Lin Meijia spoke up, putting on the act of a good older sister who was stepping forward to protect her younger cousin.
“Sir, are you here to rescue us?”
In reality, she simply wanted to divert the man’s attention. If she could get him to look at her, all the better.
But who was Lu Xiaolin?
He was nothing like his foolish nephew.
With a single glance, the warning chill in his eyes was unmistakable.
Lin Meijia felt as though she had fallen into an icy abyss. The soles of her feet turned cold, and she instinctively took a step backward.
“Cousin?”
Jiang Wan’ning caught Lin Meijia at just the right moment.
Acting? Who couldn’t act?
“I-I’m fine.”
Lin Meijia barely managed to steady herself. Then she forced a smile that looked worse than crying and quickly lowered her eyes, hiding the jealousy in them…
Damn it.
Why was Jiang Wan’ning’s life so damn good?
She had actually caught Lu Xiaolin’s attention.
If Lin Meijia showed even the slightest trace of jealousy toward Jiang Wan’ning now, that man was not someone who would let it slide.
He would really kill her!
Yes.
He would kill her!
In her previous life, as the Lu family’s granddaughter-in-law, she had naturally learned many of the family’s secrets.
She had personally witnessed just how ruthless Lu Xiaolin could be.
In front of the elders of the clan, he had personally crippled the hand of a branch-family patriarch.
He had even ordered traitors who betrayed the Lu family to be thrown into a wolf enclosure…
That man was far too dangerous.
He wasn’t someone she could ever dream of.
But that didn’t mean she could sit by and watch Jiang Wan’ning catch his eye!
This was Lu Xiaolin—the future power broker of the country!
No.
She couldn’t let Jiang Wan’ning continue interacting with him.
That would hurt even more than being killed herself!
A man in a special combat uniform arrived on the second floor, carrying an unfamiliar firearm.
After surveying the scene, he immediately removed a pair of handcuffs and cuffed the two robbers.
“Boss, what should we do with these two robbers?”
It sounded like he was asking for instructions, but in reality, he was openly sneaking glances at the breathtaking girl in the qipao.
Good heavens, she’s gorgeous!
She’s even prettier than the actresses in movies!
Sob… Too bad I don’t have a chance anymore. I’ll probably have to start calling her sister-in-law soon!
“Hand them over to the police. Put in a word for them. Since no one was injured, ask them to give the two a lighter sentence.”
Lu Xiaolin glanced indifferently at his subordinate, a warning hidden in his eyes.
Do you want to lose your eyes?
Where exactly are you looking?
Zhao Xuan immediately averted his gaze, snapped to attention, and answered, “Understood!”
Inside, he was crying.
The boss is already protecting his future wife!
Can’t I even take one more look?
After receiving his orders, he immediately led away the two robbers, who looked none too bright.
He really had to wonder how unlucky these two idiots were.
They could have robbed someone any other day.
But no—they had to do it today!
They had run straight into his boss’s hands.
Well, looks like they were guaranteed several years behind bars.
“Sir, you’re a good man! Please, please help us!”
The robber leader suddenly dropped to his knees in front of the intimidating man and began kowtowing.
“We didn’t rob people for ourselves! I did it because my mother is seriously ill, and my little brother robbed with me because his blind sister needs a corneal transplant.
“Please! It doesn’t matter if we go to prison. We deserve whatever sentence we get. We’re just afraid that once we’re locked up, no one will take care of my mother or his sister. They could die!”
The other robber seemed to come to his senses.
Seeing his big brother kneeling, he immediately followed suit and began kowtowing as well.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Their foreheads repeatedly struck the tiled floor, soon leaving traces of blood.
The survivors, who had just been celebrating their escape from the robbers and had previously regarded them with nothing but hatred, were momentarily stunned.
No one knew what to say.
“Zhao Xuan, finished watching the show yet? Take them away.”
Lu Xiaolin neither agreed to help them nor refused.
His inscrutable demeanor gave everyone a sense of security, while at the same time making him seem mysterious and utterly unapproachable.
Zhao Xuan hurriedly summoned the police officers who had arrived and pulled the robbers to their feet.
“Come on, move it, move it.”
The crowd failed to notice that, in an inconspicuous corner, a man had secretly picked up one of the robbers’ pistols and hidden it away…
“Thank you, sir. Can we leave now?”
“Of course.”
Lu Xiaolin had no interest in these ordinary civilians.
His gaze returned to the wary girl.
He realized that he had probably been too eager just now and had frightened her.
How could he make her lower her guard?
“Cousin, let’s leave too. I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
Jiang Wan’ning knew exactly what her advantage was.
The man had come.
That meant he had already stepped into the trap she had carefully laid.
As the saying went, the most sophisticated hunters often appeared in the form of their prey.
Compared with a delicate, docile vine that clung to others for support, men were more likely to enjoy conquering a beautiful rose covered in sharp thorns.
“Mm.”
Lin Meijia managed to force the word out.
No matter how much she regretted not checking her horoscope before leaving the house, it was too late now.
Just as the two women were preparing to follow the crowd downstairs with the other survivors, the man suddenly moved.
His long arm swept around Jiang Wan’ning, pulling her into his embrace and shielding her petite body with his own.
In an almost inaudible voice, he said,
“Be careful.”
Jiang Wan’ning hadn’t been prepared for it.
She was suddenly pulled into his arms, her delicate nose bumping against his hard chest. It quickly turned red.
She looked up at him with her watery, innocent doe eyes.
Be careful of what?
Could this man be some kind of lecher, deliberately taking advantage of her?
“Bang!”
A gunshot rang out.
The bullet grazed Lu Xiaolin’s left arm, and bright red blood splattered across Jiang Wan’ning’s cheek.
Her eyes widened in terror, and she froze.
The next second, she heard the man let out a muffled groan of pain.
Then he raised his large hand and covered her eyes.
“Don’t be afraid.”
In the darkness beneath his palm, Jiang Wan’ning’s eyelashes trembled.
Her lowered eyes flickered.
Afraid?
She had already experienced death once.
How could she possibly be frightened by something this trivial?
“Wu Qi!”
“Bang!”
In the blink of an eye, another bullet was fired, striking the man who had suddenly raised his gun and shot at Lu Xiaolin.
With a muffled thud, the attacker collapsed.
A fully armed man who had been hiding nearby immediately rushed forward and checked the fallen man’s pulse.
“Reporting, sir. The suspect has been shot and is unconscious. Should we administer medical treatment?”
“Of course. Take him away. Have Doctor Xie treat him, then lock him up and wait for interrogation.”
Lu Xiaolin completely ignored the blood slowly flowing from his wounded arm.
Instead, he tightened his hold around the girl’s waist, keeping her firmly against him in an unmistakably protective—and possessive—embrace.
The man who had nearly hurt her.
How could he possibly be allowed to die so easily?
“C-Can you let me go now?”
Jiang Wan’ning could feel the man’s breathing growing heavier.
Startled, she struggled, trying to free herself from his hold.
Nearby, Lin Meijia was already completely terrified.
Death had just come within inches of her!
If that suspect’s aim had been even slightly off, she would have been the one shot!
Yet Jiang Wan’ning had Lu Xiaolin protecting her.
He was willing to get hurt himself, even risk his life, to keep her safe!
“How heartless!”
Wu Qi confiscated the suspect’s gun and bound him tightly, preparing to drag him away. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept sneaking glances at his boss.
Hearing the girl whom their boss had just protected with his life being so cold toward him, Wu Qi immediately spoke up for his boss.
“Boss just saved your life! Shouldn’t you repay him by marrying him?”
Ahem.
Of course, he also had an ulterior motive in saying it.
Their boss had finally fallen for someone after being single for so long.
As his brothers, how could they possibly not support him?