Volume 1, Chapter 7: The Need for Control
The sky today was also depressingly overcast.
Jiang Zhiwan walked along the path against the cold wind until she arrived at an imposing Chinese-style manor.
The butler who was to receive her was already waiting at the entrance. Seeing Jiang Zhiwan’s figure appear, he hurriedly stepped forward with a smile to greet her.
In truth, the butler had previously arranged for dedicated personnel to pick up Jiang Zhiwan, but she had declined, so he had no choice but to let it go.
A wintersweet tree stood in the courtyard, looking quite old, blooming alone against the cold wind.
Even after entering the reception hall, Jiang Zhiwan could still faintly smell the fragrance of wintersweet in the air.
“Miss Jiang, would you like something to drink?”
“Tea?”
“Coffee?”
“Juice?”
“Or perhaps some other beverage…”
Jiang Zhiwan was momentarily taken aback, then answered in a low voice, “No need to go to any trouble. A glass of plain water will do.”
Whether it was her imagination or not, she felt that this butler of the Lu family was treating her with a somewhat… fawning attitude?
The water was brought up quickly.
Jiang Zhiwan held the cup. The temperature of the water inside was just right for drinking—neither too hot nor too cold.
“The roads are a bit congested today, so Miss Jiang may have to wait a little longer,” the butler said with a genial smile.
Jiang Zhiwan nodded to indicate that she understood.
At the same time, she couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—in a family with such deep roots in Wangjing, even the people working under them were so courteous and refined in their dealings with others.
Truly worthy of a great family.
The temperature in the reception hall was pleasant, and Jiang Zhiwan’s icy hands and feet soon warmed up.
The only downside was that the fragrance of the wintersweet was far too strong. After sitting for a while, it made Jiang Zhiwan feel dizzy and lightheaded.
To keep Jiang Zhiwan from getting bored, the butler thoughtfully engaged her in conversation from time to time.
Afraid that she might find it intrusive, the topics he brought up were all superficial, with no intention of prying for information.
At this moment, Jiang Zhiwan only felt her head growing increasingly drowsy. She assumed it was caused by the wintersweet’s fragrance, so she picked up the cup beside her and took a small sip of water.
But for some reason, the drowsiness only grew heavier.
No.
She couldn’t fall asleep.
This job was of utmost importance to her. She had to hold on no matter what and not leave a bad impression on the other party.
Jiang Zhiwan pinched her own palm and tried hard to keep her eyes wide open, but it wasn’t of much use.
The butler, who had watched Jiang Zhiwan’s eyes slowly close bit by bit, stopped speaking as well.
In fact, when he had received Jiang Zhiwan at the entrance earlier, the butler had already noticed the two unusually prominent dark circles under her eyes.
He had simply assumed that Jiang Zhiwan was just extremely tired, and thought that a brief nap in the warm reception hall wouldn’t cause her to catch a chill, so he hadn’t paid it much mind.
Fifteen minutes later.
Lu Yanshu, dressed in a deep black suit, walked through the door of the reception hall, carrying the chill of the outside air with him.
The impeccably tailored suit made the man appear even taller and more imposing. His sword-like brows were jet black, and his jawline was sharp and cold. A pair of ink-black eyes, tempered with ice, held not a trace of emotion—a single sweeping glance from them was enough to make one feel an indescribable sense of oppression.
The moment Lu Yanshu entered the reception hall, he spotted Jiang Zhiwan asleep against the chair. His brows instantly knitted together, and his expression turned even colder.
Then, he strode over quickly.
Seeing the cold and fierce expression that had inexplicably appeared on Lu Yanshu’s face, the butler nervously explained, “Miss Jiang must have been too tired, and the wait was long, so she…”
Before he could finish his explanation, he heard Lu Yanshu’s voice, tinged with a hint of restrained anger: “Have the medical team come over. Quickly.”
.
Jiang Zhiwan felt as though she were trapped in a murky, dark vortex. The more she struggled, the more she couldn’t escape.
The little rationality she had left told her that she still had something very important to finish, and that she needed to wake up quickly.
Her fragile rationality and her heavy body kept fighting against each other, and Jiang Zhiwan’s sleep was far from peaceful.
Until—
She felt her body fall into a warm, broad embrace.
Arms with a firm hardness and a chest radiating heat wrapped tightly around her entire being, giving Jiang Zhiwan an absolute sense of security.
Vaguely, Jiang Zhiwan heard a pleasant voice.
“Sleep now. I’m here.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
That night, the lights of this Chinese-style manor villa were destined to burn bright all through the night.
A top-tier medical team was on standby downstairs at all times, and the butler didn’t dare pause for even a moment, bustling up and down the floors.
The butler was terrified out of his wits at this point, and only by keeping himself busy could he slightly ease the fear in his heart.
Lu Yanshu had entrusted the person he cherished most to his care for barely half an hour, yet he hadn’t even noticed that Jiang Zhiwan had a high fever of 39 degrees.
This was an extremely serious dereliction of duty—the kind that could cost him his job!
Inside the bedroom.
Jiang Zhiwan lay on the bed in a deep sleep, her face completely devoid of color, making her look like a delicate porcelain doll with no trace of life in her.
It seemed as though even the slightest bit of force would shatter her.
Throughout it all, Lu Yanshu’s brows were etched with exhaustion and remorse. He stood by the bedside the entire time, keeping watch.
Only by seeing her with his own eyes could he feel at ease.
It was his fault. He had been negligent.
After returning to the country, there were many matters awaiting Lu Yanshu’s attention, and he was nearly running on a nonstop schedule before finally managing to handle most of them today.
Jiang Zhiwan, sick as she was, behaved very well—as long as he softened his voice and coaxed her gently, she would obediently swallow down those bitter medicinal draughts.
In the depths of the night.
The aching soreness brought on by the high fever seemed to seep out from the very marrow of her bones. Jiang Zhiwan couldn’t hold back her sobs, crying out weakly, her cries as faint and fragile as a newborn kitten’s.
Jiang Zhiwan wasn’t awake, but the pain was simply too much to bear.
A pair of strong arms lifted her from the soft bed, gently wiping away the tear tracks on her face.
As if she had finally found an outlet for her emotions, Jiang Zhiwan let her head droop against the side of Lu Yanshu’s neck. Her fair, delicate face was soon soaked with tears once more, scalding droplets sliding down her cheeks and into the hollow of Lu Yanshu’s throat.
First, her maternal grandparents had passed away suddenly.
Then her parents divorced—her heartless father transferred all the family assets before remarrying, and only then did she discover that the illegitimate daughter he’d had outside the marriage was actually a year older than her.
After that, her mother, who had left the marriage with nothing, suddenly fell gravely ill, and treating her illness required an enormous sum of money.
One blow after another—each was a devastating strike against Jiang Zhiwan, who had almost no capacity to withstand risk.
She no longer had any harbor to shelter her from the storm, and her mother’s life now hung upon her shoulders.
Lu Yanshu remained silent, holding Jiang Zhiwan in his arms the way one would hold a child, patting her back in a steady, rhythmic motion.
Jiang Zhiwan was burning with fever, her mind hazy. After she had cried her fill, she began to murmur softly, “Mommy… Mommy… it hurts… it hurts so much…”
Hearing Jiang Zhiwan call out for her mother over and over, Lu Yanshu’s expression darkened, a shadow flickering deep in his eyes.
Lu Yanshu knew very well himself that the possessiveness and need for control buried in his bones ran in direct lineage from his grandfather—one could even say he had surpassed the original.
One day, should a situation like this arise again, he would get what he wished for—the name Lu Yanshu falling from Jiang Zhiwan’s lips.