After reading the medical report, Xia Wanzhi had already been plundered. She struggled, saying, “Don’t…”
Lu Zhuojin reluctantly let go. “Not going to look a little longer?”
Xia Wanzhi blushed and struggled, a tear tracing down her cheek. “No, no more.”
Lu Zhuojin raised his hand, his thumb roughly wiping across her fair cheek. A teardrop clung to his fingertip, leaving behind an intensely hot, rough sensation on Xia Wanzhi’s skin.
He whispered, “What’s wrong? Did your boyfriend’s mother bully you to tears?”
Xia Wanzhi wanted to say it was clearly you who bullied me, but then she remembered the words and actions of Lu Ruiqian’s mother, as well as Lu Ruiqian’s harsh remark—”Why can’t you even apologize?”—and her expression darkened.
Lu Zhuojin watched as her eyes grew moist, her eyelashes trembling as if wet, soft enough to melt into one’s heart.
He chuckled softly and said slowly, “Have you ever thought about why you hand over the power of judgment to Lu Ruiqian?”
Xia Wanzhi looked up at him, her eyes trembling slightly. “You know what happened?”
Lu Zhuojin sneered. “It’s just He Churou’s usual tricks. Nothing more than two-faced schemes, framing and shifting blame.”
He leaned close to her ear, his voice crackling with electricity. “The upper class is full of lowlifes. Understand this, and you’ll understand the essence of high society.”
Pressed against the mirror, Xia Wanzhi bit her lip, pondering his words, her heart heavy.
Lu Zhuojin gently stroked her ear, his touch sending electric currents across her skin. “Why does everyone fight tooth and nail to enter high society? It’s so they can live a shamelessly decadent life without restraint~~”
“Darling~~ Suffering won’t make you superior; devouring others will”
Xia Wanzhi’s breath hitched at his words. These were things she had never considered before.
She puffed out her cheeks slightly. “You… you’re one too.”
Lu Zhuojin smiled gently, his voice magnetic as he leaned closer to her ear, soft and drawn-out. “No, I’m a decent person~~ Darling~”
Xia Wanzhi bit her lip and turned her face away.
Lu Zhuojin chuckled and straightened up. “A little rabbit like you, if you really entered the Lu family, you’d be devoured until not even your bones remained.”
“She’s not important. What matters is you. Why do you hand over the power of judgment to others?”
“Why do you let him decide what’s right and wrong? Why let him judge who did right and who did wrong?”
Xia Wanzhi stared at him blankly, her mind suddenly flashing with a realization. Yes, why do I let others judge me? What hurts me is that Lu Ruiqian doesn’t understand me, doesn’t believe me, and thinks I’m in the wrong.
But why should I let Lu Ruiqian decide whether I’m right or wrong?
Lu Zhuojin whispered in her ear, his tone lingering and ambiguous:
“Let me teach you…”
“People judge right and wrong based on interests, not based on what’s actually right or wrong.”
“Darling, if you believe in the inherent goodness of humanity, you’ll suffer for a lifetime.”
His warm breath brushed against her ear, his hands still on her…
Lu Zhuojin whispered, “The strong set the rules of the game. Learn to make others follow your rules, not to follow theirs. Playing by someone else’s rules will naturally leave you at a disadvantage.”
“Do you know what your future mother-in-law is doing? She’s setting her own rules and forcing you to follow them. She’s telling you that if you want to play this game, you have to abide by her rules and do things her way.”
Xia Wanzhi gasped, “What… what are you doing…”
Lu Zhuojin chuckled, “Since I’ve already taught you, collecting a little tuition isn’t too much, is it?”
He acted recklessly, suppressing Xia Wanzhi’s struggles and protests one by one.
Tap, tap, tap—the sound of high heels approached, accompanied by the voices of two women chatting as they drew nearer.
Xia Wanzhi tensed up. Her dress was disheveled, and she was pressed against the mirror, her eyes flickering with panic.
In the mirror, countless reflections of the two of them appeared—countless Xia Wanzhis pinned against the glass by countless Lu Zhuojins.
Lu Zhuojin held her firmly, unmoving, and smiled as he looked at her, whispering in her ear, “Scared? Beg me…”
The two outside reached the restroom door, their hands pressing down on the handle with a click.
At the sound, Xia Wanzhi’s heart leaped into her throat. Her eyes grew moist and soft, filled with terror.
Lu Zhuojin watched her with a faint, teasing smile, completely unruffled. His slow breaths, warm and deliberate, brushed against her face.
Xia Wanzhi bit her red lip, anxiously pulling him closer. Rising on her tiptoes, she leaned toward his ear, her voice soft and sweet, “Please…”
The sound, mingled with her sweet breath, washed softly into Lu Zhuojin’s ears, carrying a prickling itch that burrowed deep into his heart.
Just like the soft whimpers by his ear that night.
His eyes darkened, and a faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth. With one arm, he wrapped around Xia Wanzhi’s waist and carried her into a nearby stall. Just as he closed the door, the two women pushed open the restroom door.
Xia Wanzhi was on the verge of breaking into a cold sweat. If someone saw her disheveled with Lu Zhuojin in the women’s restroom, it would become a scandal for the Lu family—gossip to be savored and dissected over meals. It would also affect Lu Zhuojin’s standing within the family and tarnish Lu Ruiqian’s reputation.
Yet Lu Zhuojin seemed utterly indifferent.
Dressed in his refined, high-end custom suit, he sat on the toilet lid, holding Xia Wanzhi on his lap with effortless ease, as if nothing were amiss.
But his hands were mischievous, roaming over Xia Wanzhi’s back.
Xia Wanzhi bit her lip and frowned, her lashes damp, yet powerless to stop him. The space was too cramped; any movement would make a sound, and the people outside would hear.
Lu Zhuojin’s low chuckle, sticky and intimate, whispered into her ear, “Baby, so scared, huh~”
The splashing sound of running water masked the faint noises.
Xia Wanzhi, tense and pleading, whispered softly into his ear, “If… if they see us, won’t your reputation as the CEO of Lu Group be ruined?”
Lu Zhuojin laughed, his voice low and magnetic, “Even your threats are so adorable. I really like you too much.”
“Baby, caring too much about face and propriety will make you miss out on a lot of fun. For example…”
His hand moved to the zipper at the back of Xia Wanzhi’s dress, startling her to the brink of tears. She looked at him pitifully, her eyes pleading, and leaned close to his ear, trembling as she whispered, “Don’t…”
Lu Zhuojin’s tone was gentle yet lingering, a threat whispered into her ear, “Then what do you want? Should we go out together and let them watch?”
Xia Wanzhi froze.
She bit her lip, tears falling onto Lu Zhuojin’s suit. Her rapid breaths and warmth seeped through the fabric, heating his shoulder, damp with tears.
Yet she dared not make a sound.
Warmth filled the cramped space.
Outside the cubicle, two girls were touching up their makeup and chatting idly.
“Did you see Lu Ruiqian’s girlfriend?”
“I saw her. She’s pretty enough, but she looks so cheap. Did you notice the phone she was holding? A six-hundred-yuan knockoff brand—I almost died laughing.”
“Even funnier is how it matched her fake designer dress and that rhinestone necklace. Everything about her screams cheap.”
“Poor people really struggle to cross social classes. It’s so easy for them to give themselves away.”
“Trying to climb up in one step, I guess. Just dreaming.”
Xia Wanzhi froze, breaking into a cold sweat from the mockery, biting her lip.
Lu Zhuojin acted as if he hadn’t heard, his lips moving from her neck to her mouth, whispering, “Open up…”