Instinctively, she lifted her head and saw two middle-aged women in aprons standing at the edge of the living room. One carried a tray, while the other held a cleaning cloth as they openly sized her up.
Their gazes were undisguised.
From her faded white dress softened by countless washes, down to the old sneakers with dust clinging to them, and then upward again to her makeup-free face.
“Secretary Chen,”
the older woman spoke first, her voice neither loud nor soft—just enough for everyone present to hear.
“This young lady is…?”
Chen Mo was about to introduce her when the other woman cut in with a half-smile curling at her lips.
“Do you even need to ask? The person President Fu brought home today—who else could she be?”
“Oh—”
The older woman dragged out the sound as if suddenly enlightened, nodding while her gaze continued circling Wen Xi.
“She is pretty. That face is the only thing worth looking at.”
Wen Xi unconsciously tightened her grip on the bag in her arms.
Standing on the marble floor polished smooth as a mirror, she felt like a speck of dust that had accidentally drifted inside, painfully out of place.
“Girls these days…”
The woman holding the rag turned around, though her voice remained deliberately loud, clearly meant for Wen Xi to hear.
“They’ll do anything for money. So young, and yet not ashamed at all.”
“Lower your voice—”
The older woman tugged at her arm.
“What’s there to be afraid of? Am I not telling the truth? Once President Fu gets tired of playing with her, who knows what corner he’ll toss her into. I’ve seen plenty like this.”
Wen Xi stood frozen in place, her face alternating between red and pale.
She wanted to say something. Her lips moved slightly, yet not a single word came out.
Because what they said did not seem entirely wrong.
She really had done it for money.
The one million yuan still sat in her mobile banking account, and the payment receipt from her mother’s Rehabilitation & Wellness Center was still tucked inside her bag.
She really was the kind of person who would “do anything for money.”
Lowering her head, she stared at the pair of old sneakers at her feet. Suddenly, she felt her toes curling inward, as though she wished she could shrink and disappear.
Chen Mo frowned and was just about to speak when the main door behind them was suddenly pushed open.
A gust of cold wind carrying the faint scent of pine swept inside.
Wen Xi turned her head and saw Fu Linfeng standing at the entrance.
At some point, he had returned.
He still wore that black dress shirt, his suit jacket draped over one arm while his other hand loosely held a set of car keys.
Standing in the entrance hall, his face remained expressionless, yet his eyes narrowed slightly.
It was the gaze of a predator locking onto prey.
Not directed at Wen Xi.
Directed at the two women in the living room.
The air abruptly froze.
The older nanny reacted first, quickly plastering a smile onto her face.
“President Fu, you’re back? Dinner is already prepared, I’ll just—”
“No need.”
Fu Linfeng’s voice was light.
So light it resembled a glass of cold boiled water.
He casually placed the car keys onto the cabinet in the entrance hall, changed out of his leather shoes, and walked slowly into the living room.
As he passed by the two nannies, he did not even glance at them. He walked straight to the sofa and sat down, crossing his long legs casually before finally lifting his eyes.
“Butler Wang.”
An elderly man with graying hair hurried over from the hallway and bowed slightly.
“President Fu.”
“Have them leave.”
The expressions of the two nannies changed instantly.
The older woman nearly dropped the tray in her hands. Cups and plates clattered noisily together.
The other woman’s face turned deathly pale as she clenched the rag into a tight ball.
“P-President Fu…”
The older nanny stammered, her voice already carrying the sound of tears.
“I’ve worked for you for eight years. I followed you here from the ancestral house—”
“Yes, President Fu,”
the other quickly added, her trembling voice full of panic.
“We didn’t mean any harm. We’re just a bit loose-lipped. We’ll never dare again—”
The two women spoke over each other faster and faster in mounting desperation.
The older one even reddened her eyes, wiping at them with the corner of her apron as she rambled about how many years she had served the Fu family. Even if she had no great contributions, she had still worked hard. She mentioned how the old master himself had once promised she could retire peacefully here.
Watching from the side, Wen Xi suddenly felt something strange rise in her chest.
She could not describe it.
It was not sympathy. The words those women had spoken earlier had stabbed into her like knives. She was not generous enough to forget that.
But it was not satisfaction either.
She simply realized that, in Fu Linfeng’s eyes, eight years of service and even the old master’s promises amounted to nothing.
This man meant what he said.
Fu Linfeng never looked at them once.
He lowered his head slightly, noticing a faint wrinkle at his cuff, and slowly smoothed it flat with his fingers.
“Wen Xi is my wife.”
“Anyone incapable of showing basic respect has no place in the Fu family.”
He paused briefly before finally lifting his eyes and sweeping them over the two women.
There was no extra emotion in that glance, yet both women shivered simultaneously.
“Butler Wang, settle their compensation. Have everything completed tonight.”
Butler Wang fell silent for a moment. His lips moved slightly as though he wanted to say something.
After all, the two women really had worked for the Fu family for many years and could even be considered old acquaintances of his.
But after looking at Fu Linfeng’s side profile, he ultimately swallowed his words and bowed deeply instead.
“Yes, President Fu.”
Turning around, he gestured politely toward the exit.
The two women still wanted to speak, but Butler Wang silenced them with a single look.
Finally, the older woman could not hold back anymore. Tears streamed down her face as she removed her apron while sobbing on her way out.
The other followed behind her with unsteady steps. As she passed Wen Xi, she shot her a quick glance.
That look held resentment.
Unwillingness.
But even more than that, fear born from reevaluation.
She had finally begun to realize that this poor girl in the white dress and worn sneakers might not be as simple as she had imagined.
The door closed.
The living room returned to silence so complete that the ticking of the grandfather clock could be heard clearly.
Fu Linfeng stood up, his gaze falling onto Wen Xi.
She remained standing there with the shabby little bag still clutched tightly in her arms, completely at a loss whether she should move forward or retreat.
“Butler Wang,” Fu Linfeng withdrew his gaze, “take her to her room.”
“Yes. Miss Wen, please follow me.”
Butler Wang’s attitude had completely changed from before. His tone was respectful and gentle as he slightly stepped aside in invitation.
Holding her bag, Wen Xi followed him through a long corridor.
Several oil paintings hung along the walls while warm yellow wall lamps stretched the shadows into elongated shapes.
Her footsteps landed softly upon the thick carpet, almost noiseless.
Butler Wang stopped before a door at the end of the hallway, pushed it open, and stepped aside for her to enter.
“This is your room.”
Wen Xi walked in and halted immediately.
The room was far larger than she had imagined—larger than her entire home.
An enormous bed stood in the center, dressed in dark gray bedding that looked as soft as clouds.
Floor-to-ceiling windows occupied almost the entire wall, revealing the nighttime garden outside where several landscape lights cast a hazy glow over the lawn.
There was a walk-in closet, a bathroom with separate wet and dry areas, and even a small vanity table neatly lined with bottles and jars whose names she did not recognize.
“The bath has already been prepared with hot water. You may wash up first. If you need anything, press the bell beside the bed.”
After speaking, Butler Wang bowed slightly, retreated outside, and quietly closed the door.
Left alone in the enormous room, Wen Xi hugged her old bag and suddenly felt as though none of this was real.
She lowered her head to look at herself.
White dress.
Old sneakers.
A worn-out bag in hand.
Standing in this room refined enough to resemble a luxury hotel suite, she looked like an extra who had wandered onto the wrong movie set.
She placed the bag carefully beside the vanity chair and tentatively touched the bedsheets.
They were silk.
Cool and smooth like water beneath her fingertips.
Sure enough, hot water had already been prepared in the bathroom. The bathtub was large enough for two people to lie inside comfortably.
Several rose petals floated on the surface while a faint lavender fragrance lingered in the air.
Standing before the tub, Wen Xi hesitated for quite some time before finally removing her clothes and slowly sinking herself into the water.
The moment the hot water rose past her shoulders, she let out a long breath.
For the first time in three days, she felt as though her body belonged to her again.
The threats from the loan sharks.
Her father’s disappearance.
Her mother’s tears.
The stares from those twenty women.
The cold mockery from the two nannies.
Everything seemed to sink beneath the water, temporarily sealed outside the bathroom door.
She washed for a long time—so long that her fingertips wrinkled.
After drying herself and changing into the clean clothes she had brought with her—a cotton T-shirt and shorts—she suddenly realized she did not own anything “appropriate” to wear in this house.
While she was worrying about it, someone knocked gently at the door.
“Miss Wen?”
It was the voice of a young girl.
“I’ve brought something for you.”
Wrapping the towel more securely around herself, Wen Xi opened the door slightly.
Outside stood a young maid who looked only eighteen or nineteen years old. She wore a maid uniform and held an exquisite dark blue velvet box tied with a black satin ribbon.
“President Fu instructed me to deliver this.”
The girl lowered her head as she handed over the box, the tips of her ears faintly red as though embarrassed.
Wen Xi accepted it with thanks before closing the door.
She placed the box on the bed, untied the ribbon, and lifted the lid.
Inside was a nightgown.
More accurately—
A nearly transparent nightgown.
The fabric was exquisite, thin as cicada wings and almost weightless. Cool and silky beneath her fingers, it felt like water slipping through her hand.
Black.
Lace-trimmed.
Suspender straps.
Folded loosely inside the box with an unmistakable implication.
Wen Xi lifted it up for a closer look.
If she wore it, it would barely cover anything.
Suddenly, she understood.
At the very bottom of the box lay a note containing only one line in Fu Linfeng’s handwriting—hard, sharp, and forceful, just like the man himself.
“Put it on. Wait for me.”
Clutching the note, Wen Xi stood beside the bed with trembling fingers.
She understood now.
From the very beginning, she should have understood.
A one-million-yuan marriage had never been meant for “living together peacefully.”
He wanted a wife.
He wanted her to bear children for him.
He had already made that perfectly clear earlier that afternoon.
This was part of the transaction.
A condition silently agreed upon the moment she nodded yes.
She had no right to act delicate about it now.
Taking a deep breath, Wen Xi changed into the nightgown.
The girl reflected in the mirror looked unfamiliar to her.
The black gauze clung to her body, half-concealing and half-revealing her skin. Nothing that should have been hidden was truly hidden.
Her skin looked startlingly pale beneath the sheer fabric. Her collarbones, shoulders, and arms were all exposed to the air.
The cotton shorts were gone, replaced by a layer of gauze so thin it was almost nonexistent.
She lifted a hand and let down her hair, allowing the damp strands to spill over her shoulders. Water droplets slid from the ends, tracing a wet line along her collarbone.
Wen Xi climbed onto the enormous bed and pulled the blanket over herself. The silk fabric was so cool it made her shiver.
Lying on her side facing the window, she tugged the blanket all the way up to her chin.
The room was very quiet.
Only the low hum of the air conditioner remained, along with the sound of her own heartbeat—
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Fast and chaotic, like a trapped little animal crashing anxiously against the bars of its cage.
Faintly, she heard the sound of a door closing somewhere at the end of the hallway.
Then came footsteps.
Unhurried.
Steady.
Growing closer and closer.
Wen Xi closed her eyes.
Then opened them again.
Closed them.
Opened them again.
She did not know what exactly she was afraid of.
Was it the man himself?
Or what was about to happen?
Or perhaps what frightened her most was this—
From tonight onward, she would never again be the same Wen Xi she used to be.
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
In the silence of the night, the sound of the doorknob turning was especially clear.
Wen Xi gripped the blanket tightly and shut her eyes, her eyelashes trembling faintly.