Seeing that she said nothing, Gu Zheng did not ask any further. The expression on his face softened somewhat, but Gu Cishen suddenly laughed, his voice quiet and faintly eerie. He said coldly, “Since you want me to stay so badly, I’ll grant your wish.”
After saying that, he suddenly strode out. Gu Zheng, however, remembered what Chi Xue had just said and happily had Aunt Wu arrange for her to rest in her former room.
Chi Xue lay on the bed, weighed down by worries. Her body grew hotter and hotter, her limbs weak and unsteady, while certain strange sensations within her became increasingly intense, as though they were driving her insane. She bit her lip, one hand gripping the bedsheet tightly while the other tugged frantically at her clothes.
Crack!
The door suddenly swung open. The light from outside shone through the gap, and Chi Xue narrowed her eyes. Through the haze, she saw a tall, slender figure walking toward her against the light.
Click!
The door was locked from the inside. The lights suddenly came on, and Chi Xue instinctively shrank beneath the covers, revealing only enough of her face to make out the man’s features.
Gu Cishen said nothing. He merely glanced at her before beginning to undo the buttons of his shirt. Chi Xue forcibly endured the strange sensations within her and was just about to speak when her body suddenly sank beneath him. The man’s weight pressed down on her, yet she could not control herself…… She did not want to push him away. She even…… wanted to draw closer…… The closer, the better……
What was happening to her……?
When she felt cool fingertips touch her chin, Chi Xue regained a little consciousness. At that moment, Gu Cishen was looking down at her from above, his hand gripping her chin with considerable force.
“Playing hard to get—is it fun?”
Chi Xue froze, as if someone had poured a basin of cold water over her from head to toe. Did he think…… that all of this was her Scheming again?
“Just a moment ago, you were putting on airs of purity in front of me. What? So soon, you’ve gone to such lengths to offer yourself to me?”
As he spoke, he lifted her flushed little face, a hint of frivolity in his expression. “What is it that Lan Bei can’t satisfy you with, hmm?”
He let out a soft laugh as his large hand moved skillfully over her body. When his fingertips touched her skin, Chi Xue felt every pore on her body shiver. Each word he spoke was like a sharp blade, casually stabbing at her heart.
With one hand, Gu Cishen tore apart the dress she was wearing. When he reached the final barrier, Chi Xue seemed to suddenly regain consciousness and used the last bit of strength she had to push him away. Gu Cishen froze. The instant his gaze fell upon the shocking Scar across the woman’s fair lower abdomen, something inside him abruptly snapped.
The man’s dark gaze seemed to solidify, unable to move away for a long while. When Chi Xue followed his gaze, she first froze. Then, overwhelming pain and hatred swept over her, as though that period of darkness, hidden from the light of day, had happened only yesterday.
She abruptly sat up and covered her body with the quilt. Gu Cishen withdrew his gaze, his entire demeanor cold beyond words. He suddenly stood, his white shirt slightly disheveled yet still exuding nobility. From the pocket of the jacket lying nearby, he took out a cigarette, lit it, and drew in a deep breath with smooth, natural movements.
“How did you get it?”
Amid the drifting smoke, his voice sounded unexpectedly hoarse.
Chi Xue curled her lips, the light in her eyes cold and mocking. He was actually asking her…… how she had gotten it?
When she remained silent, the man repeated himself, each word carrying a chilly edge. “The Scar on your stomach—where did it come from?”
Chi Xue drew a deep breath and felt the heat in her body had already fallen by more than half. The scenes that repeatedly played in her mind nearly swallowed her whole. The only thing she remembered was that, in prison, they had told her that Gu Cishen refused to acknowledge the child as his.
After a long while, she tugged at her soft lips and spoke with startling nonchalance. “I merely had a child removed.”
The man’s pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. His mind went briefly blank, while a certain premonition deep in his heart nearly cried out. He was stunned for a moment, and by the time he spoke, most of the ash from the cigarette between his fingertips had fallen.
“………A…… child?”
His hoarse voice carried a barely perceptible tremor and was deep beyond words. “Whose child?”
“In any case, it isn’t yours.”
Chi Xue answered with certainty, her expression calmly contemptuous.
For some reason, the anger in Gu Cishen’s chest suddenly flared. “Not mine?”
He paused, skillfully flicking the ash from his cigarette with his slender fingertips. The atmosphere around him grew oppressively dark. “Chi Xue, let’s do the math. You’ve only just been released from prison. When would you have had time to have a child removed? With whom? Lan Bei?”
Her eyelashes flickered. Her warm yet cool little face actually lifted, a smile spreading across her lips. “Of course it wasn’t after I was released from prison.”
Gu Cishen narrowed his dark eyes, a hint of severity and danger in them. “If it wasn’t after you were released from prison, and it wasn’t mine, then what do you mean, Chi Xue?”
“I don’t mean anything.”
Chi Xue lowered her long lashes halfway and picked up the clothes beside her, putting them on unhurriedly. Her voice was cold. “Given the relationship between Mr. Gu and me now, there’s no need for me to explain everything anymore, is there?”
After she spoke, she had just finished dressing. She was about to move to the edge of the bed and stand when her wrist suddenly tightened. A powerful force yanked her upright, and an eerie smile appeared at the corner of Gu Cishen’s lips.
“I never realized that the carefully chosen daughter-in-law of the Old Master was actually a woman who liked to cheat. What? Did I fail to satisfy you back then? Or do you find the men outside more exciting?”
His words grew increasingly frivolous. Chi Xue abruptly shook him off, forcibly holding back the tears in her eyes. “Gu Cishen, satisfy me?”
She smiled, as though deliberately provoking him. “How many times have you even touched me? Whether you satisfied me or not—you know that perfectly well, don’t you?”
The man’s dark eyes were bloodshot, and flickering light like shattered snow spread across his face. “Fine. Then today, I’ll satisfy you completely!”
Gu Cishen shoved her back onto the bed. Chi Xue cried out instinctively in pain, her beautiful distant brows drawing together slightly. The man hesitated for only a second before beginning to tear at her clothes almost violently. Chi Xue resisted with all her strength, only to discover that the heat in her body, which had just cooled, was being rekindled.
Gu Cishen’s thin, cool lips suddenly pressed against hers. Chi Xue’s pupils contracted, and her entire body stiffened in place.
This was the only time he had kissed her in all these years. Even before, when the two of them had been lost in passion and oblivious to everything else, he had seemed merely to be venting. There had never been any foreplay, much less a kiss. She had never known that his lips could be so cold.
As if sensing the change in the person beneath him, the man suddenly slowed his movements. Even his kiss became gentle. Chi Xue felt her entire body go limp, losing all ability to struggle. She could only let him do as he pleased, lying completely still.
Her body grew hotter and hotter, and that fire was awakened once again. Gradually, Chi Xue felt her mouth grow dry, her consciousness drifting. Without realizing it, her arms wound around the man’s neck, and her cherry lips began responding to his kiss bit by bit.
Gu Cishen’s movements paused briefly, but in the next moment he let out a soft laugh and reached his large hand toward a certain place.
Entangled together, exchanging heated kisses and teasing touches, Chi Xue had already fallen completely. She had no time to think about the reason for the strange sensations in her body. At that moment, she could only instinctively move closer to the source of heat, wrapping her legs around the man’s powerful waist. Unexpectedly, in the next second, Gu Cishen’s movements suddenly stopped.