“Zhong Yi!”
With his long legs, Jin Chen quickly caught up with Zhong Yi at the elevator entrance.
Zhong Yi pressed herself against the wall, lowering her head like a startled bird, not daring to look directly at him. “Mr. Jin, Mr. Jiang said you were drunk and asked me to pick you up, but it seems you don’t need it anymore, so I’ll head back first.”
For some reason, the moment he saw her appear, Jin Chen felt a sudden panic, as if he had been caught cheating. Without thinking, he chased after her.
Now, he quickly calmed down, his gaze deep as he looked at her. “Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t do anything.”
“You don’t need to explain to me. I understand—it’s quite normal.”
Zhong Yi wished she could stay as far away from him as possible. Flustered and anxious, she felt she had to say something. In a moment of thoughtlessness, she pulled a pack of condoms from her pocket and shoved it into his hand. “Mr. Jin, please be safe.”
Jin Chen’s face darkened instantly when he saw what was in his hand. “Where did this come from?” he demanded angrily.
Of course, Jin Chen knew it couldn’t have been something Zhong Yi had specifically bought to use with him.
This woman was so timid she could barely speak to him—how could she possibly dare to climb into his bed?
Zhong Yi explained, “Someone gave it to me. It was free—I didn’t spend any money.”
“Why would someone give you this? If someone gives it to you, you just take it? Are you stupid? Aren’t you afraid they might have ill intentions?”
Jin Chen was furious.
How could she just accept something like this so casually?
This woman was not only timid but also stupid!
Zhong Yi was stunned by his scolding and remained silent for a long moment.
Realizing he had spoken too harshly, Jin Chen softened as he looked into her pitiful, watery eyes. “That’s not what I meant, I—”
“Mr. Jin, I know,” Zhong Yi interrupted him. “I know you appreciate me, and I’m very grateful. That’s why I’ll work even harder to repay your concern.”
She desperately wanted to keep her relationship with him completely clean.
“Mr. Jin, it’s getting late. I should head back now.”
Just then, the elevator arrived, and Zhong Yi fled as if escaping.
Jin Chen stood in place, unmoving for a long time.
He didn’t understand why she was so afraid of him.
When he returned to the private room, the women had all left. Jin Chen found the smell inside unpleasant, so he left his jacket behind, grabbed his phone, and walked out.
Jiang Xuqing naturally followed him and got into Jin Chen’s car.
Jin Chen remained silent, staring out the window, lost in thought.
But Jiang Xuqing knew that Zhong Yi must be on his mind.
With a light laugh, Jiang Xuqing teased, “After looking around, you still can’t forget Zhong Yi?”
Jin Chen didn’t respond, clearly acknowledging it silently.
All his recent unusual behavior was because of that woman.
It was rare for him to develop feelings for someone.
Yet, he loved but could not have her.
Jiang Xuqing couldn’t help but feel sympathy and offered some misguided advice. “If nothing else works, just take her. Lock her up if you have to—at least you’ll have her physically.”
“If you don’t know how to talk, then shut up,” Jin Chen retorted, almost throwing him out of the car.
…
Over the next two days, Zhong Yi deliberately avoided Jin Chen. Every time she finished reporting her work, she would immediately leave, afraid that Jin Chen might call her back.
Jin Chen naturally noticed she was avoiding him but simply watched without doing anything out of line to make things difficult for her.
On Friday morning, a woman arrived on the top floor of Jin Corporation.
She had wavy hair, bright red lips, and strikingly beautiful, charming features. Her superior presence was impossible to ignore.
Knock, knock—
“Excuse me, could you tell me where Jin Chen’s office is?”
The woman knocked on the door of the secretary’s office, her gaze fixed directly on Zhong Yi, who was closest to the entrance.
Zhong Yi was momentarily stunned before hurriedly standing up. “Ma’am, do you have an appointment?”
She had dealt with the Jin family before but had never seen this woman.
She probably wasn’t a member of the Jin family, right?
The woman raised her hand to smooth her hair, smiling casually. “Given my relationship with him, I don’tt need an appointment, and he wouldn’t dare ask me for one.”
The implication, the tone.
The relationship was clearly not ordinary.
The woman was polite and courteous. “Could you take me to him?”
Zhong Yi nodded. “Please follow me.”
Soon, the news spread throughout the company. During lunch in the cafeteria, everyone was chattering and gossiping about it.
“Wow, that woman is super beautiful and has incredible poise!”
“Who on earth is she?”
“Maybe she’s a girl from the CEO’s family circle, the kind he might marry in the future.”
“Wow, no woman other than clients has ever entered the CEO’s office before. But then again, CEO Jin is already in his late twenties, so it’s about time he got married. Rich people tend to marry early.”
Zhou Shu joined in the discussion and turned to ask Zhong Yi, “Yiyi, did she say what her relationship with CEO Jin is?”
Zhong Yi absentmindedly shook her head. “I don’t know either. She didn’t say.”
Zhou Shu excitedly gossiped, “That woman still hasn’t come out. I wonder what they’re doing in the office. I’m so curious.”
What were they doing?
Zhong Yi couldn’t help but recall the time Jin Chen had pulled her into the restroom, and her mind began to wander with guesses.
Were they that kind of relationship?
Unconsciously, Zhong Yi tightened her grip on her chopsticks, poking at the rice in her bowl. Suddenly, she lost her appetite.
Actually, that would be perfectly normal.
CEO Jin was a healthy adult man. It was normal for him to have needs.
Besides, she was the one who had rejected him last time. She was the one who told him he could find another woman.
This was fine, really.
This way, she and CEO Jin could return to their normal routines.
“Yiyi, why aren’t you eating? You’re about to turn your rice into mush,” Zhou Shu noticed Zhong Yi’s distraction and waved a hand in front of her face.
Zhong Yi put down her chopsticks. “I don’t have an appetite.”
Zhou Shu asked worriedly, “Should you go to the hospital for a check-up? You haven’t been eating much lately, and you’re always throwing up. How can your body keep going if you’re not taking anything in?”
Zhong Yi shook her head. “Let’s go upstairs.”
Zhou Shu worked on a different floor from Zhong Yi, who worked on the top floor.
As she stepped out of the elevator alone, she unexpectedly bumped into Jin Chen, who was on his way down for lunch.
And he wasn’t alone.
The woman was with him.
At that moment, she was holding onto Jin Chen’s arm, looking very intimate, and Jin Chen showed no intention of pulling away.
Their relationship was progressing really fast.
Lost in her chaotic thoughts, Zhong Yi almost forgot to greet them.
It was the woman who spoke first, snapping Zhong Yi back to reality. “Hello, thank you for today.”
She was thanking Zhong Yi for taking her to Jin Chen’s office earlier.
Zhong Yi smiled shyly. “You’re too kind.”
She quickly stepped aside to let them pass.
Jin Chen’s deep gaze swept over her small, delicate face, but he said nothing as he entered the elevator with the woman.
Zhong Yi could still hear their conversation.
The woman asked him, “What should we eat later?”
Jin Chen replied, “Whatever you want.”
The woman said, “You said it. I won’t hold back.”
The elevator doors closed, and the voices faded away.
Zhong Yi returned to her workstation in a daze, took out her phone, and scheduled an appointment with the gynecology department for the following Friday.
Then, she went online to search for the differences between medical abortion and surgical abortion.
She stared for a long time, not taking in a single word.
This child had quietly come into her womb, and now she would quietly have it removed.
No one else knew it had ever existed.
Zhong Yi touched her abdomen, trying to feel the little life inside. Perhaps after spending a few days together, she had already grown attached to it.
The thought of next Friday made her heart ache with a dull, heavy pain.