude but even humiliated her.
Seeing her mother’s tears, Fang Mian’s heart ached as well. Others might not understand her mother’s suffering, but she did.
Fang Mian glared sharply at Jiang Yan and Fang Lu. “Apologize to my mother!”
“Why should I?” Jiang Yan sneered disdainfully. “Do you still think Gu Ziqian has your back now?”
“If it weren’t for Gu Ziqian’s sake all along, I would’ve kicked you and your mother out of the Fang family long ago.”
“But now, Gu Ziqian has taken a liking to Lulu. As for you, Fang Mian…”
“You’re nothing in Gu Ziqian’s eyes now. So naturally, you’re even less in mine. Hahaha… and you still want me to apologize? Keep dreaming!”
Fang Lu proudly showed off the oversized diamond ring on her finger to Fang Mian. “Didn’t expect it, did you? Gu Ziqian chose me over you!”
“Look, this is what he just bought for me! It cost over ten million! He also bought me a sports car worth two million and gave me a credit card with no spending limit. Are you jealous? Do you regret it now? Hahaha… Ah!”
Gritting her teeth, Fang Mian grabbed Fang Lu by the long hair at the back of her head. “I said, apologize to my mother!”
Fang Lu cried out in pain, tears streaming down her face.
Jiang Yan rushed forward to protect her daughter. “Let go of her now! If you don’t, I’ll call the police!”
He Lan panicked immediately upon hearing about calling the police. “Forget it, Mianmian, we’re all family. Let’s not blow this out of proportion!”
Fang Mian was dead set on not letting go. “I’ve put up with them for over twenty years. Starting today, I’m done holding back! I’m going to pull out every last strand of her hair and see how she dares act so arrogant in the future.”
Jiang Yan, being older, had limited strength and couldn’t budge Fang Mian an inch.
With He Lan, who was as strong as an ox, protecting Fang Mian, she was completely helpless.
In her desperation, she called Gu Ziqian for help. “Ziqian, come over quickly! Fang Mian and Lulu are fighting!”