In the evening, the sound of an engine came from the driveway outside the villa.
Wen Xi had been sitting on the living room sofa scrolling through her phone. The moment she heard it, she unconsciously straightened her back.
She instinctively glanced at the clock on the wall—six thirty.
She had not expected him to come home this early.
At this same time yesterday, she had still been settling her mother into the Rehabilitation & Wellness Center.
The door opened.
Fu Linfeng walked in with his suit jacket draped over one arm while his other hand loosened his tie casually. As he changed his shoes, he lifted his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping across the living room—
Then stopping.
Wen Xi sat on the sofa, the white shirt dress making her look fresh and clean.
The dress had a fitted waist that outlined her slender figure. The small folded collar covered her collarbone perfectly, revealing only a section of her delicate pale neck.
When she turned at the sound, there was still a trace of nervousness on her face that she had not hidden in time.
Fu Linfeng paused for a brief second.
When he had picked her on the rooftop last night, she had also been wearing a white dress.
But that white dress had been old, faded from too many washes, cheap cotton wrinkled around her body like a flower bent crooked by the wind before it even had the chance to bloom.
And now—
The same color looked completely different.
The fabric highlighted the delicate prettiness that had once been buried beneath poverty. Her hair hung half-dry over her shoulders, a few loose strands falling beside her ears. Her skin was so pale it looked almost translucent, faint blue veins barely visible near her temples.
Suddenly, Fu Linfeng felt that once this girl dressed up properly, she really was beautiful.
His gaze unconsciously lowered another inch—
At the edge of her collar was a faint reddish mark, partially hidden beneath the fabric.
His eyes rested there for one second.
Then he looked away without any change in expression. He finished changing into slippers and handed his coat to the servant who had approached.
“Serve dinner,” he said flatly.
In the dining room, dinner had already been prepared.
Four dishes and a soup. Balanced, refined, not extravagant, but every dish had been made carefully.
Two sets of tableware were placed at opposite ends of the long table—one here, one there—with the entire length of the table separating them.
When Wen Xi sat down, she secretly glanced across at him.
Fu Linfeng was picking up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and placing it into his mouth slowly.
His movements were elegant—almost pleasing to watch.
But she always felt that his elegance carried a cold distance, every movement silently reminding her:
This was only a transaction between them.
He did not look at her.
From the moment he entered until now, his gaze had barely lingered on her for more than two seconds.
That brief pause in the living room earlier almost felt like her imagination.
Wen Xi lowered her head and quietly picked at the food in front of her.
She did not know what to say and did not dare start a conversation.
She remembered what he had said to the two Nannies yesterday—
“Wen Xi is my wife.”
At the time, those words had stirred something indescribable inside her.
But thinking about it now, maybe it had nothing to do with feelings at all.
He simply did not allow anyone to challenge his authority. He did not permit anyone to disrespect what belonged to him.
It would not have mattered who stood in the position of “Mrs. Fu.”
It had nothing to do with whether she was Wen Xi or not.
After all, from the very beginning, he had already made himself perfectly clear.
“I won’t invest feelings in you.”
“Behave yourself.”
“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.”
Wen Xi bit her lip and put a bite of rice into her mouth, chewing for a long time before swallowing.
The dining room was so quiet that only the faint clinking of chopsticks against dishes could be heard.
Two people.
One long table.
The distance between them felt like two entirely separate worlds.
After dinner, Fu Linfeng went to the study.
Wen Xi returned to the bedroom alone.
She showered and changed into one of the proper pajamas from the walk-in closet—a pink cotton set with long sleeves and pants, the collar tied with a tiny bow.
Conservative enough to look like something a nun would wear.
She did not dare wear something like last night’s again.
After drying her hair, she climbed into bed and lay on the side near the window, pulling the blanket up to her chin as she curled onto her side.
The room was very quiet.
The walls were soundproof enough that she could not hear anything from outside. Only the electronic clock on the nightstand flickered red numbers in the darkness.
She did not know when Fu Linfeng would come.
Maybe he would not come at all.
Maybe—
The door opened.
Wen Xi’s entire body instantly tensed.
Footsteps entered the room, slow and steady.
Then the bathroom door opened and shut. Water began running.
Her heartbeat accelerated violently, slamming against her ribs painfully.
She kept her eyes closed, desperately trying to make her breathing sound even, but the fingers clutching the blanket had already betrayed her.
The sound of water stopped.
The bathroom door opened.
Footsteps approached the bed.
Wen Xi squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She felt the mattress sink slightly on the other side. A corner of the blanket was lifted, and cool pine-scented moisture drifted toward her—
Then an arm wrapped around her waist.
Wen Xi was turned over onto her back.
Fu Linfeng hovered above her. His hair was still damp, the collar of his bathrobe slightly open to reveal a lean, toned chest.
His gaze rested on her face with something she could not describe in it—not tenderness, not desire. It felt more like examination. Or confirmation.
Wen Xi trembled all over.
Not from cold.
From fear.
Not the kind born from terror, but from memory.
The tearing pain from last night. The overwhelming sensation of losing control of her own body. The exhaustion of being repeatedly overwhelmed until her mind blurred—
All of it surged back like a tidal wave and swallowed her whole.
Fu Linfeng lowered his head and pressed his lips against her neck, placing a new kiss beside the fading reddish marks there.
His fingers hooked around the bow at the collar of her pajamas and slowly loosened it—
“W-Wait—”
Wen Xi’s voice was tiny and rushed, trembling visibly. She lifted her hand and pressed it against his chest.
The moment her palm touched his burning skin, her fingers instinctively curled slightly, but she did not pull away.
Fu Linfeng stopped.
He raised his head slightly and looked at her.
A layer of moisture had already gathered in Wen Xi’s eyes, making them glisten like shattered stars.
Her lips trembled. Her chin trembled. Her whole body trembled.
She did not dare meet his eyes and instead stared at his collarbone.
“It still hurts…”
Her fingers clutched at the collar of his robe—not like rejection, but as though searching for something to hold onto.
“Tonight… can you let me off?”
The last sentence was so soft it was almost inaudible.
The room fell silent.
Fu Linfeng did not move. He remained above her, looking down at her.
Her eyelashes were damp, the tip of her nose slightly red, and there was a faint bite mark on her lips from how hard she had been biting them.
The collar of her pink pajamas had already been pulled halfway open by him, exposing the edge of her white bra and a patch of pale skin beneath—
Skin still covered in bruised marks from last night, dark and light shades overlapping like silent accusations.
He looked at them for a very long time.
So long that Wen Xi thought he would get angry.
Thought he would tell her, “This is your obligation.”
Thought he would ignore her plea and continue anyway—
Then he moved.
But not the way she expected.
Fu Linfeng released her.
He rolled off her body and lay down on the other side of the bed, flat on his back, one arm behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.
“Go to sleep.”
Two words.
His voice was calm and unreadable.
Wen Xi froze.
She remained in the same position, fingers still gripping the loosened collar he had pulled open, unable to process what had just happened.
He… was really letting it go just like that?
Carefully, she turned her head and secretly glanced at him.
Fu Linfeng had his eyes closed. His chest rose and fell evenly. The tie of his robe hung loosely at his waist, while the light cast half his face into shadow, making his features appear even sharper and colder.
He did not look angry.
Nor disappointed.
She could not read anything from him at all.
Slowly, Wen Xi pulled her collar closed again and turned back to her side, curling up facing the window.
Her heartbeat was still rapid, but the fear that had made her tremble moments ago gradually faded away bit by bit.
She closed her eyes and pulled the blanket to her chin.
After a long time—so long that she thought he had fallen asleep—a low voice suddenly came from behind her in the darkness, startlingly clear.
“Tell Butler Wang to buy some medicine tomorrow.”
Wen Xi paused in confusion. “What?”
“Medicine for swelling.” His voice paused briefly. “The marks on your neck… put something on them. They’ll fade faster.”
Subconsciously, Wen Xi reached up to touch the side of her neck. Her fingertips brushed the warm skin there, and her face instantly burned red.
“…Mm.”
Her voice was muffled beneath the blanket, so soft it could barely be heard.