Before An Mengyue could even process what was happening, the entire world went dark.
What the hell?
She wiped her face and took a deep breath, her hands slowly reaching forward to feel for the door lock. She twisted the bolt, but the door wouldn’t budge. She leaned her whole body back, lifted her foot, and kicked hard—only a dull thud answered her.
The door was being blocked from the outside. She was screwed!
Whoever did this was going to die!
An Mengyue was terrified of the dark. Every night, she had to leave a small light on at the foot of her bed.
“Hey! Is anyone out there?”
Staring into the pitch-black void, An Mengyue took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She reached into her pockets and found nothing—this dress didn’t even have pockets. She remembered she’d only brought her sanitary pads; her phone was still in her bag.
“Squeak, squeak.”
When a person loses their sight, their other senses go into overdrive. Suddenly, the rustling sound of a rat echoed through the room, and the last thread of her sanity snapped. She completely lost the ability to think.
The bathroom was filled with nothing but her screams and the pounding of her fists against the door frame.
The darkness made her lose all sense of time.
When her hands grew tired, she slowly slid down along the wall and crouched, wrapping her arms around herself in a desperate attempt to find some sense of security. Her damp hair clung to her face, and her whole body felt cold.
All the pent-up frustration, grievance, and pain from the recent oppressive days erupted in that moment. An Mengyue buried her head in her knees and burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs.
She didn’t know how long it took before the lights came on. The sudden brightness blinded her, and she couldn’t open her eyes.
She shielded her face with her hand and, through the gaps between her fingers, saw the bathroom door swing open. She was met with the bewildered gaze of the cleaning lady.
“Oh dear, child, what are you doing in here? What happened? Come out, quickly.”
An Mengyue slowly pressed her hand against the wall, trying to get up, but her legs had gone weak and wouldn’t move at all.
The cleaning lady immediately rushed over and reached out to support her, muttering, “Child, what’s going on? Why haven’t you gone home yet? What happened here?”
Her eyes were swollen by now. She shook her head and choked out a “thank you.”
Then she stumbled toward the dressing room. Pushing the door open, she found the lights off and the room completely empty.
An Mengyue clenched her fists tightly, gritted her back teeth, and grabbed her bag before walking straight out of the company.
She’d already formed a preliminary theory in her mind. Skipping the company entirely, she went straight to the police station.
She explained the situation in detail. It was late, and she wasn’t feeling well, so she took the receipt for her report and hailed a cab home.
Inside the car
An Mengyue sobbed quietly, her slender fingers scrolling through her WeChat contacts, her touch occasionally interrupted by falling tears.
She was full of grievances but had no idea who to confide in.
Zhu Wenwen? She worked at the same company, and her scatterbrained personality would only make things more complicated. It was better to handle this directly on her own.
The rest were either coworkers or classmates.
Her gaze landed on MZ’s profile picture, and the tears burst forth again. She was furious at herself for still thinking about that man at a time like this.
The taxi driver watched the girl in the back seat crying so sorrowfully. Several times he wanted to say something, but swallowed the words back down.
After getting out of the car and walking down the street, An Mengyue felt dazed and groggy. Autumn had brought with it a huge temperature difference between day and night, and the evening wind made her shiver uncontrollably. She pressed one hand against her face and hurried toward home.
She wasn’t just sad—she felt physically miserable too. All she wanted was to get back to her little nest, the only place where she could let down all her defenses.
Jiang Xian had noticed that the boss’s mood had been terrible lately, the atmosphere even heavier than before.
And it had been a long time since he’d watched any livestreams, nor had he brought up An Mengyue again.
This was the first time he’d seen the boss take such an interest in someone, and a woman at that!
And he was so good at sweet talk, just when he found it unbelievable, it all went cold!
And it was their boss, who had gone cold!
Why did he say that? Because Jiang Xian had already caught the boss three times staring blankly at the young lady’s photo.
Could it be that the boss had been dumped by her?
While lamenting how absurd it was, he also thought that she was so beautiful and young, it made sense she wouldn’t like a cold, old iceberg like the boss…
In any case, the past few days had been tough for everyone in the entire group, and as his assistant, he didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
They had just returned from a business trip to the capital yesterday, and at this moment Jiang Xian was looking down at tomorrow’s important date when he felt the person beside him inhale sharply.
Puzzled, Jiang Xian turned his head to look at the driver, whose eyes held endless meaning, and followed the direction he was pointing.
He too felt a chill stuck in his throat.
Outside the window, An Mengyue was walking toward the entrance of the residential complex. In such cold weather, she was only wearing a black slip dress, holding her coat in her hand. She looked like she was crying, and crying very sadly.
What was this all about? Who dumped who?
The two exchanged glances, and Jiang Xian complained inwardly—they had finally managed to get the boss to the door, and just when he was about to clock out, this had to happen!
But thinking about it more carefully, if they could help the two reconcile, wouldn’t everyone’s days get easier?
Right!
As if he had made some kind of resolution, he slowly turned sideways, meeting the icy gaze of his “living ancestor,” couldn’t help but shiver, and immediately turned back around.
Forget it! Whoever wants this job can have it.
But seeing that she was about to enter the complex, no! No, no!
He mustered his courage again and turned around. By now, the living ancestor was clearly impatient and even let out a “tch.”
Jiang Xian swallowed hard, trembling and hesitating.
“If you have something to say, say it!”
“Boss, over there, that seems to be…”
Jiang Mingzhou turned his head slightly in that direction, and his originally sour face flashed with a trace of tenderness as he quietly stared at the girl’s direction.
The driver had already tactfully stopped the car, and the two in the front seat were also watching the girl’s direction.
At that moment, the sound of a voice call ringtone came from the back seat, followed by the “beep…” of a rejected call.
…
The two in the front wished they could stop breathing and just die on the spot.
They saw the girl outside standing in place, fiddling with her phone, and it seemed she was crying even harder now, her whole body visibly trembling.
The car was enveloped in a restless, gloomy atmosphere. The person in the back kept calling after being rejected, calling again and again, being rejected again and again.
The two in the front remained motionless, not even daring to exchange glances, desperately trying to minimize their presence.
Watching An Mengyue lower her head to fiddle with her phone, occasionally reaching up to wipe away tears, standing by the big tree at the entrance of the complex, a delivery rider not far away walked out of the complex and just mounted his electric scooter, twisting the throttle to start.
Jiang Xian had an ominous feeling in his heart. No way? Please don’t!
The delivery rider had just ridden a short distance and was scrolling through new orders. At the same time, An Mengyue put down her phone, her hand still covering her face as she walked forward. The rider had just grabbed an order and was happily speeding up when he looked up and caught a glimpse of a figure—it was already too late to avoid her.
Jiang Xian watched as the electric scooter knocked An Mengyue down.
“Jiang—”
“Bang!”
Before Jiang Xian and the driver could even exchange a word, he felt the car door being thrown open and a figure rushing past him. Jiang Xian quickly got out and followed.
“Miss? Are you okay?”
The delivery rider looked at the girl in front of him, who had already fainted. He gently shook her shoulders, already mentally calculating his assets, his words coming out in a stammer.
The next second, he felt himself being yanked aside. A handsome man in a suit stepped forward and scooped the girl up in his arms.
“Wake up!”
The man’s tone was extremely anxious, his breathing rapid and shallow. Behind him followed another man in professional attire.
The delivery rider felt like his world was falling apart. His voice trembling with tears, he cried out, “She was wearing a black dress—I really didn’t see her! She just walked out suddenly. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Should I call an ambulance… ah… I’m sorry, boss.”
Jiang Mingzhou felt the person in his arms burning with fever. He touched her forehead and immediately lifted her up.
“She has a fever!”